# Audio transcription for voice memos, calls and podcasts Upload a file and transcribe audio to text in your browser. Audio transcription on Kotosay starts free with no account: your first file shows its first 5 minutes, and a free account does the same for 3 recordings a day. - First 5 minutes free, no account - MP3, M4A, WAV and more - Up to 10 hours with Unlimited ## How to convert audio to text 1. **Upload the recording**: Pick the audio file on your phone or computer. 2. **Read and fix**: The language is detected for you. Fix any word in the editor and the timestamps stay where they are. 3. **Copy or export**: Copy the text on any plan. Unlimited downloads TXT, DOCX, PDF, SRT and VTT. ## Every common audio format Phone memos, recorder files, chat voice messages and podcast episodes go into the audio to text converter as they are. MP3, M4A, WAV, AAC, OGG, OPUS, FLAC, AMR, WMA, AIFF ## What people turn into text ### Voice memos The idea you recorded on the walk home, as text you can search and paste into your notes. ### Phone calls A written record of what was agreed. Ask before you record a call. ### Interviews Quotes you can copy into an article or a thesis, each with the timestamp to check it against your own recording. ### Podcasts The full text of an episode for show notes or the episode page. ### Dictation A letter or a first draft spoken into your phone, copied out as text. ### Lectures A recorded class as text to study from, so you can find the part you missed. ## How much audio you can transcribe | | No account | Free account | Unlimited | |---|---|---|---| | Price | Free | Free | $9.99 a month, or $119 paid once a year | | Files | Your first file | 3 a day | 3 at once | | Transcribed per file | First 5 minutes | First 5 minutes | Up to 10 hours | | Read, edit and copy | Yes | Yes | Yes | | TXT, DOCX, PDF, SRT and VTT | No | No | Yes | | Translation | No | No | Yes | Long interviews and full podcast episodes need more than the free 5 minutes. Unlimited takes files up to 10 hours, and you can see your renewal date in your account at any time. ## What happens to your audio We delete your audio file automatically 24 hours after transcribing it. Your transcript stays until you delete it, and you can remove a single file, the whole account, or ask support to do it for you. ## Also useful - [MP3 to text converter](https://kotosay.com/mp3-to-text) - [transcribe video to text](https://kotosay.com/video-to-text) - [interview transcription for research](https://kotosay.com/interview-transcription) - [translate audio into another language](https://kotosay.com/translate-audio-video) - [free audio converter to MP3](https://kotosay.com/audio-converter) ## Pricing ### Free: $0 To try Kotosay on your own recordings. - 3 files per day - First 5 minutes of each file - One file at a time - Read and copy in the browser - Free converters in your browser ### Unlimited: $9.99 a month, $119 a year, pay once a year For long files, exports and translation. - Unlimited minutes - Files up to 10 hours - 3 files at once - Translation - TXT, DOCX, PDF, SRT, VTT - Use on 3 devices - [Pricing](https://kotosay.com/pricing) ## Audio transcription, from the recording to the text ### What audio transcription does Audio transcription turns recorded speech into written text. You upload an audio file, Kotosay detects the language and writes down what was said, and the transcript opens in the editor with a timestamp on each line. Speech to text and voice recording transcription are other names for the same job. Turning an audio file to text works the same way for a short voice memo as for a long interview. ### Getting a recording off your phone You can transcribe voice recordings right on the phone you made them with. Upload from its browser, for example from the Files app on an iPhone or the file manager on Android. - iPhone Voice Memos. Open the recording, tap the More button, then choose Share or Save to Files. The file is an M4A. - Android. Recorder apps differ from one phone maker to the next. Most have a Share option on each recording, and the files often sit in a Recordings folder. - Call recordings. Where they end up depends on the phone and the app, so start with the app's own share menu. - Voice messages from chat apps. Save or export the message first. These are often OGG or OPUS files, and they upload as they are. ### Formats and file length MP3, M4A, WAV, AAC, OGG, OPUS, FLAC, AMR, WMA and AIFF all upload directly. iPhone memos are M4A, many Android recorders save M4A or AMR, podcasts are mostly MP3 and field recorders often use WAV. Without an account you see the first 5 minutes of your first file. A free account transcribes the first 5 minutes of each file, 3 files a day. A longer file is still accepted, and the rest stays locked until you open it with Single file or Unlimited. Unlimited takes files up to 10 hours, 3 at once. ### Calls, interviews and podcasts For an interview or a call, the timestamps lead you back to every answer, so you can check a quote against your own recording before you use it. Several people talking at once lower the accuracy, so ask people to take turns. Laws on recording calls differ by country and state, so ask before you record. For a podcast, the transcript gives you text for show notes or a page per episode. ### What makes a recording transcribe well A clean recording gives a clean transcript. These habits help while you record. - Keep the phone or microphone close to the person talking. A phone on the table in front of the speaker beats a better microphone across the room. - Switch off music, the TV and any fan you can. Music and other voices under the speech cover words. - Ask people to let each other finish. When two voices overlap, words from both tend to go missing. - On a call, use the recording the app makes itself. A second phone held near a speakerphone picks up the room as well. Tip: Have a noisy recording already? Upload it anyway and read the first 5 minutes, which are free. Fix what came out wrong in the editor, and check names and numbers against your own recording. ### After the transcript Every transcript opens in the editor, where you can fix words while the timestamps stay in place, then copy the text. With Unlimited you can also download TXT, DOCX, PDF, SRT or VTT and translate the text into another language. If a recording causes trouble, write to support. We answer within 24 hours. ## Audio to text questions ### How do I transcribe an audio file to text? Upload the file at the top of this page from your phone or computer. Kotosay detects the language, writes the transcript and opens it in the editor. Without an account you read the first 5 minutes. A free account transcribes the first 5 minutes of each file, 3 files a day. ### Can I try it without signing up? Yes. Your first audio file needs no account, and its first 5 minutes appear in full, so you can judge the result on your own recording. A free account costs nothing, keeps your transcripts in one place and transcribes the first 5 minutes of 3 files a day. ### How long can the audio be? Unlimited takes files up to 10 hours and works on 3 at once. On a free account a long file still uploads, the first 5 minutes are transcribed and the rest stays locked. Single file opens one whole recording for $4.99, and Unlimited fits a steady flow of long interviews and podcast episodes. ### Which audio formats are supported (MP3, M4A, WAV, OGG)? All four are supported, along with AAC, OPUS, FLAC, AMR, WMA and AIFF. That covers iPhone and Android voice memos, chat voice messages, podcast files and most recorders. Upload the file in the format it already has, because converting it first adds no detail to the speech. ### Can I transcribe a voice memo from my phone? Yes. Open the site in your phone's browser and upload the memo from there. On an iPhone, Voice Memos can share a recording or save it to Files as an M4A. On Android, use the Share option in your recorder app or find the file in its Recordings folder. ### How do I convert a voice recording to text? Save the recording as a file, then upload it here. Most phone recorders and dictation apps have a share or export option for that. The transcript appears in the editor, where you can fix words and copy the text into notes, an email or a document. ### How long does it take to transcribe one hour of audio? It depends on the file and how busy the servers are, so the time varies from upload to upload. An hour of audio runs past the free 5 minutes, so the full text needs Single file or Unlimited. Read the free first 5 minutes to check the quality before you decide. ### How do I get a transcript with timestamps? Every transcript already has one. Each line in the editor starts with a timestamp, and the timestamps stay in place when you fix words. With Unlimited, SRT and VTT exports carry a start and end time for each line, which also lets you use them as subtitle files. ### Can it handle poor audio or background noise? A steady hum, like a fan or distant traffic, often leaves most words readable. Loud music, wind, a TV in the background or several people talking at once lose words. Upload the file anyway and read the free first 5 minutes to see how much comes through, then fix the rest in the editor. ### Can I edit the transcript before downloading? Yes. Every transcript opens in an editor on the page, and the editor is free on every plan. Fix any word and the timestamps stay where they are. Then copy the text, or download it as TXT, DOCX, PDF, SRT or VTT with Unlimited once it reads the way you want. ### Do I need to choose the language? No. Leave it on automatic and Kotosay detects the language from the recording. Pick it from the list when you already know it, or when the file starts with music or silence. Transcription works in 90+ languages, and the same steps apply to every one of them. ### Can I transcribe a recorded phone call? Yes, a call recording uploads like any other audio file. Laws on recording calls differ by country and state, so ask before you record. The editor lets you fix names and figures afterwards, and with Unlimited you export the call as DOCX or PDF. ### What happens to my audio after transcription? We delete your audio file automatically 24 hours after transcribing it. Your transcript stays until you delete it, one file or the whole account, or you ask support to delete your data. Files you only run through the audio converter stay on your device and never reach a server. ### Are speakers labelled, and can I listen to the audio on the page? Audio transcription on Kotosay gives you timed lines in the order they were spoken, without speaker labels and without an audio player on the page. Type a name before a line in the editor if you need it. To hear a passage again, play your own recording at the timestamp next to that line. - [Kotosay](https://kotosay.com/audio-to-text) ## Site language - [Português](https://kotosay.com/pt-br/transcrever-audio.md) - [Español](https://kotosay.com/es/transcribir-audio-a-texto.md) - [Bahasa Indonesia](https://kotosay.com/id/transkrip-audio-ke-teks.md) - [Français](https://kotosay.com/fr/transcrire-audio-en-texte.md) - [Italiano](https://kotosay.com/it/trascrivere-audio.md) - [Deutsch](https://kotosay.com/de/audio-transkribieren.md) - [Türkçe](https://kotosay.com/tr/sesi-yaziya-cevirme.md) - [العربية](https://kotosay.com/ar/audio-to-text.md) - [日本語](https://kotosay.com/ja/audio-to-text.md)