Choosing transcription software
Before comparing price lists, work out which of five situations you are in. Four of them lead to a different tool than this one.
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In short
Choosing transcription software comes down to four questions: whether the recording may leave your computer, whether you need live or file-based transcription, what language the speakers use, and whether the result needs legal standing. Browser tools like skryba.ai cover the most common case — an existing file, remote work, text for further editing.
Five situations, five different answers
| Situation | The right category of tool |
|---|---|
| I have a recording and want text to edit | A browser tool — including this one |
| The recording may not leave my computer | Desktop software running locally |
| I want meeting notes, during the meeting | A bot that joins the call |
| I want to dictate and see text immediately | Dictation built into your operating system |
| The transcript needs legal standing | A provider the receiving institution accepts |
Scroll the table sideways to see the remaining columns.
Only the first row leads to skryba.ai. The other four lead elsewhere, and we say so plainly, because the expensive mistake when choosing a tool is buying the right product for the wrong job.
The last row needs care: the requirements depend on the institution and the matter. A court record is produced by a court reporter, a sworn translator certifies translation between languages, and some authorities accept a certified-accuracy transcript from a specialist provider. Before ordering anything, ask the body that has to accept it what form it expects.
Browser or installed software
This is the most common decision, and it almost always reduces to one thing: whether the recording may be sent to somebody else's server. The rest is secondary.
| Criterion | Browser | Desktop |
|---|---|---|
| Recording leaves your computer | Yes | No |
| Needs powerful hardware | No | Yes, especially for longer recordings |
| Time to first result | Minutes | Install, model, configuration |
| Working across devices | Yes | No |
| Cost | Per hour used | One-off or free, but your own hardware |
Scroll the table sideways to see the remaining columns.
If confidentiality is the deciding factor, do not look for a cloud compromise — take a tool that runs locally. If confidentiality is not a blocker, a browser tool wins on time to first result and on not tying you to one machine.
What to compare
- Accuracy in your language, tested on your recording — not on the vendor's demo sample. A tool without a free preview makes that test hard on purpose.
- Speaker recognition, if you record conversations rather than monologues.
- Timestamps and SRT export, if you produce subtitles.
- The billing model: a subscription or paying per recording, and whether unused hours lapse at the end of the month — depending on whether you record regularly.
- What happens to the recording afterwards, and whether you can delete it yourself.
- Where the data physically sits, if GDPR applies to you.
A claimed “99% accuracy” means nothing without stated conditions. Every model struggles with overlapping voices, a distant microphone and reverb — which is why the only honest test is your own recording, ideally the hardest one you have.
Questions
Is there a good free transcription tool?
Yes — open-source models run locally can be very good and send the recording nowhere. The cost is setup, processing time on your own hardware and no editor. It is a sensible choice when confidentiality matters more than time.
My recordings are confidential. What should I use?
If the material may not leave your computer, choose a tool that runs locally — no cloud service satisfies that condition. If cloud is acceptable, check where the data sits, who can access it and whether you can delete it yourself.
Does skryba.ai join meetings and take notes?
No. We have no bot that joins calls. Record the meeting with your platform's own tool, then upload the file — you get a transcript with timestamps and speaker labels.
How do I compare accuracy across tools?
Take one recording — the hardest you have, ideally with several speakers and background noise — and run it through each tool. Compare the same material rather than vendor samples, and count errors on names and terminology, because those cost the most time to fix.