The dissertation arithmetic
A qualitative study with 40 hours of interviews is 2,400 minutes of audio. At the published human rates in our human transcription directory ($0.79–$2.50 per minute, checked 2026-04-23) that is roughly $1,900–$6,000, which is more than many research grants allow for transcription. Here, one $24 pack of 5,000 minutes covers it for $24, and the 600 minutes left over stay in your account for follow-up interviews because credits never expire.
The usual academic workflow is to transcribe everything with AI, code from the transcripts, and check each passage you quote in the thesis or paper against the recording. Word-level timestamps make that check a matter of seconds per quote rather than scrubbing through an hour of audio.
What each kind of recording needs
Research interviews
The summary and key quotes name interviewer and participant, and every line is timestamped for coding.
Focus groups
Speakers are named in the summary and key quotes. Where participants talk over each other, check attribution and wording against the audio before analysis.
Lectures and seminars
Long recordings up to 10 hours per file, kept in a searchable library for writing up. See the lecture transcription tool.
Oral history
Archive collections transcribed in bulk, with timestamps that keep each passage tied to its place in the recording.
Formats for analysis
Export DOCX for qualitative analysis software and supervisors' comments, TXT for corpus and text-analysis tools, JSON with word timings for computational work, and SRT or VTT if a recorded lecture needs captions. Every transcript also stays in your library, where you can search across the whole project. Because every word carries a timestamp, a coded excerpt can cite its position in the recording (interview 7 at 23:41, say), which keeps an audit trail and lets a second coder find the passage in seconds.
Ethics review and data handling
Recordings are transcribed on our own servers and are never used for training, and no human transcriber hears them. That is often what an ethics protocol asks about, but protocols differ: check whether yours names specific data locations, retention periods or approved vendors before uploading participant recordings. If publication or your institution requires a certified verbatim transcript, that is a job for a human service; our directory lists vendors that offer verbatim tiers.
Getting started
Drop one recording into the box above to see the transcript; a pack from $4 opens the full transcript. The box takes files up to 500 MB, and larger files continue on the upload page. For the full comparison of AI, human and DIY transcription, see the transcription services overview.
Questions buyers ask
How much does transcribing a research project cost?
Forty hours of interviews is 2,400 minutes: one $24 pack (5,000 minutes) covers it with credits left over, and credits never expire. Published human rates of $0.79–$2.50 per minute put the same project at roughly $1,900–$6,000.
Is it suitable for data covered by an ethics protocol?
Recordings are transcribed on our own servers and are never used for training. No human transcriber hears them. Check your protocol for any required data location, retention period or approved vendor list before uploading.
Does it handle focus groups with many speakers?
Yes. Speakers are identified and named in the summary, key quotes and chapters, and every line of the transcript carries its timestamp. Overlapping speech is the hardest case for any transcription, so check attribution and wording in passages where people talk over each other.
Can I quote directly from the transcript?
Check each quotation against the recording first. AI is accurate on clear recordings, and word-level timestamps take you to the exact moment, so verifying a quote takes seconds.
Can I use it for lectures and seminars?
Yes. Files can be up to 10 hours or 5 GB each. Transcripts export as TXT or DOCX for notes, SRT or VTT for captions, and stay searchable in your library alongside the rest of the project.
Can I try it free?
Every recording starts with a free preview of its opening minutes, without signing up: every recording starts with a free preview of its opening minutes, a longer one is previewed, and a pack from $4 (500 minutes) transcribes the rest and opens every export. The credits never expire.
Related: Transcription services · Lecture transcription tool · Study transcripts · Interview transcription services · Human transcription directory · Bulk transcription · Pricing
Choosing a transcription service?
Before you pay anyone to transcribe: see transcription services from $4.