Top 7 audio to text tools in 2025: Which is best for you?

The right audio to text tool can save you hours. But the wrong one can leave you with even more work when it’s inaccurate, has a messy workflow, or doesn’t offer all the features you need.

How do you make the right choice? We’ve performed a complete review of each of the top 7 options in 2025 to help you decide.

TL;DR: Quick summary of the top options

In short, the top 7 audio to text tools are:

1. HappyScribe: The best all-around choice for businesses and professional use, standing out in terms of accuracy, language support, workflow, and security.
2. Otter.ai: Offers a smooth and simple interface with several integrations, but falls short in terms of language support.
3. Notta: A simple option to take notes during meetings, but it lacks advanced features.
4. Fireflies.ai: Another basic choice to transcribe audio to text during meetings, but it has some clunky design elements.
5. MeetGeek: An accessible option for live audio to text, but it falls short in overall language support and design.
6. Descript: A video editing tool that offers audio to text transcription as an add-on with limited features.
7. Whisper: A low-cost option with a much higher learning curve and minimal features.

Out of these top 7 choices, HappyScribe stands out as the best option because of its high accuracy rates of 95% on AI-only outputs and 99% with expert proofreading, 120+ supported languages, high security standards, and advanced features for a professional workflow.

Want more information? Read on for the full in-depth breakdown of each of these tools comparing the best transcription tools.

What features matter when selecting a tool?

Some of the top features you should look for when selecting an audio to text transcription tool are:

Number of languages supported

An increasing number of businesses and media teams want to create content in multiple languages to expand their reach worldwide. Having a tool that provides enough language support is essential to cover global production needs.

Accuracy

Audio to text tools must be accurate to ensure all content your team produces appears high-quality and professional. Plus, having a tool with tons of inaccuracies slows down production and requires a lot of extra manual review and editing.

Integration with the tools you use

Different audio to text tools will integrate with varying types of software. For example, you’ll see options that can integrate with your calendar, popular meeting platforms like Google Meet, video platforms like YouTube, or file storage and sharing systems like Google Drive. Make sure that the audio to text tool you choose complements your needs.

Ease of use

An audio to text tool should be easy to use. A big learning curve can lead to frustration when you’re trying to integrate it into your system and get more team members using it.

Collaboration

A great audio transcription option will allow you to share files with your team for collaboration across projects and departments. It allows everyone to get involved and do their part.

Translation

You’ll want a tool that can do more than just transcribe in multiple languages for global content creation. It’s also important to have an option to translate audio into different languages to expand the reach of each piece of content you create.

Security and compliance

Businesses and professionals using a transcription tool need to know that their information is secure on the platform. Look for tools that have high security standards, consisting of full GDPR compliance, SOC 2 compliance, and offer secure single sign-on (SSO) login.

Comparison table of the top 7 audio to text tools

The top 7 audio to text tools

1. HappyScribe

HappyScribe is a language services tool that’s built to provide professional audio to text transcription and translation. It’s also a top option for video to text transcription, translation, and subtitling.

HappyScribe is trusted by over 6M users and 40K+ journalists, media teams, professional content creators, and businesses. It’s an option that’s continuously tested and optimized to provide quality results.

Features that make HappyScribe stand out

Standout features about HappyScribe include:

• Verified accuracy rates of 95% on AI-only outputs and 99% with its expert proofreading service
• A quick editing interface with advanced features, such as the AI assistant that can help you generate summaries, pull quotes, brainstorm blog post ideas, and more
• 120+ supported languages on the platform to support global content creation
• Advanced transcription features, such as diarization, timecodes, glossaries, and style guides, to make outputs more consistent
• Localization features to comply with accessibility standards, such as Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (SDH)
• Easy collaboration with your team to support content sharing and management across departments
• Integration with your calendar to automatically take notes during meetings on platforms like Google Meet or Microsoft Teams
• High security and privacy standards with full GDPR and SOC 2 Type 2 compliance, and an option for secure single sign-on (SSO) login

Each of these features and more that you get with HappyScribe make it feel like a true professional audio to text transcription solution.

Why HappyScribe is the top choice

HappyScribe ranks first on this list as the top audio to text tool because of its robust set of features that help it provide professional-level outputs that satisfy global content creation needs.

When you log in to HappyScribe, you’re greeted by an organized interface. Everything is laid out to make it easy to get started. You’ll clearly see where to go to upload files, start projects, and adjust settings to your liking.

AI-only audio to text transcriptions and translations are generated within minutes on the platform with 95% accuracy. HappyScribe also offers expert human proofreading that you can receive within 24 hours to boost accuracy up to 99%. It provides consistently high accuracy rates because it’s tested and trained on 12,000+ hours of content each year.

After generating a transcript, you’ll be taken to the interactive editor. All edits you make feel smooth, and you can review your transcript side-by-side with the audio or video file you uploaded for easy review. The editor provides everything you need to format your transcript for your needs, and you can even upload style guides and use the glossaries feature to make outputs more consistent.

Additionally, you can share and organize files in the platform to collaborate with your team, export in multiple file formats, and use many integrations available to create a smooth workflow.

Each of these features and more creates a true professional solution so you can produce high-volume global content in more than 120 languages while feeling confident that you’re working in a secure and trusted platform.

2. Otter.ai

Otter.ai is a tool that focuses on real-time audio to text transcription, such as during meetings or interviews. You can also use it to transcribe pre-recorded audio or video files.

Similar to HappyScribe, Otter will integrate with your calendar, can automatically join virtual meetings on platforms like Google Meet, and help you share information with your team.

However, some big places where Otter falls short when compared to an option like HappyScribe are its language support, accuracy, and lack of advanced features across the platform.

Top features included with Otter.ai

Some of the top features you’ll find on Otter are:

• Calendar integrations and meeting support to help you generate real-time transcripts and summaries
• Overall ease of use with an interface that’s easy to navigate and walks you through setting up integrations with your calendar
• An AI assistant to generate summaries or quickly get insights from your transcript
• Collaboration to share projects with your team
• Security and privacy with full GDPR and SOC 2 Type 2 compliance, and an option for SSO login on Enterprise plans

Each of these features makes Otter a good option that’s quick and easy to use for small projects. However, it lacks some of the more advanced options that professionals using a transcription tool will want to have.

Disadvantages of Otter.ai

One of the biggest disadvantages of Otter is its lack of language support. Otter only supports transcription in 4 languages, which are English, Spanish, French, and Japanese. It also doesn’t offer translation as a feature. The lack of language support has a lot of limitations for businesses and professional content teams that want to produce content at a global scale.

Additionally, Otter has unverified accuracy rates. That makes it difficult to determine how well it’ll perform over a high volume of content. Otter does mention on their website that the accuracy can be lower in suboptimal recording conditions, such as areas with background noise or recordings with different speaker accents.

That means it likely has lower accuracy than a tool like HappyScribe that’s designed to handle environments with some natural background noise and work with different speaker accents.

Lastly, Otter lacks some advanced features that you’d like to see in an audio to text tool. For example, Otter doesn’t offer glossaries or style guides as a feature that can improve the consistency of outputs. You also won’t get features like expert proofreading to improve accuracy and efficiency.

Missing each of these features creates several drawbacks for professional use, making Otter a better fit for smaller projects.

3. Notta

Notta is an audio to text tool that’s focused on AI note-taking during meetings, and also has basic transcription and translation features for pre-recorded content.

While Notta’s AI notetaker and audio to text features are simple and easy to use, you will notice that it has several limitations. For example, when you compare HappyScribe vs. Notta, you’ll find that HappyScribe’s AI note-taking features are more advanced since it can automatically start taking notes during meetings and allows you to quickly stop or pause live recordings as needed.

Top features included with Notta

Some top features that you’ll get with Notta are:

• Calendar integration to add it to your workflow during meetings
• Real-time note-taking with summaries that you can share with your team
• An easy setup with step-by-step instructions as you’re getting started
• A secure platform offering full GDPR and SOC 2 Type 2 compliance and SSO login

Overall, Notta is a simple solution that provides a basic set of features. However, you will notice limitations in its language support, accuracy, and advanced options.

Disadvantages of Notta

A disadvantage that comes with Notta is its limited language support. It provides a decent base with 58 supported languages. However, that’s still less than half of the supported languages that an option like HappyScribe offers, and Notta doesn’t provide elements like localization, glossaries, or expert proofreading to help with consistency across languages.

Another downside is that Notta’s accuracy rates are unverified. Similar to Otter.ai, Notta mentions on its website that its audio to text solutions provide the best results in ideal recording conditions. That means you’ll likely see a lot more variation in the results, and it may struggle during large meetings or in live environments.

Finally, Notta has limited features for efficiency in your workflow. For example:

• You have to manually set it up to record each time during meetings
• Notta’s editor doesn’t provide many options to format your text
• You don’t get an option to use custom style guides

Lacking these features makes it harder to use Notta in professional settings. The setup is initially simple, but there’s more manual effort needed each time you use it to achieve high-quality results.

4. Fireflies.ai

Fireflies.ai is another AI audio to text tool that focuses on transcription during meetings, and it also helps with transcription for pre-recorded content. It’s an overall well-rounded solution with a simple interface, 100+ supported languages, and collaboration features.

However, you will notice some limitations that prevent it from being the top choice on this list. For example, Fireflies doesn’t help with translation, its accuracy is unverified, and some elements of its layout and editing options could use improvements.

Top features included with Fireflies.ai

Some of the top features you get with Fireflies are:

• Live audio to text recording, making it a great fit for meetings
• Integration with your calendar to allow it to fit into your workflow
• Collaboration with your team to share files and create custom workspaces
• 100+ supported languages to help with different transcription needs
• High security standards with full GDPR and SOC 2 Type 2 compliance and SSO login

Each of these features provides a good base for the platform. It’s easy to use, integrates well with most workflows, and has a solid amount of language support during transcription.

Disadvantages of Fireflies.ai

A big disadvantage that comes with Fireflies is that it doesn’t offer translation as a feature. You can transcribe audio to text in 100+ languages. However, if you want to change your text to a different language when producing global content, you’ll have to look elsewhere for a solution that can translate.

Fireflies also has unverified accuracy rates across languages. That makes it hard to tell what kind of results you can expect over a high volume of content. On top of that, Fireflies doesn’t offer options like expert proofreading to improve accuracy and doesn’t provide information about how often its team is testing and training the software.

Lastly, while the editor allows you to quickly make changes to your transcript and play the audio file back at the same time, there are some challenges with the layout. For example, it will automatically generate a summary for each transcript that ends up taking up more than half the screen. It takes a few button clicks to actually close the summary if you want to get rid of it.

You also won’t have many options to format your transcript in the editor. For instance, you won’t be able to do simple things like bolding, italicizing, or highlighting sections of text, making it harder to organize the information.

Each of these downsides creates limitations during professional use. Businesses or content teams that want to create global content that they can format to their liking and translate to different languages will likely want to opt for a more advanced option.

5. MeetGeek

MeetGeek is an AI audio to text solution that puts a big focus on recording live meetings and integrating with your calendar. It also provides transcription for pre-recorded audio or video files.

MeetGeek is a basic solution that allows you to quickly generate transcripts and summaries that you can use while tracking meetings or creating content. However, it does have some downsides since it doesn’t perform translation, has a clunky layout at times in the editor, and has unverified accuracy rates.

Top features you get with MeetGeek

Some of the top features that MeetGeek offers are:

• Calendar integration to help add it to your workflow and automatically record meetings
• An AI assistant to quickly generate summaries and get key insights from content
• A quick setup with a minimal learning curve and clear instructions while getting started
• Collaboration with your team to share files across projects
• Good security standards with full GDPR and SOC 2 Type 2 compliance

Each of these features offers a basic setup that allows you to quickly start using the platform and record meetings or transcribe files, but professionals looking to produce high volumes of content may find that it lacks advanced options.

Disadvantages of MeetGeek

MeetGeek has a similar disadvantage to Fireflies.ai since it doesn’t offer an option to translate on the platform. MeetGeek does have a Slack integration that can help generate some translated summaries for meetings. However, professionals handling global business or content creation will want to look for a tool that provides full translation support on the platform for the best results.

The next downside is that MeetGeek’s editor has a clunky layout at times and minimal formatting options. For example, it offers side-by-side editing options where you can play the video or audio file back, but the box with the video or audio file is usually too big and can get in the way while trying to make changes to the text. You also only have an option to highlight text; you can’t bold or italicize it.

Finally, MeetGeek’s accuracy is unverified. The company doesn’t provide any information about how often they’re testing or training the software, and doesn’t offer an expert proofreading option to help review important content.

6. Descript

Descript is a bit different than some of the other tools on this list. Descript’s primary function is as a video editing tool. However, it also provides audio to text transcription and translation features that can work for small projects or personal use.

That said, you will find some drawbacks when comparing Descript against other tools where transcription and translation are the main focus. For example, when you compare HappyScribe vs. Descript, HappyScribe stands out with better performance in terms of accuracy, language support, and text-based editing features.

Top features included with Descript

The main features of Descript are focused on video editing, allowing you to quickly make cuts, add effects, and create smooth transitions in video content. In terms of audio to text transcription, the top features you’ll get with Descript are:

• AI summaries to quickly get insights from content
• Transcripts generated in minutes for fast-paced workflows
• Collaboration with your team to share project files

Descript’s audio to text features will feel a lot more basic compared to many of the other options on this list since it’s more of an add-on to the platform. It can be a quick fix for small personal projects, but it will have several drawbacks for high-volume professional use.

Disadvantages of Descript

The main disadvantages of Descript are unverified accuracy and a lack of overall language support. Descript only provides transcription and translation in 25+ languages, with limited information about its accuracy across languages supported or how often the team behind it is testing the transcription software.

On top of that, Descript doesn’t offer features that can help with accuracy and language support, such as expert proofreading or localization.

Descript’s focus on video editing also makes the platform feel clunky when working on transcripts. Your generated transcript will end up displaying in a small section off to the side of the video editor, with very few options to format it. You’ll likely end up wanting to export the generated text to edit it elsewhere.

Finally, Descript’s security isn’t as good as other options on this list. Descript is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant, but isn’t GDPR compliant. Lack of GDPR compliance is a concern for businesses and professionals worried about how an audio to text transcription tool is handling, processing, and protecting their information.

Descript is a good video editing solution with an organized interface for that use case. However, in terms of audio to text transcription, businesses and professionals may want to look for something else that’s more focused on those tasks for a better workflow and language support.

7. Whisper (local)

Whisper is an ASR tool developed by OpenAI that can perform audio to text transcription and translation. It’s an appealing option to some because you can use it for free when running the code locally. However, free audio to text options usually have their limitations. In this case, Whisper has a much more limited set of features compared to other options on this list.

Top features included with Whisper

The main benefits of Whisper are that it’s a low-cost option that can help you quickly generate audio to text transcripts and translations in several languages. You also get the benefit of being able to use it offline when you’re working with the local code.

Disadvantages of Whisper

The list of disadvantages for Whisper is a lot longer since it simply doesn’t offer all the features that you get with many other tools on this list. The drawbacks include:

• You won’t be able to edit your transcribed or translated text on the platform. You have to export it to edit elsewhere.
• It won’t integrate with your calendar, and you typically need professional developers to help integrate it with any of the tools you use.
• The learning curve to get it set up locally and start using it is higher.
• You won’t be able to collaborate with your team on the platform.
• It lacks advanced features like glossaries, style guides, or speaker labeling.
• The accuracy across languages is unverified, so it’s hard to tell how Whisper will perform across different types of content.

Each of these drawbacks provides limitations during professional use, especially if you don’t want to manage the learning curve involved in setting up Whisper and customizing the code on your own.

Best pick: Which audio to text tool should you choose?

After reviewing each of the top 7 audio to text tools, the option that stands out as the top choice for businesses and professionals is HappyScribe.

HappyScribe stands out because:

• It’s the only option on this list with true verified accuracy rates and information about how the team behind it is testing and training the software.
• You get many advanced options, such as glossaries, expert proofreading, style guides, automatic speaker labeling, and more, that help generate consistent outputs.
• HappyScribe offers 120+ supported languages and localization features to meet accessibility standards.
• It will integrate with your calendar, automatically record meetings, and work with several other tools to fit into your workflow.
• It offers high levels of security and privacy with full GDPR and SOC 2 Type 2 compliance.

Overall, HappyScribe provides you with an organized interface where you can get started with a minimal learning curve, share files with your team, and use it as a true professional solution while working on global content. All of those features listed and more make it a high-quality, trusted choice.

Get started with HappyScribe today

HappyScribe is a professional and efficient audio to text solution for businesses and content teams. Want to test it for yourself? You can get started with a free trial today!