How much does it cost to transcribe a 3-hour recording?
At WhoScribe, $5 for the whole recording, paid once. At the other pay-per-use services in the table above (AI transcription), from $4 to $36, checked Oct 23, 2026.
What it costs to transcribe a 1, 3, 5 or 10-hour recording
Pay once for one recording, or subscribe? Below is what one recording of 1, 3, 5 or 10 hours costs at WhoScribe and at other services, worked out only from the prices on each vendor's own pricing page (checked Oct 23, 2026). At WhoScribe: $5 per file, paid once, the same price at any length up to 10 hours.
One recording, paid once
US dollars, AI transcription unless the row says otherwise. Each cost is the service's stated rate applied to that length; free minutes and first-file offers are not subtracted. Every row links to the page its price was read from.
| Service | 1 hour | 3 hours | 5 hours | 10 hours | How they charge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WhoScribe | $5 | $5 | $5 | $5 | one payment unlocks the whole file, up to 10 hours |
| FileToText | $3 | $9 | $12 | $12 | $3 per started audio hour, $3 minimum and $12 maximum per file; files up to 20 hours filetotext.ai · source · checked Oct 23, 2026 |
| BrassTranscripts | $6 | $6 | $6 | $6 | $2.50 per file up to 15 minutes, $6.00 flat per longer file; 450 MB per file brasstranscripts.com/transcription-pricing · source · checked Oct 23, 2026 |
| Whipscribe | $4 | $4 | $4 | $12 | prepaid packs: 500 minutes for $4, 2,000 for $12, 5,000 for $24; credits never expire; files up to 12 hours whipscribe.com/pricing · source · checked Oct 23, 2026 |
| PlainScribe | $4 | $12 | $20 | $40 | $4 per audio hour of prepaid credit, $10 minimum top-up; first transcript free up to 2 hours; 1 GB per file plainscribe.com/pricing · source · checked Oct 23, 2026 |
| AllNote | $6 | $18 | $30 | Longer than their 5-hour limit | 10 cents a minute for one file, $3 minimum; files up to 1 GB or 5 hours allnote.ai/transcribe · source · checked Oct 23, 2026 |
| Sonix | $10 | $30 | $50 | $100 | pay as you go, $10 per hour, charged to the second sonix.ai/pricing · source · checked Oct 23, 2026 |
| Maestra | $12 | $36 | $60 | $120 | pay as you go, $12 per 60 credits (60 minutes) maestra.ai/pricing · source · checked Oct 23, 2026 |
| Rev (human transcription) | $119.40 | $358.20 | $597 | $1,194 | human transcription, $1.99 a minute (no per-minute AI rate is listed on this page) rev.com/pricing · source · checked Oct 23, 2026 |
If you transcribe every month
A plan costs less per recording once you have many of them. Each plan below is the entry-level paid plan on the vendor's own pricing page, described in its words.
| Plan | Price | Included | Longest file | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WhoScribe Unlimited | Unlimited at $20 a month or $120 a year Until December 1, Unlimited is 30% off. | No monthly minute limit; 50 files at once | 10 hours per file, uploads up to 10 GB | Pricing |
| Otter.ai Pro | $16.99 a month, or $8.33 a month billed yearly | 1,200 minutes a month, 10 file imports a month | 90 minutes per conversation (Business: 4 hours) | otter.ai/pricing · source · checked Oct 23, 2026 |
| Descript Hobbyist | $24 a month, or $16 a month billed yearly | 10 media hours a month | Not stated | descript.com/pricing · source · checked Oct 23, 2026 |
| HappyScribe Basic | $17 a month, or $8.50 a month billed yearly | 120 minutes a month | Not stated | happyscribe.com/pricing · source · checked Oct 23, 2026 |
| Notta Pro | $97.99 a year ($8.17 a month) | 1,800 minutes a month | 5 hours per recording | notta.ai/en/pricing · source · checked Oct 23, 2026 |
| Transkriptor Lite | $9.99 a month | 300 minutes a month | Not stated | transkriptor.com/pricing · source · checked Oct 23, 2026 |
| LongScribe Premium | $4.99 a month | 5,000 minutes and 500 recordings a month | Not stated | longscribe.com/transcription-software-pricing · source · checked Oct 23, 2026 |
| Whipscribe Unlimited | $19 a month | up to 150 hours a month | 12 hours per file | whipscribe.com/pricing · source · checked Oct 23, 2026 |
| FileToText Basic | $10 a month | 600 minutes a month | 20 hours per file | filetotext.ai · source · checked Oct 23, 2026 |
| Sonix Core | $25 a month, or $275 a year | 5 hours a month | Not stated | sonix.ai/pricing · source · checked Oct 23, 2026 |
Free, or on your own computer
WhoScribe transcribes the first 15 minutes of each file free with a free account (5 minutes without signing up), so you can check the quality before you pay for the rest.
Offline apps run speech recognition on your own computer, so there is no per-file price; you need a capable machine and time. MacWhisper: Free version (€0), or Pro for a one-time €64; Mac only, runs on your computer. macwhisper.com · source · checked Oct 23, 2026
How we worked it out
On Oct 23, 2026 we opened each vendor's own pricing page and copied its published rates; nothing comes from review sites or from memory. Where a page states no rate for a length, the cell says so. A per-minute or per-hour rate is multiplied by the length; a per-file price, minimum or cap is applied as the page states it; for prepaid packs, the cell shows the smallest pack that covers the recording. Prices change, so follow the source link before you buy.
FAQ
Questions before you upload
How much does it cost to transcribe a 10-hour recording?
At WhoScribe, $5 for one file of up to 10 hours, paid once. Some services do not take a file that long; the table above shows each one's limit as its own pricing page states it.
Is it cheaper to pay per file or to subscribe?
For one or two long recordings, paying per file means one payment and nothing to cancel. If you transcribe many hours every month, a plan usually costs less per recording. At WhoScribe both exist: $5 per file, paid once, the same price at any length up to 10 hours; Unlimited at $20 a month or $120 a year. Until December 1, Unlimited is 30% off.
Can I transcribe a long recording for free?
WhoScribe transcribes the first 15 minutes of each file free with a free account (5 minutes without signing up). Offline apps that run on your own computer, such as MacWhisper on a Mac, also have a free version.
Are these prices for AI or human transcription?
All rows are AI transcription except Rev (human transcription), whose rate is for transcription by people.
Transcribe a YouTube video
Paste the link. The first 5 minutes are free without an account, 15 with a free account. The whole file is $5, a one-time payment.
Paste a YouTube linkFacts about other services come from each vendor's own page, checked on Oct 23, 2026. Prices change, so follow the source link to see their current page.