Free audio-to-text transcription
A preview with no account and no card. Below is exactly what you get for nothing — and where the line runs.
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In short
Transcription at skryba.ai is free in two ways. Without an account you can upload a file up to 5 GB and read the first 5 minutes of the transcript, with no email address and no card. A recording up to 5 started minutes therefore reads in full, also without an account. With an account you get 15 free minutes a day, and an unlocked transcript stays for good, with editing and sharing.
How to do it
- Upload an audio or video recording — MP3, M4A, WAV, FLAC, MP4, MOV and most other formats, no account needed.
- Wait for the transcription. An hour of audio usually takes a few minutes to process.
- Read the free preview and judge the accuracy on your own recording, not on someone else's sample.
- A recording up to 5 minutes reads in full straight away, also without an account; sign in to keep it. Longer ones unlock with a one-off payment from $1.50 or subscription hours.
What you get without an account
The anonymous preview exists so you can judge the quality on your own material before leaving an email address. There is no watermark and no artificial delay.
- A file up to 5 GB — the same limit as the paid plans, because the limit is size, not account status.
- A transcript preview: the first 5 minutes of audio, so a recording up to 5 minutes shows in full.
- Timestamps and detected languages visible immediately.
- Up to 5 recordings a day from one address — enough to compare a few files.
An anonymously uploaded recording expires by itself. You do not have to delete anything or write in asking for removal.
What signing in gives you for free
Signing up means an email address and a code from the message, or logging in with Google — no password and no card; the free path never asks for one. Once you sign in, a recording up to 5 started minutes stays on your account in full, with editing and sharing.
- Recordings up to 5 started minutes — the whole transcript kept on your account; without one, a recording is deleted after 30 days.
- 15 free minutes a day per account; the allowance renews daily.
- Editing in the browser, with timestamps and speaker labels.
- Link sharing, revocable at any time.
An unlocked transcript stays on your account for good — the daily allowance governs only new unlocks. Recordings longer than 5 minutes unlock with a one-off payment ($0.15 per minute, minimum $1.50), also without an account, or with subscription hours.
What the free tier does not include
Stating this plainly, because the usual disappointment with free transcription is discovering at the end that downloading the file costs money.
- TXT and SRT export — paid only.
- The redacted (cleaned-up) version — paid only.
- All of a recording longer than 5 minutes — you read the first 5 minutes free, and unlock the rest with a one-off payment from $1.50 or with subscription hours.
You can of course select and copy the text of a free transcript — the gate is on generating a file, not on access to your own words.
When free is enough, and when it is not
| Situation | What to use |
|---|---|
| You want to check whether AI copes with your recording | The no-account preview — that is what it is for |
| A recording up to 5 minutes — a voice note or a short conversation | It reads in full straight away, also without an account; sign in to keep it |
| You need an SRT file for subtitles | A one-off payment or the subscription — export is paid |
| A few hours of recordings a month | The subscription: $12 for 4 hours, worth it from 80 minutes a month |
| One recording once a quarter | A one-off payment for that recording, no subscription and no account |
Scroll the table sideways to see the remaining columns.
Questions
Do I have to give a card?
No. The preview does not even ask for an email address, and a recording up to 5 minutes reads in full also without an account. An account keeps it — an email code or Google sign-in, no password and no card. Payment appears only for a longer recording: one-off (no card kept on file) or with a subscription.
How long can a free recording be?
Up to 5 started minutes — such a recording reads in full, also without an account. With an account you can unlock 15 minutes a day; the allowance renews daily, and an unlocked transcript stays for good. Longer recordings start at $1.50, at $0.15 per started minute.
How much does the free preview actually show?
The first 5 minutes of audio. A recording up to 5 minutes therefore shows in full, and a longer one shows its beginning before you decide whether to pay.
Does the free tier have a smaller file limit?
No. The limit is 5 GB for everyone — anonymous, free and paid alike. The constraint is file size, not account status. An hour of dictaphone audio is usually 30–60 MB.
What happens to my recording and transcript?
Transcripts stay on your account and remain readable — a free unlock is permanent, and the daily allowance governs only new recordings. You can delete the account and every recording from settings at any time, and audio can auto-delete after 1, 7 or 30 days.
Is the free transcription lower quality?
No. The preview and the full transcript come from the same run of the same model — the difference is how much you see, not how it was transcribed. That is what makes the preview a meaningful quality test.