Frequently Asked Questions

TranscribeThis is an AI transcription platform that turns audio and video recordings into editable text. You upload a file, or paste a public video link, and it returns a transcript with speaker labels and click-to-play timestamps that you can search, edit, and export. It runs in your browser with nothing to install. A free plan lets you try it; paid plans unlock full-length transcription and more export formats.

Upload your audio or video file, then TranscribeThis processes it and returns a transcript in your browser. You can read, search, edit, correct speaker labels, and export the result. On the Free plan the first 5 minutes of each file are transcribed as a preview; paid plans transcribe the full file. Everything runs on the web, so there is no software to install.

You can try a short transcription without signing up, but an account is needed to save transcripts, transcribe full files, and use paid features. Creating one is free, and you can sign up with email or with Google, Apple, or Microsoft. Your transcripts are then stored in your account so you can return to edit and export them later.

TranscribeThis transcribes speech in many languages and can auto-detect the spoken language. The list is large and changes over time, so we keep it on a dedicated page rather than quote a number here. Transcript translation into additional languages is available on paid plans, separately from the language detection used when transcribing the original audio.

TranscribeThis is for anyone who needs spoken content as searchable, editable text — individuals and small teams across sales, research, media, education, and professional services. Common uses include meetings, interviews, lectures, podcasts, and calls. If you record conversations and later need to find, quote, or share what was said, it fits that workflow.

Yes. The Free plan needs no card and transcribes the first 5 minutes of each file, up to 3 files a day, so you can read, edit, copy, and export the preview to TXT or DOCX. It is a preview of the full product. To transcribe complete files and unlock more formats and features, you upgrade to a paid plan.

Pro is $19.99 per month or $99.99 per year (about $8.33 a month). Business is $29.99 per month and is billed monthly only. The Free plan is $0. Paid plans start with a short paid trial before the standard rate begins. Full prices, limits, and billing terms are on the pricing page.

Yes. Standard and Premium start with a paid 5-day trial at a reduced rate ($5.99 for Pro, $7.99 for Business). If you do not cancel before the trial ends, it automatically converts to the standard plan price and renews on that schedule. You can cancel during the trial to avoid the full charge.

Yes, you can cancel at any time from your account settings. After canceling you keep access to paid features until the end of your current billing period, and it will not renew again. There are no partial refunds for unused time. Canceling stops future charges but does not automatically delete your stored transcripts.

Subscription fees — paid trials, monthly, and annual — are non-refundable. The one exception is a 30-day technical-issues window: if a genuine technical problem prevented you from using the service, contact support within 30 days of the charge and we will review it. The full policy is in our Terms of Service.

Yes. You can upgrade or downgrade from your account. Upgrades take effect immediately, so you get the higher limits right away. A downgrade takes effect at your next renewal, so you keep the features you already paid for until then. Your transcripts stay in your account when you switch plans.

Each plan has fixed limits — files per day, file size, duration, and storage. When you reach one, you are asked to wait for the daily reset or to upgrade to a higher plan. There are no automatic overage charges: you are never billed extra for going over a limit. Upgrading raises the limits immediately.

TranscribeThis accepts common audio and video formats, including MP3, WAV, M4A, and MP4, among many others. Video files are transcribed from their audio track. The full, current list is on the supported formats page. If your file is in an unusual format, converting it to MP3 or MP4 first is the most reliable option.

It depends on your plan. Free allows files up to 50 MB and transcribes the first 5 minutes. Pro allows up to 2 GB and up to 5 hours per file. Business allows up to 5 GB and up to 8 hours per file. Recordings longer than your plan's limit should be split into shorter files before uploading.

Transcription usually takes a fraction of the recording's length, but the exact time depends on the file's duration, current load, and whether extra steps like speaker labels or summaries are requested. Short clips are typically ready in a minute or two; long recordings take longer. You can leave the page and come back — the transcript is saved to your account.

Accuracy depends heavily on your recording. Clear audio with one speaker transcribes very well; heavy background noise, strong accents, crosstalk, or technical jargon lower accuracy. We do not advertise a single accuracy percentage because real-world results vary. Treat the transcript as a fast, high-quality draft and review it against the audio for anything important — the click-to-play timestamps make that quick.

Yes, on paid plans. TranscribeThis can automatically separate and label speakers so multi-person conversations are easy to follow. Labeling is an estimate: it can be imperfect when voices are similar or people talk over each other, and you can correct or rename speakers in the editor. The Free preview does not include speaker labels.

No. TranscribeThis is upload-first: you record or upload a file and it is transcribed after processing, not word-by-word in real time as you speak. You can record a meeting or your microphone and then transcribe the resulting file, but there is no live, real-time captioning stream during the recording itself.

Yes. You can paste a public video link, such as a YouTube URL, and TranscribeThis will transcribe its audio. Only transcribe videos you have the right to use. Link-based transcripts are segment-level rather than word-level, and availability depends on the video being publicly accessible.

First, check that the file is a supported format and within your plan's size and duration limits, and that it actually contains audible speech. Re-uploading often clears temporary issues. If it keeps failing, note the file format, size, and any error message and contact support — those details help us diagnose it quickly.

Yes. Every transcript opens in an editor where you can fix wording, correct or rename speaker labels, and clean up punctuation directly in your browser. Edits are saved to your account, and you can export the corrected version. Editing is the recommended step before relying on a transcript for anything important.

Yes. Transcripts include timestamps you can click to jump to that moment in the recording, which makes reviewing and verifying quotes fast. Uploaded and recorded files get word- and segment-level timestamps; link-based transcripts are segment-level. Timestamps are also carried into subtitle exports such as SRT and VTT.

Yes. You can search within a transcript to jump straight to a word or phrase, and paid accounts can search across their stored transcripts to find where something was said. Search works on the transcribed text, so it is only as complete as the transcript — on the Free plan that is the first 5 minutes of each file.

Paid plans export to TXT, DOCX, PDF, SRT, VTT, and JSON, and you can copy the text into tools like Google Docs or Word. The Free plan exports the 5-minute preview to TXT or DOCX. The subtitle formats, SRT and VTT, keep timestamps, which is useful for captioning video.

Yes, on paid plans. TranscribeThis can generate summaries, action items, and other structured notes from a transcript using AI. These are produced from the transcript text, so their quality depends on the transcript. Summaries are a helpful starting point — review them before sharing, especially for decisions or commitments.

Yes, on paid plans. You can translate a transcript into other languages after it is created. Translation is machine translation applied to the transcript text, so review it for important or nuanced content. It is separate from the automatic language detection used when transcribing the original recording.

Yes. You can share a transcript from your account and export it to common formats — TXT, DOCX, PDF, SRT, VTT, and JSON — to send or upload elsewhere. Premium plans add a team workspace so colleagues can access shared transcripts together. Only share transcripts you have the right to distribute.

Sign up for free with your email address or with Google, Apple, or Microsoft, then sign in the same way each time. An account stores your transcripts and settings so you can return to them on any device. Creating an account is free; upgrading to a paid plan is a separate, optional step.

Use the forgot-password link on the sign-in screen: enter your account email and we will send a reset link. If you signed up with Google, Apple, or Microsoft, you do not have a TranscribeThis password — sign in with that provider instead. If the email does not arrive, check your spam folder or contact support.

You can change your account email in your account settings. If you originally signed in with Google, Apple, or Microsoft, your login is tied to that provider, so email changes are handled there. If you cannot update it yourself or are locked out, contact support and we will help verify and update the address.

You can delete your account and its data from your account settings. Deleting removes your transcripts and files and cannot be undone, so export anything you want to keep first. If you only want to remove specific files, you can delete them individually. Our Privacy Policy explains how deletion and retention work.

Canceling stops future billing but does not immediately delete your data — you keep access to your stored transcripts until the end of your billing period, and afterward your account moves to the Free tier. To remove your data entirely, delete the files or your account. Retention details are in our data-retention policy.

Your files are processed to produce a transcript and are encrypted in transit. Most transcription runs on our own self-hosted speech-recognition models; some optional features — such as summaries, translation, and certain speaker-labeling or link-based transcripts — use vetted third-party AI services. Which services handle what, and how long data is kept, is documented in our Privacy Policy.

No. Your recordings and transcripts are not used to train generalized AI models. Our self-hosted models are not trained on your content, and the third-party services we use for optional features operate under agreements that do not use your data for their own model training. Our Privacy Policy has the specifics.

Speaker labels are estimated automatically, so they can be wrong when voices sound similar, people talk over each other, audio is noisy, or someone joins mid-recording. This is a normal limitation of automatic speaker separation. You can correct and rename speakers in the editor, and clearer, well-separated audio produces better labels.

This usually comes down to the audio. If the language was auto-detected incorrectly — common with short clips, mixed languages, or heavy background noise — the transcript can come out wrong. Poor audio, accents, crosstalk, and jargon also reduce accuracy. Re-uploading clearer audio helps; for important files, review the transcript against the recording using the timestamps.