Free plans (5)
Their limits are stated in different terms, so they aren't ranked against each other. Ordered by first paid price.
| Tool | Stated limits | What makes you upgrade | First paid price | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 TurboScribeRead Oct 29, 2026 |
3 free transcripts per day, files up to 30 minutes, lower priority; Unlimited plan removes the limits"Transcribe 3 files for free every day."Source | TurboScribe Unlimited has no cap on minutes | $20/moTurboScribe Unlimited | Free plan |
 DescriptRead Oct 29, 2026 |
Free plan with 60 minutes (1 hr) of media per month and 100 one-time AI credits, 720p export; no credit card required"There's a free plan, no credit card required."Source | Not stated | $24/userHobbyist | Free plan |
 OpenAI Whisper APIRead Oct 29, 2026 |
A free version of ChatGPT is available to everyone; its limits are not described on these pages."The free version of ChatGPT is available to everyone."Source | Not stated | $25/moBusiness Standard seat | Free plan |
 RevRead Nov 4, 2026 |
Free plan: 45 AI transcription and caption minutes per month, 1 user, English only, analyze up to 5 files at a time"45 AI transcription & caption minutes/month · 1 user"Source | More than 45 minutes: Essentials includes 5,000 | $29.99/userEssentials | Free plan |
 AssemblyAIRead Oct 29, 2026 |
Free tier with no credit card: up to 185 hours of pre-recorded and 333 hours of streaming transcription"The free tier includes up to 185 hours of pre-recorded transcription and up to 333 hours of streaming transcription."Source | Not stated | $0.15/hour | Free plan |
Time-limited or one-off (2)
Listed as free on the vendor's page, but the allowance runs out or doesn't renew. Not counted as free plans above.
| Tool | Stated limits | What makes you upgrade | First paid price | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 DeepgramRead Oct 29, 2026 |
Free $200 credit on Pay as you go, roughly 43,000 minutes of Nova-3 transcription, does not expire, no credit card required; then pay as you go."Roughly 43,000 minutes, over 700 hours, of Nova-3 transcription. It does not expire, so you can prototype without a clock running."Source | Then pay as you go | $333/mo yearlyGrowth | One-off allowance |
 SpeechmaticsRead Oct 29, 2026 |
$100 in credit with no card required; if on the free tier, API access pauses once credits run out. Limited to 2 concurrent real-time sessions."If you’re on the free tier, your API access will be paused once your credits run out."Source | If on the free tier, API access pauses once credits run out | $0.24/hour | One-off allowance |
Free trial only (2)
Questions
Which AI transcription software are free?
5 have a free plan you can keep, including AssemblyAI, Descript, OpenAI Whisper API, Rev, TurboScribe.
What do you pay after a free plan?
The lowest first paid price among tools with a free plan is $20/mo (TurboScribe). Read from each vendor's own page.
How this page is made
Every limit is the vendor's own, read from its pages and quoted. A tool counts as a free plan when the text describes something you can keep using; a fixed number of days or a single batch of credits is listed separately. We don't test the plans. How prices are read.