Introduction

TranscribeMe is a popular transcription site with great reviews of its services. Right off the bat, we’ll say that we couldn’t find any About page to get company information from. So we’re not sure how long the business has been operating or where it’s based.

You can choose among a few services at TranscribeMe, including translation and data annotation. Of course, for the purposes of this review, we’ll focus on the company’s transcription services.

TranscribeMe prides itself on several key values: ease of use, high accuracy, security and confidentiality, fast turnaround, and strong customer support.

This review of TranscribeMe is based on viewing its website plus our experimentation with the interface. It’s our hope that the information we’ve compiled will help you choose the best online transcription service for your needs.

Pricing and turnaround times

TranscribeMe offers both high-quality human transcription and automated speech-recognition transcription. Speech recognition starts at $0.10 per audio minute.

We especially like the way TranscribeMe calculates turnaround time with its automated transcription service: simply three times the length of your audio file. So, if you have a 15-minute recording, it should be processed within 45 minutes.

Instead of providing a complicated list of options on the front end, TranscribeMe’s manual transcription service is made available at three base tiers—a somewhat unusual yet very useful approach to this type of service. The price tiers are as follows:

One thing that isn’t made clear right off the bat on TranscribeMe’s site is whether add-on services are available and what fees apply. However, at the top of the homepage, there’s a Pricing tab with two options. Clicking on the pricing calculator brings you to a page where you can see all the options.

Web interface / dashboard

Once you’ve navigated to the pricing calculator, you can indicate all the parameters for your audio transcription:

• Service tier
• File length
• Language
• Accent
• Industry
• Timestamps
• Number of speakers
• Turnaround time
• Output format (standard or NVivo-compatible)

As you click on each option, you’ll see your order total change on the right side of the screen. You can even upload a bilingual audio file.

Once we got used to this interactive way of determining fees, instead of consulting a list or table, we liked it a lot.

Also under the Pricing tab is the Get a Quote option, which you can use for more complex situations such as an ongoing project, large files, or other special needs.

The Support tab is another unusual feature of this website. Clicking it gives you a few choices: FAQs, a knowledge base, and a way to contact the company directly. You’ll never feel lost or alone when using this service.

We entered an order for a file with a run time of 14:38. We opted for the Standard transcription service and specified an English transcript, North American speakers, no speaker IDs or timestamps, Word format, and turnaround time of 3 to 5 business days. The order came to $18.30, based on a rate of $1.25 per audio minute.

Accuracy

At TranscribeMe, accuracy depends on the transcription service you choose. Here’s a quick breakdown:

• Verbatim = 100%
• Standard = guaranteed at least 99%
• First Draft = average 98%
• Machine Express = depends on the quality of the source file

As with any transcription service, the quality of your audio determines how accurate a lower-tier transcript will be.

The best results come from an audio file that has clear sound, little or no background noise, and distinct speakers with no overlapping speech. This is especially true in the lower tiers.

Conclusion

This is one of our shorter reviews, as TranscribeMe is so simple to navigate. We like a lot of things about this online transcription company: its attractive website, its four transcription options, and its pricing calculator. We do wish we could find out more about the company, but the reviews speak for themselves.