Julius

by Julius project

Lightweight Japanese-focused open ASR with WFST decoding.

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TL;DR

Best for japanese ASR research and dictation. Pricing: free.

Category
Open source
License
BSD-3-Clause
Stars
★ 1.9k
Last push
2025-06-16
Pricing
free
Platforms
Linux, macOS, Windows

What it is

A long-running Japanese-language ASR engine. BSD-3-Clause.

Best for: Japanese ASR research and dictation.
Watch out for: HMM/GMM era performance; community small.

Install / use

git clone https://github.com/julius-speech/julius

Features

Speaker diarizationNo
Word-level timestampsYes
Streaming / real-timeYes
Languages supported2
HIPAA eligibleNo

Links

GitHub repo ↗

Julius vs Whipscribe

FeatureJuliusWhipscribe
CategoryOpen sourceTranscription APIs
Pricingfree$4–$24 one-time packs (credits never expire) · $2 single unlock · 60 min free on signup
Speaker diarizationNoYes
Word timestampsYesYes
StreamingYesNo
Languages299
PlatformsLinux, macOS, WindowsWeb, API, MCP

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