M4A to text
Transcrib Si transcribes an .m4a file as the phone wrote it, with no conversion step: 120 minutes per file. The Voice Memos app on iPhone writes one, most Android recorders do the same, and meeting apps hand you an .m4a when the recording ends. The sound is good, and the text is one upload away.
Short answer: send the .m4a to the uploader below. It accepts .m4a files up to 64 MB and two hours, gives you the text with timestamps and speaker labels, and lets you export TXT, SRT, VTT, CSV, Markdown or DOCX. Free plan: 3 files a day, up to 30 minutes each.
What is inside an .m4a file
M4A is not a codec, it is a container. The name is short for MPEG-4 audio, and the container was designed to carry audio the same way an MP4 carries audio and video together. Almost always the audio inside is AAC, and almost always the extension is .m4a rather than .mp4 so that a phone or a desktop does not try to open the file as a movie.
That distinction is worth remembering when you hit a limit. A file called .m4a is an audio file to your operating system, so it plays in the same place a .mp3 plays. A file called .mp4 might hold a picture as well as a sound, and it is a different job. Both are accepted here, and both are limited by the same two numbers: 64 MB and 120 minutes per file.
| Thing | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Container | MPEG-4 audio, usually carrying AAC sound |
| Typical source | Phone voice recorders, meeting apps, screen recorders |
| Accepted here | Yes, together with mp3, wav, mp4, webm, ogg, flac, aac, wma and mov |
| Per-file limit | 64 MB and 120 minutes on every plan, free and paid |
| What comes back | Text with timestamps, speaker labels, and exports in TXT, Markdown, SRT, VTT, CSV and DOCX |
Get the text out of the phone
Three steps, and none of them needs an app from the phone manufacturer.
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Move the file off the phone
AirDrop, a cable, a cloud folder, a messenger — any route that leaves an .m4a file on your computer works. Keep the original name; it becomes the name of the transcript in your list.
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Drop it in the box below
The uploader accepts the audio and video containers listed above. Pick a language or leave it on automatic detection, and switch on speaker splitting if the recording holds a conversation.
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Read, edit, export
The app opens the result as an editable transcript. You can correct a word in place, then download it as SRT for a video editor or as DOCX for whoever has to read it tomorrow.
Drop an audio or video file
or — mp3, wav, m4a, mp4, up to 64 MB and two hours
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What it costs to transcribe one .m4a file
The price depends on the plan, not on the container. A file with an .m4a extension is charged exactly like a .wav file of the same length.
| Plan | Price | Limits | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 3 files a day, up to 30 minutes per file, 64 MB | Timestamps, speaker labels, exports to TXT, Markdown, SRT, VTT and CSV |
| Pro, billed yearly | $10 per month ($120 for the year) | 1,500 minutes of audio per calendar month, files up to 64 MB and two hours | Every export format including DOCX, API keys, full history |
| Pro, billed monthly | $20 per month | The same per-file limits | The same features, cancel any time from the app |
Two hours of .m4a fits inside one Pro file as long as the size does. A 64 MB cap is roughly three hours of compressed speech, so in practice the size limit only gets in the way of very long recordings — and the guide to long recordings explains how to cut one up.
Questions this page answers.
Can I upload an .m4a file straight from my iPhone?
Yes, if you get the file into a browser. AirDrop it to a Mac, share it to yourself in a messenger, or upload it to any cloud folder and open that folder on the same device where the page is open. The service itself takes a file from a browser, a desktop or the REST API, so the phone only has to deliver the bytes.
Is M4A better than MP3 for transcription?
Both hold the recording; neither is magically more accurate for speech recognition. M4A usually carries AAC sound at a similar bit rate to MP3, so the two produce comparable transcripts at comparable quality. Choose the format your device already writes and do not re-encode the file before sending it — every re-encode loses a little and buys nothing here.
Why did my file fail with a limit error?
Two limits exist and both are enforced on every plan, including Pro: 64 MB per file and 120 minutes of recording per file. On the free plan there is a third one, 30 minutes per file and 3 files a day. If your recording is longer than two hours, split it into parts before uploading; the long recording guide shows how.
Can I tell who said what?
Yes, switch on the speaker split option before you send the file. The transcript then arrives with a speaker label on every line, and the label stays attached to the text when you export it. It is included on the free plan as well — speaker labels are not a paid extra.
Do I need to convert .m4a to .mp3 first?
No. .m4a is on the accepted list next to mp3, wav, mp4, webm, ogg, flac, aac, wma and mov. Converting only adds a step and a quality loss, so send the original file and let the service do the reading.
Where the numbers on this page come from
Each line names the page the figure was read on and the day it was read.
- Free $0, 3 files a day, 30 minutes per file, 64 MB — https://transcrib.si/pricing.html — checked 2026-10-25
- Pro $10 per month ($120 for the year), $20 per month, 1,500 minutes per calendar month, 120 minutes per file — https://transcrib.si/pricing.html — checked 2026-10-25
- Accepted containers: mp3, wav, m4a, mp4, webm, ogg, flac, aac, wma, mov — https://transcrib.si/app.html (the file input of the upload form) — checked 2026-10-25
- Exports in TXT, Markdown, SRT, VTT, CSV and DOCX — https://transcrib.si/pricing.html — checked 2026-10-25
Where to go next
Transcribe audio to text
The general guide: every container, every export, the whole flow.
Transcribe voice memos
Short recordings from a phone, and the habits that keep them readable.
Transcribe a long recording
What to do when one file is longer than the two-hour limit.
Plans and prices
Every plan, every limit, in one table with no small print.
The app
Upload, edit a transcript, export it, keep the history.
Security
How a file is handled on the way in and on the way out.
Also worth a look: the privacy policy, the terms of service, about the author and the contact page.
Mark Burmistrov, Founder.
Every number on this page comes from the pricing page, the service contract or the upload form itself. The author of the page and the publisher of the site are the same person. Questions and corrections: support@transcrib.si.