


Because we saw such a wide range of turnaround times, we considered the advertised deadlines for AI services and real-people transcriptions separately. If a long delay will interrupt your workflow or cause you to miss an important deadline, an AI service is far more affordable than a rushed transcription from a person. Turnaround time: AI-based services take a maximum of one to two minutes per minute of submitted audio to return a transcription, but human transcriptionists can take days to deliver a transcript.We found that the most commonly recommended AI services cost around 25¢ per minute of audio, and services employing human transcriptionists cost up to $2 for a minute of clear audio. Cost: Whether your employer or client pays for your transcriptions or it comes out of your pocket, it’s important that they be cost-effective.Many AI-based services don’t report accuracy, but one option we tested claimed to be at least 90% accurate for clear audio.

Among human-backed transcription services, we favored those that claimed to be at least 99% accurate. We also researched services’ self-reported accuracy and other people’s experience with them.

AI-based transcription services are useful for finding a specific place in or quickly skimming the contents of an audio recording.
