How to transcribe audio to text for free
You can get an accurate transcript of a recording without paying per minute or uploading it to a stranger's server. Here is how to get the best result.
Use a browser that can do the work
Open Quietscribe in Chrome or Edge on a computer. These browsers can use your graphics card, which is much faster. Phones and other browsers work too, more slowly.
Choose the file and the language
Pick your audio or video file and set Spoken language. Choosing the language is more reliable than automatic detection, especially when people mix in English words.
Pick the accuracy
Balanced suits most clear recordings. Choose Most accurate for accents, background noise, music or fast speech. The first run downloads the AI model once; later runs start faster.
Check and export
Read through the lines and fix names or terms, then copy the text, download a plain text file, or download SRT to keep timestamps.
Why it's free
The speech recognition runs on your own device, so a transcript costs nothing to make. That is why there are no limits or watermarks.
Specific recordings
There are dedicated pages for WhatsApp voice notes, podcasts, lectures and MP3 files.