Comparison of Top Transcription Software
By Unknown Author | Published: 2023-10-27 | Category: Transcription Software
About Transcription Software
Software that converts spoken language from audio or video files into written text, enabling searchability, editing, and analysis. These tools range from simple automated converters to complex platforms with editing and collaboration features.
Scoring Criteria
- → Accuracy
- → Ease of Use
- → Feature Set
- → Pricing/Value
- → Platform Availability
The Best Transcription Software
#10
Scribie
By Scribie
Offers both automated and manual transcription with a strong emphasis on accuracy, particularly through its multi-step manual review process.
Platforms & Use Cases
Platforms: Web
Best For: Academic Research, Legal Transcription, Interviews, High Accuracy Needs, Confidential Audio
Key Features
- ✓Manual Transcription: Utilizes a 4-step human transcription process (transcription, review, proofreading, QA) for high accuracy.
- ✓Automated Transcription: Provides a quick, machine-generated transcript option.
- ✓Accuracy Guarantee: Offers a guarantee on the accuracy of its manual transcription service.
- ✓Confidentiality Focus: Emphasizes secure handling of audio files and transcripts.
- ✓Various Options: Offers options like strict verbatim, speaker tracking, and varying turnaround times.
Scorecard (Overall: 7.1 / 10.0)
Pricing
Automated
$0.10 / Per Minute
- Machine-generated transcript
- Fast turnaround (approx. 30 mins)
- Speaker tracking (basic)
Limitations: Lower accuracy (80-95% target)
Manual
$0.80 / Per Minute
- Human transcription (4-step process)
- High accuracy (99% target)
- Speaker tracking included
- 36-hour standard turnaround
Limitations: Higher cost, longer turnaround than automated
Manual (Add-ons)
$0.50 / Per Minute Extra
- Strict verbatim
- Audio time coding
- Faster turnaround options
Pros
- + Extremely high accuracy achievable with the manual service
- + Strong confidentiality and security measures
- + Clear pricing structure for both automated and manual options
- + Good for specialized needs like legal or academic research
Cons
- - Automated transcription accuracy is average compared to leaders
- - Manual service is significantly more expensive and slower
- - Web-only interface
- - Feature set is less comprehensive than platform solutions
Verdict
"An excellent choice when extremely high accuracy is the top priority and budget/time allows for the meticulous manual transcription service."
#9
Trint
By Trint
Platform focused on turning audio/video into searchable, editable, and shareable content, geared towards teams.
Platforms & Use Cases
Platforms: Web, iOS
Best For: Journalism, Media Production, Academic Research, Corporate Communications, Market Research
Key Features
- ✓Automated Transcription: Converts audio and video files into text using automated speech recognition.
- ✓Collaboration Tools: Allows multiple users to highlight, comment, and edit transcripts simultaneously.
- ✓Searchable Transcripts: Makes audio and video content easily searchable by keyword.
- ✓Highlights & Story Builder: Tools to pull key quotes and assemble narratives from transcripts.
- ✓Enterprise Security: Offers security features suitable for large organizations.
Scorecard (Overall: 7.4 / 10.0)
Pricing
Starter
$60.00 / Monthly per user
- 7 transcriptions per user/month
- Basic collaboration
- Multiple export formats
Limitations: Limited number of transcriptions
Advanced
$75.00 / Monthly per user
- Unlimited transcription
- Advanced collaboration tools
- Story builder feature
- Custom dictionary
Enterprise
$-1.00 / Custom
- Advanced security & compliance
- Onboarding & training
- API access
- Usage analytics
Limitations: Requires contacting sales
Pros
- + Strong collaboration features for team workflows
- + Good interface for reviewing and editing transcripts
- + Focus on security suitable for enterprise use
- + Useful tools for journalists and researchers (e.g., story builder)
Cons
- - Can be expensive, especially for individual users or small teams
- - Accuracy is dependent on audio quality
- - Mobile functionality primarily on iOS
Verdict
"A robust platform well-suited for teams, particularly in media, research, and corporate environments needing collaborative transcription and content analysis tools."
#6
Happy Scribe
By Happy Scribe
Transcription and subtitling service supporting numerous languages, offering both automated and human-based options.
Platforms & Use Cases
Platforms: Web
Best For: Subtitling, Video Localization, Interviews, Lectures, Global Content Creation, Academic Research
Key Features
- ✓Wide Language Support: Offers automated transcription and translation in dozens of languages.
- ✓Human-Made Transcription: Option to have transcripts created or reviewed by professional transcribers for maximum accuracy.
- ✓Subtitle Generation & Editing: Tools specifically designed for creating, editing, and exporting subtitles in various formats (SRT, VTT).
- ✓Interactive Editor: Web-based editor to review and correct automated transcripts.
- ✓Collaboration Workspace: Allows teams to work on transcripts and subtitles together.
Scorecard (Overall: 7.6 / 10.0)
Pricing
Automatic
$0.20 / Per Minute
- Automated transcription
- 85% accuracy target
- Speaker identification
- Multiple export formats
Human-made
$2.00 / Per Minute
- Transcription by professionals
- 99% accuracy guarantee
- Proofreading included
- Various turnaround time options
Subscription (Custom)
$-1.00 / Annual
- Volume discounts
- Dedicated account manager
- Custom integrations
Limitations: Requires contacting sales
Pros
- + Excellent support for a wide range of languages
- + Option for human review ensures very high accuracy
- + Strong focus and tools for subtitling
- + Clear per-minute pricing for services
Cons
- - Primarily web-based interface
- - Automated accuracy can vary significantly
- - Human service adds considerable cost and turnaround time
Verdict
"A strong choice for multilingual transcription and subtitling, especially when high accuracy via human review is required or language support is critical."
#6
Temi
By Rev
Fast, affordable automated transcription service focused on simplicity and quick turnaround times.
Platforms & Use Cases
Platforms: Web, iOS, Android
Best For: Quick Turnaround Transcription, Interviews, Meetings, Draft Transcripts, Simple Transcription Needs
Key Features
- ✓Automated Transcription: Converts audio or video files to text using speech recognition technology.
- ✓Simple Editor: Web-based editor to review and correct the generated transcript.
- ✓Timestamps: Provides timestamps for words or paragraphs in the transcript.
- ✓Speaker Identification: Basic capability to differentiate between speakers.
- ✓Mobile Apps: Apps for iOS and Android allow recording and uploading on the go.
Scorecard (Overall: 7.6 / 10.0)
Pricing
Pay-as-you-go
$0.25 / Per Minute
- Automated transcription
- Speaker identification
- Timestamps
- Web editor
- Mobile app access
Limitations: Accuracy depends heavily on audio quality (typically 80-90%), Limited advanced features
Pros
- + Very straightforward pay-per-minute pricing
- + Extremely fast turnaround time for automated transcripts
- + Simple, easy-to-use interface and mobile apps
- + Good value for basic automated transcription
Cons
- - Transcription accuracy is generally lower than premium competitors
- - Limited feature set compared to platform solutions
- - No subscription options for frequent users
Verdict
"A great option for users needing fast, affordable, and simple automated transcription without the complexity of advanced features or subscription plans."
#6
Sonix
By Sonix
Automated transcription, translation, and subtitling platform with collaboration features, supporting over 35 languages.
Platforms & Use Cases
Platforms: Web
Best For: Media Production, Education & E-Learning, Research, Global Communications, Video Subtitling & Translation
Key Features
- ✓Multilingual Transcription: Automated transcription available in numerous languages.
- ✓Automated Translation: Translate transcripts into different languages within the platform.
- ✓In-Browser Editor: Feature-rich editor for reviewing, editing, and timestamping transcripts.
- ✓Subtitle Creation: Tools for generating, customizing, and exporting subtitles.
- ✓Integrations: Connects with tools like Adobe Premiere, Zapier, Dropbox, Google Drive.
Scorecard (Overall: 7.6 / 10.0)
Pricing
Standard (Pay-as-you-go)
$10.00 / Per Hour
- Automated transcription
- Speaker labeling
- Timestamps
- Basic collaboration
Premium (Subscription)
$5.00 / Per Hour + $22/user/month
- Lower per-hour rate
- Advanced collaboration
- Centralized billing
- Custom vocabulary
Enterprise
$-1.00 / Custom
- Volume discounts
- Advanced security
- Dedicated support
- User management
Limitations: Requires contacting sales
Pros
- + Strong support for multiple languages in transcription and translation
- + Integrated translation workflow is convenient
- + Good web-based editor with collaboration tools
- + Useful integrations for media workflows
Cons
- - Web-only platform
- - Pricing can become expensive for high-volume users
- - Accuracy varies depending on language and audio quality
Verdict
"A powerful solution for users working with multiple languages or needing integrated transcription, translation, and subtitling features, especially in media and education."
#5
Fireflies
By Fireflies Systems
Meeting assistant that automatically joins calls on various platforms, transcribes conversations, and generates summaries.
Platforms & Use Cases
Platforms: Web, Integrations (Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, Slack, etc.)
Best For: Sales Call Analysis, Team Meetings, Recruitment Interviews, Project Management Updates, Automated Meeting Documentation
Key Features
- ✓Automated Meeting Participation: Connects to calendar and automatically joins scheduled web conference calls.
- ✓Transcription & Recording: Records audio and generates transcripts for meetings it attends.
- ✓Action Item Detection: Identifies potential tasks and action items discussed during the meeting.
- ✓CRM & Collaboration Integrations: Pushes transcripts and summaries to CRMs (like Salesforce, Hubspot) and tools like Slack.
- ✓Topic Tracking & Analysis: Analyzes conversations to track custom topics and keywords across meetings.
Scorecard (Overall: 7.8 / 10.0)
Pricing
Free
Contact Vendor
- Limited transcription credits
- Basic integrations
- Search within meetings
Limitations: Limited storage, 800 mins storage/seat
Pro
$18.00 / Monthly per user
- Unlimited transcription
- CRM integrations
- Download transcripts/recordings
- Smart search filters
Limitations: 8,000 mins storage/seat
Business
$29.00 / Monthly per user
- Unlimited transcription & storage
- Video screen capture
- Team insights & analytics
- Priority support
Pros
- + Seamless integration with major meeting platforms
- + Automates meeting documentation workflow
- + Useful summaries and action item detection
- + Strong focus on sales and team collaboration use cases
Cons
- - Primarily focused on meetings, less versatile for other audio
- - Transcription accuracy can be inconsistent
- - Heavily reliant on integrations for core functionality
Verdict
"An excellent choice for teams looking to automate the recording, transcription, and analysis of their online meetings, particularly valuable for sales and project management."
#4
Assembly
By Assembly
Developer-focused platform offering highly accurate transcription and audio intelligence capabilities via an interface.
Platforms & Use Cases
Platforms: Web Interface, Developer Tools
Best For: Building applications with speech-to-text, Media Monitoring, Call Center Analysis, Product Development, High Accuracy Transcription Needs
Key Features
- ✓High Accuracy Engine: Provides industry-leading transcription accuracy across various audio types.
- ✓Speaker Diarization: Accurately distinguishes and labels multiple speakers.
- ✓Audio Intelligence: Offers features like summarization, topic detection, entity detection, content moderation.
- ✓Custom Vocabulary: Allows users to add specific terms, names, or jargon to improve accuracy.
- ✓Real-time Streaming: Capability to transcribe audio streams live via interface.
Scorecard (Overall: 8.0 / 10.0)
Pricing
Free Tier
Contact Vendor
- Access to core transcription model
- Limited usage for testing interface capabilities
Limitations: Usage caps on hours/requests
Pay-as-you-go
$0.00 / Per Second
- Access to all core models
- Audio intelligence features
- Speaker labels
- Usage-based pricing
Enterprise
$-1.00 / Custom
- Volume discounts
- Dedicated support
- Custom model training
- Advanced security options
Limitations: Requires contacting sales
Pros
- + Exceptional transcription accuracy
- + Rich set of advanced audio intelligence features
- + Flexible and powerful interface for developers
- + Good documentation and support for integration
Cons
- - Primarily aimed at developers, may be complex for non-technical users
- - User interface is functional but less polished for end-user workflows compared to others
- - Requires technical understanding to leverage fully
Verdict
"A top-tier transcription engine and audio analysis tool, best suited for developers or businesses needing high accuracy and advanced features integrated into their own applications or workflows."
#3
Otter
By Otter Inc.
Real-time transcription and collaboration tool focused on meetings and lectures.
Platforms & Use Cases
Platforms: Web, iOS, Android
Best For: Meetings, Interviews, Lectures, Team Collaboration, Note Taking
Key Features
- ✓Real-time Transcription: Transcribes audio live as it happens, ideal for meetings.
- ✓Speaker Identification: Automatically identifies and labels different speakers.
- ✓Keyword Summaries: Generates summaries based on important keywords found in the transcript.
- ✓Integrations: Connects with tools like Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams for seamless recording.
- ✓Collaboration Features: Allows teams to highlight, comment, and share transcripts easily.
Scorecard (Overall: 8.2 / 10.0)
Pricing
Basic
Contact Vendor
- Real-time transcription
- Speaker ID
- Sync across devices
- Basic search
Limitations: 300 monthly transcription minutes, 30 minutes per conversation limit, Limited import/export
Pro
$16.99 / Monthly
- 1,200 monthly minutes
- 90 minutes per conversation
- Custom vocabulary
- Advanced search & export
Business
$30.00 / Monthly per user
- 6,000 monthly minutes
- 4 hours per conversation
- Team vocabulary
- Admin controls
- Usage analytics
Pros
- + Excellent real-time transcription performance
- + Good speaker identification capabilities
- + User-friendly interface across platforms
- + Strong collaboration tools for teams
Cons
- - Accuracy can vary depending on audio quality and accents
- - Editing interface could be more advanced
- - Free tier limitations increased recently
Verdict
"Ideal for live meeting transcription and team collaboration, offering a smooth real-time experience and useful meeting-specific features."
#2
Notta
By Notta
Real-time transcription tool for meetings, interviews, and voice notes across multiple platforms.
Platforms & Use Cases
Platforms: Web, iOS, Android, Chrome Extension
Best For: Meetings (Zoom, Teams, Meet), Interviews, Note-taking, Lectures, Content Creation
Key Features
- ✓Real-time Transcription: Transcribes conversations live during meetings or recordings.
- ✓Cross-Platform Sync: Access and manage transcripts seamlessly across web and mobile apps.
- ✓Speaker Identification: Distinguishes between different speakers in the transcript.
- ✓Calendar Integration: Connects with calendars to automatically record and transcribe scheduled meetings.
- ✓Multiple Language Support: Supports transcription in numerous languages.
Scorecard (Overall: 8.4 / 10.0)
Pricing
Basic
Contact Vendor
- Limited transcription minutes
- Real-time transcription
- Sync across devices
Limitations: 120 minutes/month, Basic export formats
Pro
$13.99 / Monthly
- 1,800 minutes/month
- Advanced export options (SRT, DOCX)
- Real-time translation (limited)
Business
$59.00 / Monthly per 2 seats
- 2,400 minutes/month per seat
- Team collaboration features
- User management
- Priority support
Pros
- + Excellent cross-platform availability (Web, Mobile, Extension)
- + Good real-time transcription performance
- + Useful integrations, especially for meetings
- + Competitive pricing and feature set
Cons
- - Accuracy can decrease with poor audio or strong accents
- - Some advanced features require higher tiers
Verdict
"A versatile and user-friendly option for real-time transcription, especially strong for meeting notes and cross-platform use."
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#1
Descript
By Descript
Integrated audio/video editor with powerful transcription capabilities, enabling text-based media editing.
Platforms & Use Cases
Platforms: Web, macOS, Windows
Best For: Podcasting, Video Production, Content Creation, Transcription Editing, Screen Recording
Key Features
- ✓Text-Based Editing: Edit audio and video by directly editing the transcribed text.
- ✓High Accuracy Transcription: Utilizes advanced speech recognition for accurate text conversion.
- ✓Speaker Identification: Automatically detects and labels different speakers in the audio.
- ✓Filler Word Removal: Easily find and remove words like 'um' and 'uh'.
- ✓Overdub: Create a textual voice model to correct words or add new content.
Scorecard (Overall: 8.6 / 10.0)
Pricing
Free
Contact Vendor
- Limited transcription hours
- Standard quality transcription
- Limited Overdub vocabulary
Limitations: 1 hour transcription/month, Watermark on video exports
Creator
$15.00 / Monthly per user
- 10 hours transcription/month
- Unlimited screen recordings
- Filler word removal Pro
Pro
$30.00 / Monthly per user
- 30 hours transcription/month
- Overdub Pro
- Publishing integrations
- Custom branding
Pros
- + Unique and powerful text-based media editing
- + Highly accurate transcription
- + Comprehensive feature set for creators
- + Innovative features like Overdub
Cons
- - Can be overkill for simple transcription needs
- - Steeper learning curve compared to basic tools
- - Advanced features require higher tiers
Verdict
"A groundbreaking tool for podcasters and video creators, offering unparalleled integration between transcription and media editing."
Author information could not be loaded for this review.
Final Thoughts
The transcription software market offers diverse solutions tailored to various needs. Real-time assistants like Otter and Notta excel in meeting documentation. Descript provides an unparalleled integrated editing suite for content creators. For maximum accuracy, developer-focused Assembly or human-based services like Scribie and Happy Scribe stand out. Multilingual capabilities are strengths of Sonix and Happy Scribe, while Fireflies automates meeting analysis workflows. Temi offers simple, fast automated transcription.