Can I transcribe non-English podcasts?

Yes — but language support depends on which transcription provider you choose. Benecaster works with four providers, each with different multilingual coverage:

OpenAI Whisper auto-detects the language from the audio itself, so a Spanish or Portuguese podcast transcribes without any additional setup on your end. Every provider’s accuracy varies by language, so check its documentation for yours before you choose, and try it on a real episode.

Benecaster currently passes audio to your chosen provider without a language hint — the provider handles detection automatically.

If your episodes switch between languages mid-episode, keep the language setting on Auto-detect. Forcing a specific language when the audio code-switches typically makes results worse — the provider will try to transcribe everything in the forced language. Of the four providers, OpenAI Whisper handles mid-episode language switching most reliably; the others tend to commit to the dominant language detected at the start.