Comparison
| Tool | Why it fits (from official info) | Pricing | Official pricing | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Sonix | True pay-as-you-go: $10 per hour of audio with no monthly fee, a 30-minute free trial without a credit card, 54+ languages, speaker labels, and SRT/VTT subtitle export. Core is $25/month for 5 hours if you go regular; extra hours on any plan are $10/hour. | Paid | From the official pricing page (2026-11-01): 30-minute free trial; Pay As You Go $10/hour; Core $25/month (5 hours), Advanced $50/month (20 hours), Pro $80/month (40 hours), one month free on annual billing; extra hours $10/hour. | |
 Happy Scribe | Cheapest per minute once you go monthly: Basic $17/month ($8.50 billed yearly) includes 120 AI minutes, then $0.20/min. Free plan has a 10-minute trial and exports TXT and SRT; 150+ transcription languages; human proofreading from $2.00/min when accuracy matters. | Freemium | From the official pricing page (2026-11-01): Free includes a 10-minute AI transcription/subtitle trial; Basic $17/month ($8.50/month billed annually) with 120 minutes a month; Pro $29/month ($19 annually) with 600 minutes and 3 seats; Business $89/month ($59 annually) with 6,000 minutes; extra minutes $0.20/min; human proofreading from $2.00/min. | |
 Notta | Largest free monthly allowance (120 minutes), but each conversation is capped at 3 minutes and export starts on Pro. Pro is $8.17/month billed yearly ($97.99) for 1,800 minutes and recordings up to 5 hours; 50% education discount. | Freemium | From the official pricing page (2026-11-01, annual billing): Free has 120 transcription minutes a month, up to 3 minutes per conversation, 50 file uploads and 10 AI summaries a month; Pro $8.17/month ($97.99 a year) with 1,800 minutes a month, up to 5 hours per recording and transcript export; Business $16.67/month ($199.99 a year) with unlimited transcription; 50% education discount. | |
 Descript | Pick it if you also edit the episode: the free plan processes 60 media minutes a month, Hobbyist $16/month yearly ($24 monthly) gives 10 hours, and you edit the audio or video by editing the transcript. Transcription covers 25 languages. | Freemium | From the official pricing page (per person per month, USD): Free $0 (about 60 media minutes/month); Hobbyist $16 billed annually or $24 monthly (about 10 media hours/month, 400 AI credits); Creator $24 annually or $35 monthly (about 30 hours, 800 AI credits); Business $50 annually or $65 monthly (about 40 hours); Enterprise custom. |
How to do it with AI
- Add up how many hours of audio you really transcribe in a typical month before choosing a plan.
- Under about 2 hours, or only some months: use a pay-as-you-go option (Sonix at $10/hour) or a free allowance, and skip subscriptions.
- Around 2 hours every month: Happy Scribe Basic (120 minutes) usually costs less than paying per hour; top up at $0.20/min for busy months.
- Upload the cleanest recording you have (separate tracks per speaker if your recorder supports it), set the spoken language, and turn on speaker detection.
- Proofread names, numbers and quotes against the audio before publishing; for legal or published quotes consider a human proofreading add-on.
- Export SRT (or VTT) for YouTube and social video captions, and DOCX or TXT for the article or show notes.
Prompt to turn a finished transcript into show notes (our suggested wording, not a test output)
Here is the transcript of my interview. Write show notes with: a 2-sentence summary, 5 timestamped key moments using the timestamps in the transcript, and 3 direct quotes copied exactly as written. Do not add facts, numbers or quotes that are not in the transcript.
Hands-on log
- 2026-11-01 · Not tested
Not tested hands-on: each service needs an account before it will transcribe an upload. This page uses only what the official pricing pages state.
China-made vs Western: iFlyrec next to Sonix, Happy Scribe and Notta
iFlyrec, from iFlytek, is listed in our mainland China section and is a common choice for Chinese-language recordings. Alibaba's Tongyi Tingwu is another option there.
| Need | iFlyrec | Sonix / Happy Scribe / Notta |
|---|---|---|
| Speed | Official site: an hour of audio in as little as 5 minutes | Sonix and Happy Scribe say minutes; no fixed figure on the pricing pages |
| Accuracy claim | 98%, per a test by the Anhui electronic products inspection institute | Sonix claims 99%; Happy Scribe offers human proofreading for 99% |
| Pricing | Free transcription trial; prices on the official site | Sonix $10/hour pay-as-you-go; Happy Scribe from $8.50/month yearly; Notta free 120 min/month |
| Extras | Real-time key points, to-dos and one-click meeting minutes; API/SDK and on-premise for companies | SRT/VTT export, translation, Zoom/Meet/Teams notetakers |
| Usable in mainland China | Yes (ICP-filed official site) | Not listed in our mainland China section |
FAQ
Is there an AI transcription service with no subscription?
Yes. Sonix has a Pay As You Go plan at $10 per hour of audio with no monthly fee, plus a 30-minute free trial that needs no credit card.
Which AI transcription tool exports SRT subtitles on a free plan?
Happy Scribe's free plan exports TXT and SRT, but its AI allowance is a 10-minute trial. Notta's free plan does not include transcript export; export starts on Pro.
How much does Happy Scribe cost per minute?
Basic is $17 a month (or $8.50 a month billed yearly) for 120 AI minutes; extra minutes on any paid plan cost $0.20 each. Human proofreading starts at $2.00 per minute.
What are the limits of Notta's free plan?
120 transcription minutes a month, up to 3 minutes per conversation, 50 file uploads and 10 AI summaries a month. Pro ($8.17 a month billed yearly) raises this to 1,800 minutes and up to 5 hours per recording.
How many free transcription minutes does Descript give?
Descript's free plan processes 60 media minutes a month; Hobbyist includes 10 hours a month for $16 a month billed yearly or $24 monthly.
Which transcription tool works for Chinese audio in mainland China?
iFlyrec (iFlytek) has an ICP-filed site, transcribes live and uploaded recordings, and says an hour of audio can be ready in as little as 5 minutes at 98% accuracy.
Head-to-head comparisons
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