What was compared
Rev, Otter.ai, Descript, Trint, Sonix, Happy Scribe, TurboScribe, Notta, Fireflies.ai, Temi, Riverside, VEED, Maestra and GoTranscript's AI tier, each read on its own pricing page on 4 October 2026. Scenario: one user, AI transcription of recorded files, 10 or 100 hours within one month, the cheapest option each company sells, monthly plans counted at one month's fee.
Every figure, the verbatim quote it comes from, the URL and the arithmetic are on whipscribe.com/proof/price-per-hour, with a JSON copy.
10 hours in a month
WhipScribe: $8 (the 1,000-minute pack, $0.80 an hour). Next lowest paid options: Notta $13.49, Otter.ai $16.99, Fireflies.ai $18, TurboScribe $20, Descript $24, Happy Scribe $29, Rev $29.99.
100 hours in a month
WhipScribe Workspace: $19 a month ($0.19 an hour, 700-hour fair use). Next: TurboScribe $20, Otter.ai $24 on a 3-month promotion ($30 regular), Notta $27.99. Bought as one-time packs, 100 hours costs $32 on WhipScribe ($24 + $8), so packs are not the lowest at this volume.
Where others cost less
Free tools: Riverside offers a free transcriber, and TurboScribe's free tier covers 30-minute files, three a day. Developer APIs: AssemblyAI lists $0.15 an hour, but it needs code.
Where WhipScribe wins at any volume: no subscription needed, credits never expire, files up to 10 hours and 5 GB (Otter.ai 4 hours, Notta 5 hours, Fireflies.ai 150 minutes), and 99+ languages. Among options with no subscription, WhipScribe packs ($0.29-$0.48 an hour) were the lowest; the next published pay-as-you-go rate was Sonix at $10 an hour.
How to do it
- Add up the hours you need to transcribe.
- For an occasional or uneven load, buy the pack that covers it; the $24 pack (5,000 minutes) is about $0.29 an hour and never expires.
- For a steady load of more than about 66 hours a month, Workspace at $19 a month costs less than packs.
- Check the dated comparison on whipscribe.com/proof/price-per-hour before you buy elsewhere; prices change.