How to convert audio to text
- Upload your audioChoose an MP3, WAV, M4A, OGG, FLAC or other audio file up to about one hour long, or paste a link to the file.
- Select the spoken languagePick the language used in the recording, from English and Spanish to Hindi, Tagalog, Arabic and dozens more.
- Choose a timestamp optionPlain text for reading, or per-sentence timestamps for captions, show notes and editing.
- TranscribeEnter the 5-digit security code and press Transcribe.
- Copy or downloadCopy the transcript to your clipboard or download it as a text file. With timestamps on, you can also download an SRT subtitle file.
What people transcribe with Speechma
- Podcasters turning episodes into show notes, blog posts and pull quotes for social media.
- College students transcribing recorded lectures to search and study from (always follow your school’s recording policy).
- Journalists and researchers converting interviews into text they can quote accurately.
- YouTubers creating captions from sentence timestamps to improve accessibility and watch time.
- Small business owners transcribing voice memos, customer calls they are permitted to record, or meeting recordings into action items.
- Writers who think out loud: dictate a draft on a walk, then transcribe it at your desk.
Transcribed text pairs well with our other tools. Turn a transcript into a polished narration with text to speech, or translate a video with AI dubbing.
Free transcription features
Long files
Transcribe recordings up to about an hour, enough for most podcast episodes and lectures.
Timestamps your way
Plain text or timestamps per sentence. Sentence timestamps are ideal for subtitles.
Many languages
English, Spanish, French, German, Hindi, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Tagalog, Vietnamese and many more.
Copy or download
Grab the transcript as text in one click, or as an SRT subtitle file when timestamps are on.
Private
Your audio is processed and not stored on Speechma servers; the transcript stays in your browser.
No sign-up
No account, no trial and no credit card.
Speech to text at a glance
| Feature | Free on Speechma |
|---|---|
| File length | Up to about 1 hour of audio |
| Audio formats | MP3, WAV, M4A, OGG, FLAC and other common formats, or a link |
| Languages | Many, including English, Spanish, French, Hindi, Chinese, Arabic and Tagalog |
| Output options | Plain text or per-sentence timestamps |
| Export | Copy to clipboard, download as text, or download SRT (with timestamps on) |
| Sign-up | Not required |
Have a video instead of audio? Most phones and editors can export just the audio track as M4A or MP3 in a few seconds.
How to get a more accurate transcript
- Record close to the mic. Distance and room echo cause more errors than accents do. A lapel mic or earbuds mic is a cheap upgrade.
- Pick the right language. Selecting the actual spoken language noticeably improves accuracy, especially for names and short words.
- Reduce crosstalk. In interviews, ask people not to talk over each other. Overlapping speech is the hardest thing to transcribe.
- Split very long recordings. A two-hour webinar works best as two files of about an hour each.
- Proofread names and numbers. Do a quick pass for people’s names, brand names and figures before you publish.
From transcript to finished content in 15 minutes
A raw transcript is a starting point. Here is a quick routine podcasters and YouTubers use to turn one recording into several pieces of content:
- Skim and bold the highlights. Mark three or four quotable lines while you read.
- Write show notes. Turn the opening minutes into a short summary and list the main topics with their sentence timestamps, for example “12:40: How we priced our first product.”
- Make captions. Turn on sentence timestamps, download the SRT file and import it into YouTube or your video editor, then fix any line breaks.
- Repurpose. Clean up a five-minute section into a blog post or newsletter. Search engines can read text, not audio.
Recording other people? Get consent first
Many US states require everyone on a call to agree before it is recorded. Make sure you have permission to record and transcribe any conversation you upload, and respect privacy when sharing transcripts.
Frequently asked questions
Is Speechma’s audio to text converter free?
How long can my audio file be?
Which audio formats are supported?
Can I get timestamps for subtitles?
Does it transcribe languages other than English?
Is my audio kept private?
Can I transcribe a video file?
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