How much does audio transcription cost per minute in 2026?
Human transcription costs about $2 per audio minute. AI transcription costs a few cents a minute when you pay as you go or buy a pack, while a monthly plan charges the whole month even if you upload one file. Voqia sells AI minutes once, from €4.99 for 60 minutes (about €0.04 a minute with the 10-hour pack), with no subscription.
You can pay for transcription in four ways: a person typing by the minute, AI by the minute or by the hour, a monthly plan with an allowance, or a pack of minutes bought once. The price per minute only means something if you know how much audio you really have. Below, one 60-minute recording is priced with each model, using the official pricing pages as read on October 14, 2026.
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What one hour of audio costs
These examples assume a 60-minute file, no credit left over and no free allowance. Taxes, card fees and promotions are left out. A monthly plan is shown at its monthly-billing price: if you upload one file, that is what the file costs you.
| Service and billing model | Published price | Cost of a 60-minute file | Good to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rev, human transcription | $1.99 per audio minute | $119.40 | A person types and checks the text |
| Sonix, pay as you go | $10 per hour of audio | $10.00 | Charged to the second |
| Sonix Advanced, monthly billing (read October 19) | $50 a month, 20 hours | $50.00 (the month); $2.50 an hour if you use all 20 hours | Subscription only: pay-as-you-go stays at $10 an hour |
| TurboScribe Unlimited, yearly billing (read October 19) | $120 billed once a year | $120.00 (the year) | No pay-as-you-go price shown; free plan: 3 files a day, 30 minutes each |
| Otter.ai Pro, monthly billing | $16.99 a month, 1,200 minutes | $16.99 (the month) | Recordings up to 90 minutes each |
| Happy Scribe Basic, monthly billing | €17 a month, 120 minutes | €17 (the month) | Extra minutes €0.20 each, on a plan only |
| Voqia Starter, one-time pack | €4.99 once, 60 minutes | €4.99 | Unused minutes stay on your account |
| Voqia Business, one-time pack | €24.99 once, 600 minutes | About €2.50 of your minutes | About €0.04 per minute |
Official sources: Rev pricing · Sonix pricing · TurboScribe pricing · Otter.ai pricing · Happy Scribe pricing · Voqia pricing
Per minute or subscription?
A monthly plan is cheap per minute only if you use its allowance. Otter.ai Pro works out at about 1.4 cents a minute if you transcribe all 1,200 minutes, but one 60-minute interview still costs the full $16.99. Happy Scribe Basic is about €0.14 a minute when you use its 120 minutes.
If you transcribe irregularly (an interview this week, a lecture next month), paying per minute or buying a pack avoids paying for months when you upload nothing. A subscription makes sense when you transcribe every week, or when you also need its editing, team or meeting tools.
What drives the price
- Human or AI: a person checking every word costs about 50 times more than AI. Choose it for court, medical or published quotes.
- Audio quality: noise, overlapping voices and strong accents mean more time spent checking an AI transcript, whatever its price.
- Billing unit: per second, per minute or per hour, and whether a started minute is rounded up.
- Allowance rules: maximum length per file, minutes that expire at the end of the month, extra minutes billed on top.
- Currency: Voqia prices in euros. Prices are in euros and you pay once. If your card uses another currency (dollars, pounds…), the payment page may show the amount in your currency; otherwise your bank converts it automatically.
How to pay less for transcription
- Add up the audio you will have this month, not only the next file.
- Test a short extract of your own recording on a free allowance before paying (Voqia offers 10 free minutes).
- Pay for human checking only on the passages you will quote or publish.
- For irregular use, prefer per-minute billing or a one-time pack; Voqia packs are €4.99 for 60 minutes, €9.99 for 3 hours and €24.99 for 10 hours, and your first pack gets 30 bonus minutes.
Frequently asked questions
How much does AI transcription cost per minute?
Between about 1 and 20 cents a minute on the pages we read on October 14, 2026, depending on the billing model and whether you use the whole allowance. Voqia costs about €0.04 to €0.08 a minute, paid once.
How much does human transcription cost?
Rev lists human transcription at $1.99 per audio minute, so $119.40 for one hour, before any subscriber discount.
Is a subscription cheaper than paying per minute?
Only if you use most of its monthly minutes. For one file a month, a one-time pack or per-minute billing usually costs less.
Do Voqia minutes expire?
No. Purchased minutes stay on your account, and the same minutes work for file transcription, live transcription and voice features.
Sources
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