6 of the Best Interview Transcription Software & Services (2024)

What software can you use to transcribe interviews?

If you’re a content creator and want quick solutions, there’s some good news. There are plenty of apps and programs you can use to effortlessly transcribe your interviews. No matter your experience level, you can find something that works for you. So, let’s take a look at the best interview transcription software and services out there.

How to choose the right interview transcription software

Before you start searching for the best interview transcription software, you need to know what to consider. It’s important to weigh all the options when figuring out which one suits your current needs. With that in mind, here are some factors to consider. 

Price

Your budget is one of the biggest things that you need to keep in mind. How much can you spend on interview transcription software or services? You don’t want to waste money, so you should decide on this ahead of time. Many of the programs that we will cover have free versions and subscriptions. You can choose what package and level you need.

Compatibility 

What device do you plan to use? Do you have a Windows computer or a Mac? Are you using an iOS device or an Android device? Answer these questions before you do anything else. When you know which hardware you will be using, you can look for a compatible program or application. As you will see, there’s a wide variety of options. 

Languages

What languages are you transcribing? Many of the software packages we will cover only offer English or American English transcriptions. However, there are some programs that have more than 100 languages in their roster. Decide which one you need.

Accuracy 

When choosing the best interview transcription software, you should always look into how accurate it is. You don’t want a piece of software with low accuracy levels. That is a mistake. If you are unsure where to start, read reviews and testimonials. 

Human vs. AI transcription 

There are two main options here — human transcription (i.e. transcription services) and AI transcription (i.e.transcription software). Some people prefer human-based transcriptions, while others find the ease and speed of AI transcription to be the obvious choice. Keep in mind that often enough transcription software is cheaper than a transcription service.

The 6 Best Interview Transcription Software for Easy Transcripts

Now that you know what you should be looking for in interview transcription software, let’s take a look at your options. There are plenty of platforms and apps on the market. Choosing the right one for you will depend on exactly what you need and your budget. If you’re unsure where to start, take a look at the following interview transcribing software.

1. Riverside 

Price: $24.00 (Pro Version) 

Compatibility: Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android

Riverside is an affordable and straightforward remote interview recording platform. With local recording, you can capture top-quality interviews in up to 4K video and 48kHz audio resolution without worrying about internet connection. You can invite up to 8 guests and download separate audio and video tracks for each. But it doesn’t end here.

When you finish recording, Riverside’s Ai software automatically generates an SRT and TXT transcription file. You can easily turn the SRT files into captions or use the TXT files for quick content repurposing. You can even burn captions directly on your video in our editor.

Our text-based editor uses your AI transcriptions so that any text you delete in your transcript automatically removes the matching video and audio in your recording.

The major advantage of this platform is that you can do everything — recording and editing — in one place. 

Pros: 

• Transcription in 100+ languages
• Create ultra high-quality recordings
• Use Producer Mode to take your content to the next level
• Accurate AI transcriptions based off Open Ai’s Whisper speech-to-text technology
• Receive transcripts fast straight after recording
• Speaker detection so you can easily navigate through your transcript
• Background noise removal and level normalization
• Ideal for people of any skill level 
• Includes a straightforward Editor feaure 
• Record with 7 guests at the same time 
• Supports a wide range of recording formats 
• Captioning tool so you can directly add video captions to your recordings

Best for: Recording interviews remotely and automatic transcription

2. Rev.com

Price: $0.25 per minute (Automated),  $1.50 per minute (Human Transcription)

Compatibility: iOS and Android

Rev.com is a user-friendly transcription software that delivers high-quality and accurate interview transcriptions. It's compatible with most audio and video formats and can support different languages. Additionally, it uses advanced speech recognition technology and human editors to ensure high-quality and accurate transcriptions.

Key Features

• Accepts many file formats, including audio and video files
• Supports over 30 languages for transcription and captioning services
• Intuitive and user-friendly online platform 
• Easily upload files, track the progress of their orders, and communicate with their designated transcriber

Best For: Transcribing interviews, webinars, and conference calls

3. Otter.ai

Price: Free (Basic), $8.33 per month (Pro), $20 per month (Business)

Compatibility: In-Browser, iOS, Android, Chrome Extension 

Otter.ai has impressive voice recognition technology that can identify different speakers with high accuracy, further improving the quality of its transcriptions. Its web and mobile interfaces are intuitive and user-friendly. However, there's a limitation on audio-recording and maximum storage, but one can upgrade to the premium version of the software to access unlimited recordings.

Key Features

• Real-time transcription of spoken words
• Access through its mobile app or web-based platform.
• Advanced voice recognition technology to identify different speakers
• Automatically creates searchable transcripts of all recorded conversations
• Integrates with Zoom, Google Meet, and Dropbox

Best For: Accurate transcriptions of spoken content

4. Temi

Price: $0.25 per minute (Pay-As-You-Go Plan),  $10/per month for three hours of transcription (Monthly Subscription Plan)

Compatibility: iOS and Android

Temi is a user-friendly online transcription software that uses advanced algorithms to produce highly accurate transcripts, even with multiple speakers or muffled audio. It's also compatible with different audio and video file formats and allows users to upload audio files from third-party cloud storage services. 

Key Features

• Advanced speech recognition technology 
• Transcribe audio and video files quickly and accurately
• Customize transcriptions by adding speaker labels and timestamps and choosing the language and accent
• Easily integrate the software with pps such as Dropbox, Google Drive, and Zoom

Best For: Closed captioning and subtitling for videos

5. Trint

Price: $0.18/per minute (Pay-As-You-Go Plan), $48 per month for 3 hours of transcription (Monthly Subscription Plan)

Compatibility: In-Browser

Trint transcription software integrates with various platforms, including Adobe Premiere Pro, Slack, and Zapier, allowing you to easily import and export your files to and from these platforms. Additionally, Trint provides a web-based editor where you can edit your transcripts and export them in various formats, including Word, Excel, and SRT for subtitles. The easy-to-use software also automatically timestamps every word in your transcript, making searching and finding specific content easy.

Key Features

• Automatic timestamps, making it easy to find what you need
• Can identify speakers in a recording and label them in the transcript
• Add custom vocabulary to Trint's dictionary to improve the accuracy of the transcription
• Specialized tools for transcribing legal proceedings

Best For: The legal industry and beyond

6. Happy Scribe

Price: $0.20 per minute (Pay As You Go),  $15/month for 2 hours of transcription (Monthly Subscription)

Compatibility: In-Browser

Happy Scribe is ideal for beginners. It is cloud-based transcription software compatible with various audio and video file formats, including MP3, WAV, M4A, MP4, and more. You can upload their files to the Happy Scribe website or use integrations with cloud storage services like Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive. That means that it’s super easy to integrate your work and store everything in one place. 

Key Features

• Choose from various output formats, including subtitles, captions, and plain text
• Supports over 119 languages
• Integrates with other tools like Dropbox, Google Drive, and YouTube
•  Automated subtitles, translation, and captioning

Best For: Creating text-based content from audio and video files

How to transcribe interviews effortlessly with Riverside

Looking for a way to effortlessly transcribe your interviews? 

Riverside is the answer. It includes automatic transcriptions in 100+ languages and Open Ai’s Whisper speech-to-text technology. That means you will get the most accurate text version of your content. The easy-to-use platform also offers speaker detection. That means that you can quickly navigate through your transcript when you are looking for specific parts of the content. 

If you’re searching for an all-in-one program, look no further than this one. You get everything that you need in one place from the remote recording studio to a quick transcript and the ability to edit your interview swiftly. Should you be ready to get started with the software, you may be wondering how it works. Here’s a quick breakdown to help you out: 

Step 1: Sign into your Riverside account and create a new studio or select an existing one for recording. 

Step 2: Click “Go to studio” and in the lobby choose whether or not you are using headphones. When you’ve set up your equipment click ‘Enter Studio.’

Step 3: In the recording studio you can invite guests if you haven’t already. When all guests are there, press “Record” to get started.

Step 4: Record your interview content. When you have finished, press stop. Wait till all the recordings upload, then select ‘View recordings’. 

Step 5: In the View recordings dashboard, your interview transcriptions will generate automatically. If you want to download them as transcript files, scroll to ‘Recording Files’ and select ‘Download’ next to transcript. 

Step 6: Choose between an SRT subtitle file ideal for closed captions, or a text file ideal for creating meeting notes or repurposing your interview transcription.

Note that you can also select ‘Go to Editor’ to burn your interview transcriptions directly into your recording as video captions.

Riverside is the ideal interview transcription software whatever your skill level. As you can see here, you can use the platform to record and edit your audio or video content. You will also get automatic transcriptions with unbeatable accuracy! 

FAQs on Interview Transcription Software

How can I transcribe an interview for free?

Yes, you can get transcription software free for interviews The truth is that there are many different types of software you can use to transcribe your interviews. Which you choose will depend on your specific set of needs. At Riverside, you can record and edit your content in one place while getting automatic transcriptions. 

How do you transcribe audio from an interview?

When you have recorded an interview, you have two choices. You can listen to the recording and transcribe the content by hand. However, this is likely to take you a long time to complete. It can be somewhat laborious. Your other option is to use interview transcription services or interview transcription software to do the work for you.

How can I transcribe an interview quickly?

The quickest way to transcribe your interviews is to use interview transcription software. Riverside offers automatic transcriptions in 100+ languages thanks to Open Ai’s Whisper speech-to-text technology. When you have finished recording, get an instant transcript.

How long does it take to transcribe a 20-minute interview?

If you were to transcribe an interview by hand, you can expect it to take around four times the length of the content. So, to transcribe a 20-minute interview, you should set aside around 80 minutes. Of course, it is much faster to use interview transcription software.