speechtotextsoftware.comPublished by VoicePrivate. We make one of the tools listed here, and it is labelled. Checked 28 Sep 2026.

Where does your transcription audio go?

19 of 29 tools list transcription. Each sits where its own vendor says your audio is processed. The rest stay on the field, dimmed.

2

Your device

Vendor says audio stays on the device.

4

Conditional

Both stated. Each tool names what decides it.

12

The cloud

Vendor says audio goes to its servers or a cloud.

1

Not stated

The pages we checked do not say.

Placement follows the vendor's words only, never the product type. A tool marked conditional states both paths; the switch that decides it is named on the tool. Works offline keeps lit only tools whose vendor has a quote for offline or on-device use.

19 transcription tools, in their words

Showing 19 of 29 that list transcription. Alphabetical. Prices as shown on the vendor site, 28 Sep 2026.

AssemblyAI

Speech-to-text and voice AI APIs for developers, billed per hour of audio, run in its managed cloud or your own environment.

Speech-to-text APIs for developers

API. Transcription, Dictation

The cloud

“Run on our fully managed cloud or inside your own environment.”

assemblyai.com
$0.15 /hr per hour, pre-recorded$ as shownFree plan. Checked 28 Sep 2026. Vendor site

Braina

Windows and macOS assistant that bundles dictation, voice commands, local file transcription and chat with language models.

Windows and macOS assistant with dictation

Windows, Mac. Dictation, Transcription

Your device

“This works locally (offline) on your own computer.”

brainasoft.com
$99 per 1 Windows PC for 1 year$ as shownFree plan. Checked 28 Sep 2026. Vendor site

Deepgram

Speech-to-text, text-to-speech and voice agent APIs for developers, hosted by Deepgram or self-hosted.

Speech-to-text APIs for developers

API. Transcription

The cloud

“Available in real time or batch, in the cloud or self-hosted.”

deepgram.com
$0.0048/min per minute, streaming, Pay As You Go promotional rate$ as shownFree plan not stated. Checked 28 Sep 2026. Vendor site

Descript

Audio and video editor that transcribes media so you edit the recording by editing the text.

Audio and video editor that transcribes

Mac, Windows. Transcription

The cloud

“After the initial transcription, Descript stores your audio, video, and transcription data on either Amazon S3 or Google Cloud, which are services trusted by thousands of other organizations that prioritize security.”

descript.com
$16 per person per month$ as shownFree plan. Checked 28 Sep 2026. Vendor site

Dragon Professional (Nuance)

Windows dictation and voice command software (v16) that also transcribes single speaker recordings.

Windows dictation software

Windows. Dictation, Transcription Status: acquired

Not stated

The product page and data sheet we checked do not say where v16 processes audio.

No price publishedFree plan not stated. Checked 28 Sep 2026. Vendor site

Fireflies.ai

Meeting notetaker that records calls and produces transcripts, summaries and searchable notes.

Meeting notetaker

iPhone, Android, Chrome, API. Meeting notes, Transcription

The cloud

“All your data is stored and processed in the US cloud infrastructure by default.”

fireflies.ai
$10 per seat per month$ as shownFree plan. Checked 28 Sep 2026. Vendor site

Happy Scribe

Transcription, subtitle and meeting notetaker platform with optional human proofreading.

Transcription and subtitle platform

Mac, iPhone, Android, Web, API. Transcription, Meeting notes

The cloud

“All of our services run in the cloud. We don't host or run our own routers, load balancers, DNS servers, or physical servers. Our service is built on Amazon Web Services and Heroku.”

happyscribe.com
$8.50 per month$ as shownFree plan. Checked 28 Sep 2026. Vendor site

MacWhisper

Mac app that transcribes audio files and dictation with models that run on the Mac, with optional cloud providers.

Mac app for transcription and dictation

Mac, iPhone. Transcription, Dictation

Conditional. Cloud only if you add a provider

“Process sensitive content locally without data ever leaving your Mac.”

macwhisper.com

“All transcription is done on your device, no data leaves your machine. This makes MacWhisper a great app for sensitive audio such as interviews.”

goodsnooze.gumroad.com

“Easily switch between different models hosted remotely or locally on your Mac.”

macwhisper.com
€64 one-time payment, Pro licenseFree plan. Checked 28 Sep 2026. Vendor site

Notta

Meeting recorder and transcription app with AI summaries across web, mobile and a Chrome extension.

Meeting recorder and transcription app

Web, Chrome. Meeting notes, Transcription

The cloud

“Notta hosts all its software on Amazon Web Services (AWS), a leading infrastructure provider that provides a reliable, scalable, and secure environment for storing data in the cloud.”

notta.ai
C$10.5 per month, 1 seatFree plan. Checked 28 Sep 2026. Vendor site

Otter.ai

Meeting notetaker that joins or records calls and produces transcripts, summaries and follow ups.

Meeting notetaker

Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android, Web, Chrome, API. Meeting notes, Transcription

The cloud

“Data Storage: Otter uses AWS S3 storage and enables AWS SSE (Server Side Encryption) on data (S3 buckets), as well as for machine data volumes.”

otter.ai
US$8.33 per user per monthFree plan. Checked 28 Sep 2026. Vendor site

Philips SpeechLive

Cloud dictation and transcription workflow for professional teams, with smartphone, browser and voice recorder input plus optional speech recognition and an AI document drafting add-on.

Dictation and transcription for teams

iPhone, Android, Web. Dictation, Transcription

The cloud

“If you are using the desktop or mobile app for our speech recognition service, no audio or text is saved on our servers. The audio and text files simply pass through our servers.”

speechlive.com
$12.90 per user per month, billed annually, excl. tax (US page)$ as shownFree plan not stated. Checked 28 Sep 2026. Vendor site

Rev

AI and human transcription service with a subscription platform aimed at legal and investigative work.

AI and human transcription service

Web, iPhone, API. Transcription, Dictation

The cloud

“We employ TLS 1.2 and 1.3 for data in transit, ensuring secure communication between Rev servers and our customers. For data at rest, we use Amazon's S3 SSE (Server-Side Encryption) with unique keys for all buckets and objects.”

rev.com

“If you order human transcription with Rev, only vetted transcriptionists have access to your files.”

rev.com
US$25.49 per seat per monthFree plan. Checked 28 Sep 2026. Vendor site

Sonix

Automated transcription and translation service with a web editor, pay as you go hours and team plans.

Automated transcription service

Web, API. Transcription

The cloud

“All data is stored at AWS in the USA. Sonix does not use your data to train our models. No one has access unless you provide consent.”

sonix.ai
$10 per hour of audio (pay as you go)$ as shownNo free plan. Checked 28 Sep 2026. Vendor site

Speechmatics

Speech-to-text API for developers, offered in its cloud, on your own servers, or on-device on Mac and Windows.

Speech-to-text API for developers

API, Mac, Windows. Transcription

Conditional. Depends on the deployment

“Sub-second latency, no infrastructure costs and audio that never leaves the machine.”

speechmatics.com

“A speech-to-text API with three ways to deploy it: cloud, on-prem, or on-device.”

speechmatics.com
$0.129/hr per hour (Pro plan, vendor headline from price)$ as shownFree plan. Checked 28 Sep 2026. Vendor site

Speechnotes

Browser dictation notepad and Chrome extension, plus a pay per minute file transcription service with an API.

Browser dictation notepad

Web, Chrome, Android, API. Dictation, Transcription

The cloud

“We send your audio to Google's & Microsoft's speech recognition engines for the transcription.”

speechnotes.co

“For dictation, the recording & recognition - is delegated to and done by the browser (Chrome / Edge) or operating system (Android). So, we never even have access to the recorded audio, and Edge's / Chrome's / Android's (depending the one you use) privacy policy apply here.”

speechnotes.co
$0 per month (Dictation Free)$ as shownFree plan. Checked 28 Sep 2026. Vendor site

Spokenly

System-wide dictation app with free local models, bring-your-own-key cloud models, and a paid Pro plan for its own cloud models.

System-wide dictation app

Mac, Windows, iPhone, Chrome. Dictation, Transcription

Conditional. Depends on the model you pick

“When using local models: Your audio recordings and transcriptions never leave your device. All speech-to-text processing happens entirely on your device, ensuring complete privacy of your spoken content.”

spokenly.app

“When using built-in cloud models (no API key required): Spokenly captures your voice input and sends the corresponding audio file to our backend for transcription purposes.”

spokenly.app
$0 Local Models, forever$ as shownFree plan. Checked 28 Sep 2026. Vendor site

Superwhisper

Voice to text app that types into any app, with local models or cloud models and a meeting recorder.

Voice to text app with a meeting recorder

Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android. Dictation, Transcription, Meeting notes

Conditional. Depends on the model you pick

“It records and summarizes meetings too, and with local models nothing you say leaves your device.”

superwhisper.com

“Unlimited use of Cloud and Local AI models”

superwhisper.com
$8.49 per month (Pro)$ as shownFree plan. Checked 28 Sep 2026. Vendor site

Trint

Transcription and live transcription workspace used mainly by newsrooms and media teams.

Transcription workspace for newsrooms

Web, API. Transcription

The cloud

“Trint uses HTTPS (using TLS 1.2) for secure data upload, export and transfer. Data is encrypted at-rest using AES 256. Physically, Trint uses data centers owned and operated by Amazon Web Services (AWS) in both the EU and US.”

trint.com
$79 per seat per month (Pro, individuals), $948 per seat billed annually$ as shownNo free plan. Checked 28 Sep 2026. Vendor site

VoicePrivate Ours

On-device dictation and transcription for Mac and Windows that works offline, with speaker labels for meetings and interviews, and General, Legal and Healthcare editions.

On-device dictation, transcription and meeting notes

Mac, Windows. Dictation, Transcription, Meeting notes

Meeting notes, in their words: Speaker labelling means the transcript tells you who said what, which matters for interviews, meetings voiceprivate.com

Your device

“On-device voice-to-text software for Mac”

voiceprivate.com

“Works offline Dictate anywhere, anytime. No internet connection required.”

voiceprivate.com
US$9.99 per month (General Edition)No free plan. Checked 28 Sep 2026. Vendor site