Guide · Audio Transcript
How to transcribe audio to text for free
Updated · 7 min read
Typing out an interview or a meeting by hand takes about four hours for every hour of audio. Modern speech recognition does the first draft in minutes, and it can run entirely in your browser so private recordings stay private. This guide shows how to get a clean transcript, what affects accuracy and how to export it.
Try the audio transcript nowFree, runs in your browser, nothing uploaded.Transcribe audio in four steps
The free audio transcript tool runs a speech model on your device.
- Drop your recording on the page. MP3, WAV, M4A, OGG and FLAC all work.
- Choose the spoken language and pick a model.
- Press Transcribe. The first run downloads the model, which is then cached.
- Proofread, search the text and download it as TXT, SRT or VTT.
What affects transcript accuracy
The quality of the text depends far more on the recording than on the tool. These factors matter most.
- Clear speech close to the microphone beats everything else.
- Background noise, music and echo cause mistakes and missing words.
- Several people talking at once is the hardest case for any transcriber.
- Names, brands and numbers are the most common errors, so always proofread them.
- A larger model is slower but handles accents and noise better.
Record cleaner audio for better results
The best transcript starts with a good recording. Test your microphone with the mic test so the level sits between about -18 dB and -6 dB, then record with the voice recorder. A quiet room, a microphone near your mouth and no overlapping speech will improve accuracy more than any setting.
Why on-device transcription is private
Most transcription services upload your audio to a server and may keep it. Here, the speech model is downloaded to your browser and the audio is processed locally, so interviews, therapy notes, legal recordings and meetings never leave your device. The model download is a one-time cost of roughly 40 to 250 MB depending on the model you pick.
Use the transcript
A timestamped transcript is easy to search and quote. Export SRT or VTT for captions, or plain text for notes, articles and show notes. Recording a podcast? The podcast transcriber adds paragraphs and keywords for long episodes. Have a video? Use the video transcript tool.
Get the most accurate transcript
Choose the correct spoken language before you start, because the tool does not guess it. Use the Accurate model for accents and background noise, and the Fast model for clean speech. Record close to the microphone, avoid music under speech, and proofread names, numbers and technical terms. Click any line in the result to fix it before you export.
FAQ
Common questions
Can I really transcribe audio without uploading it?
Yes. The speech model runs in your browser, so the audio stays on your device.
How long does a transcription take?
It depends on your device and the model. Short clips take seconds. A one hour recording can take several minutes on a modern computer.
What language does it support?
Around 100 languages, including English, Spanish, French, German, Hindi, Arabic and Japanese.
How do I make subtitles from a transcript?
Download the SRT or VTT file and upload it to your video platform as captions.
How do I convert audio to text?
Drop the file in the audio transcript tool, choose the language and press Transcribe.
Does it work offline?
After the speech model has downloaded once and is cached, the transcription itself runs on your device.
What is the best model to choose?
Use Balanced for most recordings, Fast for quick drafts and Accurate for difficult audio.