In the fast-paced world of modern work, meetings are the engine of collaboration and decision-making. Yet, they often come with a significant administrative burden: taking notes. We’ve all been there—trying to actively participate in a discussion while frantically typing to capture every key decision, action item, and brilliant idea. It’s a balancing act that often leads to divided attention, incomplete notes, and valuable information getting lost in translation. After the meeting, the challenge continues as someone is tasked with deciphering messy handwriting or disorganized notes to create a coherent summary to share with the team.
What if we could reclaim that focus and ensure every conversation is captured accurately and effortlessly? This is where meeting transcription software comes in, revolutionizing how we document and interact with our meetings. These powerful tools don't just record audio; they transform spoken words into structured, searchable, and shareable text, freeing up teams to do what they do best: collaborate and innovate.
In this guide, I’ll walk you through everything you need to know about meeting transcription software. We’ll explore what it is, what features define the best tools on the market, and take a close look at the top picks for 2025 to help you find the perfect solution for your team.
Introduction to meeting transcription software
Before we dive into comparing specific tools, it’s important to understand the fundamentals. The world of transcription has evolved rapidly, moving from a purely manual service to a sophisticated, AI-driven ecosystem. Understanding these basics will empower you to make a more informed decision for your organization's needs.
What is meeting transcription software?
At its core, meeting transcription software is a tool designed to automatically convert audio or video from meetings into written text. Think of it as a dedicated, high-speed stenographer for every meeting you have. This technology listens to the conversation, processes the spoken language, and produces a text file—or transcript—of the discussion. This is far more than just a simple recording; this is meeting recording and transcription software that creates a rich, usable document.
The primary goal is to create an accurate and searchable record of what was said, by whom, and when. This eliminates the need for manual note-taking, ensures no details are missed, and makes post-meeting follow-ups incredibly efficient. Whether you need a transcript for compliance, for sharing with absent colleagues, or simply to reference a key decision weeks later, this software provides a single source of truth.
Automated vs. human transcription: What’s the difference?
When you start exploring transcription services, you’ll encounter two main types: automated and human.
Automated transcription: This is the most common type found in automatic meeting transcription software. It relies on artificial intelligence (AI) and speech recognition technology to convert audio to text in minutes. The key benefits are speed and cost-effectiveness. Modern AI can achieve high accuracy levels, distinguish between different speakers, and even understand various accents. It’s the perfect solution for daily team meetings, brainstorming sessions, and internal reviews.
Human transcription: As the name suggests, this involves a professional human transcriber listening to the audio and typing out the transcript. This method generally yields the highest accuracy, especially for audio with poor quality, heavy background noise, complex industry jargon, or multiple overlapping speakers. It’s often used for legal proceedings, medical dictation, or published content where precision is non-negotiable. However, it is typically slower and more expensive than AI-powered alternatives.
For most businesses looking to improve meeting productivity, AI-driven software offers the ideal balance of speed, accuracy, and affordability. For teams seeking the perfect blend of speed and precision, a platform like Lark offers advanced AI-powered meeting transcription software that automatically generates searchable, speaker-identified notes right within your collaborative workspace.
What makes the best meeting transcription software?
With so many options on the market, it can be challenging to determine which meeting transcription software is the best. The right choice depends on your team’s specific needs, but there are several key features that distinguish great software from the rest. Here’s a checklist of what to look for when evaluating different tools.
Accuracy and speaker identification: The most accurate meeting transcription software can correctly interpret conversations, even with industry-specific terms or different accents. Equally important is speaker identification (also known as diarization), which attributes each part of the transcript to the correct person. This context is vital for understanding the flow of conversation and assigning accountability.
Real-time transcription and summaries: Many top-tier tools offer live transcription, which displays text on-screen as the meeting happens. This is a game-changer for accessibility, helping participants who are hearing-impaired or are non-native speakers follow along. Furthermore, the best software uses AI to generate concise meeting summaries, pulling out key points, decisions, and action items so you can get the gist of a long meeting in seconds.
Seamless integrations: Your transcription tool shouldn't live in a silo. Look for software that integrates smoothly with the calendar and video conferencing platforms you already use, such as Lark, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams. This allows the tool to automatically join, record, and transcribe meetings without any manual effort.
Collaboration and sharing features: A transcript is most useful when it’s easy to work with. The best software allows you to edit the transcript for accuracy, highlight important sections, add comments, and share the entire document with a simple link. These collaboration features turn a static document into a dynamic workspace for post-meeting alignment.
Security and compliance: Meetings often contain sensitive information. It's crucial to choose a provider with robust security measures, such as data encryption in transit and at rest. If your organization operates in a regulated industry, look for compliance with standards like GDPR and HIPAA to ensure your data is handled responsibly.
Multilingual support: For global teams, the ability to transcribe and even translate meetings in multiple languages is essential. This feature breaks down communication barriers and fosters a more inclusive environment, ensuring everyone is on the same page, regardless of their native language.
Finding a single tool with all these features can be a challenge. That’s why an all-in-one solution like Lark stands out, integrating best transcription software for meeting notes with real-time AI summaries and multilingual support directly into your meeting workflow.
Quick glance at best meeting transcription software
To help you navigate the options, here’s a quick comparison of the top meeting transcription tools I'll be covering. This table gives you an at-a-glance look at what each platform does best.
8 top picks for meeting transcription software in 2025
Now, let’s take a deeper look into each of these platforms. I’ve analyzed their features, strengths, and ideal use cases to help you find the best meeting transcription software for your specific needs.
1. Lark: The all-in-one suite for seamless team collaboration
Overview
Lark is more than just a transcription tool; it's a comprehensive digital workspace designed to unify team communication and collaboration. Lark Minutes is the component that handles meeting recording and transcription software, but its true power comes from its seamless integration with the rest of the Lark ecosystem. This includes chat, calendar, documents, spreadsheets, and project management tools. When you use Lark for your meetings, the transcript doesn't just become a static file. It becomes a living document woven directly into your team's daily workflows, turning conversations into actionable tasks and reference materials effortlessly.
Key features
Automatic and interactive transcripts: Lark automatically generates detailed, searchable transcripts for every recorded meeting. The transcript is interactive, allowing you to click on any text to instantly jump to that exact moment in the video recording.
AI-powered summaries and action items: To save you time, AI automatically condenses the entire discussion into a concise summary, highlighting key decisions and pulling out action items. This transforms a long transcript into a quick, digestible overview.
Deep ecosystem integration: This is where Lark truly shines. A task mentioned in a meeting can be created in Lark Tasks directly from the transcript. A summary can be embedded into a shared document for a project update, and notifications about comments on the transcript appear directly in Lark Messenger.
Advanced collaboration: Team members can comment on specific parts of the transcript, react with emojis, and create shareable video clips of key moments. This fosters asynchronous collaboration, allowing those who missed the meeting to catch up and contribute effectively.
Multilingual support: With one-click translation for transcripts, Lark breaks down language barriers for global teams, promoting inclusivity and ensuring everyone has access to the same information.
Pricing
Lark offers a competitive and flexible pricing model where attendance management is included within the broader Lark Suite plans (👉see Lark pricing).
Free trial and demo are available for exploration
Free plan with 11 powerful products included
Paid plans starting at $12/user/month
Best for
Teams and organizations of all sizes that are looking for an all-in-one solution. If you want to replace a fragmented toolset with a single, integrated platform where meeting minutes transcription software is deeply connected to daily communication and project management, Lark is the ideal choice.
2. Otter.ai: The popular choice for real-time AI transcription
Image source: otter.ai
Overview
Otter.ai is one of the most well-known names in the world of automatic meeting transcription software. It has built a strong reputation for its user-friendly interface and reliable real-time transcription capabilities. Its signature feature, the OtterPilot, can automatically join your meetings on platforms like Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams, acting as a dedicated notetaker. It’s an excellent standalone tool for individuals and teams who need a fast, affordable, and straightforward way to capture meeting conversations.
Key features
Live transcription: Generates live notes as the meeting progresses, making it easy to follow along and capture quotes.
OtterPilot: Automatically joins and transcribes meetings from your calendar, so you never have to remember to hit record.
Speaker identification: Differentiates between speakers and labels them in the transcript for clarity.
Automated summaries: Provides an AI-generated summary of the meeting for a quick overview.
Pricing
Free: For individuals to get started.
Basic: Start from $8.33/user/month.
Business: Start from $20/user/month.
Enterprise: Custom pricing.
Best for
Individuals, students, and small teams who need a dedicated, easy-to-use transcription service that integrates well with major meeting platforms.
3. Fireflies.ai: The smart assistant for automated meeting analysis
Image source: fireflies.ai
Overview
Fireflies.ai positions itself as an AI meeting assistant that not only transcribes but also analyzes your conversations. Like Otter, it can automatically join your meetings to record and transcribe them. However, its strength lies in its "Conversation Intelligence" features, which can track metrics, identify topics, and provide insights into your meetings. It's a powerful tool for sales teams, recruiters, and managers who want to extract more than just text from their discussions.
Key features
Automatic meeting capture: Joins meetings across multiple video-conferencing platforms.
Conversation intelligence: Analyzes transcripts for sentiment, speaker talk time, and other key metrics.
Topic trackers: Allows you to search for specific topics and trends across all your meeting transcripts.
Integrations with CRMs and collaboration tools: Pushes meeting notes and summaries to platforms like Salesforce, Slack, and Asana.
Pricing
Free: For individuals to get started.
Pro: Start from $10/seat/month.
Business: Start from $19/seat/month.
Enterprise: Start from $39/seat/month.
Best for
Sales teams and managers who want to analyze their meeting conversations to improve performance, track keywords, and automate data entry into CRMs.
4. Trint: The collaborative tool for media and marketing teams
Image source: trint.com
Overview
Trint is a meeting transcription software built with journalists, marketers, and content creators in mind. While it handles meeting transcription well, its standout feature is its powerful, text-based editor that links audio and video directly to the transcript. This allows users to edit the media file simply by editing the text, making it incredibly easy to find key quotes and create content. Its collaborative features, such as highlighting and commenting, are designed for teams working together on stories or projects.
Key features
Combined text and media editor: Edit, search, and verify your transcript with an interactive player.
Real-time collaboration: Teams can highlight, comment, and edit transcripts together.
Multi-language support: Transcribes in over 30 languages.
Mobile app: Allows you to capture and transcribe content on the go.
Pricing
Trint is a premium service with pricing plans geared toward professional users and teams, starting with a Starter plan and scaling up to Enterprise.
No free plan; offers a free trial for 7 days.
Starter 2024: Start from $52/seat/month.
Advanced 2024: Start from $60/seat/month.
Enterprise: Custom pricing.
Best for
Media organizations, marketing agencies, and researchers who need to turn spoken-word content from interviews and meetings into polished, shareable assets like articles and videos.
5. Sonix.ai: The specialist in multilingual transcription
Image source: sonix.ai
Overview
For global organizations, Sonix.ai is one of the best meeting transcription software options due to its extensive language support. It offers fast, automated transcription in over 38 languages, dialects, and accents. Beyond transcription, its platform can also automatically translate transcripts into different languages, making it an invaluable tool for international teams that need to share meeting content across linguistic divides. Its in-browser editor makes it easy to review and polish transcripts.
Key features
Extensive language support: Transcribes and translates in dozens of languages.
Automated speaker labeling and timestamping: Organizes the transcript for easy reading and reference.
In-browser editor: Allows for easy clean-up and editing of transcripts.
Collaboration tools: Share transcripts with team members and control permissions.
Pricing
Free Trial: Offers 30 minutes of free transcription for new users.
Standard: $0/month platform fee (Pay-as-you-go). AI Transcription is $10/hour.
Premium: Platform fee starts from $16.50/seat/month, plus $5/hour for AI Transcription.
Enterprise: Custom pricing.
Best for
International corporations, universities, and content creators who work with multilingual audio and need both transcription and translation services.
6. Verbit: The enterprise solution for high-accuracy and compliance
Image source: verbit.ai
Overview
Verbit targets the enterprise, legal, and education markets where the highest level of accuracy and compliance is non-negotiable. It uses a hybrid model that combines powerful AI with a network of professional human transcribers. This "human-in-the-loop" approach ensures that transcripts are not only fast but also exceptionally accurate. Verbit is often the choice for formal proceedings, such as board meetings, legal depositions, and university lectures, where every word matters.
Key features
Hybrid transcription model: Combines AI and human intelligence for near-perfect accuracy.
Industry-specific solutions: Offers tailored services for the legal, education, and media industries.
Strong security and compliance: Adheres to standards like HIPAA, SOC 2, and GDPR.
Integrations: Works with major learning management systems (LMS) and video platforms.
Pricing
Free: Up to 30 min.
Self service: Start from $24/month.
Full service: Custom pricing.
Best for
Large organizations, universities, and legal firms that require the most accurate meeting transcription software with guaranteed quality and adherence to strict compliance standards.
7. Fellow.app: The productivity hub for better meeting habits
Image source: fellow.app
Overview
Fellow is a comprehensive meeting management platform designed to foster productive meeting habits. It integrates agendas, real-time note-taking, and action item tracking into a single collaborative space. While it does offer AI-powered meeting transcription and summaries, its core focus is on the entire meeting lifecycle—from planning the agenda to tracking follow-ups. Transcription is one feature within a broader suite of tools aimed at making meetings more effective overall.
Key features
Collaborative agendas and notes: Build agendas together and take notes in real-time during the meeting.
AI meeting copilot: Automatically records, transcribes, and summarizes meetings.
Action item tracking: Assign and track tasks directly within your meeting notes.
Integrations with calendars and communication tools: Connects with Google Calendar, Outlook, Slack, and more.
Pricing
For Individuals
Free: Up to 5 AI meeting notes/user.
Solo: Starts from $19/user/month.
For Businesses & Teams
Free: Up to 5 AI meeting notes/user.
Team: Starts from $7/user/month.
Business: Starts from $15/user/month.
Enterprise: Starts from $15/user/month.
Best for
Teams that want to improve their entire meeting culture, not just their note-taking. It's a great choice for managers and teams focused on productivity and accountability.
8. Rev.com: The flexible service for professional-grade transcription
Image source: rev.com
Overview
Rev.com is a giant in the transcription industry, known for its highly accurate human transcription services. However, it also offers a powerful automated transcription service and a robust API (Rev.ai) for developers. This makes Rev a flexible choice for a wide range of needs. You can use their AI for fast, affordable transcription of internal meetings or opt for their 99% accurate human service for customer-facing content or important recordings where precision is critical.
Key features
Multiple service types: Offers both AI-powered and human-powered transcription.
High accuracy: Their human transcription service is renowned for its quality.
Developer API: Allows businesses to integrate Rev's speech-to-text engine into their own applications.
Fast turnaround: Provides quick delivery times for both automated and human services.
Pricing
No free plan; offers a free trial.
Basic: Start from $9.99/user/month.
Pro: Start from $20.99/user/month.
Enterprise: Custom pricing.
Best for
Businesses that need a flexible mix of AI and human transcription services, or developers looking to build transcription capabilities into their own products.
Level up your meeting transcription with Lark Minutes
While many tools offer great transcription, Lark Minutes stands apart by embedding this technology into a truly connected workspace. It’s not about adding another tool to your stack; it’s about enhancing the platform where your team already communicates and collaborates.
Why it stands out
It’s a connected workspace, not just a tool: The magic of Lark is that the transcript is just the beginning. An idea discussed in a meeting can be instantly turned into a task, assigned to a team member, and tracked in a project board—all within Lark. The AI summary can be shared in a group chat for quick alignment, or embedded in a Lark Doc for a formal report. This seamless flow from conversation to action is what sets it apart.
It empowers true asynchronous collaboration: For teams spread across different time zones, attending every meeting is impossible. Lark’s interactive transcripts allow absent team members to not just watch a recording, but to engage with it. They can add comments to specific points, react with emojis to show agreement, and fully participate in the post-meeting discussion, ensuring their voice is heard.
AI that drives action, not just notes: Lark’s AI doesn't just give you a wall of text. It intelligently identifies key decisions and tasks, presenting them in a clean, actionable format. This proactive approach saves time and reduces the mental load of sifting through notes, making it one of the best transcription software for meeting notes that are actually put to use.
How to use Minutes
Getting started with Lark Minutes is incredibly straightforward because it’s a natural part of the meeting process.
Step 1: Record your meeting in Lark
When you host a video call in Lark Meetings, simply click the "Record" button. The AI will automatically start transcribing in the background.
Step 2: Access your transcript automatically
Once the meeting ends, the recording will process. You’ll receive a notification in Lark Messenger when your transcript and AI summary are ready. You can also find it in the "Meetings" tab under "Minutes."
Step 3: Review and interact
Open the file to see the full video alongside the interactive, time-stamped transcript. Click on any sentence to jump directly to that moment in the video. Use the search bar to find keywords, or add your own comments and reactions.
Step 4: Leverage the AI summary
At the top of the transcript, you’ll find the AI-generated summary and a list of action items. Use this to quickly get up to speed or to copy-paste into a follow-up message.
Step 5: Share and collaborate
Click the "Share" button to send a link to your colleagues. They can view the transcript and recording right within Lark, ensuring everyone has access to a single source of truth for the meeting.
Final thoughts
Choosing the right meeting transcription software is no longer just about capturing notes; it's about transforming your meetings into a source of actionable intelligence and organizational memory. As we’ve seen, the landscape is diverse, with tools tailored for everything from simple real-time transcription to deep conversational analysis and high-stakes compliance. The key is to move beyond seeing transcription as a standalone task and instead view it as a foundational piece of your team's collaborative puzzle.
The real power is unleashed when transcription is seamlessly integrated into your daily workflows. When a transcript can automatically generate tasks, inform project updates, and foster asynchronous collaboration, it becomes more than just a record—it becomes a catalyst for productivity. By eliminating the administrative burden of manual note-taking, you empower your team to be fully present, engaged, and ready to turn great ideas into concrete actions.
If you’re ready to embrace a solution that connects your meeting conversations directly to your collaborative workstream, I highly recommend exploring Lark. Its all-in-one ecosystem provides the tools you need to not only transcribe meetings but to make every discussion count.
FAQs
What is the best app to transcribe meetings?
The best app truly depends on your team’s needs. For an all-in-one collaborative suite where transcription is seamlessly integrated with chat, tasks, and documents, Lark is an outstanding choice. For individuals needing a simple, reliable tool for real-time notes, Otter.ai is a very popular and effective option.
What is the best way to transcribe a meeting?
The most efficient and reliable method is using automatic meeting transcription software. These platforms can join your meetings, record the audio, and generate a time-stamped, speaker-labeled transcript automatically. This approach saves significant time over manual transcription and provides a searchable, accurate record almost instantly after the meeting concludes.
What is the best software to use for transcription?
This varies by use case. For general business meetings, software like Lark provides the best blend of transcription, AI summaries, and workflow integration. If you need the absolute highest accuracy for legal or media purposes, a human-powered service like Rev.com or a hybrid model like Verbit is often the best choice.
Can ChatGPT write minutes of a meeting?
Yes, but it requires an extra step. You must first have a complete, accurate transcript of the meeting. You can then paste that transcript into ChatGPT and prompt it to create a summary in the format of meeting minutes. However, tools like Lark streamline this by providing both the transcription and the AI-powered summary automatically.
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