Modern life and businesses are difficult to imagine without transcribing audio and video files to text. Plenty of conferences, meetings, webinars, audio, and video calls take place daily, and we all must get back to those recordings to extract important data or information.
Spending hours, days, or even nights trying to transcribe audio doesn’t sound very promising. Thankfully, automated transcription software has been invented not so long ago, and it keeps facilitating our lives. There are multiple ways of using different transcription services — online, on your PC, or smartphone.
Right now, you will find out what kind of software exists, which of them is the most appropriate for your needs, and how to use them for your goals. Check the list below and pick the service or software that will be the most helpful for you personally or maybe your business.
Transcriberry
This is the first transcription service on that list that is very efficient for both mobile and PC users. It can be called a truly universal service because whatever your transcribing needs are, they can be met right here on this website.
No, you do not need to install this software on your phone. You can simply open their website in your browser (no matter whether it is a mobile browser or your PC) and order the service you need. It is great for all types of audio and video files, Zoom, Google Meet, Skype, and other conferences, subtitles, translation, etc.
This service has one of the most affordable and attractive prices on the market. Thus, one minute of human transcription services will cost you $1.25, while a minute of automated transcription costs only $0.25. These costs will allow you to transcribe any file you may ever need, as well as any conference recordings quite cheaply.
One of the biggest advantages of this service is that they offer not only English transcription but also one in different foreign languages. One more greatest perk of this software is that they offer two options — human transcribing and automated transcription. Needless to say, the human option guarantees much higher accuracy than just automatic transcription.
In the first case, real experts do everything manually using the latest advanced equipment. Of course, software that does everything automatically can make certain mistakes while doing voice recognition.
Otter
Unfortunately, you cannot receive video transcription services provided by humans on this website. This is an automatic service using real-time technology and artificial intelligence.
This website is not free and offers different pricing plans for individuals and businesses:
- Basic plan for individuals is free (up to 600 minutes a month, other features are limited);
- Pro plan for individuals costs $8.33 per month (up to 6k minutes a month);
- Business plan for businesses costs $20 per month (an option of adding more names of team members);
- Enterprise plan for businesses (for large corporations, the costs must be requested from their Sales department).
You can download the Otter app for your iOS or Android device. You do not have to go to their website to have your transcription; everything can be easily done on your smartphone.
It also is integrated with large platforms, for example, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, etc. You can export recordings directly from there.
The app also provides real-time transcription from all the above-mentioned platforms. It has a voice recognition option, different export formats, etc. Even though it is an AI-based app, it cannot substitute human experts fully.
Rev
Rev is another transcription website and, just like Transcriberry, offers a manual option. It means that all transcriptions are performed by human professionals. You can also use automated features here, but they do not guarantee the highest accuracy, naturally.
Rev suits well for all transcription needs, including subtitles and captions, Zoom conferences, etc. Unfortunately, it provides only English transcription. If you need other languages, then Transcriberry would be the best option.
The service is available 24/7, they do have an app to download for iOS and Android devices, but you can easily use their offers by opening the website in your browser. Their turnaround time is at least 12 hours. The cost is standard — $1.25 for a human option and $0.25 for an automated option.
Transcribe
One more service that offers great transcription is called Transcribe. With its help, you can convert any of your audio and video files to text automatically. It is a great service for bloggers, business owners, podcasters, professionals, and even students and teachers.
One of the unique features of this website is that it has an audio player for audio decoding. The performance is slow-motion. It is a universal service, and it is mostly used by professional transcribers. It even has timestamps features. However, if you are not a professional transcriber yourself, you can also try to use this service and see whether it meets your needs and expectations.
Of course, for an average user, mastering all of the features, including video subtitles and transcript exporting, can be tough. If you are a blogger who works with videos on Vimeo or YouTube, this software is very helpful.
First of all, it expands text automatically and helps convert to text easily. You can use a manual facility as well. Their pricing plans are very reasonable and affordable. Thus, self-transcription costs $20 per year, while automatic transcription costs $20 per year and an additional $6 per hour of audio.
oTranscribe
oTranscribe is not a specific app for your smartphone, but it is a great online tool. Moreover, it is absolutely free to use. Naturally, paid software is much more efficient and provides more guarantees and options but using something for free is also not that bad.
This service is pretty fast and allows you to enjoy some great features. With its help, you can export to Markdown, Google docs, or plain text. Interactive timestamps are also available. From your keyboard, you can easily pause and forward, etc. Each change is saved automatically. Like the rest of the services, it takes care of your privacy and guarantees your full confidentiality.