The Lowest  (and probably most accurate) way to transcribe an audio or video file is to do it yourself. In other words, you listen to the audio file and type or dictate what you hear. You can do this with any number of programs, but it’s often cumbersome to synchronize media playback to your typing speed. The biggest disadvantage of this method is the time and effort it requires. Between laboring over every word, setting up the correct formatting, and reviewing the finished product, it’s enough to steer most people towards a dedicated service.

Automatic transcription services are the next step up from the manual approach. For this method, you upload files to a program that processes the audio quickly using automatic speech recognition (ASR) and spits back out a transcript. This voice recognition method sometimes includes extras that may not typically be free, such as time stamping and basic speaker identification. The downside of automatic services is that they are far less accurate than other methods. Otter, Trint, Temi, and Scribie all offer automated transcription services—Scribie also offers a human-based service.