Maximum file sizes and durations, compared
What each service says it accepts per file, in its own words, read on 15 October 2026; and what WhipScribe accepts.
The short answer
WhipScribe accepts one file up to 5 GB or 10 hours without splitting or compressing it. Of 49 other services read on 15 October 2026, 44 publish a per-file limit; the table shows each one next to ours.
Every vendor figure is the vendor's own published statement with its URL and read date in the raw data; nothing is inferred. Limits change: quote with the date.
Per-file limits, side by side
| Service | Max file size | Max duration | Free plan note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WhipScribe | 5 GB | 10 hours | A free preview of the opening minutes, then packs from $4 | our page |
| Amazon Transcribe · Standard batch transcription | 2 Gigabytes | 28,800 Seconds | Free tier: '60 minutes per month for 12 months' (https://aws.amazon.com/transcribe/pricing/) | documented |
| Amazon Transcribe · Call Analytics batch jobs | 500 Megabytes | 14,400 Seconds | documented | |
| Amazon Transcribe · Medical batch transcription | 2 Gigabytes | 14,400 Seconds | documented | |
| AssemblyAI · Pre-recorded STT, /v2/transcript (audio_url) | 5GB | 10 hours | documented | |
| AssemblyAI · Pre-recorded STT, local file via /v2/upload | 2.2GB | 10 hours | documented | |
| AssemblyAI · Sync STT (short clips) | 40 MB | 120 s | documented | |
| Azure AI Speech · Fast transcription (Standard S0) | < 500 MB | < 5 hours per file | Free (F0): 'Not applicable' in the quota table | documented |
| Azure AI Speech · Batch transcription (Standard S0) | 1 GB | not stated | Free (F0): batch not available | documented |
| Deepgram · Pre-recorded audio API (/v1/listen) | 2 GB | not stated | No per-file duration cap found; docs do not distinguish upload vs URL fetch. | documented |
| Descript · Free / Hobbyist / Creator / Business | 1GB / 10GB / 20GB / 50GB per file | not stated | Free: up to 1GB per file | documented |
| Fireflies.ai · Pro / Business / Enterprise (web uploads) | Audio 500 MB; video 2 GB | 150 minutes | Free: audio 500 MB, video 100 MB, 150 minutes per file | documented |
| Fireflies.ai · Free | Audio 500 MB; video 100 MB | 150 minutes | Same 150-minute cap per file; video cap 100 MB on Free vs 2 GB on paid. | documented |
| Google Cloud Speech-to-Text · v1 synchronous Recognize | 10 MB (local files / inline) | ~1 Minute | 60 free minutes per month per account (https://cloud.google.com/speech-to-text/pricing) | documented |
| Google Cloud Speech-to-Text · v1 asynchronous LongRunningRecognize | not stated | ~480 Minutes | 60 free minutes per month per account | documented |
| Google Cloud Speech-to-Text · v2 synchronous Recognize | 10 MB | 1 minute | 60 free minutes per month per account | documented |
| Google Cloud Speech-to-Text · v2 BatchRecognize | not stated | 8 hours | 60 free minutes per month per account | documented |
| HappyScribe · Bulk upload (all plans) | 1GB per file | not stated | 10-minute free trial of AI transcription; free plan meeting recordings capped at 45 minutes per recording | documented |
| HappyScribe · Single-file upload (marketing claim) | no file size limit (as written) | not stated | documented | |
| Kapwing · Paid plans (Pro / Business), upload into the editor | 6 GB | not stated | Free plan: pricing table says 2 GB, help centre says 250MB (see contradiction). Free auto-subtitling 'Up to 10 minutes'; paid is a monthly minute allowance, not a per-file cap. | documented |
| Kapwing · Free plan (help centre) | 250MB | not stated | Free: 250MB upload per help centre; auto-subtitling 'Up to 10 minutes' per pricing page (allowance, not stated as a per-file cap) | documented |
| MacWhisper · iOS / iPadOS app, cloud transcription (Groq) | 25MB | not stated | Cloud mode only | documented |
| Microsoft Word / 365 · Word / OneNote Transcribe, Microsoft 365 subscription | not stated | 300 minutes of uploaded audio per month (monthly allowance, not a per-file cap) | Free accounts not mentioned; feature 'only available in Word for Microsoft 365 on Windows in Commercial Tenants'. | documented |
| Microsoft Word / 365 · Word / OneNote Transcribe, Microsoft Copilot license | not stated | 30,000 minutes of uploaded audio per month (monthly allowance) | documented | |
| Notta · Paid plans, file upload (without speaker recognition) | Audio 1 GB; video 10 GB | 5 hours | Free: 'Up to 3 minutes per conversation' (pricing page) | documented |
| Notta · With speaker recognition, or bilingual transcription | Audio 1 GB; video 10 GB | 3 hours | documented | |
| Notta · Free / Pro / Business / Enterprise (pricing) | not stated | 3 minutes (Free); 5 hours (Pro, Business, Enterprise) per recording | Free: up to 3 minutes per conversation | documented |
| OpenAI Whisper API · Audio Transcriptions API (whisper-1, gpt-4o-transcribe, gpt-4o-mini-transcribe) | 25 MB | not stated | No free plan. No per-file duration cap stated; file upload only, no URL fetch. | documented |
| Otter.ai · All plans (file import) | 5 GB | not stated | Basic (free): 3 lifetime file imports; 30-minute cap per conversation | documented |
| Otter.ai · Basic (free) / Pro / Business / Enterprise | not stated | 30 minutes / 90 minutes / 4 hours / 4 hours per conversation | Basic: 30 minutes per conversation, 3 lifetime imports | documented |
| Rev · Rev Legal (court transcripts) | under 20GB (total upload, including ZIP) | not stated | documented | |
| Rev · Rev AI (API / dashboard) | 5TB (web GUI or media_url); 2GB (multipart form-data) | 17 hours (API docs) | documented | |
| Riverside · Externally uploaded recordings (paid plans) | 25 GB | 240 minutes (4 hours) per file | Monthly external upload quota 15 hours on Pro/Grow/Webinar/Mobile Plus, unlimited on Business; Free plan not listed. | documented |
| Riverside · Monthly external upload quota by plan | not stated | 15 hours/month external uploads (Pro, Grow, Webinar, Mobile Plus); Business unlimited | Free plan not listed | documented |
| Sonix · All plans (web upload) | 16GB | 8 hours (unless account enabled for longer) | 30 min free trial (pricing page) | documented |
| Temi · Pay-as-you-go | 2GB | not stated | First order is a free trial. No per-file duration found on Temi's own pages; third-party claims were not used. | documented |
| tl;dv · All plans (uploads, beta) | not stated | 3 hours | Free plan has a lifetime upload count (3 or 5 files, see contradiction). No byte size stated. | documented |
| Transkriptor · All plans | not stated | unlimited (auto-split at 10 hours for English and 16 other major languages, 4 hours for all other languages) | Trial accounts can transcribe only one file at a time; free tier is a 90-minute account quota, not a per-file cap. | documented |
| Trint · All plans | 3GB | 3 hours | documented | |
| TurboScribe · Unlimited (paid) | 5 GB | 10 hours | documented | |
| TurboScribe · Free | not stated | 30 minutes | 3 files per day, 1 file at a time | documented |
| TurboScribe · All plans (support FAQ) | 5 GB | not stated | documented | |
| Veed · Paid plans | no per-file limit (recommends project total under 5 GB) | no per-file limit stated (recommends project total around 4-5 hours) | Free plan: 1 GB per file | documented |
| Veed · Free | 1 GB | not stated | 1 GB per file, not per project | documented |
| YouTube · Video upload limit (applies to auto-captioned uploads) | 256 GB | 12 hours | Unverified accounts are limited to videos 'up to 15 minutes long' | documented |
| Buzz (open-source) · Desktop app (chidiwilliams/buzz), local transcription | not stated | not stated | Free and open source. README and FAQ state no size or duration limit, and do not say 'no limit' either. | not found |
| MacWhisper · macOS app, local transcription (Free and Pro) | not stated | not stated | Neither the Gumroad page nor macwhisper.com states a size or length limit (testimonials mention a 3-hour conversation and a 2.77GB file, which are not documented limits). | not found |
| Rev · Rev.com transcription (standard orders) | 5 GB | not stated | Free tier: 'English only transcription Analyze up to 5 files at a time'; no per-file cap stated | inferred |
| YouTube · Automatic captions | not stated | not stated | not found | |
| Zoom · Cloud recording audio transcript | not stated | not stated | Requires 'A Pro, Business, Education, or Enterprise account'; Basic (free) not listed. | not found |
Questions
What is the maximum file size for transcription?
WhipScribe takes one file up to 5 GB and 10 hours. The table compares that with the limit each vendor publishes in its own documentation, read on 15 October 2026; where a vendor publishes none, the cell says so.
Why do limits matter for long recordings?
A limit below your file means splitting it, compressing it or extracting the audio before you start, and a transcript in pieces afterwards. A limit above it means one upload and one timeline.
How were the figures read?
From each vendor's own help or pricing page, with the exact quote, the URL and the date, stored in the raw data. 44 of 49 vendors publish a figure; the rest are marked not stated.
Raw data: /proof/limits-compared.json (every quote, URL and date). What those limits mean in practice: large files, long recordings. Speed, measured: /proof/turnaround.
See also: Transcription services · Turnaround time · Evidence log · Pricing · Privacy · Terms