Transcribe a long Audacity recording from the file you export.
Audacity keeps its project as an .aup3 file, which is not a playable track, so use the Export command in the File menu to write a WAV or MP3 and upload that. A three-hour session comes back in about 6 minutes, the first 20 minutes are free, and a $6 pack of 500 minutes covers the other 160.
From Audacity to text
One export from the project, one upload, one transcript of the whole session.
Export first, then upload
The project file holds Audacity's edit history and pointers to audio data, not a track a player can open. Choose Export in the File menu, pick WAV or MP3, and note the folder in the save dialog, because that folder is where the file lands. The box above takes files up to 500 MB; anything bigger goes in on upload page.
WAV or MP3: the size sum
A 16-bit stereo WAV at 44.1 kHz grows by roughly 10 MB a minute, so three hours sits near 1.9 GB and four hours passes 2 GB. An MP3 at 128 kbps is closer to 58 MB an hour. Speech holds up well in a 128 kbps MP3, which makes it the easy choice for a marathon take.
Three hours, about six minutes
Processing runs at roughly 2 minutes per hour of audio. On the public proof page, a 4.94-hour recording finished in 372 seconds. You can close the tab while it runs, and the transcript waits in your Library when it is done.
What the session turns into
You get a brief with the thesis and takeaways, chapters with timestamps, and the names, numbers and dates that were spoken. The people in the session are named in the summary, key quotes and chapters, and a chat answers questions about anything that was said.
Where long Audacity takes go wrong
The project is not the recording, and a WAV of a long session is heavy.
✗ The usual snags
Most failed attempts with an Audacity recording come from a mix-up between the project and the exported audio, or from a file sized for a short clip.
- Uploading the .aup3 project instead of an export
- A four-hour WAV past the 2 GB line before a pack
- Chopping the session into clips for a 25 MB limit
- Exporting only the selected region by accident
- A muted track left out of the mixdown
- Typing three hours of talk by hand
✓ One export, one upload
Export the whole timeline as a single file and send it once; the transcript keeps one clock from the first second.
- MP3 at 128 kbps: about 58 MB an hour
- A single export of up to 10 hours or 5 GB
- Three hours processed in roughly 6 minutes
- The opening 20 minutes read free
- 500 minutes for $6, no subscription
- Captions that match the exported timeline
Sample
An oral history session exported from Audacity, as it comes back.
Illustrative only: these lines were written for this page and do not come from a real recording. Timestamps count from the first second of the exported file.
Export
One transcript. Five clean formats.
Every pack exports all five — no format is held back for a higher tier.
Plain text
De-ummed paragraphs. Ready to paste.
SRT captions
Timed to the speech. Every video editor reads this.
WebVTT
HTML5 player + YouTube uploads.
Show notes
Formatted with chapters and pull-quotes.
Machine-readable
Timestamped text for your own tools.
Pricing
Honest pricing, no surprises.
A pack from $6 (500 minutes) opens the full transcript. After that, no subscription and no auto-renew — every tier is a one-time minute pack, and credits never expire. Buy once, use the minutes whenever you need them.
Casual pack
$6/500 min
8 hours of audio — $0.72 an hour. One-time — credits never expire.
- 500 minutes of audio
- All export formats
- Unlimited AI chat per transcript
- Executive summary & key quote
Best value
$12/2,000 min
33 hours of audio — $0.36 an hour. Credits never expire.
- 2,000 minutes of audio
- Priority queue
- All export formats
- Unlimited AI chat per transcript
Bulk pack
$24/5,000 min
83 hours of audio — $0.29 an hour. Credits never expire.
- 5,000 minutes of audio
- Priority queue
- API access for batch pipelines
- All export formats
FAQ
Audacity recordings, the questions people ask.
How long does a long Audacity recording take to transcribe?
About 2 minutes for each hour of audio, so a three-hour export is ready in roughly 6 minutes and a ten-hour one in about 20. The 9.31-hour public run on our proof page took 1,033 seconds from start to finish.
What does a three-hour session cost?
A three-hour session uses 180 minutes. A first-time visitor gets the opening 20 free, and the remaining 160 come out of a $6 pack of 500 minutes, which leaves 340 minutes for your next sessions. The credits do not expire, and there is no monthly plan.
Can I upload the .aup3 project file?
No, and you would not want to: it describes edits rather than holding one finished track. Export the timeline to WAV or MP3 first. If the project has several tracks, check none are muted, because a muted track is left out of the export.
My WAV is over 2 GB. Will it go through?
Before the first pack, uploads go up to 2 GB. A bigger file starts once a pack is on the account, up to 5 GB or 10 hours, whichever comes first. Re-exporting the same session as MP3 is quicker still: four hours shrinks to around 230 MB.
Should I cut a long project into parts?
Only if it runs past 10 hours. Up to that length it travels as one file and returns as one transcript on one timeline. For a longer session, select the first stretch, export the selection, then export the remainder as a second file.
Which languages and formats, and where does the audio go?
Any of 99 languages, detected from the audio with nothing to set. Downloads come as TXT, DOCX, SRT, VTT and JSON from the same run. Recordings are transcribed on our own servers and are never used for training, and you can remove a file whenever you choose.
Related
Other long audio files
Export the session and send it. Read its first 20 minutes free.
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