Who pays for transcription, measured
The recordings paying customers actually make, by length and file size, from the production record in the 30 days to 27 October 2026.
The short answer
In the 30 days to 27 October 2026, 36% of recordings between two and four hours were transcribed by paying customers, against 8% of recordings under ten minutes. The longer the recording, the more often someone has paid for it.
Production record, 30 days to 27 October 2026. A recording counts as paid for when the account that made it has bought a pack. No names, titles or transcript text.
Share of recordings made by paying customers, by length
| Recording length | Recordings | Paid for |
|---|---|---|
| 10 to 30 minutes | 509 | 12% |
| 2 to 4 hours | 278 | 36% |
| 4 to 8 hours | 87 | 6% |
| 30 to 60 minutes | 438 | 16% |
| over 8 hours | 16 | 12% |
| 1 to 2 hours | 407 | 20% |
| under 10 minutes | 889 | 8% |
By upload size
| Upload size | Uploads | Paid for |
|---|---|---|
| under 100 MB | 1,656 | 15% |
| 100 to 500 MB | 268 | 57% |
| 500 MB to 1 GB | 8 | 38% |
| 1 to 2 GB | 11 | 36% |
| over 2 GB | 2 | 0% |
Links (YouTube, Drive, podcast feeds) are not in the size table because nothing is uploaded.
How fast people pay
Of the customers who paid in the 30 days to 15 October 2026 and had already made a recording, the median gap from their first recording to their first payment was 9 minutes; 39 of 43 paid within the hour and one waited more than a day.
Half of paying customers had a recording longer than an hour; the most common upload among them was between 100 and 500 MB, which is a one-to-two-hour MP3 or M4A or a shorter video, and three in four of all uploads in that size band came from paying accounts.
Read on 15 October 2026 from the payments record joined to the recordings of the same accounts; counts and shares only, no names and no amounts.
Questions
Who pays for transcription?
In the 30 days to 27 October 2026, 36% of recordings between two and four hours were transcribed by paying customers, against 8% of recordings under ten minutes. The longer the recording, the more often someone has paid for it.
How quickly do people decide to pay?
Of the customers who paid in the 30 days to 15 October 2026 and had already made a recording, the median gap from their first recording to their first payment was 9 minutes; 39 of 43 paid within the hour and one waited more than a day.
What do paying customers transcribe?
Half of paying customers had a recording longer than an hour; the most common upload among them was between 100 and 500 MB, which is a one-to-two-hour MP3 or M4A or a shorter video, and three in four of all uploads in that size band came from paying accounts.
Is the free part a trial?
Every recording starts with a free preview of its opening minutes: 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. Credits never expire.
Speed, measured: /proof/turnaround. The longest and largest this month: /proof/largest-recordings.
Long or large recording? Start at long recordings or large files; the measured limits and prices are on the fact sheet.
See also: Transcription services · Turnaround time · Evidence log · Pricing · Privacy · Terms