skryba.ai vs Happy Scribe: prices and capabilities compared
Michał Jaskólski, Creator of skryba.ai
Published · updated
Competitor pricing checked 28 September 2026: Happy Scribe
In short
Happy Scribe and skryba.ai do the same thing — transcribe existing files, both with Polish support. Happy Scribe has a fuller subtitle editor and translation, and a lower hourly rate on its upper tiers. skryba.ai keeps unused subscription hours for 12 months, lets you judge the quality on your own recording with no account at all, and bills the Polish storefront in złoty with a Polish invoice.
The figures come from Happy Scribe's pricing page, checked on 17 August 2026. Verify at the source before deciding.
What an hour actually costs
Happy Scribe bills subscription minutes, we bill hours. Reducing both to a per-hour rate is the only way to compare them.
| Plan | Monthly price | Included | Per hour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Happy Scribe Basic | $17 ($8.50 annual) | 120 minutes | $8.50 ($4.25) |
| Happy Scribe Pro | $29 ($19 annual) | 600 minutes | $2.90 ($1.90) |
| Happy Scribe Business | $89 ($59 annual) | 6,000 minutes | $0.89 ($0.59) |
| skryba.ai subscription | $12 | 4 hours, valid 12 months | $3.00 |
| skryba.ai one recording | $0.15 a minute, from $1.50, one-off | that one recording | $9.00 |
Scroll the table sideways to see the remaining columns.
The plain conclusion: at a hundred hours a month Happy Scribe Business is clearly cheaper per hour, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. Our subscription is competitive in the middle band and wins when you do not use the allowance every month, because unused hours stay on the account.
Hours that do not lapse every month
This is the difference that usually decides in practice. Subscription minutes vanish with the billing period — if you recorded nothing that month, you simply paid for nothing.
With us, subscription hours you do not use in a month stay on the account for 12 months. And if you record only now and then, you do not need a subscription at all: you pay for one recording on its own, $0.15 a minute with a $1.50 minimum. For a journalist with one big interview a quarter, or a lawyer with an occasional hearing, that usually beats any subscription.
Scope of the tool
Happy Scribe is broader. Beyond transcription it offers a full subtitle editor, translation into many languages and human-made transcription. If you produce subtitles for multilingual material, that scope has real value and we have no equivalent.
skryba.ai is deliberately narrower: Polish and English, transcription with editing, timestamps, speaker labels, TXT and SRT export. A narrow scope means less to learn and a shorter path to a result — but if you need translation, you need a different tool.
Which one, when
| Situation | Choice |
|---|---|
| Hundreds of hours a month, rate is what counts | Happy Scribe Business |
| Subtitles for multilingual material | Happy Scribe |
| You need human-made transcription | Happy Scribe |
| You record irregularly | skryba.ai: pay per recording, or a subscription whose hours stay 12 months |
| Invoicing in złoty, Polish accounting | skryba.ai |
| You want to test quality without a card | skryba.ai — preview without an account |
Scroll the table sideways to see the remaining columns.
Frequently asked questions
Does Happy Scribe support Polish?
Yes. Happy Scribe claims 60+ languages and dialects, Polish among them. On that count it is a genuine alternative, unlike tools that do not list Polish at all.
Which is cheaper?
It depends on volume. Happy Scribe Business at 100 hours a month is about $0.89 an hour, below our $3.00. For irregular recording we are often cheaper: you pay for a single recording, or keep a subscription whose hours do not expire at month's end.
How do the free tiers differ?
Happy Scribe gives a 10-minute trial. With us a recording of up to 5 minutes opens in full with no account and no card, and a longer one shows its first 5 minutes. With an account you get up to 15 free minutes a day.