Built for pulling quotes
The expensive part of an interview is not the recording, it is finding the forty seconds you will actually use. The summary and key quotes name who said it; word-level timestamps tell you exactly when, so you can jump to the moment, re-listen for tone and confirm the wording before it goes into an article, a report or a hiring decision. Search a single transcript for the phrase you half-remember, or search your whole library when the same topic came up across a dozen conversations.
Each interview exports as DOCX for the write-up, TXT for notes, SRT or VTT if the interview becomes a video, and JSON with timings if you feed transcripts into your own tools.
What an interview series costs
Twenty one-hour interviews is 1,200 minutes. That fits inside one $12 pack of 2,000 minutes, with 800 minutes left for the next project because credits never expire. At the published human rates in our human transcription directory ($0.79–$2.50 per minute, checked 2026-04-23), the same 1,200 minutes would cost roughly $950–$3,000. For a single interview, a pack from $4 (500 minutes) opens the full transcript; every transcript after it draws from a pack.
The workflow
- Send the recordings. Phone recordings, video-call exports and field recorder files work, as do YouTube and podcast links. Upload them one after another and each becomes its own transcript. The box above takes files up to 500 MB; larger files, up to 10 hours or 5 GB, continue on the upload page.
- Read the summary and key quotes, with speakers named. Transcripts typically arrive in minutes, not days.
- Check what you will publish. AI is accurate on clear recordings. Names, jargon, heavy accents and people talking over each other are where to look twice; the timestamp takes you straight to the audio.
- Export and file. DOCX for the write-up, and the transcript stays searchable in your library.
When an interview needs a human transcriber
If the interview is evidence in a legal matter, if you need strict verbatim with every false start and filler word for a formal record, or if the recording is so noisy that you would re-listen to most of it anyway, use a human service. Our directory of human transcription services lists vendors with verbatim and legal specialties. For everything else, see the transcription services overview for how AI, human and DIY options compare, or try the interview transcription tool.
Questions buyers ask
Will each person in the interview be named?
Yes, in the summary, key quotes and chapters: speakers are identified and named there, and every line of the transcript carries its timestamp so you can check any attribution against the audio. Check attributions you will publish where people talk over each other.
Can I find a quote's exact moment in the recording?
Yes. Every word carries a timestamp, so you can jump from a line in the transcript to the moment it was said, and exports such as SRT, VTT and JSON keep the timings.
What does transcribing a batch of interviews cost?
Twenty one-hour interviews use 1,200 minutes, which fits in one $12 pack of 2,000 minutes. Credits never expire. Published human rates of $0.79–$2.50 per minute put the same batch at roughly $950–$3,000.
Do phone and video-call recordings work?
Yes. AI transcription is accurate on clear recordings; low-quality phone lines, heavy accents and crosstalk produce more errors, so check the passages you plan to quote.
Is my audio kept confidential?
Recordings are transcribed on our own servers and are never used for training. No human transcriber listens to them. Your transcripts stay in your own library. If a contract requires a specific certification or named data location, confirm it with the provider before sending files; for certified human work, see our directory of human services.
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 · Interview transcription tool · Market-research interviews · Academic transcription services · Human transcription directory · Bulk transcription · Pricing
Choosing a transcription service?
Before you pay anyone to transcribe: see transcription services from $4.