Audio to Text: Transcribe Audio and Voice Recordings
Upload an audio or video file and get a text transcript with speaker labels and timestamps, ready to copy or download as TXT, Word, SRT or VTT. The first file is free up to 30 minutes with no account. MeetWave runs the same speech-to-text engine it uses for meeting recordings, and deletes your audio as soon as the transcript is ready.
First file free up to 30 min · then 1 credit per 30 min (from $0.06) · New accounts get 3 credits
What you get
A transcript split into short lines, each with the time it was spoken and the speaker who said it. The speaker labels come from a diarization model that runs after the speech-to-text engine: it groups the voices it hears and names them Speaker 1, Speaker 2 and so on. Click a label to replace it with a real name, and every export uses the new name.
Above the transcript you can search for a word, show only one speaker, or jump to a timestamp. The Copy button puts the whole text on your clipboard with speaker names. Download gives you the same text as plain text, text with timestamps, SRT or VTT subtitles you can load into a video player, a Word document, Markdown for Notion or Obsidian, or a PDF.
Which formats work
Most recordings can be uploaded exactly as they come off the device — there is no need to convert them to MP3 first. The engine decodes the file on the server, video included, and only the sound is transcribed.
| Where the recording comes from | Usual file type |
|---|---|
| iPhone Voice Memos | .m4a |
| WhatsApp voice message | .opus |
| Telegram voice message | .ogg |
| Zoom local recording | .m4a (audio only) or .mp4 (with video) |
| Dictaphone or field recorder | .wav or .mp3 |
| Screen recording or phone video | .mp4 or .mov |
The upload limit is 350 MB. Speech-only audio is usually well within it; video is not — a few minutes of high-resolution phone video can already be too large. For a long video, open it in MeetWave instead: the app pulls the audio out of the video in your browser before uploading.
What happens to your file
You do not need an account, so we keep as little as possible and for as short a time as possible. The transcript is not used to train any model, and nothing about its content goes into our logs or analytics.
| What | Where it is kept | How long |
|---|---|---|
| Your audio or video file | Encrypted storage used only for this job | Until the transcript is ready, then deleted — every stored version of it |
| The working copy on the transcription server | The server that runs the speech-to-text engine | Deleted together with the file |
| The transcript | Encrypted storage, under a random job id | 24 hours, or until you click "Delete now"; a storage rule removes anything left within 48 hours |
| The file name | Only in your browser, so a reload can show it | Never sent to us |
Getting a clean transcript
Most of the accuracy is decided when the audio is recorded, not when it is transcribed. Three things matter most. The distance to the speaker: a phone or microphone within arm's length gives clear words, one across the room gives gaps. Background noise: music, traffic and a humming air conditioner compete with speech. Crosstalk: when two people talk at once, both lines suffer and the speaker labels can merge.
If you record the file yourself, a few seconds of test recording played back before the real thing catches most problems. For a fuller walkthrough — from recording to editing the text — read the step-by-step guide to transcribing audio, and if you need to choose a paid service for regular work, compare transcription software before you buy.
Transcript vs meeting summary
A transcript is every word in order: right for quotes, interviews, subtitles and records. A summary is what the conversation decided — the points, decisions and action items — and for a one-hour meeting it is the difference between reading ten pages and reading one. This page gives you the transcript of a file you already have: the first 30 minutes free, then one credit per started 30 minutes. MeetWave meeting summaries start earlier: the app records your Zoom, Google Meet or Teams call without a bot joining it, and turns it into a summary with action items when the call ends.
How to convert audio to text
Choose your file
Drag an audio or video file onto the page or pick it from your device: MP3, WAV, M4A, OGG, OPUS, FLAC, AAC, WMA, WEBM, MP4, MOV, MKV or AVI, up to 350 MB. The page reads its length before anything is uploaded.
Start the transcription
Click Transcribe. The file goes straight to encrypted storage, and the speech-to-text engine starts. A timer shows how long you have been waiting; you can reload the page and the result will still arrive.
Read, search and rename
The transcript appears line by line with timestamps and speaker labels. Search it, show one speaker at a time, and click a label such as "Speaker 1" to give it a real name.
Copy or download — then delete
Copy the text or download TXT, SRT, VTT, Word, Markdown or PDF. The audio is already gone; the transcript is kept for 24 hours so a reload does not lose it, or delete it now with one click.
Frequently Asked Questions
Engine: Whisper large-v3-turbo model card (Hugging Face) · WhisperX (GitHub) · pyannote speaker-diarization-3.1 model card