Manual transcription costs $1-3 per minute of audio and takes 4-6 hours per hour of recording. AI transcription costs pennies and takes minutes. Here are the best options for different needs.
1. Otter.ai — Best for Meetings
Otter joins your video calls (Zoom, Teams, Meet) and transcribes in real time with speaker identification. The resulting transcript is searchable, shareable, and includes AI-generated summaries. For meeting transcription specifically, Otter is purpose-built and excellent.
Accuracy: 90-95% for clear English speech
Price: Free (300 min/month) / Pro $17/month (unlimited)
2. Whisper (via tools) — Best Accuracy
OpenAI's Whisper model, available through various platforms and APIs, produces the most accurate transcriptions — particularly for accented speech, technical terminology, and challenging audio conditions. It supports 99 languages. Use it through MacWhisper, or integrate via the OpenAI API.
Accuracy: 95-98% for clear speech
Price: Free (open source) / API: $0.006 per minute
3. Descript — Best for Content Creators
Descript transcribes and lets you edit the audio by editing the text. For podcasters and video creators who need transcripts they can also use for editing, it combines two workflows into one tool. The Studio Sound feature cleans up audio quality automatically.
Accuracy: 90-95%
Price: Free tier / Hobbyist $24/month / Pro $33/month
4. Rev — Best for Professional Quality
Rev offers both AI transcription (fast, cheap) and human-reviewed transcription (slower, higher accuracy). For legal depositions, medical records, or any context where 99%+ accuracy is required, the human-in-the-loop option provides that guarantee.
Accuracy: AI: 90-95% / Human: 99%+
Price: AI: $0.25/min / Human: $1.50/min
5. Happy Scribe — Best for Subtitles
Happy Scribe combines transcription with subtitle generation, offering timing, formatting, and export in SRT, VTT, and other subtitle formats. For video creators who need subtitles, it saves the step of converting transcripts into timed subtitle files.
Accuracy: 85-95%
Price: From $17/month
Quick Decision Guide
For meetings: Otter (free tier covers most needs). For highest accuracy: Whisper. For content editing: Descript. For professional/legal: Rev with human review. For subtitles: Happy Scribe. Start with Otter or Whisper — both offer free options that handle most transcription needs.