--- title: "Transcription cost calculator - how much to transcribe audio | Speecho" description: "Free transcription cost calculator. Enter the length of your audio or video and see the pay-as-you-go price - from $0.83/hour, credits never expire, no subscription." canonical: "https://speecho.app/tools/transcription-cost-calculator/" language: "en" publisher: "Speecho" --- Free tools # Transcription cost calculator How much does it cost to transcribe your recording? Enter its length and see the pay-as-you-go price - no subscription, credits never expire. Updated August 2026 - The price for any length of audio - Pay-as-you-go, $0.83 to $1.25 per hour - No subscription, credits never expire - Drop files and only their length is read > Interactive tool: it runs in the browser at ## How Speecho pricing works Speecho is pay-as-you-go. You buy credit top-ups - **$5, $10, $25 or $50** - and spend them only on what you process. 1 credit is 6 seconds of audio, so a full hour is 600 credits. The bigger the top-up, the lower the effective rate: from **$1.25/hour** on the $5 pack down to **$0.83/hour** on the $50 pack. Credits never expire, so nothing is wasted. Compare that to a subscription at $10–$20 a month: that’s $120–$240 a year, charged whether or not you record. If you transcribe occasionally or in bursts, paying per recording is simply cheaper - see the full [pricing](https://speecho.app/pricing/) or why [pay-as-you-go beats a subscription](https://speecho.app/transcription-without-subscription/). ## Transcription cost - FAQ Not covered here? [Ask us](https://speecho.app/contact/), we usually reply within a business day. **How much does it cost to transcribe one hour of audio?** On Speecho, about $0.83 to $1.25 per hour depending on how much you top up - the larger the top-up, the lower the effective rate. So a one-hour recording costs roughly a dollar, and you only pay for it once. **How are transcription credits calculated?** 1 credit equals 6 seconds of audio, so 10 credits transcribe one minute and 600 credits transcribe an hour. A $5 top-up is 2,400 credits (about 4 hours). You are billed only for the length of what you actually process. **Is pay-as-you-go cheaper than a subscription?** For occasional use, almost always. A typical transcription subscription is $10–$20 a month - $120–$240 a year whether you use it or not. With Speecho you pay per recording and nothing in the months you do not transcribe, and credits never expire. **Does this calculator include the free minutes?** No - the estimate shows the pay-as-you-go cost. On top of that, you get 15 free minutes when you confirm your email, so your first short file is on us.