By Nikola, founder of TraScrivo · updated
Plenty of tools say they transcribe audio to text for free. Then they ask for an email, hand you a few trial minutes or cut each recording short. Here is what “free” and “unlimited” usually mean, what TraScrivo gives you without an account, and where it stops.
Updated 11 November 2026 · a TraScrivo guide
Transcribe now, free →A simple test: if you can't transcribe a file before giving an email address, it isn't free transcription with no sign-up.
You open TraScrivo, choose an audio or video file and press Transcribe. This is what each level includes (our pricing page, 11 November 2026).
| No account | Pass or Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Minutes | unlimited, fair use up to 24 hours of audio a day | Pass: 10, 30 or 50 hours that never expire; Pro: 30 hours a month |
| Length per file | 30 minutes | up to 4 hours |
| Export | copy, TXT, Word, PDF, SRT and VTT | same |
| AI summary and translation | with a daily limit (higher with a free account) | a higher limit |
| Speaker labels | no | yes, with Process on the server |
| Text saved for you | no: copy or download it | 30 days in your account, with Process on the server |
Prices include VAT: Pass €3.90 (10 hours), €9.90 (30 hours) or €14.90 (50 hours), paid once; Pro €7.90 a month or €59 a year. Fair use with Pass and Pro: up to 100 hours of audio a day.
Unlimited means no monthly quota and no cap on the number of files, within fair use. The real limits are these:
We read these official pages on 11 November 2026. Plans change often, so check the source.
| Service | What is free | Account | Good to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| TraScrivo | unlimited minutes (fair use), files up to 30 minutes | not needed | speaker labels and saved text only with Pass or Pro |
| Otter.ai (Basic) | 300 minutes a month, up to 30 minutes per conversation | required | 3 file imports in total; text export as TXT |
| Notta (Free) | 120 minutes a month, up to 3 minutes per conversation | required | “Export transcripts” is listed under the paid Pro plan |
Trademarks belong to their owners; TraScrivo is not affiliated with these services. More services and prices in free plans compared and in our pages on Otter, Notta and TurboScribe.
Sources (checked on 11 November 2026): Otter.ai, pricing and plan comparison · Notta, pricing and plan comparison
No sign-up is not the same as no data. In the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office says an organization that uses your personal data should tell you, among other things, how long it keeps the data, who receives it and whether it goes overseas. Look for these answers in any privacy policy:
Our answers: the audio is deleted as soon as the transcript is ready, the text appears only in your browser, and neither is used to train models. Speech recognition is done by providers working on our behalf, some in the United States. To apply the limits we log technical data such as your IP address, never the content; the IP address is deleted after 30 days. Details in our privacy policy.
This is not legal advice. For recordings with health or client data, check your employer's or your profession's rules first.
Source: ICO, Your right to be informed if your personal data is being used
A pricing page can't tell you how a tool copes with your voice. Read this script into your phone's recorder, upload the file to two or three services and compare names, figures, dates and codes line by line.
Test script (about 25 seconds) Hi, this is Priya Raman from Keller and Shaw in Boston. I'm confirming our meeting on November 14 at 9:30 a.m., at 12 Wharf Street. The quote is $1,250 plus tax, due by December 31. Please bring the case number, RX-208, and the signed PDF of the contract.
Names, figures and codes are where mistakes tend to show. Then try the export you need, for example Word or SRT.
Pass and Pro also include Process on the server: close the page, get an email when the text is ready, see who is speaking and find the transcript in your account for 30 days. For the practical steps, see how to convert audio to text; for voice messages, the bot on WhatsApp and Telegram.
Yes. On TraScrivo you can transcribe audio and video files of up to 30 minutes each for free, without an account, an email address or a card. There is no monthly quota (fair use: up to 24 hours of audio a day).
Unlimited applies to the minutes and the number of files, not to the length of each file: up to 30 minutes on the free plan. Files up to 4 hours need a Pass or Pro.
The first 30 minutes are free, and you can unlock the rest with a Pass within 48 hours.
No sign-up means no account. No subscription means nothing renews automatically. The TraScrivo Pass is a one-time payment: €3.90 for 10 hours that never expire.
No. The audio is deleted as soon as the transcript is ready and the text stays in your browser. An interrupted transcript is kept only in that browser, for up to 48 hours.
TraScrivo is paid for by people who buy a Pass or Pro, by sponsor banners (plain images, no cookies) and by donations on Ko-fi. Your data is not sold. The catch is the 30-minute limit per file.