Transcribe MP3 to text
Upload an MP3 and the transcript comes back with a start and an end time on every line, speaker labels on request and six export formats. One file is up to 64 MB and 120 minutes: at 64 kbps that is a two-hour recording, at 128 kbps it is about an hour. The free plan is $0 with 3 files a day, Pro is $10 a month when you pay yearly ($120 a year).
What you get for an MP3
Everything in this table is a number we can defend: it comes from the service contract, from the pricing page, or from a measurement we ran ourselves.
| What | Value | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| The file we take | MP3 and the other containers: wav, m4a, aac, flac, ogg, wma; video containers mp4, webm, mov | Service contract |
| Size of one file | 64 MB | Service contract |
| Length of one file | 120 minutes (two hours) | Service contract |
| What comes back | the text, plus a start and an end time for every segment; speaker labels on request | Service contract |
| Export formats | 6 — TXT, Markdown, SRT, VTT, CSV, DOCX (DOCX is a Pro feature) | Pricing page |
| Free plan | $0, 3 files a day, files up to 30 minutes, no card | Pricing page |
| Pro | $10 per month billed yearly ($120 a year), or $20 per month billed monthly | Pricing page |
| Pro allowance | 1,500 minutes of audio per calendar month | Pricing page |
| Speed | 0.84 s to transcribe a short file, 0.39 s to detect its language | our own measurement |
How to transcribe an MP3 file
-
Put the file on the page, or send it from your own code
Drop the MP3 on the widget below, or send it with
POST /v1/transcriptsand a multipartfilefield. One file, up to 64 MB and 120 minutes. -
Set the language, or let the service detect it
Choose Russian or English in the widget, or leave it on automatic detection — 0.39 s on a short file in our own measurement. The API takes the same choice in the
languagefield:ru,enorauto. -
Ask for speaker separation when there is more than one voice
Switch on “Split by speaker” and the people in the recording are told apart. The API takes the same switch in the
diarizefield. -
Read it, fix a word, export it
Every segment carries its start and end time. Correct a name in the editor, save, and export to TXT, Markdown, SRT, VTT, CSV or DOCX.
How much MP3 fits in 64 MB
The sizes below are calculated from the bitrate, not measured on a file. The limit that usually decides is the size, not the length.
| Recording | Size (calculated) | Fits 64 MB? |
|---|---|---|
| 10 minutes at 64 kbps | 4.8 MB | yes |
| 60 minutes at 64 kbps | 28.8 MB | yes |
| 120 minutes at 64 kbps | 57.6 MB | yes |
| 10 minutes at 128 kbps | 9.6 MB | yes |
| 60 minutes at 128 kbps | 57.6 MB | yes |
| 120 minutes at 128 kbps | 115.2 MB | no — the file is refused |
MP3, M4A or WAV: which one to upload
| Format | Where it comes from | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| MP3 | voice recorders, podcast downloads, anything exported to MP3 | the smallest choice at the same quality; 64 kbps is enough for speech |
| M4A / AAC | iPhone Voice Memos, the Android recorder, messenger voice notes | the same engine; the page on M4A explains how to get the file off the phone |
| WAV | studio exports, dictation apps, hardware recorders | big: 16-bit 16 kHz mono is about 32 KB a second, so ten minutes is about 19 MB |
| MP4 / MOV / WebM | screen recordings, conference recordings, video | the picture is not read; a long video usually has to lose its picture first |
| OGG, FLAC, AAC, WMA | everything else we accept | one file at a time, up to 64 MB and 120 minutes |
What we do not do
We do not convert a folder of files in one go, we do not download anything from a link, and we do not change the audio: an MP3 goes in and text comes out. For a batch of episodes, see the plan for committed volume.
Put a file on the page and read the first lines.
The widget below is the same one as on the home page: file → transcript with timecodes and speakers → export. The transcript is saved to your account.
Drop an audio or video file
or — mp3, wav, m4a, mp4, up to 64 MB and two hours
Transcription runs under your account: sign in or create a free account.
No account yet? The free plan needs no card. Create a free account or sign in.
Questions this page answers.
Can I upload a whole folder of MP3s at once?
One file per request. A folder of forty episodes is forty requests, and each one is its own transcript with its own times. On the Team plan a committed volume is written down in advance.
What bitrate do I need for speech?
64 kbps mono is enough for speech, and it is the only bitrate at which a two-hour recording fits the 64 MB limit. A higher bitrate only helps if the recording itself is noisy.
Does the MP3 quality change the transcript?
Yes, and it sets the ceiling: a 64 kbps mono recording of a noisy room loses more than the engine does. The engine reads what is in the file.
How long does it take to transcribe an MP3?
On a short file our own measurement was 0.84 s for the transcription and 0.39 s for the language detection. Longer files take longer: the engine works in 22-second fragments with a 3-second overlap, so a two-hour file is a few hundred fragments. We do not promise a fixed speed on a busy queue.
Can I get subtitles out of an MP3?
The MP3 has no picture, so what you get is a transcript with timecodes: SRT and VTT are two of the six export formats. For a video file, see the guide on MP4.
Is the free plan enough for MP3 files?
Free is $0 with 3 files a day and files up to 30 minutes, with timestamps, speaker labels and five export formats. No card and no trial clock.
Related pages.
The format your phone records in, and how to get the file off it.
Video files, subtitles and the size limit.
Episodes, show notes and chapters.
Every plan, every limit, in one table.
Upload with drag and drop, the queue and the exports.
The live answer base: 99 questions about the price, the limits, the languages, the exports, the privacy and the API, each with the page of this site it comes from.
Mark Vesyoly, Founder.
Every number on this page comes from the service contract, the pricing page or our own measurements. The author of the page and the publisher of the site are the same person. Questions and corrections: support@transcrib.si.