Today there are 78 different AI transcription software. We spent 93 hours comparing the top 50 to find the seven best you can use to transcribe and unlock insights from your content.
What is the Best AI Transcription Software?
1. Otter
Our Verdict — Best Of The Best
Price: Starts at $16.99/month
Otter is the best option if you need to turn conversations into smart notes. We think it’s the best because of its real-time transcribing feature, speaker identification capability, and easy-to-use interface.
The Best Part:
Talk it out. Otter’s AI Chat is there to help you during meetings, answering your questions and creating follow-up tasks based on the conversations you’re having.
The Worst Part:
Tight free plan. The Basic plan caps you at 300 transcription minutes a month and three lifetime audio or video file imports, so regular users will outgrow it fast.
Get it if you want to generate spot-on transcriptions that can accurately keep tabs on your meetings
I recommend you start with the Basic plan for free, then get the Pro plan for $16.99/month.
(free plan)
Best For
Otter is best for busy professionals who want accurate transcriptions and an interactive assistant to streamline their meetings.
Top Features
Say goodbye to gibberish. With Otter's top-notch AI technology at your disposal, you'll get spot-on transcripts.
Auto-join to take notes. Just hook up Otter to your Google or Microsoft calendar, and it'll automatically hop into your Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Google Meet sessions.
Never miss a slide again! With Otter's Automated Slide Capture, every time someone shares slides during your virtual meeting, they're automatically snapped up and tucked neatly into your meeting notes.
Stay in the loop with the Live Video Summarizer. If you zone out or miss a chunk of the meeting, don't sweat it — Otter's got your back! It whips up a video summary as things are happening, so you can catch up on any missed bits during the action.
Real-time transcription. Otter can transform spoken words into written text instantly, making it perfect for live meetings or interviews where you don't want to miss any detail.
Pricing
Otter offers four pricing plans:
- Basic: Free forever, for individuals who want to give Otter a test run and get a feel of its capabilities.
- Pro: $16.99/month, or $8.33/month billed annually, for small teams and professionals who need more transcription time and advanced features.
- Business: $30/month, or $19.99/month billed annually, for larger teams that require extensive collaboration and administrative control.
- Enterprise: Custom pricing, for big organizations that require extra security measures, controls, and support.
Annual subscriptions provide up to a 51% discount.
Try Otter today with the free plan.
2. Fireflies
Our Verdict — Best For Meeting Summarization
Price: Starts at $18/month
Fireflies is an AI-powered software designed to efficiently transcribe, summarize, and analyze meetings. We think it’s the best for meeting summarization because of its seamless integration with video-conferencing apps, robust analysis capabilities, and advanced search features.
The Best Part:
It's the leader of compatibility. Fireflies smoothly integrates with tons of digital meeting tools, calendars, apps, and dialers. So whether you're embedding it into your Microsoft Teams conferences, aligning it with your Outlook Calendar, or even pairing it with Salesforce, it’ll always work like a charm.
The Worst Part:
A bit messy with documents. Without proper tagging and categorization, locating your files in Fireflies can be tough. It's worth organizing your transcriptions or else searching for specific files could turn into a never-ending task!
Get it if you want not just a transcription tool, but also an intelligent analyzer and summarizer that can help you dig deeper into your meeting transcripts and extract valuable insights.
I recommend you get started with the Free plan, then get the Pro plan for $18/month.
(free plan)
Best For
Fireflies is best for teams and entrepreneurs who want to transform their meeting transcripts into actionable insights for improved communication and efficiency.
Top Features
It's super versatile. Fireflies can work seamlessly with the most popular video-conferencing tools, including but not limited to Zoom, RingCentral, Google Meet, Teams, Webex, and Aircall.
Transcribe any language. Whether you're speaking English, Spanish, French or any of the 100+ languages Fireflies supports — rest assured your transcriptions will be spot-on!
Clip and share soundbites. Fireflies lets you create short, shareable audio clips from your meetings that can be easily posted on social platforms or sent to your team.
Lightning-fast transcriptions. Fireflies doesn't leave you hanging — it delivers accurate transcripts of your meetings within minutes!
Pinpoint the good stuff. Add comments, pins, and reactions right onto specific parts of transcriptions in your recorded meetings.
Pricing
Fireflies offers four pricing plans:
- Free: Free forever, for those who want to test Fireflies' basic transcription capabilities without investing in a plan.
- Pro: $18/month, or $10/month billed annually, for small teams or professionals who need unlimited transcription credits and advanced AI features.
- Business: $29/month, or $19/month billed annually, for fast-growing businesses that require features such as unlimited storage, video recording, and API access.
- Enterprise: $39/month per seat, billed annually only, for large teams who want specialized features such as custom speech models, dedicated account management, and priority support.
Annual subscriptions provide up to a 44% discount.
Try Fireflies today with the free plan.
3. Speak Ai
Our Verdict — Best For Research
Price: Starts at $25/month
Speak Ai is an innovative recording, transcription, and analysis engine for researchers. We think it’s the best for research because of its high transcription accuracy, support for 100+ languages, and robust analysis features.
The Best Part:
Robust data analysis. Speak Ai makes it a breeze to upload audio, video, or text data individually or in bulk, then automatically transcribes and analyzes the content to extract key data for you.
The Worst Part:
Low readability on the interface. The color scheme and design of Speak Ai's overview page could use some improvement for better readability.
Get it if you want an all-in-one tool for seamless recording, transcribing, and in-depth analysis of audio, video, and text.
I recommend you start off with their 7-day free trial, then get the Pro plan for $25/month.
(7-day free trial)
Best For
Speak Ai is best for researchers and businesses that want to save valuable time through automatic transcription and analysis.
Top Features
Automate workflows like a pro. Paste YouTube video links or RSS feeds into Speak Ai, and it'll transcribe the videos or analyze the feeds for you.
Supports multiple languages. Conduct research in foreign languages and transcribe all types of content in 100+ different languages.
Get insights quickly. Picture Speak Ai as a detective uncovering crucial keywords, topics, and key phrases from your transcriptions instantly — right after every meeting.
Transcribe effortlessly. Imagine turning a mountain of audio and video files into an easily navigable text document — that's what Speak Ai does for you.
Speak Ai Magic Prompts. Ask questions and get insightful responses from your data using Speak Ai's recommended prompts or by creating your own!
Pricing
Speak Ai offers three pricing plans:
- Pay as you go: Free to start, then credits at $1 each (about 2 credits per hour of standard transcription), for occasional users and API builders who don’t want a subscription.
- Pro: $25/month per user, or $20/month billed annually, for researchers and teams of up to five who want 25 credits per user a month (about 25 hours of standard transcription) and 10 GB of storage.
- Enterprise: Custom pricing, for organizations that want a branded, white-label app with custom AI agents and unlimited users.
Annual plans provide a 20% discount.
Try Speak Ai today with a free 7-day trial.
4. AssemblyAI
Our Verdict — Best For Developers
Price: Starts at $0.15/hour
AssemblyAI is a speech-to-text API that developers use to build transcription into their own apps. We think it’s the best for developers because you can transcribe recorded audio or live streams through one API, then summarize, redact, and analyze the results through the same platform.
The Best Part:
Pay only for what you use. There are no minimum commitments or contracts, and you’re billed monthly for the hours you actually transcribe.
The Worst Part:
Built for code. AssemblyAI is an API, not an app, so you’ll need a developer to get value out of it.
Get it if you’re building a product that needs accurate transcription under the hood.
I recommend you start for free, then pay as you go from $0.15/hour of audio.
(free plan)
Best For
AssemblyAI is best for developers and product teams who want to add speech-to-text to their own software.
Top Features
Recorded and live audio. Transcribe audio and video files, or stream audio in and get transcripts back as people speak.
Speaker labels. See who said what, with formatting and word-level timestamps.
99 languages. Universal-2 transcribes 99 languages, with automatic language detection.
Speech understanding. Get summaries, sentiment, and entities built on your transcripts.
Guardrails. Detect and redact personal information in your voice data.
Pricing
AssemblyAI offers three pricing plans:
- Free: Free to start, with no credit card, for up to 185 hours of recorded transcription and up to 333 hours of streaming.
- Pay as you go: $0.15/hour for Universal-2, or $0.21/hour for AssemblyAI’s most accurate model for recorded audio, billed monthly with no commitments.
- Custom: Custom pricing, for volume discounts, custom rate limits, and enhanced concurrency.
Try AssemblyAI today with the free plan.
5. Wavel AI
Our Verdict — Best For Quick Transcriptions
Price: Starts at $25/month
Wavel AI is an AI video platform that turns the speech in your videos into captions, translations, dubs, and voiceovers. We think it’s the best for quick transcriptions because it captions your video automatically, ready to edit, translate, or dub into another language.
The Best Part:
Captions and translation in one. Wavel AI turns speech into captions, then translates them or dubs your video in another language.
The Worst Part:
Video comes first. Wavel AI has grown into an AI video generator, so transcription is now one tool among many.
Get it if you want subtitles for your videos without typing a single line.
I recommend you try Wavel AI free for seven days, then get the Basic plan for $25/month, or $16/month billed annually.
(7-day free trial)
Best For
Wavel AI is best for video creators who want captions, subtitles, and translations fast.
Top Features
AI captions. Add captions to your videos automatically.
Translation. Translate your subtitles and voice into other languages.
AI dubbing. Dub your videos into other languages with natural-sounding AI voices.
Voice cloning. Clone a voice and use it for consistent voiceovers across your videos.
Prompt editing. Describe the changes you want, and AI updates your video.
Pricing
Wavel AI offers four pricing plans:
- Free: Free for seven days, with 15 one-time credits to try every AI tool, watermarked videos, and no downloads.
- Basic: $25/month, or $16/month billed annually, with 1,200 credits a year on annual billing (good for up to 25 hours of subtitles) and 10 voice clones.
- Pro: $40/month, or $26/month billed annually, with 3,600 credits a year on annual billing (good for up to 60 hours of subtitles) and 30 voice clones.
- Scale: $100/month, or $66/month billed annually, with 12,000 credits a year on annual billing (good for up to 160 hours of subtitles) and 100 voice clones.
Annual subscriptions provide up to a 36% discount.
Try Wavel AI today with a 7-day free trial.
6. Descript
Our Verdict — Best For Video Editing
Price: Starts at $24/month
Descript is an AI video and podcast editor that transcribes your recordings, so you edit them by editing the text. We think it’s the best for video editing because deleting a word from your transcript cuts it from your video too.
The Best Part:
Edit like a doc. Delete a sentence from the transcript, and Descript cuts it from your video.
The Worst Part:
Media hours run out. Hobbyist includes 10 media hours a month, so heavy editors need Creator, which has 30 hours and access to top-ups.
Get it if you want to edit videos and podcasts as easily as you edit a document.
I recommend you start with the free plan, then get the Creator plan for $35/month, or $24/month billed annually.
(free plan)
Best For
Descript is best for creators and podcasters who want transcription and editing in one app.
Top Features
Transcription in 25 languages. Transcribe your recordings in 25 languages and detect 8+ speakers.
Underlord. Descript’s AI co-editor helps you edit, write, and repurpose your videos.
Studio Sound. Clean up your audio and remove filler words.
Remote recording. Record up to 10 people in a room, with separate cloud backups for every session.
Translation and dubbing. Translate your captions and dub your videos into other languages.
Pricing
Descript offers five pricing plans:
- Free: $0, for one media hour a month and 100 one-time AI credits to try text-based editing.
- Hobbyist: $24/month, or $16/month billed annually, for 10 media hours and 400 AI credits a month, and watermark-free 1080p exports.
- Creator: $35/month, or $24/month billed annually, for 30 media hours and 800 AI credits a month, 4K exports, and unlimited stock media.
- Business: $65/month, or $50/month billed annually, for 40 media hours and 1,500 AI credits a month, Brand Studio, and translation and dubbing in 30+ languages.
- Enterprise: Custom pricing, for teams that need SSO, AI and data controls, and a dedicated success manager.
Annual subscriptions provide up to a 33% discount.
Try Descript today with the free plan.
7. Notta
Our Verdict — Best For Extracting Actionable Insights
Price: Starts at $13.49/month
Notta is an AI meeting notetaker that transcribes your meetings, interviews, and lectures in 58 languages. We think it’s the best for extracting actionable insights because Notta Brain searches across all your recordings and turns what was said into summaries, slides, and infographics.
The Best Part:
From talk to deliverables. Notta Brain turns your meeting notes into ready-to-share presentations and infographics.
The Worst Part:
Short free calls. The free plan stops at three minutes per conversation, so it’s only a taste.
Get it if you want your meetings to turn into decisions, not just transcripts.
I recommend you start with the free plan, then get the Pro plan for $13.49/month, or $8.17/month billed annually.
(free plan)
Best For
Notta is best for executives, sales teams, and consultants who want insights and deliverables from every conversation.
Top Features
58 languages. Transcribe and translate your conversations in 58 languages.
Meetings anywhere. Capture Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and Webex calls, in-person meetings, or uploaded files.
Notta Brain. Ask questions across your meetings and generate slides and infographics from them.
Speaker identification. See who said what in every transcript.
Integrations. Export to Google Drive, Notion, Slack, Salesforce, and more.
Pricing
Notta offers four pricing plans:
- Free: $0, for 120 transcription minutes a month, up to three minutes per conversation, and 10 AI summaries.
- Pro: $13.49/month, or $8.17/month billed annually, for 1,800 transcription minutes a month, up to five hours per recording, and transcript translation.
- Business: $27.99/month per seat, or $16.67/month billed annually, for unlimited transcription, meeting video recording, and CRM and Zapier integrations.
- Enterprise: Custom pricing, for 51+ seats that need SAML SSO, audit logs, and priority support.
Annual subscriptions provide up to a 40% discount.
Try Notta today with the free plan.
Our Top Three Picks
Here’s a quick summary of our top three picks:
Here’s a quick comparison of our top seven picks:
Tool | Entry Offer | Pricing |
|---|---|---|
Otter | Free plan | Starts at $16.99/mo |
Fireflies | Free plan | Starts at $18/mo |
Speak Ai | 7-day free trial | Starts at $25/mo |
AssemblyAI | Free plan | Starts at $0.15/hr |
Wavel AI | Free trial | Starts at $25/mo |
Descript | Free plan | Starts at $24/mo |
Notta | Free plan | Starts at $13.49/mo |
Here are the top 50 AI transcription software we considered in this review:
- Otter
- Fireflies
- Speak Ai
- AssemblyAI
- Wavel AI
- Descript
- Notta
- Whisper
- VoicePen
- Deciphr
- Vocapia
- Shownotes
- Amazon Transcribe
- tl;dv
- Rev
- 3Play
- GoTranscript
- Fathom
- Trint
- Speechmatics
- Turboscribe
- Avoma
- Verbit
- InqScribe
- Revoldiv
- Podsqueeze
- Speechpad
- Transkrip
- Grain
- Gladia
- Krisp
- Amberscript
- Maestra
- Google Cloud Speech-to-Text
- Transkriptor
- AudioNotes
- SpeedScriber
- Deepgram
- ExemplaryAI
- Temi
- Happy Scribe
- VoiceLine
- ElevenLabs Scribe
- MacWhisper
- Pictory
- Sonix
- Riverside
- Tactiq
- Whisper Memos
- AnthemScore
Frequently Asked Questions About AI Transcription Software
What is the best AI transcription software?
Otter is our top pick overall. You get real-time transcription, speaker identification, and spot-on transcripts, which makes it the one to reach for if you are a busy professional who wants an accurate, interactive assistant.
Is there a free AI transcription tool?
Yes, several. Otter and Fireflies both run a free basic plan, and Descript and Notta have free plans too. Speak Ai gives you a free trial rather than a permanent free tier.
What should I look for in AI transcription software?
Weigh accuracy, real-time transcription, speaker identification, language support, and fit for your use case, whether that is meetings, video editing, or research. Then match each tool to the job it does best.
Which AI transcription tool is best for meetings?
Fireflies is the pick for meetings. It turns your meeting transcripts into actionable takeaways and delivers accurate transcripts within minutes of wrapping up.
Can AI transcription software handle languages other than English?
Yes. Otter transcribes English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, and Chinese, while Fireflies and Speak Ai each cover 100+ languages if multilingual work is on your plate.
Which AI transcription software is best for developers?
AssemblyAI is the pick for developers. It is built for technical and development work rather than general consumer transcription, so it fits when you are wiring transcription into your own product.
Otter vs Fireflies: which should I choose?
Both run free and paid plans, so it comes down to your use case. Reach for Otter if you are a busy professional who wants accurate transcripts in one of its six languages, and Fireflies if you run team meetings and need 100+ languages plus summarization.
Which AI transcription tool is best for video editing?
Descript is the pick for video editing, and it comes with a free plan so you can test it on a real project before you pay.
What is the best AI transcription tool for research?
Speak Ai is the pick for research. You get an analysis engine, bulk processing, and a free trial, which makes it a fit for researchers and teams that want to save time.
The Bottom Line
To recap, here are the best AI transcription software to try this year: