What are the best transcription apps and tools?

Can individuals and companies benefit from using automatic transcription apps and tools? It all depends on your current needs and budget.

Best transcription apps and tools

Getting spoken words on paper verbatim and in real-time requires superb skill. Audio quality, the speaker's accent, pace, and the topic's complexity are just some factors that impact the transcription quality.

Even for the most experienced transcribers, every transcription task is a new challenge. Therefore, all the help one can get is more than welcome.

Luckily, language app developers recognized early on the need for high-quality transcription. As a result, there are dozens of great transcription aids available today.

To help you narrow the choice, here’s a list of the best transcription apps and tools that will surely make your work easier.

Free transcription apps and tools for desktop users

A frequent prejudice about free apps and tools, mainly when performing such complex tasks as transcription, is that they deliver poor quality. Although paid ones often provide better quality, the best free transcription apps and tools won't disappoint. Take, for example, the following three.

Descript

In a nutshell, Descript is an all-rounder. It’s capable of transcribing uploaded audio, as well as those directly recorded using the Descript interface.

The transcription service is lightning fast, flawlessly identifies multiple speakers, and silence gaps and filler words are editable with a single click. Plus, it's also a podcast and video editor, as well as a screen recorder.

oTranscribe

There probably isn't a transcriber in the world who doesn't get frustrated by constantly navigating between the audio player and the text processor. That's where oTranscribe shines.

It enables control of audio and text processors within the same window. Furthermore, users can specify keyboard shortcuts for different audio player controls. At the same time, the content is automatically saved every second, never leaving the user's PC.

Speechnotes

For all those who love or need to dictate content on the go, Speechnotes is a capable and easy-to-use solution.

What separates it from the majority of other free transcription apps and tools is that no registration or installation is needed. Plus, it consumes only 4 MB of storage and allows long recordings without automatically stopping during pauses.

Punctuation marks are easily added using the accompanying onscreen keyboard or simply dictated into the text. Finally, it's multilingual, with the number of languages featured continually rising.

Transcription apps for Android and iPhone

Mobile devices are an inseparable part of business operations today. Transcription services are no exception, and there are great transcription apps for Android and iPhone to suit all transcription needs.

Dragon Anywhere

In discussions about dictation apps where high-level accuracy is paramount, and budget is not an issue, Dragon Anywhere always comes out on top.

The tests show 99% accuracy with regular users. The secret lies in the fact that the software adapts to the user's speaking style over time. So, the more it's used, the more accurate it becomes.

It also comes with voice editing and formatting, and enables notes to be shared by email, Dropbox, and more.

Rev

With transparent pricing and stellar performance, Rev is another go-to place for professional and business users.

Rev rightfully boasts about having the lowest word error rate of all speech recognition technologies available. In addition, the app features a voice recorder, and users can opt for the type of service they need, automatic or human transcription.

File sharing services include email, text, Slack, and many others.

Braina

This app is a preferred choice for users from niche industries that use a lot of technical jargon. It shines when it comes to medical, scientific, and legal terms. On top of that, users can add as many technical terms belonging to a particular term base as needed, and Braina will flawlessly recognize them in the future.

Braina's language base currently counts over 100 different languages, and the app enables easy Wi-Fi connection to a Windows PC. As a result, it is a capable all-around digital assistant.

Transcription tools for online meetings

COVID-19 pandemic took the world by storm, pushing online meetings into the spotlight overnight. All things related to online meetings followed like an avalanche, resulting in online meeting transcription tools available today that deliver exquisite service.

Otter

The ability to record automatically, take meeting notes and instantly share them with all participants of an online meeting makes Otter an excellent app for everyone attending multiple online meetings every day.

It's also great for those cases when you miss a meeting or two since it provides extensive summaries of the recorded sessions while highlighting key points.

What’s also great, Otter provides live captioning for anyone with accessibility needs.

Fireflies

Although a relative newbie on the transcription service scene, Fireflies has already made quite a name among online meeting users.

One of the reasons for this is that it flawlessly integrates with CRM and almost every collaboration app available, such as Salesforce, Hubspot, and Slack.

The integration enables recorded online meeting audio and transcriptions to be easily shared with people who do not have access to the online meeting platform.

Real-time voice to text services

Writing speeches, lectures, and notes has become much easier since speech-to-text software reached the level of accuracy required for professional use. Here are some of the best examples.

Google Docs Voice Typing

This great tool is undoubtedly one of the reasons why the number of people using Google Docs and Chrome continually rises. But, of course, being free to use is an additional plus.

Users can voice type their speeches, punctuation marks included, and edit and format them in real-time. This handy tool works in as many as 119 different languages, with new ones constantly being added.

Speechmatics

Differentiating between various English accents is one of the most frequent problems for many transcription services. That's where Speechmatics excels.

Their Global English pack covers all prominent English accents. The same goes for their Global Spanish pack.

Besides English, Speechmatics enables transcription in more than 20 other languages. It also offers reliable transcription of call-centre recordings.

Amazon Transcribe

This real-time voice-to-text service is particularly popular with business and enterprise users. Here’s why.

It can deal with recordings and live streams of lower quality, such as audio from contact centers, customer service, and other telephone calls and meetings. It also recognizes multiple speakers and relates the transcriptions accordingly.

Finally, Amazon Transcribe features a custom vocabulary option, allowing users to add individual product names and specific terminology to assure highly accurate transcriptions.

Conclusion

While automatic transcription isn't anywhere near as accurate as having a professional transcribe your audio and video files, it's more than good enough for simple purposes like sharing clips on social media or sending a transcript of a recording to a colleague.

But the biggest advantage of automated transcription is that you can do it almost instantly. So, if you're in a situation where time is of the essence, it's worth looking at one of these tools.

Download our free transcription template

Download templates for both detailed transcription and standard transcription. You can use the formats and examples in your own working document.