If you transcribe recordings you already have (interviews, lectures, podcasts), you don't need a meeting bot. If you need live calls captured, you do. Most people only need one of the two.
For recorded audio and video, TurboScribe is the best deal: unlimited transcription for a flat $20/mo. For live meetings, Otter.ai transcribes in real time inside Zoom, Teams and Meet. If you'll edit the recording afterwards, Descript turns the transcript into the editor.
| App | Free tier | Paid from | Top plan | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TurboScribe | Yes | $20/mo | $20/mo | Solo researchers, journalists, and students transcribing large volumes of pre-recorded audio or video cheaply |
| Otter.ai | Yes | $16.99/mo | $30/mo | Teams already living in Zoom, Teams, or Google Meet who want automatic notes and searchable transcripts |
| Descript | Yes | $24/mo | $65/mo | Podcast and video editing, transcript-based cutting, voice cloning for solo creators |
| Fireflies.ai | Yes | $18/mo | $39/mo | Sales and ops teams who want meeting data piped automatically into CRM, Slack, and analytics tools |
| Krisp | No | $16/mo | $30/mo | Noisy or remote work environments, call centers, cross-platform meeting transcription |
Monthly prices in US dollars before tax, from each vendor's official pricing (US list price; weekly-billed plans converted to a monthly figure). Updated October 7, 2026
Unlimited transcription with no minute cap, files up to 10 hours, and 98+ transcription languages; Free allows 3 files a day up to 30 minutes. There is no meeting bot or calendar integration.
Pick it if: you transcribe interviews, lectures or podcasts in bulk.
Full TurboScribe pricing →Real-time transcription in Zoom, Teams and Google Meet with searchable transcripts. Accuracy dips with heavy accents or crosstalk, and Free stops at 300 minutes.
Pick it if: you want a live transcript while the call is still happening.
Full Otter.ai pricing →Edit audio and video by editing the transcript, with voice cloning to fix mistakes. Free covers 60 media minutes a month at 720p export.
Pick it if: the transcript is a step toward a finished podcast or video.
Full Descript pricing →Free includes unlimited transcription and summaries within 400 storage minutes per team, and Business adds multi-language transcription. For an uncapped free notetaker, see Fathom or Circleback in our meeting-notes guide.
Pick it if: you want meeting transcripts flowing into your CRM and other tools.
Full Fireflies.ai pricing →Cancels background noise in real time and transcribes calls across platforms, with unlimited AI notes on Core. You can try it for 7 days, but there's no free plan to stay on.
Pick it if: you take calls from noisy places or a call center.
Full Krisp pricing →TurboScribe Unlimited at $20/mo, with a lower effective rate on annual billing. It has no per-minute caps.
TurboScribe transcribes 98+ languages and translates into 134+. tl;dv records and transcribes in 30+ languages for free.
How we choose: prices come from each vendor's official pricing page and are re-checked every week. We take no affiliate fees, so rankings aren't for sale.