Free audio transcription online: audio to text, no sign-up
Every word worth keeping, kept.
Free audio transcription in your browser. Record, or drop in an mp3, m4a, wav or video file, and get AI audio-to-text with speaker labels in 26 languages. No account, nothing stored.
or drop an audio file here · m4a, mp3, wav, aac, ogg, webm, mp4
Double your per-file limit.
Share Recordd once. That’s the whole deal.
By the makers of Recordd, the voice recorder app for iPhone, Mac & Apple Watch · Privacy
How to transcribe audio to text for free
Three steps. No account.
Record or drop a file.
Click Start and talk, or drag in an mp3, m4a, wav, aac, ogg, webm or mp4. Up to an hour per file, two if you share Recordd. No sign-up.
AI transcribes it.
Speech-to-text with speaker separation and punctuation, in the language you pick or auto-detected across 26. About a minute per hour of audio.
Take the text. We keep nothing.
Read it here, copy it, or download plain text or Markdown. The audio is discarded the moment the transcript is returned.
Free audio file transcription: mp3, m4a, wav and video
If you can play it, we can transcribe it.
- mp3
- Podcasts, downloads, most recorders
- m4a
- Voice Memos exports, iPhone recordings
- wav
- Studio and dictation recorders
- aac · ogg · webm
- Browser and messaging apps
- mp4 · mov
- Video: we transcribe the audio track
- Browser mic
- Record right here, nothing to upload
Files up to 100 MB. A Voice Memos export from iPhone is an m4a; drop it straight in. For a whole library of memos, see how to transcribe Voice Memos.
Best free audio transcription tools in 2026, compared
What “free” means, tool by tool.
Every free transcription service caps something: minutes, files, or speakers. Here is what each one publishes, so you can pick the right one for your file. Checked 2026-09-23.
| Tool | Free limit | Account | Speaker labels |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recordd (this tool) | 60 min per file, 120 after sharing; 3 h a day | None | Yes |
| Wave web tool | 5 files a day, 200 MB each | None | Yes |
| Riverside | No published cap | None | No, one speaker |
| Otter | 300 min a month, 30 min per conversation, 3 imports | Required | Yes |
| Notta | 120 min a month, 3 min per conversation | Required | Yes |
Limits change. If one of these is out of date, tell us and we’ll fix it. Full comparisons: Otter, Wave.
Free audio transcription app for iPhone, Mac and Apple Watch
The tool transcribes a file.
The app keeps a life.
No time limit
Record a two-hour lecture or a forty-minute call. Free plan includes 40 minutes forever; Pro is unlimited.
Speakers with names
Name someone once and their voice is recognized in every recording. On Mac, you are tagged as you.
Summary, action items, chat
Every recording gets a title, a summary, and action items. Ask it a question and jump to the moment.
One library, four devices
iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch. Record on one, search on another. Works offline, syncs later.
Recording on a Mac? Recordd captures your mic and the other side of the call as two tracks. Recordd for Mac
Free audio transcription: questions
The fine print, plainly.
Is this audio transcription really free?+
Yes. Up to 60 minutes per recording or file, and 3 hours a day, with no account and no credit card. Share Recordd once and the per-file limit doubles to 120 minutes on that browser. It runs on the same transcription engine as the Recordd app. If you need more, the app records without a time limit.
Do I need to sign up?+
No. There is no account, no email, and no trial to start. Open the page, click Start or drop a file, and read the transcript. The only thing we keep is a count of minutes per visitor so the daily limit works.
Which audio and video formats can I transcribe?+
mp3, m4a (including Voice Memos exports), wav, aac, ogg, webm, and the audio track of mp4 or mov video, up to 100 MB. Or record straight from your browser's microphone.
Is this AI transcription? How accurate is it?+
Yes. Speech-to-text runs on a current AI model with automatic punctuation and speaker separation, the same engine the Recordd app uses. Accuracy depends on audio quality: a clear recording of one or two people is very good; a noisy room with crosstalk is worse. Picking the language instead of auto-detect helps.
Which languages does it support?+
26: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Japanese, Russian, Hindi, Czech, Danish, Greek, Finnish, Hungarian, Indonesian, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Slovak, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Chinese in simplified and traditional. Leave the language on auto-detect or pick one for better accuracy.
Is my audio stored?+
No. Your file or recording is sent to the transcription service, the transcript comes back to your browser, and the audio is discarded. Finished transcripts are kept only in your own browser so you can find them after a reload. Nothing is used to train AI.
Does it label who is speaking?+
Yes. Speakers are separated automatically and shown as Speaker 1, Speaker 2, and so on, with timestamps. The Recordd app goes further: name a speaker once and their voice is recognized in later recordings, and on Mac your own voice is tagged as you.
Can I transcribe long audio, or unlimited audio, for free?+
Here, up to 60 minutes per file, or 120 after sharing, and 3 hours a day. For long recordings or no limit at all, use the Recordd app on iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch: it records without a time cap, and the free plan includes 40 minutes of recording forever.
Is there free audio transcription software for Mac?+
This page works in any browser on a Mac. If you want an app, Recordd for Mac records your microphone and the other side of a call as two tracks and transcribes with speaker labels; the free plan includes 40 minutes.
Is this a tool, an app, a service, or software?+
This page is a free online tool: it runs in your browser and needs nothing installed. Recordd is also a native app for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch, which is what you want for recording regularly and keeping a searchable library.
Download the voice recorder app for iPhone and Mac
Get Recordd.
40 minutes free. Every feature unlocked. Takes 30 seconds to set up, and your library compounds from minute one.
40 minutes free, forever · every feature included · try Pro free, cancel anytime