🏆 Top 7 Free Transcription Software Tools
🔥 Fireflies AI
Fireflies offers a free plan ideal for individuals just starting with transcription and meeting notes. The plan provides unlimited transcription with 800 minutes of meeting storage per seat, as well as limited AI-generated summaries, enabling users to capture key meeting insights at no additional cost.
🎯 Free Plan Features
- • Unlimited transcription and limited AI summaries
- • 800 minutes of storage per user seat
- • Real-time transcription and notes in multiple languages
- • Mobile app (Android, iOS) and Chrome extension
🔗 Integrations
- • Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams
- • Mobile App (Android, iOS)
- • Chrome Extension
- • Real-time transcription in 100+ languages
Best for: Teams wanting conversation analytics and CRM integration with generous free limits.
🦦 Otter.ai
Otter.ai's Basic plan is designed for individuals who want to try out AI-powered transcription and meeting notes without any cost. It offers 300 monthly transcription minutes with a limit of 30 minutes per conversation and allows users to import up to three audio or video files for lifetime transcription.
🎯 Free Plan Features
- • 300 monthly transcription minutes with 30-minute limit per conversation
- • Live transcription and speaker identification during meetings
- • Up to 3 lifetime audio/video file imports
- • Multi-language support and mobile apps for iOS and Android
🔗 Integrations
- • Zoom video conferencing, Microsoft Teams meetings
- • Google Meet sessions
- • AI Chat within and across meetings
- • New AI meeting workflows
Best for: Students, researchers, and professionals who prioritize transcription accuracy over advanced features.
📝 Notta
Notta's free plan is for individuals starting with transcription. It provides 120 minutes per month with a 3-minute limit per conversation. Users can upload up to 50 files per month and receive 10 AI summaries. It supports speaker identification and web meeting transcription.
🎯 Free Plan Features
- • 120 transcription minutes per month
- • 3-minute limit per conversation
- • 50 audio/video uploads per month
- • 10 AI-generated summaries
🔗 Integrations
- • Zoom meetings, Microsoft Teams
- • Google Meet, Slack meetings
- • Transcript sync across devices
- • 104 languages supported
Best for: Global teams and multilingual organizations needing support for non-English meetings.
📹 tl;dv
tl;dv offers a free plan designed for anyone new to AI meeting tools. This plan includes unlimited meetings and viewers, unlimited AI moment summaries, and transcription in over 30 languages, all without any time limits or credit card requirements.
🎯 Free Plan Features
- • Unlimited meetings and viewers
- • Unlimited AI moment summaries
- • 10 AI meeting notes
- • Unlimited transcription in 30+ languages
🔗 Integrations
- • Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams
- • Slack and Email sharing
- • Calendar integrations
- • Automatic meeting recording, API access
Best for: Teams focused on video content, highlights, and visual meeting analysis. *Transcripts limited by AI summary hours.
🤖 Sembly AI
Sembly AI's free plan is designed for beginners to explore its capabilities. It offers a single-user workspace with 1 hour of recording and upload time per month. The plan provides standard-quality transcription and introductory AI-generated meeting notes and tasks.
🎯 Free Plan Features
- • 1-hour recording and upload limit per month
- • Standard quality transcription
- • Basic AI meeting notes and tasks
- • Meetings are deleted after 4 months
🔗 Integrations
- • Microsoft Teams, Zoom
- • Google Meet, Slack
- • Email and Calendar syncing
- • Task management integration
Best for: Project teams needing task management integration and automated action item creation.
📞 Google Meet (Built-in)
Google Meet's free plan is designed for personal use and small group meetings. It allows up to 100 participants per meeting with a 60-minute time limit for group calls and no time limit for one-on-one sessions. Users can join unlimited meetings, use screen sharing, and access live captions in multiple languages.
🎯 Free Features
- • Host up to 100 participants
- • 60-minute limit on group meetings
- • Unlimited meetings with screen sharing
- • Live captions in multiple languages
🔗 Integrations
- • Google Calendar for meeting scheduling
- • Gmail for quick meeting access
- • Google Drive for file sharing
- • Google Chat for messaging, Mobile apps
Best for: Google Workspace users wanting basic transcription without additional software.
🤖 OpenAI Whisper (Self-hosted)
OpenAI Whisper is a top speech recognition system you can run locally. It offers accurate transcription and translation without requiring data to be sent to the cloud. Self-hosting keeps your data private and allows you to customize its operation.
🎯 Features
- • Accurate, multilingual transcription
- • Supports translation and language detection
- • Runs locally for complete privacy
- • No extra training needed
🔗 Integrations
- • API for custom use
- • Browser-based deployment
- • Node.js server support
- • Media processing pipelines, GPU support
Best for: Technical users who can self-host and want unlimited, private transcription without cloud services.
📊 Free Plan Comparison Table
| Tool | Free Limit | Accuracy | Languages | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fireflies | 800 min | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | English | Analytics |
| Otter.ai | 300 min | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | English | Accuracy |
| Notta | 120 min | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | 104 | Multilingual |
| tl;dv | Unlimited* | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | 30+ | Video |
| Sembly | 1 hour | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | English | Tasks |
| Google Meet | Unlimited | ⭐⭐⭐ | 100+ | Basic |
| Whisper | Unlimited | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | 100+ | Technical |
*tl;dv allows unlimited recordings but limits AI-powered transcript generation
🤔 Which Free Tool Should You Choose?
🎯 Decision Framework
⚠️ Common Limitations
- • Monthly limits - Most tools restrict free usage
- • No AI summaries - Advanced features often paid only
- • Limited storage - Old transcripts may be deleted
- • English focus - Many tools work best in English
- • No team features - Collaboration tools usually paid
- • Basic support - Priority support for paid users
💡 Tips to Maximize Free Plans
📈 Usage Optimization
- • Track your minutes - Monitor usage to avoid overages
- • Prioritize important meetings - Don't waste limits on casual calls
- • Use multiple tools - Spread usage across different platforms
- • Download transcripts - Save before storage limits expire
🎯 Quality Improvements
- • Use quality microphones - Better audio = better transcription
- • Minimize background noise - Find quiet environments
- • Speak clearly - Slow, clear speech improves accuracy
- • Introduce speakers - Say names for better identification