Transcribing speech can be tedious, but you can outsource this task to humans (for the utmost accuracy) or machines (for the quickest turnaround speeds and the lowest prices). Rev offers both types of services, which makes it ideal for a mix of transcription jobs. Moreover, it provides modern experiences on both web and mobile platforms. That said, we wish the browser version had an autosave feature for live recordings and that the free tier was more generous with transcription minutes. Rev is still an excellent choice, but you are a bit better off with our Editors’ Choice winners for the category, Otter and GoTranscript. Otter lets you work with transcripts in real time and has a more viable free plan, while GoTranscript offers more affordable human-made transcription options.
How Much Does Rev Cost?
Rev lets you submit individual orders without a commitment. It charges $0.25 and $1.99 per minute, respectively, for its AI and human transcription services. Rev returns the former in under five minutes and the latter in under 12 hours. For comparison, GoTranscript charges a little less ($0.20) for automated jobs and significantly more ($2.75 per minute) for human jobs with a similar turnaround time. If you can make do with a slower turnaround time, however, GoTranscript goes as low as $1.20 per minute with a five-day turnaround (fewer than 2,500 minutes).
(Credit: Rev/PCMag)
You should consider one of Rev’s VoiceHub plans if you intend to use the service frequently, since it gives you a pool of AI transcription minutes. The free tier includes an AI tool (Notetaker) for recording, transcribing, and summarizing meetings in real time, though it restricts you to just 45 minutes of transcription. Most people should pay for the Basic plan ($9.99 per month, billed annually), which offers 1,200 minutes of AI-generated transcripts, a 15% discount on human transcription jobs, and access to AI-generated transcript summaries. The Pro plan ($20.99 per month, billed annually) is the best option for teams—it unlocks 6,000 shared minutes of AI transcription and custom AI templates for organizing information from transcripts.
Rev also offers AI and human-generated captioning services. The company claims the latter works with 37 languages and offers a 95%-plus accuracy rate, while the latter is available in English and Spanish with an accuracy rate of 99%. Adding captions to videos makes them more accessible to a larger audience. Prices are the same as its transcription services. Finally, Rev offers a considerably more expensive subtitling service, for which it claims support for 17 languages. I didn’t test these features for this review.
For comparison, Otter’s free plan provides 300 automated transcription minutes per month with a maximum of 30 minutes per session and three audio or video uploads. This tier includes the OtterPilot assistant that answers questions from you or your teammates, records audio, takes notes, and transcribes in real time during meetings. Both Rev’s and Otter’s meeting assistants work with Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom Workplace. Otter charges $8.33 per month (billed annually) for its Pro tier, which offers comparable features with Rev’s Basic plan. That version gets you 1,200 minutes of transcription, 10 imports per month, and advanced team features (shared vocabulary and task tagging). Rev doesn’t limit how many prerecorded files you can upload per billing cycle.
TranscribeMe! also offers both automated and human-generated transcription, though with fewer frills. Automatic transcription jobs start at $0.07 per minute, while human-based ones begin at $0.79 per minute. Prices go up from there as you select add-ons, such as timestamps or verbatim accuracy.
Web Interface and Apps
Rev is a web-based service that works on any browser. The company recommends the latest version of Google Chrome or, alternatively, Opera. From the web interface, you can record live audio, upload audio files from another source, or set up integrations with Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom Workplace. It’s also easy to link your Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook with just a few clicks. You can find all the available integrations here.
(Credit: Rev/PCMag)
Keep in mind that Rev doesn’t autosave when you record live audio via your browser, unlike Otter. I lost an important recording during testing, and Rev’s customer support told me that I needed to click save at the end of the call. An autosave feature would be helpful for the future since most people assume programs automatically save their work.
Canceling a subscription from the web is simple. Simply click your name at the top right of the interface and navigate to Manage Subscription. A graphic highlights how far you are into the billing cycle, and the Manage Subscription choice takes you to a page with lots of options. Here, you can change your subscription tier, cancel your plan, or download invoices for reimbursement. Even if you cancel a VoiceHub subscription, your account still works for individual orders.
(Credit: Rev/PCMag)
Rev now develops just one app (down from three in the past) that’s available for both Android and iOS. It allows for the basic editing, ordering, and sharing of audio transcription files and does a good job of filtering out background noise in settings like a coffee shop.
Rev still maintains a free call recording app for iOS, but I found it tricky to set up correctly and opted to use speakerphone and the desktop recording feature for calls instead. The last update to that app was in 2021.
Ordering and Editing Transcripts
Although Rev’s web interface was once confusing to navigate, it’s now simple to create an account and get started. You don’t need a subscription to use Rev, but you do need an account.
An easy-to-identify Get Started button on Rev’s main page opens a guide that takes you through signing up, choosing a plan, and ordering transcriptions. Your profile dashboard has clear buttons for starting a live recording and uploading audio files. Rev sends you an email once a transcription order is ready, and completed transcripts show up under the My Files section on your dashboard. Rev’s tutorials (which show up as a file in your dashboard) are extremely helpful in explaining how the platform works.
It’s easy to share and edit completed transcripts within Rev. In the past, I found Rev’s editing software to be clunky, but the experience is now about on par with Otter. All the standard playback and editing tools are present. You can listen to the audio while highlighting or striking through the transcribed text, adding comments, and taking notes—all while the site automatically saves your work. Basic users can take advantage of AI summaries, while Pro users can build templates for podcasts and more. By highlighting sections of a transcript, you can create an outline of the best quotes to use in an article as well.
(Credit: Rev/PCMag)
Note, however, that you can’t edit a transcript until it’s complete. Otter lets you add comments and corrections to a transcript during a call or meeting in real time. A representative from Rev a few years ago said the company hoped to add this functionality, though it’s still not present.
At any point while you are working on the transcript, you can click Download or Share at the top right to export your work to yourself or others. Rev supports co-editing among team members.
How Accurate Is Rev?
Using a two-minute recording of a reading from a Marguerite Henry book about Assateague Island’s wild ponies, Rev’s automated service made six errors related to proper nouns. This is the same number of errors as last year. Otter made just three errors related to proper nouns and place names, but it failed to place punctuation correctly multiple times. Rev was much more accurate with capitalization and punctuation, producing a cleaner document overall. Given the same section of audio, TranscribeMe made seven errors, most of which also concerned proper nouns and punctuation.
In a noisy environments with two speakers, Rev performed well. It identified speakers accurately and provided a fairly accurate transcript. By listening to the audio while editing, I was able to fill in the few gaps it left—typically when two people attempted to speak at once.
(Credit: Rev/PCMag)
Human-based transcription services are typically extremely accurate, so you aren’t likely to notice much of a difference between Rev, GoTranscript, TranscribeMe, and others in that regard.
Is Your Data Safe With Rev?
Rev says it’s constantly working to protect shared data. The company has a Service Organization Controls Type II [SOC2] certification. Essentially, a SOC2 certification looks at and verifies an organization’s processing integrity, privacy practices, and security safeguards. Rev’s FAQs assure end-to-end protection.
Rev offers single sign-on and multi-factor authentication. It’s also transparent about its privacy services so clients can determine if their standards align. If your company requires a nondisclosure agreement to handle sensitive documents, the team at Rev can sign it. The company says it uses only third-party payment vendors with proven safety measures and continually monitors the security of the audio files it receives from clients. You can read more about Rev’s security and privacy statements here.
Verdict: Almost the Best of Both Worlds
Rev’s continued embrace of generative AI brings it in line with competitors and makes it a more comprehensive solution than in years past. We appreciate that it offers automated and human-based transcription services, modernized and simplified experiences across web and mobile, and fast turnaround times. Our main complaints are that Rev doesn’t allow for real-time editing during live transcriptions and lacks an autosave feature for live recordings from the web. Rev is worth a look if you need AI tools and human transcription services all in one place, but our Editors’ Choice winners, Otter and GoTranscript, still have the respective advantages of a more usable free tier and a lower cost.
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The Bottom Line
Rev is a slick and versatile transcription service for occasional and frequent users who want to choose between human and machine-based services.
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About Meg St-Esprit
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