# Which AI transcription service is cheapest if you only transcribe a few interviews or podcast episodes a month and need SRT subtitles? Source page: https://aitools-zh.pages.dev/en/guides/transcribe-interview-podcast-srt-pay-per-use/ Published 2026-11-01 · updated 2026-11-01 · AI Tools by Use Case ## Short answer For a few hours of audio a month with no subscription, Sonix Pay As You Go at $10 per hour is the simplest: you pay only for what you upload and can export SRT or VTT. If you transcribe about 2 hours every month, Happy Scribe Basic ($17 monthly or $8.50 a month billed yearly, 120 minutes, $0.20 per extra minute) costs less. For short clips, Notta's free plan gives 120 minutes a month but caps each conversation at 3 minutes and leaves out export. ## Comparison | Tool | Why it fits (from official info) | Pricing | Official pricing | Checked | |---|---|---|---|---| | [Sonix](https://aitools-zh.pages.dev/en/tools/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. | 2026-11-01 | | [Happy Scribe](https://aitools-zh.pages.dev/en/tools/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. | 2026-11-01 | | [Notta](https://aitools-zh.pages.dev/en/tools/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. | 2026-11-01 | | [Descript](https://aitools-zh.pages.dev/en/tools/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. | 2026-11-07 | ## How to do it with AI 1. Add up how many hours of audio you really transcribe in a typical month before choosing a plan. 2. 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. 3. 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. 4. Upload the cleanest recording you have (separate tracks per speaker if your recorder supports it), set the spoken language, and turn on speaker detection. 5. Proofread names, numbers and quotes against the audio before publishing; for legal or published quotes consider a human proofreading add-on. 6. 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. Sources: https://sonix.ai/pricing ### 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. Sources: https://www.happyscribe.com/pricing, https://www.notta.ai/en/pricing ### 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. Sources: https://www.happyscribe.com/pricing ### 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. Sources: https://www.notta.ai/en/pricing ### 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. Sources: https://www.descript.com/pricing ### 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. Sources: https://www.iflyrec.com/ ## Sources - https://sonix.ai/pricing - https://www.happyscribe.com/pricing - https://www.notta.ai/en/pricing - https://www.descript.com/pricing - https://www.iflyrec.com/ Prices and features can change; check each official site. No ratings, no affiliate links.