WhipScribe transcribes focus groups and in-depth interviews for $0.29 to $0.48 per audio hour, with packs from $4 for 500 minutes and about 2 minutes of processing per hour of audio. Focus Forward's own pages list automated transcripts from $0.29 per minute and human transcripts in 24 to 48 hours, so it remains the choice when you need a person to type every line.
Who this is for
A typical market research project is not one recording. It is eight focus groups of 90 minutes, two dozen in-depth interviews of an hour, a few ethnographic walk-throughs and a debrief. The transcripts feed a topline, a coding frame and the quotes in the final deck, usually on a tight deadline.
Focus Forward has served that work for years as a full-service vendor: it recruits respondents, processes incentives, codes open ends and transcribes, with human typists and an automated tier. If you searched for Focus Forward transcription, you probably want to know what the same recordings would cost and how long they would take elsewhere. This page answers that with prices from both sides, and says plainly where Focus Forward is still the better buy.
WhipScribe is machine (AI) transcription only. You upload the recording, it is processed in minutes, and you get a timestamped transcript, a summary with key quotes, and chapters. Nobody listens to your file: that makes it cheaper and faster, and means no person checks it.
Worked example
Eight 90-minute focus groups and twenty-four 60-minute IDIs: 720 + 1,440 = 2,160 minutes, or 36 hours of audio.
| WhipScribe | Focus Forward automated | Focus Forward human | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Published rate | $0.29–$0.48 per audio hour | From $0.29 per minute ($17.40 per hour) | No public rate; quote by request |
| This study (2,160 min) | $16 (a $12 pack plus a $4 pack), or one $24 pack with 2,840 minutes left | From about $626 | Ask for a quote |
| Turnaround | About 2 minutes per audio hour | Under 30 minutes | 24–48 hours |
| How you buy | Pack online; credits never expire | Upload, pay online | Contact sales or RFP email |
Focus Forward figures from its own automated transcription and human transcription pages, checked 4 Oct 2026. "From" is their wording; add-ons such as timestamps on their automated tier may cost more. WhipScribe prices from our pricing page.
The gap is large because the products are different. A human vendor's price pays for typists, project managers and review; a machine service's price pays for processing time. If your client contract specifies human transcripts, the comparison that matters is between human vendors, and our human transcription directory covers those. If it does not, most teams find a machine transcript they check against the audio is enough for coding and quotes.
How it works
Drop the facility's MP4 or the platform's M4A in the box above, or paste a Google Drive link. One file can run to 10 hours or 5 GB, so a full day of sessions stays in one piece.
Every recording gets a free preview: the summary, with the topics, key quotes and chapters. Judge the quality on your own audio before you pay.
A pack from $4 opens the full transcript. Search the text, jump to any timestamp to check the audio, then export DOCX or TXT for NVivo, ATLAS.ti or MAXQDA.
What you get
Every line carries its timestamp, so a quote in the deck can cite group 3 at 41:12 and anyone on the team can check it in seconds.
Speakers are identified and named in the summary, key quotes and chapters. The transcript itself is timestamped line by line rather than attributed per line.
A brief with the thesis and takeaways, chapters with timestamps, the names, numbers and dates that were said, and the questions the session answers. Useful for a topline the day after fieldwork.
TXT, DOCX, SRT, VTT and JSON with every transcript. 99+ languages are detected automatically, so a multi-country study needs no per-market setup.
What it costs
One-time packs, no seat fees, credits never expire. The free preview comes first; a pack opens the full transcript.
| Plan | Minutes | Per audio hour | Covers roughly |
|---|---|---|---|
| $4 pack | 500 | $0.48 | Five 90-minute groups |
| $8 pack | 1,000 | $0.48 | Sixteen 60-minute IDIs |
| $12 pack | 2,000 | $0.36 | Twenty-two 90-minute groups |
| $24 pack | 5,000 | $0.29 | Eighty-three hours of fieldwork |
| Workspace | $19 a month, fair use of 700 hours | Teams transcribing every week | |
A 90-minute group costs $0.54 of credit at the $12 pack rate; a 60-minute IDI costs $0.36. Because credits never expire, minutes left over after one study carry into the next. Full details and the API are on the pricing page, and the price-per-hour comparison sets these rates against 14 other AI services, checked on their own pages.
Honest comparison
| WhipScribe | Focus Forward | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Machine transcription of files and links | Market research services vendor: recruitment, incentives, coding, translation, human and automated transcription |
| Who hears the audio | No one; it is processed by machine | US-managed transcriber team for human work; each typist typically hears a segment of up to 30 minutes under NDA |
| Speakers | Named in the summary, key quotes and chapters | Its automated page says speakers are identified; human typists can name each line |
| Upgrade path | None; export and send key files to a human vendor if needed | One-click upgrade from automated to human, 48 hours or less |
| Audio retention | Delete a recording and transcript at any time | Voice files deleted no more than 60 days after delivery, sooner on request |
| Extras | Summary, chapters, key quotes, chat over the transcript | Respondent recruitment, incentive processing, open-end coding, translation |
A common middle path: machine-transcribe every session for the topline and coding, then send only the two or three sessions the client will read verbatim to a human vendor.
Participant data
Recordings are transcribed on our own servers and are never used for training. No human transcriber hears participant audio, and you can delete a recording and its transcript at any time. If your contract names approved vendors, data locations or retention periods, check them before uploading. For long sessions, the long-file proof shows public recordings of 2.5 to 9.3 hours transcribed on production with their processing times.
Looking for transcription work rather than transcripts? This page is for buyers; see transcription jobs instead.
FAQ
No. WhipScribe is an independent machine transcription service with no connection to Focus Forward. This page compares the two for people buying market research transcription; Focus Forward facts are quoted from its own pages, checked on 4 Oct 2026.
Packs are $4 for 500 minutes, $8 for 1,000, $12 for 2,000 and $24 for 5,000, which is $0.29 to $0.48 per hour of audio. A 90-minute focus group uses 90 minutes of credit, so twenty groups fit in one $12 pack. Credits never expire, and every recording gets a free preview before you buy.
About 2 minutes of processing per hour of audio; most files finish in under a minute. Focus Forward's own pages give 24 to 48 hours for human transcripts and under 30 minutes for its automated tier.
Speakers are identified and named in the summary, key quotes and chapters, and every line of the transcript carries a timestamp so you can check any attribution against the audio. If your report needs a participant name on every line of the transcript, a human vendor such as Focus Forward is the better fit.
Yes. Export DOCX or TXT for qualitative analysis software, or JSON with timestamps for your own tools. SRT and VTT are there if a clip needs captions.
Recordings are transcribed on our own servers and are never used for training. No human transcriber hears them, and you can delete a recording and its transcript at any time. Check your consent forms and client contract for any named-vendor or data-location rules before uploading.
Workspace is $19 a month with fair use of 700 hours of audio, which suits a research team transcribing groups and interviews every week. If your volume comes in bursts, packs are cheaper because credits never expire.
When the deliverable is a human-checked transcript, when the client expects a participant name on every line, when the audio is a crowded in-person group with heavy cross-talk, or when you also want them to recruit respondents and process incentives. Many teams machine-transcribe everything first and send only the key sessions to a human vendor.
Related
Free preview on every recording. About 2 minutes per audio hour; packs from $4 for 500 minutes, and credits never expire.
Sources, checked 4 Oct 2026 on Focus Forward's own pages: automated transcription (from $0.29 per minute, under 30 minutes, upgrade to human in 48 hours or less); human transcription (24–48 hour turnaround, US-managed team); confidentiality and privacy (file deletion within 60 days, segments of up to 30 minutes per transcriber); services. Prices are in US dollars and change; check the source before you buy. Focus Forward is a trademark of its owner, named here only for comparison; WhipScribe is not affiliated with it. WhipScribe prices are from our pricing page.
Beyond this one product: see an honest roundup of the best transcription services and cheap transcription services and the real cost per hour.