Free transcription limits
Free plans differ more in shape than in size: the free plan of Transcrib Si gives 3 files a day, and the allowance comes back every day, so a week of work costs nothing. The table below has thirteen services, what each free plan allows, what it limits, and where every figure comes from.
Short answer: free plans differ more in shape than in size. The free plan here gives 3 files a day of up to 30 minutes each, and the allowance comes back every day, so a week of work does not need a card. Rev gives 45 minutes a month, Transkriptor gives 90 minutes once, Otter gives 300 minutes a month and Descript gives 60 minutes a month. Where a service does not publish a limit, this page says so instead of guessing.
The free plans side by side
Minutes are the allowance for a month unless the row says otherwise. Where a service does not publish a number, the cell says so.
| Service | Price | Free allowance | One file | Size of one file |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transcrib Si | $0 | 3 files a day, up to 30 minutes each | 30 minutes on the free plan, 120 minutes on the paid one | 64 MB |
| TurboScribe | $0 | 3 files a day, 1 file at a time | 30 minutes | Not published |
| Sonix | $0 for a 30-minute trial | 30 minutes | Not published | Not published |
| Transkriptor | $0 | 90 minutes, one pool that does not refill | Not published | Not published |
| HappyScribe | $0 | A 10-minute trial of transcription | 45 minutes per recording | Not published |
| Rev | $0 | 45 minutes a month, 1 user | Not published | Not published |
| Descript | $0 | 60 minutes a month | Not published | Not published |
| Fireflies | $0 | Unlimited transcription, 20 AI credits, 400 minutes of storage for the team | 2 hours | Not published |
| Otter | $0 | 300 minutes a month | Not published | Not published |
| Notta | $0 | 120 minutes a month | Not published | Not published |
| Transcribe.com | $0 | Not published on the page we read | Not published | Not published |
| AssemblyAI | $50 of credits to start | Paid by the hour at $0.15 | Not published | Not published |
| MacWhisper | €0 for the free version | Not published on the offer page | Not published | Not published |
The three columns on the right are where the differences hide. A service can promise an unlimited number of minutes and still turn away a file that is too long, and a service can publish a generous file limit while the monthly allowance runs out long before you get near it. Both happen in this table: Fireflies publishes a limit of 2 hours per recording but marks its unlimited transcription with an asterisk that points at a footnote we did not capture, and Sonix publishes a 30-minute trial rather than a plan you can keep using.
One row deserves its own sentence. AssemblyAI is not a free plan in the ordinary sense: it hands over $50 of credits and then charges $0.15 an hour of audio. At that rate the credits last for a little over three hundred hours of audio, which is a lot, but the service is metered from the first minute rather than free until a limit is hit.
What the free plan here gives
Short and simple on purpose: a daily allowance rather than a monthly pool.
| Plan | Price | Files | Length of one file | Size of one file |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 3 files a day | 30 minutes | 64 MB |
| Pro, billed yearly | $10 per month ($120 for the year) | 1,500 minutes of audio a month | 120 minutes | 64 MB |
| Pro, billed monthly | $20 per month | 1,500 minutes of audio a month | 120 minutes | 64 MB |
Three choices here are deliberate. The free allowance is per day rather than per month, so a busy week does not cost anything and a quiet month does not waste the allowance. The free transcription is the same one the paid plan uses, so what you test is what you get. And the file limits are published on every plan, because a service that hides them until you have already uploaded the file is not being straight with you.
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Questions this page answers.
Which service gives the most free transcription?
It depends on what you mean by most. By minutes a month, Otter's 300 minutes is the largest published monthly figure in this table, followed by Notta at 120 minutes. By length of a single file, Fireflies publishes 2 hours and this service publishes 30 minutes on the free plan and 120 minutes on the paid one. By how often the allowance comes back, the daily allowance here is the most generous, because a week of work does not use it up.
Can I transcribe a long recording for free anywhere?
Not in one piece, in most of these services. The limits here are 120 minutes and 64 MB per file on the paid plan, and 30 minutes per file on the free plan. Fireflies publishes a limit of 2 hours per recording on its free plan, and HappyScribe publishes 45 minutes per recording. Everywhere else the free allowance is measured in minutes of transcript rather than in minutes of one recording.
Does the free plan here expire or ask for a card?
No card, and no expiry. The allowance is 3 files a day of up to 30 minutes each, and the next day brings three more. The transcription you get is the same one the paid plan uses, so there is no surprise after you pay: the same engine, the same timestamps, the same speaker labels and the same exports.
Why does the table say not published so often?
Because those services do not print the number on the page we read. Filling in a guess would be worse than useless, since a limit you learn about after uploading is a limit you hit at the worst moment. Where the figure was missing we wrote that, and where it was published we copied it and named the page and the date.
How do I read the Fireflies free plan?
Fireflies publishes unlimited transcription with an asterisk that points at a condition in a footnote we did not capture, 20 AI credits, 400 minutes of storage for the team and a limit of 2 hours on a recording. The asterisk is the part to read carefully on their own pricing page, because that is where the real condition sits.
Where the numbers on this page come from
Each line names the page the figure was read on and the day it was read.
- Transcrib Si: Free $0, 3 files a day, 30 minutes per file, 64 MB; Pro $10 per month ($120 for the year), $20 per month, 1,500 minutes a month, 120 minutes per file — https://transcrib.si/pricing.html — checked 2026-10-25
- TurboScribe: Free $0, 3 files a day, 1 file at a time, 30 minutes per file — https://turboscribe.ai/pricing — checked 2026-10-25
- Sonix: a 30-minute trial at $0 — https://sonix.ai/pricing — checked 2026-10-25
- Transkriptor: Free $0 with 90 minutes — http://web.archive.org/web/20260919014640/https://transkriptor.com/pricing/, the copy of the pricing page in the Internet Archive — checked 2026-09-19
- HappyScribe: Free $0 with a 10-minute trial of transcription and 45 minutes per recording — https://www.happyscribe.com/pricing — checked 2026-10-25
- Rev: Free $0 with 45 minutes a month and 1 user — http://web.archive.org/web/20261004232956/https://www.rev.com/pricing, the copy of the pricing page in the Internet Archive — checked 2026-10-04
- Descript: Free $0 with 60 minutes a month — https://www.descript.com/pricing — checked 2026-10-25
- Fireflies: Free $0, unlimited transcription, 20 AI credits, 400 minutes of storage for the team, 2 hours per recording — https://fireflies.ai/pricing — checked 2026-10-25
- Otter: Free $0 with 300 minutes a month — https://otter.ai/pricing — checked 2026-10-25
- Notta: Free $0 with 120 minutes a month — https://www.notta.ai/en/pricing — checked 2026-10-25
- Transcribe.com: Free $0 — https://transcribe.com/ — checked 2026-10-21
- AssemblyAI: $50 of credits, $0.15 an hour of audio — https://assemblyai.com/ — checked 2026-10-21
- MacWhisper: €0 for the free version — https://goodsnooze.gumroad.com/l/macwhisper — checked 2026-10-25
Where to go next
What an hour of audio costs
The price per minute at a dozen services, checked on one day.
TurboScribe alternative
The service that counts files a day rather than minutes.
Notta alternative
The meeting recorder with 120 free minutes a month.
Otter alternative
The meeting recorder with 300 free minutes a month.
Plans and prices
Every plan, every limit, in one table with no small print.
Transcribe a long recording
What to do when one file is longer than the two-hour limit.
Also worth a look: the general guide, WAV to text, M4A to text and the app.
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.