Transcription apps have become an extremely useful way of keeping records. These apps record and make text transcriptions of important conversations. So, for example, when you’re having an important conversation with a lawyer, a doctor, or your insurance company, it’s really handy to be able to check exactly what was said later. And, of course, it’s vital for writers and journalists, who need to keep records of their interviews.

For many years, there have been two types of transcription services available online: ones that use an AI engine and ones that use human transcribers. The latter are usually much more accurate but are also considerably more expensive. Recently, as AI transcriptions have become more precise, they have become more popular and available.

What follows are short looks at some of the AI-powered transcription services available. We’ve concentrated on apps that have a free version (or, at least, a free trial for new users) and that are priced for the individual rather than for organizations.

But first, a note: the quality of transcription supplied by these apps can vary widely depending not only on the AI engine the app is using but also on the quality of your audio. If there are a lot of voices talking at once, if there is a lot of background noise, if the speakers have accents unfamiliar to the AI tool — those can all serve to degrade the accuracy of the transcription. So, a good idea is to try out a transcription service with a free or trial version first to see which works best for your particular needs.

Otter

Otter is one of the more popular transcription services, although it’s not inexpensive. The app offers a fairly impressive range of services, including the ability to easily record Zoom and Google Meet meetings and organize your transcriptions into folders and your contacts into groups. There is also a separate AI feature that helps with content searches, and each transcription includes an AI-generated summary, including a list of action items and an outline.

There were some unfortunate limitations on the service that were imposed back in 2022. If you’re a free user, you currently only have access to your last 25 transcriptions (the others will be archived). You can have up to 300 transcription minutes per month with a maximum of 30 minutes per conversation, and you can import a lifetime total of up to three audio or video files.

Paying customers who are on Otter’s Pro plan ($16.99 / month or $99.96 a year) get 1,200 minutes per month and 90 minutes per conversation; all their conversations are available, and they can import 10 audio or video conversations per month. Otter’s Business plan ($30 a month or $240 annually) has 6,000 minutes per month / four hours per conversation allowance, along with other features.

Temi

Temi is a basic transcription service that is owned by the same company that owns Rev — in fact, the first time you go there, it’s likely you’ll find yourself being urged to try Rev first. Once you’ve gotten past that, Temi offers such features as the ability to review and edit your transcriptions, slow down the replay, and export your files into text (Microsoft Word, PDF) or closed caption (SRT, VTT) files. Its mobile apps for Android and iOS allow you to record audio; you can then choose to transcribe it for a straightforward 25 cents per audio minute or upload your own recordings for the same price. New users get the first 45 minutes free.

Rev

Rev has been around for a while; until a few years ago, it was mainly available for those who wanted human transcription services. Now, the company offers AI transcription with an option for human transcription. You can try it out with the Free plan’s 45 minutes of transcription a month; after that, the Basic plan offers 20 hours of automated English transcription services, along with Spanish and French transcriptions, for $9.99 per month. You also get a 10 percent discount on any human-based transcription services. The Pro plan advances that to 60 hours of AI transcription with a 15 percent discount on human transcription and a 38-language capability. There is a 14-day free trial period.

MeetGeek

MeetGeek is actually a video rather than an audio recording / transcribing service. Its concentration is on transcribing meetings; it creates transcriptions automatically for Zoom, Meet, and Teams meetings, puts together summaries, and extracts highlights. The Free version lets you record five hours a month and retain three months’ worth of transcripts and one month’s worth of audio; you also have a limited ability to change your settings. For $19 a month or $180 a year, a Pro version gives you 20 hours of transcription a month, one year of transcript retention, and six months of video storage. New users get a 14-day trial of the Business plan, which costs $39 a month or $372 a year and gets you 100 hours of transcription a month, unlimited transcript storage, and 12 months of video retention.

Sonix

Sonix offers automated translations in over 49 languages. It includes the usual ability to edit its transcripts, a word-by-word timestamp, and the ability to upload transcripts from other programs and stitch them to new ones. Like many transcription services these days, it has added some AI features such as automated subtitles and summaries. You can export your transcripts in DOCX, TXT, and PDF, and export subtitles in SRT and VTT formats. Sonix starts with a pay-as-you-go Standard plan that costs $10 an audio hour (prorated to the nearest minute). There is also a Premium subscription plan ($5 per audio hour plus $22 / month or $198 / year) that adds several features and 100GB of storage. New users get 30 free minutes of transcription.

Alice

While MeetGeek concentrates on meeting transcriptions, Alice touts itself as a transcription service for journalists. The other services store your transcripts (some with time limits, some without) and let you edit them online, but Alice doesn’t; instead, it sends the audio file and the transcript to your email address and adds it to your Google Drive or Dropbox. It is also easy to use; just tap anywhere on the phone app to start it and swipe to pause. Alice is pay-as-you-go, depending on how long you think your transcript might be: approximately 4,800 words for $9.99 an hour, about 48,000 words for $4.99 an hour, and about 240,000 words for $2.99 an hour. You get the first 60 minutes free and can use it with an iOS app or the web. There is no Android app.

Google Recorder

If you have an Android phone, one of the easiest ways to get a decent transcription is to use Google’s free Recorder app. (If you have a Pixel, you may already have it; otherwise, you can download Recorder from the Play Store to see if it works with your phone.) To start a recording, you simply press a large red button. To pause, you press it again. Smaller buttons on either side let you delete or save the recording. Above the button is the timing of the audio, and above that are two buttons for Audio and Transcript. To see the text, tap Transcript. You can edit the text, search through it (this is Google after all), and share either the audio or the transcript. If you have a Pixel 6 or later, you can enable different labels for different speakers.

By the way, if you’ve got an iPhone, you can record audio using the built-in Voice Memo app; you can then download a transcription app from the App Store and share your recording with the app. The upcoming iOS 18 is expected to include AI call recording and transcription.

TurboScribe

TurboScribe is a relatively new service that is currently web-only but has some nice features, such as the ability to choose whether you want your transcription created more quickly or more accurately. It also has speaker recognition and (if you have the paid version) language translation. You can also use AI to remove background noise (which TurboScribe advises to use “only as a last resort”). However, because it doesn’t have a separate app, it’s not as easy to start a recording as with, say, Otter or Google Recorder — and if you tab away from the app, it might stop recording.

TurboScribe Free lets you record three conversations a day for up to 30 minutes each, which isn’t a bad deal. TurboScribe Unlimited gives you unlimited transcriptions, up to 10 hours per conversation, faster transcriptions, and language translation; it costs $20 a month or $120 a year.

Update August 28th, 2024: This article was originally published on August 24th, 2022. Since then, several entries have been updated, removed, or added.