If you’re a medical or legal professional needing transcripts of dictations, a journalist looking to transcribe interviews with sources, or part of a team making use of real-time meeting notes, a transcription service can translate audio and video conversations onto paper for you. The best transcription services do this with a high degree of accuracy, whether you’re relying on human transcriptionists or AI-powered features.
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What is the best transcription software right now?
I tested different transcription software options to determine which ones produce accurate transcripts of live and recorded audio for a variety of user needs. Based on my testing, GoTranscript is the best service for highly accurate, human-generated transcripts, with access to professionals trained in 40 languages as well as in industries like medicine, law, and education. Otter.ai<!–> is a solid pick for automated and real-time transcription, such as live meetings, with a generous free plan that resets every month.
These are the best transcription software options in 2025.
The best transcription services of 2025
GoTranscript is my top pick for human transcription, especially if you need a high degree of accuracy from transcriptionists trained in specialty industries like medicine, law, or education.
The service is also affordable compared to others, especially if you’re not in a rush: human-generated transcripts cost $1.20 per minute — for audio under 2,500 minutes — with a 5-day turnaround. There are options for 3-day service ($1.40 per minute), 1-day service ($1.60 per minute), and turnaround in 6–12 hours ($2.75 per minute) as well as bulk pricing discounts, so the more minutes you order, the lower the cost per minute. GoTranscript also does automated transcription, with a pay-as-you-go option at $0.20 per minute or a $35-per-month subscription plus $0.02 per minute.
GoTranscript promises 99.4% accuracy for its human-generated transcripts, which can be done in nearly 40 languages, with timestamps and speaker labels, and either full verbatim or cleaned of filler words. Customers can also edit and annotate transcripts on the web. GoTranscript is HIPAA compliant, and transcriptionists sign non-disclosure agreements.
A few downsides: transcripts are sent as Microsoft Word documents unless otherwise requested, and the mobile app has very little functionality, as you have to check out and finalize orders via GoTranscript’s website. Of course, with human transcription, there’s also no live transcribing or captioning.
Features
- Human and automated transcription
- Subscription and pay-as-you-go pricing options
- 40 languages
- Specialty fields (legal, medical, academic)
- Options for clean or full verbatim
- HIPAA compliance
- Interactive editor
- Speaker labels and timestamps
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Otter.ai is a capable AI assistant for transcribing your virtual meetings in real time as well as generating full transcripts, summaries, and outlines that can be viewed, edited, and annotated by team members and integrated with apps like Slack and Dropbox. Otter works with live meetings on Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams and connects to Google and Outlook calendars to record scheduled meetings. The platform also does live transcription of audio recorded via its mobile or web app as well as uploaded files (limited depending on your subscription).
Otter.ai is also the best option for no-cost transcription — its free plan comes with 300 minutes of transcription per month (up to 30 minutes at a time) for audio captured by the Otter app. Otter’s paid plans are also cheaper than competitors: the Pro tier, which costs $8 per month, gets you 1,200 minutes with a 90-minute per-conversation limit plus 10 file uploads, while the $20-per-month Business tier comes with 6,000 minutes per month, a 4-hour per-conversation limit, and unlimited uploads, plus the ability to record three meetings at the same time. The editing and collaboration tools are more robust than with some other platforms, making it a good option for teams.
In my testing, the Otter app was easy to use, though the transcript wasn’t as accurate as some other services at capturing punctuation and transitioning from one speaker to the next. It also supports only English, Spanish, and French, so it won’t be the best choice for live or recorded audio in other languages.
Features
- Automated transcription
- Live transcripts for audio and video calls and meetings
- Generates summaries and outlines
- Subscription pricing
- Interactive editor
- Integrations with meeting and productivity apps
- Speaker labels and timestamps
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Happy Scribe is a solid choice for teams needing transcription, captioning, and translation services with the ability to collaborate on a single platform. Happy Scribe offers automated transcription in 120 languages with the option to have human proofreaders (in 70 languages) review AI-generated text — a service known as “human made” — if you want verbatim transcripts or extras like speaker names and grammar clean-up. Professional transcriptionists specialize in legal, medical, and academic fields.
Happy Scribe’s pay-as-you-go starter plan costs $12 per hour with unlimited meeting recordings, or you can buy a subscription for a set number of annual minutes and more features, like additional user seats and access to human proofreading. Lite ($6 per month) comes with 720 minutes per year, while Pro ($19 per month) allows 7,200 minutes and Business ($49 per month) 60,000 minutes. That comes out to $0.10, $0.03, and $0.01 per minute, respectively.
The workspace-style platform allows you to invite members to view or edit files and integrates with uploads from apps like Google Drive and YouTube. You can also record and transcribe meetings with connections to Google and Outlook calendars. Other useful features of Happy Scribe include AI summaries, quotes, and narrative posts and the ability to create individual style guides to apply to transcripts. It’s also easy to edit and annotate transcripts once created. In testing, Happy Scribe’s automated transcription fully captured the punctuation and cadence of our script as well as speaker transitions without any spelling or style errors.
Happy Scribe is a desktop-first service, so it’s not a great choice for those needing to record and transcribe on the go.
Features
- Automated transcription and human proofreading
- Subscription and pay-as-you-go pricing options
- Unlimited meeting recordings
- 120+ languages (automated)
- 40+ export formats
- Specialty fields (legal, medical, academic)
- Verbatim transcription
- Custom style guides
- Interactive editor
- Speaker labels and timestamps
- Integrations with calendar and productivity apps
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Alice is a solid option for pay-as-you-go automated transcription, especially if you don’t need a lot of bells and whistles. The service’s bulk pricing starts at $10 per hour (after a 60-minute free trial) with options to purchase 20 hours for $100 or 100 hours for $300, and your time never expires. You can use the web or iOS app to record or upload files for transcription.
Alice is an especially good choice for users who prioritize privacy, such as journalists working with confidential sources. While most transcription software offers some level of encryption and non-disclosure, Alice takes extra steps to minimize how much user data is collected and stored in the first place. You simply need to provide an email address, which can be temporary to allow for anonymity, and your files are hard deleted after a time period set by you. Data is encrypted end-to-end, and Alice takes a strict stance on limiting cooperation with law enforcement.
In testing, Alice had difficulty correctly identifying individuals from an uploaded recording, transcribing one person’s track as two speakers, but the transcription from audio recorded in the app had minimal errors and even accurately captured styles like “FaceTime.” The mobile app has several details to minimize disruption when conducting interviews, like swipe gestures in place of buttons and the ability to tap to bookmark important moments. There’s no live captioning, summarizing, or transcribing, but turnaround time is relatively quick, and you can make basic edits in the web app and export transcripts in a handful of formats.
Features
- Automated transcription
- Per-hour pricing with no expiration
- Free trial
- Audio recorder
- Hard deletion of data
- Minimal user information collected
- Integration with productivity and messaging apps
- Speaker labels and timestamps
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GoTranscript is my pick for the best human transcription service, with its flexible pricing plans and transcriptionists specializing in industries like medicine, law, and academia. Otter.ai is a good alternative for transcribing live meetings with a generous free plan.
Best transcription software | Human transcription available? | Free plan? | Turnaround time (human) | Cost | Notable features |
GoTranscript | ✓ | x | 6 hours–5 days | Human: $1.20–$2.75 per minute Automated: $0.20 per minute automated ($0.02 per minute with $35-per-month subscription) | Pricing based on turnaround time, speciality industries |
Otter.ai | x | ✓ | x | Automated: $8–$20 per month (no pay-as-you-go) | Live transcription, meeting integrations |
Happy Scribe | ✓ | x | 24 hours | Automated: $6–50 per month or $0.20 per minute pay as you go Human: $1.90–$2 per minute depending on plan | Extensive language catalog, team setup |
Alice | x | x | x | $3–$10 per hour ($0.05–$0.16 per minute) depending on plan | Privacy controls, bulk pricing |
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Choose this transcription software… | If you want… |
GoTranscript | Highly accurate, human-generated transcripts for specialized fields. |
Otter.ai | Live automated transcription of meetings with a generous free plan. |
Happy Scribe | A platform built for teams with automated transcription and human proofreaders. |
Alice | A privacy-focused automated transcription service that does the basics well. |
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The first decision to make when selecting a transcription service is whether you need human-generated transcripts created by professional transcriptionists, who have a higher degree of accuracy and are trained in specific industries like medicine, law, and education. Note that human-generated transcripts will cost more and take longer to produce than automated ones, and not all services have this option. Be sure to compare pricing and turnaround time as well as available languages for human transcription before deciding.
If you go with automated transcription software, you’ll want to weigh factors like cost, accuracy, and additional features. The cost per minute of AI-generated transcription varies, with options to buy in bulk and use as needed, pay as you go, or lock in with a subscription. Automated transcription isn’t as accurate as human and is likely to require some editing, but some services are better at identifying speakers and capturing style and grammar than others. You should also compare features, such as the ability to transcribe meetings in real time, generate summaries and related content, collaborate with team members, or record on the go with a mobile app.
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To identify the best transcription software available now, I compared services that offer human or automated transcription (or both) using the factors listed above as well as existing reviews. Where possible, I tested automated transcription for accuracy using both live and recorded audio to assess user experience.
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Automated transcription services use AI-powered speech-to-text functionality to generate transcripts quickly and at a lower cost than human-powered services, which require trained transcriptionists to go through your audio. While automated transcription is a great option for getting things fast and cheap, you’ll likely sacrifice some accuracy and nuance, as AI may not fully understand context, idioms, or industry-specific terms.
Some transcription services — Scribie.ai and Happy Scribe, for example — offer automated transcription with human proofreading or verification, meaning that AI does the bulk of the work, but the final product has actual eyes on it before being returned to you. This can be a good option for balancing speed, cost, and accuracy.
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There are several services that offer automated transcription at no cost, though there are limits to how many minutes of audio you’re allowed per month. Rev’s free plan includes 45 minutes per month, while Otter.ai permits 300 minutes of live transcription per month with a 30-minute per conversation limit. Descript has a 1-hour per month maximum. Several other services offer free trials, but no ongoing no-cost option.
Alternatively, you can use speech-to-text tools built into software like Google Docs or Microsoft Word as well as AI transcription features on your smartphone.
There are no human transcription services available for free — unless you do it yourself.
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Other transcription software we’ve tested
If none of the transcription services recommended here fit your needs, there are others to consider:
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