Kdenlive · audio-only render

Transcribe a Kdenlive project to text.

WhipScribe transcribes a Kdenlive project rendered with an audio-only preset and returns an SRT for its subtitle track. Packs: $4 for 300 minutes, $18 for 3,000, $32 for 6,000; Workspace $19 a month. Up to 10 hours or 5 GB per file. Measured turnaround: about 2 minutes per audio hour. 99 languages. Checked 2 Nov 2026.

Free preview of the opening minutes Up to 10 hours or 5 GB per file 99+ languages TXT · DOCX · SRT · VTT · JSON

The file you have

What Kdenlive gives you, and what to render.

Project file: A .kdenlive XML file. It points at your clips and cannot be uploaded here.
Render for transcription: Project → Render, then a preset from the Audio only group such as MP3 or WAV.
Where it lands: The Output file path at the top of the Render dialog; change it before pressing Render to File.
Typical size: An hour of MP3 is 60–110 MB; WAV is about 600 MB.

There is no link to paste for this one. Get the file onto your phone or computer first, then upload it in the box above.

How it works

Three steps, the first one is the only one that takes any thought.

Render audio only

Project → Render, choose an Audio only preset, set the output file and click Render to File.

Drop the file here

MP3, WAV, FLAC and the MP4 or MKV renders upload as they are.

Import the subtitles

Export SRT from the transcript, then in Kdenlive use Project → Subtitles → Import Subtitle File (Sequence → Subtitles in the newest versions).

Good to know

What trips people up, and what to do about it.

Render the full project, not a zone. If the render range is set to the selected zone, the transcript only covers that zone.
Accented letters look wrong after import? Check the Encoding option in the import dialog; the SRT from here is UTF-8.
Kdenlive can create subtitles itself with a downloadable speech model. Bringing the audio here is useful when you also want a summary, DOCX or a shareable transcript.
Import into a new subtitle track if you already have one; Kdenlive can keep several subtitle tracks but shows one at a time.

Example. A 28-minute tutorial edited in Kdenlive is rendered as a 26 MB MP3. The transcript is back in about a minute; the SRT goes onto the subtitle track and the summary becomes the video description.

What comes back

More than a wall of text.

The same four things for every Kdenlive recording, whatever its length.

A transcript with timestamps

Every line carries its time. Click a line to hear that second again, or search a name or phrase and jump to each place it was said.

A summary, chapters and key quotes

A brief with the takeaways, chapters with their start times, and the quotes worth keeping. Speakers are identified and named in the summary, key quotes and chapters.

Questions answered from the recording

Ask where a topic came up or what was decided, and get the answer with the time it was said, instead of scrolling the whole text.

Every export

TXT, DOCX, SRT, VTT, JSON from the same transcript: a document to edit, caption files for video, plain text to paste, structured data for your own tools.

Pricing

Free preview. Packs from $4, and the minutes never expire.

A 28-minute tutorial is 28 minutes, so the $4 pack (300 minutes) covers it 10 times over. Every recording gets a free preview, and in 31 countries, or for recordings of an hour or more in most others, a summary you can read before paying; a pack opens the full transcript and every export. Packs are one-time purchases with no subscription and no seat fee.

$4300 minutesBuy $183,000 minutesBuy $326,000 minutesBuy

Pick a pack to open secure checkout. Workspace is $19 a month for unlimited transcription (300-hour fair-use mark). Full pricing

What we measured, last 30 days

3,332 recordings, 2,490 audio hours, 65 languages detected. An hour of audio came back in 3.1 minutes for half of the recordings and within 17.5 minutes for nine in ten, measured from the moment the file landed to the finished transcript. Refreshed 2026-10-28; method on how we test.

FAQ

Kdenlive to text, answered.

Can I upload a .kdenlive file?

No. It is the project, not the media. Render it with an Audio only preset and upload the MP3 or WAV.

How do I import the SRT into Kdenlive?

Project → Subtitles → Import Subtitle File (in the newest versions the menu is Sequence). Kdenlive reads SRT, VTT, ASS and SBV.

Is the audio-only render enough?

Yes. The transcript comes from the sound, so the result is identical to rendering the video, and the file is far smaller.

What does transcribing Kdenlive recordings cost?

The preview is free, and so is the summary in 31 countries or for recordings of an hour or more. A pack opens the full transcript: $4 for 300 minutes, $18 for 3,000 minutes, $32 for 6,000 minutes. Packs are one-time, credits never expire, and Workspace is $19 a month if you transcribe every week.

How long can the recording be?

One file can run up to 10 hours or 5 GB. The box on this page takes files up to 500 MB; a larger file continues on the main upload page, which uploads it in parts. Most recordings come back in about two minutes per hour of audio.

Is the recording kept private?

Recordings are transcribed on our own servers and are never used for training. You can delete a recording and its transcript at any time.