5 Best Human Transcription Services in 2024

AI transcription has started delivering accuracy as great as 94%, which was unheard of back in 2023. While AI transcription has its own benefits, there are cases where a minor error in the transcription may impact the decision of a legal trial.

Human transcription is usually preferred over AI transcription when quality matters, the audio is complex, or you can’t afford to run your data through some kind of AI model.

However, the quest for a reliable human transcription service is not easy. Many transcription services offer only machine-generated transcriptions, and those employing human transcribers frequently come with steep fees and extended turnaround times.

In this article, I have listed some of my top picks for human transcription services in 2024, compared in terms of pricing, use case, and delivery speed.

1. Reduct.Video

🚀 Best for: Legal professionals & researchers needing quick turnaround time for large volume of recordings.

Reduct provides fast, editable human transcripts with an average turnaround time of ~12 hours. With a per-minute transcription cost of $1, Reduct is the most affordable overnight human transcription service on the list. With a strong presence in the legal sector, Reduct is the best option for legal transcription services , ensuring top-tier data safety.

Reduct takes the hybrid approach to human transcription. Reduct transcribes all the imported recordings automatically using Whisper AI. Hence, you can immediately start working with the automated transcript while waiting for human transcription.

In Reduct, your recordings are divided into multiple chunks before we send them to the in-house transcribers. Transcribers then prioritize their piece of the audio. Nobody has access to your entire audio recording to ensure added security of your recordings. Our QA process involves three rounds of quality checks by different transcribers to assure 99+% accuracy.

Once completed, your transcript gets automatically updated, replacing the original computer transcript.

The best part about Reduct is the benefits you get from the transcription. You can translate, search, redact, organize, and clip large quantities of video just by editing the transcript. Plus, you can do it all in a browser, together with your team.

If you are only looking for transcription, Reduct allows you to download the transcription in a .txt or .srt file.

Final overview

Usecase: Quick turnaround time for large volume of low quality audio like body-cam footage.

Average turnaround time: 8-12 hours

Pricing: $1 / minute

2. TranscribeMe

🚀 Best for: Teams and individuals who need human transcription in multiple languages.

TranscribeMe is popular among teams that need transcription in multiple languages as it delivers high transcription accuracy in 14+ languages.

They offer three different transcription packages based on your use case & needs. Like Reduct, your audio quality doesn't affect their pricing.

TranscribeMe is big on security and meets the compliance requirements for healthcare and medical organizations, law firms and legal teams, and enterprise companies.

If you work primarily on your phone, TranscribeMe has an iOS app that allows you to upload your audio on the go.

Final overview

Usecase: Marketing teams needing accurate transcription of languages other than English.

Average turnaround time: 8-12 hours

Pricing: Starting from $0.79 / minute

3. GMR Transcription

🚀 Best for: Anyone looking for a 100% human transcription who can’t afford to have AI-in-the-loop workflow.

GMR Transcription offers 100% human transcription, and additional services like translation, editing, proofreading, and Spanish transcription. GMR Transcription doesn’t employ any speech-to-text API. Therefore, if you are looking for a solution that doesn’t use AI at all, GMR Transcription is your go-to option.

Unlike Reduct & TranscribeMe, the pricing of GMR Transcription is dependent on audio quality & number of speakers. With an additional cost, you can also opt for verbatim transcription, timestamps, and corrected grammar.

I found the pricing model of GMR transcription really complex. They have a lot of variable pricing depending on your file time and audio length. Use the calculator on their website or call their support team for a custom quote.

You can download the GMR Transcription app, from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, to get started on your mobile device.

Final overview

Usecase: No AI transcription workflow for security reasons.

Average turnaround time: 3-5 days

Pricing: Starts from $1.75 / minute

4. Rev

🚀 Best for: Teams looking for API for human or AI transcription

Just like Reduct, Rev takes the hybrid approach to human transcription: They use AI to produce fast transcripts and have a team of transcriptionists to polish up what the computer delivers. They also offer additional services, including computer transcription, captions and subtitles for videos, and live captions for Zoom recordings.

Many people like Rev because it's online, fast, and decently affordable. They charge $1.25 per minute of audio, no matter the quality of your recording, and they can often deliver transcripts back within 12 hours (as long as your recording is under an hour). You can also "rush" your transcript, for $2.25 per minute of audio, if you need it back sooner. Rev provides a calculator on the website so you can look at the cost and turnaround times before uploading your content for transcription. However, Rev doesn’t provide benefits on top of transcription. You will need to download the transcript from the Rev and import it to a tool of your choice for further analysis.

Unlike other software on our list, Rev provides API for human transcription. If you are looking for some sort of human transcription integration on your own system, you should try out Rev.

Final overview

Usecase: A scalable human transcripton solution for integration.

Average turnaround time: 24 hours

Pricing: Starts from $1.5 / minute (add-on for quicker turnaround)

5. GoTranscript

🚀 Best for: Anyone looking for an affordable pay-as-you-go solution for a large volume.

GoTranscript offers human transcription, English captions, and foreign subtitles for video recordings.

GoTranscript employs variable pricing depending on recording length and desired turnaround time. Their human transcribers can work with virtually all audio quality: GoTranscript guarantees 99+% accuracy and doesn't charge extra for videos that are difficult to transcribe.

GoTranscript is a nice option for students and professionals who frequently transcribe videos because they have affordable prices, a customer loyalty program, and student discounts to offset the cost of transcribing and working with footage. This makes high-quality human transcription more attainable to the teams that need it for their processes.

Beyond transcription and captioning, GoTranscript doesn't provide a lot of tools to use transcripts, so you still have to export transcripts before you can work with them.

Final overview

Usecase: Needing human transcription sporadically.

Average turnaround time: 5 days

Pricing: Starts from $0.84 / minute (Expensive for quicker turnaround)

Do more with your human transcripts

Whether you're an educator committed to ensuring the accessibility of your lessons, a researcher delving into insights from interviews, or a legal professional documenting pre-trial evidence, human transcription is just the first step to helping you perform your job better.

Before you decide on a human transcription service, check and see if they provide further benefits to do more with your transcription.

Reduct is designed to let you get the utmost value from your human transcripts — it's far easier than working on a downloaded text file of your transcripts.

Talk to sales to learn more about our fast and accurate human transcription services and what you achieve with Reduct.