Best 10 Transcription Apps to Convert Audio & Video to Text

There are plenty of reasons to use a transcription app. From simplifying documentation in professional settings that value time to improving the searchability of audio and video content by making them easy to index. Although technology has made it easier by providing various automated options, choosing a sound recording and transcription app is still challenging.

Well, you have to consider the pros and cons each tool offers, its suitability, and, of course, the cost. With the number of tools already available, there is a high chance you may end up working with a tool that doesn't meet your exact needs.

But that doesn't have to be the case. Join us as we explore the best transcription apps that you can use to convert audio and video to text.

Criteria for Choosing the Best Transcription App

There are several considerations that I decided to focus on when looking for a tool that can help you meet your needs: 

1. The accuracy levels: I only wanted apps with high accuracy rates or those that can help improve your accuracy.

2. Ease of use: How intuitive is the user experience? Is the app easy to log in and navigate even for a new user?

3. Language support: Which apps support multiple languages while maintaining high transcription accuracy?

4. Cost and pricing: I also wanted to identify the various pricing structures focusing on cost-effective platforms.

After testing different platforms for days, these are the best transcription apps for audio and video content that made the list.

Best Transcription Apps

1. Notta

Best for: Accurate and diverse language options.

Notta is the best app in this category, excelling in transcription speed, accuracy, collaboration capabilities, and workflow efficiency. You can upload files to the platform, share a YouTube or Drive link, or even connect it directly to your meeting platforms to transcribe audio and video files. Provided your audio files are high quality, your transcripts will be very accurate, requiring only minimal edits. You can then use the built-in editor to change your transcript before exporting it to various formats. Businesses can further use Notta to create automated meeting summaries and to-do lists and share them with their team straight from the platform.

Pros

• Its accuracy levels can reach 98.96% in high-quality audio.

• It can transcribe and translate more than 40 languages.

• It has a live-screen recording feature that allows users to record and transcribe their screen.

• It supports files in various audio and video formats, including MP3, WAV, MP4A, CAF, FLV, AVI, AIFF, WMV, RMVB, and MOV.

• It is affordable and easy to use.

Cons

• The free plan is limited to how many minutes you can transcribe monthly.

Price

Notta offers four payment options: 

• Free plan

• Pro plan: $9 per month (billed annually).

• Business plan: $16.67 per seat per month (billed annually).

• Enterprise plan: Custom payment plan.

2. Rev

Best for: Small businesses on a budget.

Rev is one of the most popular transcription tools for users and freelancers, as it supports AI and human transcription services. To use this web-based tool:

1. Visit rev.com

2. Upload the audio file you wish to transcribe.

3. Choose between AI and human transcription (Human transcription has a 99% accuracy rate and faster turnaround time.)

Rev stands out from the rest in the list due to the custom service offerings it provides. For example, if time is a concern, you can rush your order by 5X when you pay an extra $1.25 per minute. You can also get timestamping services at an additional $0.30 per minute, verbatim transcripts at another $0.50 per minute, and an instant first draft at $0.10 per minute. This makes it one of the most favorable tools for busy professionals, podcasters, or teams with many transcription needs.

Pros: 

• It provides you with an option to choose between AI and Human transcription.

• It can transcribe more than 36 languages.

• The web tool is easy to use, even for a beginner.

• It is affordable to use.

• It provides quality assurance for its human transcription services.

Cons: 

• The AI tool is not free. They only offer five free hours for both video and audio transcription.

Price

Rev charges their transcription services per minute. The AI service costs $0.25 per minute and has a 90% accuracy rate. Its human transcription service costs $1.50 per minute with a 24-hour turnaround time. Businesses that need more than 100 transcripts can also get custom services if they contact the sales team.

3. Happy Scribe

Best for: Any video editor, podcaster, or researcher.

Happy Scribe is another pay-to-go solution similar to Rev, offering AI and human transcription services. Its AI transcription service has an 85% accuracy, while its human transcription service has a 99% precision rate. This transcription and subtitles generator can deliver lightning-fast transcripts in more than 119 languages. It has an interactive editor for the transcript and video captions where you can edit the text, adjust the timeline, and change the subtitle appearance according to your needs. It also has a translation option for transcripts and subtitles. This makes it much more suitable for anyone creating video content.  The feature I found most impressive was ‘My Vocabulary.’ You can use this to add all the technical and unique names the AI may have trouble transcribing to improve its accuracy.

Pros

• It provides a flexible payment system where you only pay for your needs.

• It integrates with popular video platforms such as YouTube, Vimeo, and Wistia, making it easy to import videos for transcription.

• This audio-to-text tool supports multiple audio and video formats, including MP3, MK3D, MPEG, AAC, and OGA.

• It supports collaborative editing, where you can invite teams to edit your transcript.

Cons

• It does not support bulk audio or video uploads for transcription.

• It is not entirely accurate.

Price

Happy Scribe provides users with a tiered pricing plan that depends on the number of transcription minutes they get monthly. These include: 

1. Free plan: limited trial minutes.

2. Basic plan: $10 monthly; get 120 transcription minutes.

3. Pro plan: $17 monthly; get 300 transcription minutes

4. Business plan: $29 monthly; get 600 transcription minutes.

Happy Scribe’s human transcription service costs $1.75 per minute. They claim to deliver tasks with a 99% accuracy rate in 4 hours. Organizations that need more security, account management, and customer support features can contact the sales team for their enterprise plan.

4. GoTranscript

Best for: Accurate human-generated transcripts.

GoTranscript is the tool every professional and organization needs if they want high-quality transcripts in various languages that are 99% accurate. This speech-to-text platform fully focuses on providing human transcription, translation, and subtitling services. They pride themselves on having over 20,000 transcribers who have worked on tasks from well-known companies such as Netflix and Forbes.

GoTranscript is accessible on both the web and Android and iOS devices. This allows you to record, upload your content from the apps, and track down your existing orders while on the go. 

Pros

• The human transcription cost is fair.

• You can get industry-specific transcriptionists to work on your tasks.

• The platform provides its clients with quality assurance.

• They put a lot of focus on client privacy by using robust security encryption and an NDA for transcriptionists and proofreaders.

Cons

• The transcription turnaround time is slow as transcriptionists take time to polish and deliver an accurate transcript. It will cost more to speed up.

Price

GoTranscript charges its services according to the length of the audio or video file and the time it takes the transcriptionist to complete the task. 

• 5-day service starts from $0.84/min

• 3-day service starts from $1.03/min

• 1-day service starts from $1.22/min

• 6-12 hour service starts from $2.34/min

5. Otter

Best for: Free meeting and interview transcription.

Otter has maintained its relevancy for over seven years as one of the best speech-to-text apps that deliver fast, accurate, and real-time meeting transcriptions. It readily integrates with meeting platforms like Zoom, Google Meet, and Teams to record, transcribe, and summarize your discussion for you. This transcription tool is one of the best when transcribing long conversations. It is available on mobile (Android and iOS) and the web, making it easy to use from anywhere. Its interface is very user-friendly, with a clear layout allowing you to view all your recordings in one place.

Pros

• It supports live editing of your transcripts.

• It has a very generous free plan.

• The app is very responsive and easy to use.

• You can customize the interface to fit your needs.

• Otter takes your privacy seriously by using robust AWS S3 encryption.

Cons

• To transcribe meetings on Zoom using Otter, you need the Zoom Pro subscription.

• Basic users cannot change the playback speed when editing the transcript.

Price

Otter has four pricing plans.

• The basic plan: Free for life, offering 300 monthly transcription minutes, 30 per conversation.

• The pro plan: $10 per user/month annually, offering 1200 monthly transcription minutes, 90 per conversation.

• The Business plan: $20 per user/month, offering 6000 monthly transcription minutes, 4 hours per conversation.

• Enterprise plan: (Best for large organizations.) Contact sales to get an estimate.

6. Trint

Best for: Team collaboration features.

Trint is an AI-powered transcription software that generates high-quality transcripts from clear video and audio files. The app can transcribe more than 30 different languages in minutes. The app claims to transcribe a file in the time equivalent to the file’s length. In that regard, a 10-minute video file should take about 10 minutes to transcribe. However, after testing, it took an incredibly shorter time to transcribe a 10-minute file, about 3 minutes. Its accuracy levels are also relatively high compared to other tools in the market. This is primarily due to its custom vocab builder that allows you to create and add a list of custom words to the dictionary. Trint’s most incredible feature is its online editor. Here, you can improve the transcript manually by changing the names of the speakers, highlighting sections, striking texts, translating, and even adding comments to collaborate with teams. After making your edits, you can click a check box on the left side of your screen to indicate your progress. As you can see, the creators of this AI tool have invested much into ensuring businesses using their platform have efficient workflows.  

Pros

• Trint delivers a reasonably accurate transcript for both video and audio files.

• It can convert transcripts into captions with timecodes, ready to be synced with the video.

• You can translate the transcripts into over 50 languages.

• Trint is ISO 27001 certified, meaning your content will always be secure.

Cons

• It's pretty expensive.

• It may have a hard time transcribing complex files with multiple speakers.

Price

Trint offers its users three pricing plans:

• Starter: $48 per user monthly.

• Advanced: $60 per user monthly.

• Enterprise: custom payment plan.

The app has no hidden costs and offers a free 7-day free trial period.

7. Express Scribe

Best for: Expert transcriptionists

Express Scribe is a downloadable transcription software that can help users transcribe any audio or video file. It is only available on PCs supporting Windows (7,8,8.1, and 10), Linux, and iOS(10.5 or above). To avoid any confusion, please note that this tool does not do the transcription itself.

Instead, it offers users a better way to listen to audio to make manual transcription much faster. It allows users to set up hotkeys and use a foot pedal controller to shave off the time it takes to transcribe and proofread a transcript manually. Ideally, if it takes 8 hours to transcribe a 1-hour audio file, using a foot pedal will save you 1-3 hours, depending on your proficiency.

Pros

• You can upload more than 45 audio formats to the software.

• It can work with speech recognition software like Dragon Naturally Speaking to convert speech to text.

• The tool is free to download and try.

• It has a feature that allows you to clean up poor-quality audio.

Cons

• It does not offer automated transcription services.

• It’s challenging to customize timestamps.

Price

Express Scribe offers two one-time payment plans depending on the features you need: 

• Basic plan: $80 

• Professional: $99

There is also a quarterly plan for the professional plan billed at $16.50. 

8. OTranscribe

Best for: Manual transcriptionists looking for a free solution.

OTranscribe is another app that works similarly to Express Scribe; it helps you slow down or speed up audio files to transcribe them manually. However, unlike Express Scribe, OTrascribe is a web app that works on desktop computers only. Ideally, OTranscribe solves the challenge of opening multiple screens when manually transcribing an audio file.

It provides a better way to access your audio file and still type the transcript from one page, saving you the time it takes to switch between apps. It also provides you with interactive timestamps that can help you navigate through your transcript. After transcribing an audio file, export it as a markdown, text, or Google Docs file.

Pros

• It saves you time from switching between audio play and text editor.

• It supports several audio and video file formats.

• It has a built-in notepad that automatically saves your transcript every second.

• The app secures your data; only you can access the transcript and video/audio file.

Cons

• It does not automatically transcribe audio. 

• Its export options are limited.

Price

OTranscribe is free to use.

9. Descript

Best for: Podcasters and short content creators.

Descript is not originally a transcription tool but a video editor that offers transcription services. It is the go-to platform for every podcaster or short video creator looking to create SEO-optimized videos. Using the tool is simple as it provides you with an interactive tutorial project to guide you on how to edit videos, transcribe them, and also how to make screen recordings. You can use the tool to transcribe your audio/video files or add an already transcribed file to the platform, then use the editor to make the necessary changes before adding it to your video file as subtitles.

Pros

• It has an easy-to-use interface.

• It allows live collaboration on projects.

• Transcription is immediate when you upload or record the audio.

• It allows you to eliminate filler words in the transcript.

Cons

• The transcription is not entirely accurate; you may need some edits.

• It is only available in English.

Price

Descript provides users with four-tiered pricing plans: 

Free plan: get one transcription hour monthly.

Creator Plan: $12 per user/month; get ten transcription hours monthly.

Pro plan: $24 per user/ month; get 30 transcription hours monthly.

Enterprise: Contact sales to make a custom payment plan; transcription hours will depend on your agreement.

10. Sonix

Suitable for: 

Sonix transcription app is very similar to both Notta and Otter in its offerings, but its steep price tag makes it a less preferred option. But let that not discourage you from using the tool. If cost is not a concern, this may be one of the best transcription tools for you. This talk-to-text app integrates into your meeting and calls apps, automatically transcribes your discussions, and creates a transcript summary. It has a built-in editor that you can use to polish your transcripts, identify and change the speakers, and leave comments directly on the transcripts to facilitate easy collaboration with your team. You can also add a custom dictionary of technical words and terms to improve the tool's transcription accuracy.

Pros

• The tool is easy to use.

• It provides users with a free 30-minute trial.

• The transcription speed can be fast.

• It supports more than 38 languages.

Cons

• It's quite expensive.

• The transcription is not entirely accurate.

Price

Sonix provides users with three payment plans: a pay-and-you-go and a subscription-based plan. These are:

• A standard plan: $10 per hour.

• Premium Plan: $5 per hour and $22 per user monthly.

• Enterprise plan: custom payment.

FAQs

1. How Much Do Transcription Services Cost?

The cost of transcription is not standard across various platforms in the market. It may vary widely depending on the turnaround time, type of transcription, and even the service provider. However, it may cost around $0.5 to $3.50 per audio minute for human transcription. Automated transcription plans are often lower and can be pay-as-you-go solutions or subscriptions, depending on the platform.

2. Automated vs. Human Transcriptions: What's the Difference?

The main difference between automated and human transcription services is in the transcription method, accuracy levels, and speed. Automatic transcription involves using AI and machine learning to convert speech to text. Its accuracy level is relatively low, but its transcription speed is fast. 

Human transcription, on the other hand, makes use of professional transcriptionists to listen and type the transcript manually. Their understanding of vocal characteristics allows them to be more accurate. However, it takes them longer to complete a transcription.

3. How Can You Get the Most Accurate Transcription?

You can get accurate transcripts when you:

• Work with a reputable transcription platform or transcriber.

• Use only high-quality audio that has minimal background noise or none at all.

• Purchase good headphones that can block out the noise in your environment.

• Conduct the transcription in a sound-free room.

• Use Notta to get accurate automatic transcripts.

4. How to Edit and Share Transcription?

You can edit and share transcriptions by using apps that support this functionality. Popular options include Notta, Otter.ai, and Sonix. These platforms provide a built-in editor where you can edit the transcript and export the final file into various formats. You can also use these tools to create snippets of specific sections in the transcript and share them with your team.

5. Is there Free Transcription Software?

There are plenty of free talk-to-text apps in the market. However, most have limited functionalities and varying accuracy levels. My top recommended platform is Notta. Although its free version is limited, it delivers an all-around performance of accuracy, speed, and workflow efficiency. Most importantly, you can use it across various web browsers and multiple devices.

Conclusion

Before you choose any app that transcribes audio, ask yourself, what do I want to achieve? What is my most pressing concern? If accuracy is what you need, it’s best to work with a manual transcription platform like GoTranscript and Rev. 

If speed is your primary concern, invest in an automatic transcription like Notta, Trint, or Otter.ai. Regardless of what you choose or what your needs are, we hope that this article has provided you with a clear view of the best transcription tools in the market and how each can benefit you.