If you’d rather just skip to the end for my recommendation for the best free transcription software (and get a discount on pro software), click here. This is a pretty long post, with detailed info on the features of each program. (In many cases, it’s actually faster to transcribe from scratch than to edit an error-laden rendering from an auto-transcription tool.) This also isn’t a post about tools that auto-magically do the typing for you – as in, you upload a dictation and out pops a transcript. This isn’t a post about speech recognition or dictation software like Dragon NaturallySpeaking, although you can use these tools with the software I recommend here if you choose to. Professionals in many industries can benefit from this type of software, including audio transcriptionists, journalists, researchers, and filmmakers. Note that this post is about transcription software that’s designed to help you transcribe audio recordings manually. The software runs in the background, so you don’t have to keep switching between the audio player and your word processing software. Using hotkeys or a foot pedal, you can quickly and easily navigate the audio and re-listen to hard-to-hear phrases. Transcription software speeds up the process of converting audio files to text. Whether you’re transcribing medical, legal, academic (qualitative research), post-production, or other content, you’ll find something here that fits the bill. In today’s post, I’ll be sharing my recommendations for the best free transcription software based on my experience as a professional audio transcriptionist. The Best Free Transcription Software for Mac and PC

Best software for transcription