8 Best Paid & Free Podcast Transcription Software for 2024

AI is changing the world. And podcast transcription is no exception. It’s now easier (and more budget-friendly) than ever to accurately transcribe your podcast in minutes with AI-powered software like Riverside. 

Transcriptions are key to adding captions to your content or helping you to repurpose it into blogs and other written content. To get started, you need to find a tool you can seamlessly integrate into your workflow. 

That’s where this article comes in. We’re introducing the 8 best free and paid transcription software out there (and why you may choose them over transcription services). 

TL;DR 

• Podcast transcription software converts your audio into text in minutes
• Podcast transcription services are generally more expensive & mean longer turnaround times 
• Think about price point, accuracy, and multilingual transcription when weighing up your options
• Riverside’s free-to-use AI Transcription tool is the best option for budget-friendly, easy-to-use, and accurate transcriptions. 

What is podcast transcription software? 

Podcast transcription software are tools that automatically transform your podcast’s audio into written form. They are typically browser-based and are an incredibly convenient and easy way to generate transcriptions. Since they’re driven by powerful AI, podcast transcription software usually takes a matter of minutes to produce an accurate transcription. 

Why should you use podcast transcription software?

When it comes to transcribing your podcast, you have three options: 

• Manually transcribing it yourself
• Hiring a human transcriber to manually transcribe it (although they usually also use software to help them in their process)
• Use podcast transcription software

Human (or manual) transcription offers a guaranteed 100% accuracy. Though, it’s usually much more time-intensive and costly. Podcast transcription software offers cost efficiency and an unbeatable turnaround time of just a few minutes.

Podcast Transcription Software vs Podcast Transcription Services

If you’re still unconvinced, let’s look at the differences between podcast transcription software and services. 

Podcast Transcription Software 

Pros 

• Quick - turnaround time for your transcription is usually a maximum of a few minutes.
• Cost-effective - AI-driven transcription is low-cost (or free!) 
• Easy to use - all you need to do is upload your podcast file and wait for your transcription 
• Multilingual - tools like Riverside’s AI Transcription software can transcribe audio in over 100 + languages
• High-accuracy - AI tools usually guarantee a high level of accuracy 

Cons 

• Accuracy: A machine transcriber may not pick up on nuances, but it also might not accurately capture every word. This is especially the case if the recording involves thick accents, or there’s a lot of background noise. You’ll likely need to proof read everything.

Podcast Transcription Services

Pros 

• Accuracy & nuance - human transcribers can pick up on nuance and manage different dialects/accents. 

Cons 

• Expensive - transcription services usually charge a premium for their services. 
• Slow turnaround - because manual transcription takes longer, you’ll usually face a longer turnaround time. 

What to consider when choosing podcast transcription software

Budget

For most podcasters, budget will be a huge factor. The first thing to look at is a platform’s pricing structure. It’s essential to look out for transcription, upload, or audio duration limits. If you’re considering a free platform, make sure it does everything you need it to (with no strings attached). 

Multilingual 

If you include multilingual content in your podcast, you need a platform that can handle different languages with no problem. 

Ease of use 

You deserve transcription software that’s easy to use and can become a seamless part of your overall creation workflow. 

8 Best Free & Paid Podcast Transcription Software Tools for 2024

Riverside 

Pricing: Free transcription tool, with unlimited built-in transcriptions available at $24/month on the Pro Plan

Compatibility: Browser-based (works on all devices) 

Riverside is a studio-quality recording and editing platform, but it offers downloadable transcripts straight after recording. Riverside uses Ai transcriptions built into its text-based video editor. You can generate transcriptions in over 100 languages with this Ai’s unmatched transcription accuracy. 

What’s unique here, is that you can also use these Ai transcriptions to edit your recordings. Any text you delete from your transcript in Riverside’s editor, automatically removes the corresponding video and audio. These transcriptions also come with speaker detection; you can easily use them to navigate your video without watching anything. You can even use a search bar to find a specific quote or phrase. 

In the editor you can also burn captions directly on your video, then style and position them as you want. Alternatively, if you prefer closed captions you can download   SRT. or TXT. transcript files for easy captioning and content repurposing. And if you haven’t recorded on Riverside, you can try our free transcription tool to upload your content. 

Riverside also uses local recording and automatic background noise removal to guarantee higher accuracy through crystal clear quality.

Key Features:

• Supports MP3, WAV, MP4 and MOV 
• Turnaround time of just a few minutes
• Unmatched accuracy powered by the latest AI tech, Whisper
• Multilingual transcriptions in over 100 languages 
• Export your transcription in .SRT or .TXT format depending on your needs. 
• Speaker differentiation so you can easily see who’s saying what
• Transcription-based video editing so anyone can create professional content as easily as editing text
• Captioning tool to automatically add video captions
• AI podcast show notes generator that creates automated summaries, descriptions and chapters of all your podcast recordings.
  

Best all rounder

Riverside’s AI Transcription tool fits the bill for all kinds of creators. Since it’s free, even budget-conscious podcasters can use this powerful tool. 

SimonSays

Pricing: $15/hour on the Pay as You Go Plan. Upgrade to the Starter plan for 24 hours of credit ($7.50 / hour after you use your credit). 

Compatibility: Mac & iPhone apps. 

Simon Says is an AI-powered transcription tool with a timecode-based engine that supports frame-accurate transcription. It also integrates seamlessly into your existing workflows, with extensions for Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro X, and DaVinci Resolve. 

Key Features:

• Text-based video editing, which lets you rearrange your audio file by manipulating your text transcript directly 
• Team collaboration in real-time 
• Transcription and captioning in 100 languages 
• Auto-speaker identification 
• Custom dictionary for specific phrases and names 
• Burn-in subtitles 
• Export your transcription in Word, FCPX, Adobe, Subtitle formats and more. 

Best for combining editing & transcription 

With Simon Says’ text-based video editing tool, you can combine the transcription process with cutting unnecessary video or audio segments. 

Temi 

Pricing: Free trial. Typically, $0.25 per minute of transcription. 

Compatibility: Web-based with an audio recording Android and iOS app. 

Temi is another AI transcription tool that offers speech-to-text transcription in 5 minutes. It’s a simple and straightforward platform that’s powered by a proprietary algorithm. You can also clean up your transcript using their in-built editing tool. It also has an app that lets you record audio and order transcripts directly. 

Key Features:

• Accepts all file formats
• Edit your transcript 
• Export your transcript as a Word Doc, PDF, SRT or VTT 
• Custom timestamps
• Speaker identification 
• 5-minute turnaround time 

Best for transcribing on the go 

The Temi app makes recording interviews and audio on the fly easy and instantly getting them transcribed. This works great for creators who like to podcast on the move.

GoTranscript 

Pricing: Starts from $0.84/min of transcription 

Compatibility: Go Transcript offers 100% human transcription completely online. You just need to upload your video and audio files to the site. 

GoTranscript is a human transcription service. It majors on the elevated amount of accuracy that comes with manual over AI-powered transcription. In addition to transcription, they also offer captioning, translation and foreign translations. They also offer ‘thematic expertise’ ranging from legal and medical to business content. 

Key Features:

• Only human transcription 
• Quality assurance process that includes human reviews & proofreading 
• Multilingual transcription 

Best for podcasters who only want human transcription 

If you prefer human transcription, you won’t go far wrong with GoTranscript. If you’re budget-conscious, then it’s worth considering transcription software instead. 

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oTranscribe

Pricing: oTranscribe is free to use. 

Compatibility: Desktop only. 

oTranscribe is a free, open-source, and web-based transcription tool. It’s a simple and pared-back platform that does what it says on the tin. oTranscribe is aimed specifically at transcribing recorded interviews, but doesn’t offer much more than that. 

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Key Features:

• Interactive timestamps 
• Export to markdown, plain text and Google Docs 
• Simple & budget-friendly 

Best for: 

Best for podcasters who simply want to transcribe their podcast to repurpose it into blogs or other written content. 

Happy Scribe

Pricing: Start for free. 

Automatic transcription costs $0.20/minute but only promises 85% accuracy. Transcription takes 50% of the audio’s duration. 

Human transcription costs $2.00 per minute with a 24 hour turnaround time. 

Compatibility: Browser-based

Happy Scribe offers both AI and human transcription, so you can choose based on your needs, preferences and budget. They work with ‘language professionals’ across the globe and offer both transcription and subtitling. You can use Happy Scribe’s interactive editor to interact with and make changes to your transcript.

Key Features:

• Interactive subtitle and transcription editor 
• In-app collaboration 
• Export in multiple formats 
• No upload limits 

Best for podcasters who have the time to make edits

Happy Scribe’s AI transcription tool only promises 85% accuracy. This means you’ll probably need to spend some time refining your transcription before it’s ready to go. This works well if you’ve got enough time on your hands. 

Sonix 

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Pricing:

Free trial gives you 30 minutes of free transcription. After that, you pay $10/per hour of transcription on the Standard plan. 

Compatibility: 

Browser-based

Sonix is an automated transcription software that offers paid transcriptions. Its native workflow and suite of features is scalable to accommodate multiple big transcription projects. This makes Sonix perfect for podcasters with a large amount of output. 

Key Features:

• Fast transcriptions 
• Transcriptions in over 38 languages 
• In-browser transcript editor that lets you refine and edit your transcription 
• Word-by-word timestamps 
• Add in speaker labels once your transcript is ready 
• Create a custom dictionary with specific phrases and vocabulary 
• If you’ve recorded each participant on a separate track, Sonix can transcribe multi-track audio and combine everyone onto a single transcript 

Best for podcasters with big transcription needs (and budget) 

Sonix is aimed at prolific creators with a lot of content to transcribe (and the budget to pay for it). With features aimed at streamlining the transcription workflow, Sonix will work well for podcasters who are seriously about transcriptions. 

Trint 

Pricing: Free trial. Starter plan costs $48/per user/month. Note that you still only get 7 files per user per month. 

Compatibility: Browser-based with an Android and iOS app. 

Trint is an AI transcription tool that transforms your podcast audio into an editable and searchable doc you can work on collaboratively. This is great for creators who want the ability to make changes to their transcription alongside their team. You can also store all your generated content with Trint and easily search through your back catalog to repurpose it again and again. 

Key Features:

• Tags, highlights and comments for easier team collaboration on your transcript 
• 30+ language transcription 
• Closed caption generation 
• Add custom vocabulary
• Automatically identifies speakers 
• Capture from Zoom and Trint’s mobile apps 

Best for podcasting teams 

Trint’s biggest selling point is its collaborative working interface that lets teams work together on their transcripts. Also, since it sits at a higher price point, it’s best for big-budget production teams. 

Which podcast transcription software should you choose?

Ultimately, you’re looking for a tool that easily, quickly and cost-effectively converts your podcast to text. But that doesn’t make the decision any easier. Here are our favorites: 

Best podcast transcription software: Riverside 

If you’re looking for highly accurate transcriptions straight after recording, Riverside is for you. You get Ai transcriptions in over 100 languages in minutes with unmatched accuracy. But best of all, no matter what plan you’re on, you can use these transcriptions to edit your actual video recording. 

Learn more about our text-based video editor or read on to learn how to download transcriptions on Riverside.

How to accurately transcribe podcasts with Riverside

If you’re a pro Riverside subscriber, then you can use the native transcription tool as part of your recording workflow: 

Step 1: Record your podcast using Riverside. (You can learn how here)

Step 2: Once you end your recording session, select ‘View recordings’ to go to your recording page. If you’d like to access a previous recording, simply go to the right studio and select the recording.

Step 3: You’ll see an automatic preview of your recording. Underneath 'Recording Files' select 'Download', next to Transcript.

Step 4: Export and download your transcription in one of two formats: SRT or TXT. SRT is better for captioning and TXT is better for editing and repurposing. 

If you’re not a pro subscriber, then you can use Riverside’s free AI Transcription tool. 

Besides downloading podcast transcripts, you can also use Riverside transcriptions to edit your videos. Here's how:

FAQs on Podcast Transcription Software

How do I transcribe podcasts for free?

Use Riverside’s AI Transcription tool to transcribe your podcast in minutes. Though it sounds too good to be true, it’s free, easy to use, and there’s no limit on how many files you transcribe. 

How do I turn a podcast into a transcript?

Here’s a brief look at how to turn your podcast into a transcript: 

Step 1: Record your podcast as per usual

Step 2: If you’ve recorded using Riverside, simply head to your recordings page and download the transcript. 

If not, download your audio file and upload it to Riverside’s free to use AI Transcription tool. Select a language and click ‘Start transcribing’.

Step 3: Wait a few minutes for your transcription. 

Step 4: Download your transcription as a text or subtitle file.

What is the best way to transcribe a podcast?

As we discussed earlier, there are a few different ways to transcribe your podcast. But ultimately, the method that saves you time and money will always be a free podcast transcription software. 

Which podcast app has transcripts?

Many podcast apps offer transcriptions. For example, Riverside, a remote podcast recording platform, also offers built-in transcriptions on it’s Pro Plan. You can also use Riverside’s free transcription generator tool.

How much does a podcast transcription cost?

Fortunately, you'll find plenty of free transcibing software. For example, podcast transcriptions are free with Riverside’s AI transcription generator. So  you don’t even have to break the bank to start transcribing your podcast!