LLM Reference
LibriSpeech WERactiveAudio

LibriSpeech WER: LibriSpeech WER (test-clean)

Metric: WER (%) (lower is better)Introduced: 2015

Word Error Rate on the LibriSpeech test-clean benchmark, using read English speech from audiobooks. The industry's long-standing clean-speech baseline for ASR; top models now reach sub-2% WER. Lower is better. High benchmark score alone doesn't make a model the right pick — weigh it against pricing, API availability, and release date.

Models ranked

2

tracked on this benchmark

Score band

1.3 – 1.3

best → lowest tracked

Snapshot trend

+0.08

Mar 7 → Apr 30 · 1 models

Leaderboard

Tracked models ranked by WER (%) (lower is better).

Compare candidates
#Model variant and provenanceScore
1
Cohere Transcribe (03-2026)
Version: test-cleanHarness: Not recordedEvaluator: Not recordedObserved: Mar 7, 2026Confidence: Not recordedSource
1.3
2
Granite Speech 4.1 2B
Version: test-cleanHarness: Not recordedEvaluator: Not recordedObserved: Apr 30, 2026Confidence: Not recordedSource
1.3

How to read this benchmark

This benchmark scores models where lower is better. Scores are useful for directional filtering and shortlisting — not for universal quality ranking. Prefer benchmarks closest to your workload, then validate the linked model pages for pricing, context window, and provider availability.

Trust this score when

  • There is a fresh timestamped snapshot (or multiple snapshots) for this benchmark.
  • The model list covers the same version family you can actually deploy today.
  • Top candidates overlap with your required routing and feature requirements.

Be cautious when

  • There is only one benchmark snapshot or the dataset appears stale.
  • The benchmark metric direction is opposite of your decision objective.
  • The score difference between options is narrow and likely within implementation variance.

FAQ

What does the LibriSpeech WER benchmark measure?

Word Error Rate on the LibriSpeech test-clean benchmark, using read English speech from audiobooks. The industry's long-standing clean-speech baseline for ASR; top models now reach sub-2% WER. Lower is better. On this page it lists 2 tracked model variants where lower is better.

Is a higher LibriSpeech WER (test-clean) score always better?

For this benchmark, lower is better. A high score helps you shortlist, but confirm pricing, context window, and provider availability on each model page before committing — the top scorer is not always the right pick for your workload or budget.

How current is this LibriSpeech WER (test-clean) data?

This benchmark was last reviewed on Jun 7, 2026. The tracked score average moved +0.08 points across the last 2 snapshots.

Related benchmarks

Last reviewed: Jun 7, 2026