Independent · sourced · Updated June 2026
Best Transcription Services (2026)
The cheapest transcription services is Descript at $0/mo. 6 offer a free tier (Descript, Fireflies.ai, Notta). This page compares 7 options on entry price, free tier, HIPAA/SOC 2 and best-for — every figure linked to its source, updated June 2026.
7 options compared on price, free tier, compliance and fit — ranked cheapest-first. Every figure links to the vendor's own page and the date we captured it; quote-only tiers show “—”, never a guess.
Key takeaways
- Cheapest: Descript at $0/mo (Free).
- Typical paid price: from $8.49/mo, median $15.00/mo, up to $25.49/mo — across 6 with published pricing.
- Free tier: Descript, Fireflies.ai, Notta, Otter.ai, Rev, Sonix.
- HIPAA-ready: Fireflies.ai, Notta, Otter.ai, Rev, Sonix.
- Tracked: 7 vendors, data current through 2026-06-15.
Comparison
| # | Transcription Service | Entry price | Free | HIPAA | SOC 2 | Best for | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Descript | $0/mo Free | Yes | No | Yes | Video podcasters and YouTube creators | descript.com |
| 2 | Fireflies.ai | $0/mo Free | Yes | Yes | Yes | Sales teams automating CRM updates from calls | fireflies.ai |
| 3 | Notta | $0/mo Free | Yes | Yes | Yes | Individuals and small teams needing affordable transcription | getapp.com |
| 4 | Otter.ai | $0/mo Basic | Yes | Yes | Yes | Sales teams automating CRM notes | otter.ai |
| 5 | Rev | $0/mo Free | Yes | Yes | Yes | Legal teams needing CJIS/HIPAA compliance | rev.com |
| 6 | Sonix | $0/mo Pay As You Go | No | Yes | Yes | Legal and court reporting | sonix.ai |
| 7 | Trint | — | No | No | No | Newsrooms and broadcast media | quote-only |
Prices are the lowest published self-serve monthly rate as captured on the linked source. Annual-billing and usage details are on each vendor's record in our open dataset.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest transcription services?
Descript has the lowest published entry price at $0/mo (Free), as of 2026-06-15.
How much does transcription services cost per month?
Across the 6 transcription services with published paid pricing, the median starting price is $15.00/mo, ranging from $8.49/mo to $25.49/mo, as of 2026-06-15. 6 also offer a free tier. 1 are quote-only.
Which transcription services have a free plan?
Descript, Fireflies.ai, Notta, Otter.ai, Rev, Sonix offer a free tier.
Which transcription services support HIPAA?
Fireflies.ai, Notta, Otter.ai, Rev, Sonix state HIPAA support (a BAA). Always confirm current scope with the vendor.
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How we compiled this
Pricing fetched from official vendor pricing pages via WebFetch on 2026-06-14 and adversarially re-verified. Otter.ai, Rev, Sonix, Descript, and Fireflies.ai pricing was read directly from official pages (all returned live HTML). VERIFICATION CORRECTIONS (2026-06-14): (1) Otter Pro annual rate corrected $8.33 -> $8.49/user/month (annualDiscountPct 51 -> 50) to match the official pricing page; some third-party aggregators still list $8.33. (2) Trint Starter monthlyUsd set to null: the GetApp $15/user/month figure is stale and contradicted by current sources indicating ~$80/seat/month, and no exact self-serve price is confirmable (official page JS-renders). (3) Notta Business corrected $59 -> $27.99/seat/month (the $59 aggregator figure was stale/incorrect; current source confirms $27.99 month-to-month, $16.67 annual); Notta Premium $13.99 confirmed against the same current source. HappyScribe publishes pricing exclusively in EUR with no USD equivalent and was excluded. monthlyUsd for annually-billed plans is the per-month rate derived from the annual total. annualDiscountPct is calculated from published monthly vs. annual-monthly rates. All minutesIncluded, callsIncluded, overagePerMin, overagePerCall fields are null (non-telephony services). setupFeeUsd not applicable to any vendor in this category.
Last verified 2026-06-15. We re-check published prices and compliance on a recurring cadence and update this page when they change.
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