How to transcribe audio to text for free
It takes three steps.
- Drop an audio or video file on this page, or choose one from your computer.
- Pick where it is processed: the United States, the EU (Germany), Singapore or Japan. We suggest the nearest one.
- Open the transcript in the editor. Play any line, fix a word, change who said it.
What you get
Not a block of text: a transcript split into lines, each with its speaker and its time in the recording.
- Speakers told apart automatically, so a call or an interview reads as a conversation.
- Every word tied to the audio: click a line to hear it.
- An editor built for correcting: type to fix a word, press a number to change the speaker.
Exporting to Word or PDF needs a free account. Creating one keeps the transcript you just made.
Where your recording goes
Your file is uploaded to the region you pick and processed and stored there only. Scriven shows the region before anything uploads.
Free transcripts are deleted after an hour unless you keep them by creating an account. If a recording must never leave your computer, the desktop app transcribes offline instead.
Limits of the free transcription
- 15 free minutes in total, without an account. A longer file is cut at what is left, and the page says so.
- Files up to 125 MB, audio or video.
- After that, a free account gives you 60 minutes a month, recordings of any length.
A free account gives you 60 minutes of cloud transcription a month and the full editor and exports.
Questions
Is it really free?
Yes. The first 15 minutes of a recording are transcribed without an account or a card. A free account adds 60 minutes a month.
Do I need to sign up?
No. You only create an account if you want to keep the transcript or export it.
What happens to my recording?
It is processed and stored in the region you pick and deleted after an hour, unless you keep it.
Can it tell speakers apart?
Yes. Each line is attributed to a speaker, and you can rename speakers or move a line to another one.
Can I transcribe longer recordings?
Here, the first 15 minutes. With a free account you get 60 minutes a month, and the desktop app transcribes any length on your own computer.