Transcribe a Zoom recording to text
Turn the recording of a Zoom call into text with a timecode on every line and the speakers named on request. Upload the file, export TXT, SRT, VTT, CSV or DOCX.
A Zoom recording is a file, and the file is all the service needs: download it, upload it, and the transcript comes back with a timecode on every line and the speakers named on request. The free plan is $0 with 3 files a day.
How to transcribe a Zoom recording
- 1
Find the recording file
Open the list of recordings in your Zoom account, or the folder the local copy was saved to, and take the file as it is: the video and the audio are read from the same file.
- 2
Send the file to the widget
Drop it on the widget above. One file is up to 30 minutes, on every plan; the free plan takes 3 files a day and asks for no card.
- 3
Split the voices of the call
Switch on the split by speaker and the transcript names the people in the room, which is what turns a wall of sentences into minutes somebody can read.
- 4
Take the minutes away
Export TXT or Markdown for the notes, SRT or VTT for the recording, CSV for the archive, DOCX for the editor on Pro. Six formats, all from the same transcript.
What you get
- TXT
Plain text for an email, a note or a chat
- SRT
Subtitles for video editors and platforms
- VTT
Subtitles for a browser and a website
- CSV
A table: time, speaker, text
- DOCX
A Word document with speakers and times
- Markdown
Text with headings for notes
What a Zoom transcript contains
- A meeting recording
one file, up to 30 minutes on the free plan, no minute limit on Pro; a longer call is cut into parts by you
- Price
$0: 3 files a day. Pro is $10 a month paid yearly ($120 a year)
Two copies of the same call
Zoom can record the call, and where that recording lives depends on who made it: the account keeps one copy in the cloud, and a participant who recorded on their own machine keeps a second file. Both are audio files with the voices of the meeting in them, and both end up in the same place — on the upload widget, where the words are written down.
Tips
Name the file after the meeting, not after the day.
The local copy and the cloud copy are the same call.
Turn the speaker split on for a call with more than two voices.
Check the minutes before they go to the team.
Questions this page answers
Does the service sit in the Zoom call?
No. There is no bot in the meeting and no account of ours inside Zoom. The recording is a file you already have, and the service reads that file and nothing else.
Can it tell who spoke which line?
Yes, switch the split by speaker on before you send the file. The voices in the room are told apart, and each line keeps the time it starts and ends.
What if the call is 30 minutes on the free plan?
Then it does not fit in one file: the limit is up to 30 minutes. Cut the recording into parts and upload them one by one; the service does not cut files for you.
What does a competitor give on its free plan?
Otter publishes 300 minutes a month (otter.ai/pricing, read on 21 October 2026). Ours counts files instead: 3 a day, $0, up to 30 minutes per file, no card.
Sources
- OThe pricing page of Otter, read on 21 October 2026otter.ai · checked 21 October 2026
Reading: 5 minutesUpdated Transcribsi editorial team
Drop a recording — the text arrives in a minute
Speakers by name, a time on every line, export to TXT, SRT, VTT, CSV and Markdown.