Both transcribe long recordings with AI. LongScribe sells cheap monthly plans and imports from links; PlainScribe charges per minute with no subscription and includes speaker labels, summaries and translation into 47 languages.
LongScribe prices and features checked on October 19, 2026.
| Feature | PlainScribe | LongScribe |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Pay-as-you-go, no subscription | Free plan + monthly subscriptions |
| Price | $0.067/min ($4/hour) | $4.99/mo (5,000 min) or $14.99/mo (20,000 min) |
| Free option | First transcript free (up to 2 hours) | 3 transcriptions + 600 min/month |
| How you add audio | File upload (up to 1GB) | File upload, public links (YouTube, TikTok, etc.), Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Box, Zoom |
| Speaker labels | Included on every transcript | Premium only, uses 2× minutes |
| Translation | Between any of 47 languages | Into English only (Premium) |
| AI summaries | Included | "Ask AI" chat |
| Export formats | TXT, CSV, SRT, VTT | TXT, SRT, DOCX, JSON |
| Batch upload | One file at a time | Premium (up to 20–50 files) |
| Data retention | Audio removed after processing; transcripts auto-delete after 30 days | Media deleted automatically after processing |
| Offline / local transcription | Free desktop app (transcribes on your device) | No |
LongScribe's free plan covers 3 transcriptions and 600 minutes a month. Premium is $4.99/month for up to 5,000 minutes, and Premium Pro is $14.99/month for 20,000 minutes. Speaker detection on Premium uses twice the minutes. PlainScribe charges $0.067 per minute ($4 per hour) from prepaid credits (minimum $10, valid for a year), with your first transcript free up to 2 hours.
| Your month | PlainScribe | LongScribe | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 files, 40 minutes, no speaker labels | $2.67 | $0 (free plan) | LongScribe |
| 10 short files, 60 minutes | $4.00 | $4.99 (Premium: free plan allows 3 files) | PlainScribe |
| 1 hour of interviews with speaker labels | $4.00 | $4.99 (Premium; speaker labels use 2× minutes) | PlainScribe |
| 1 hour translated into Spanish | $4.00 (translation included) | Not available (English only) | PlainScribe |
| 5 hours a month | $20.00 | $4.99 | LongScribe |
| 20 hours a month | $80.00 | $4.99 | LongScribe |
Honest take: LongScribe is cheaper for two kinds of user: anyone who fits in its free plan (3 transcriptions a month, no speaker labels or translation), and anyone transcribing more than about 75 minutes every month on Premium. PlainScribe is cheaper when you have more than 3 files but little total audio, when you need speaker labels, or when you translate into a language other than English, because those are included at the same $0.067/min.
Pay $0.067/min only when you transcribe; nothing renews
Every transcript, no extra minutes charged
Not just into English, so you can make subtitles for any audience
AI summary of every transcript at no extra cost
Web-ready captions and spreadsheet-friendly transcripts
Transcribe sensitive recordings without uploading them
$4.99/month covers up to 5,000 minutes
YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Vimeo, Google Drive, Dropbox, Zoom and more
Queue many files at once on Premium
Word documents and structured data
3 transcriptions and 600 minutes every month
It depends on how much you transcribe and where your audio lives. LongScribe is cheaper if your files fit its free plan or you transcribe more than about 75 minutes a month: its Premium plan is $4.99/month for up to 5,000 minutes, and it imports straight from YouTube, TikTok, Google Drive, Dropbox and other links. PlainScribe is better if you transcribe occasionally and want no subscription, need speaker labels and translation without extra cost, want translation into any of 47 languages rather than only into English, or need VTT and CSV exports or an offline desktop app.
As of October 19, 2026, LongScribe has a free plan (3 transcriptions and 600 minutes a month), Premium at $4.99/month (up to 5,000 minutes) and Premium Pro at $14.99/month (20,000 minutes). PlainScribe has no subscription: it charges $0.067 per minute ($4 per hour) from prepaid credits, and your first transcript is free (up to 2 hours). If your files fit LongScribe's free plan, it costs nothing. Once you need Premium (more than 3 files a month, speaker labels or translation), the break-even is about 75 minutes a month: below that PlainScribe costs less, above it LongScribe Premium does.
PlainScribe gives every new account one free transcript of up to 2 hours with no credit card, including speaker labels, summaries and SRT/VTT export. After that it is pay-as-you-go. LongScribe also has a free plan (3 transcriptions a month), so if you only need a few short files a month, both can be free.
LongScribe imports from public links on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Vimeo, SoundCloud and many other sites. PlainScribe transcribes uploaded files (up to 1GB) rather than links, but it has a free YouTube transcript generator for videos that already have captions, and you can upload any downloaded audio or video file.
LongScribe offers "Translate to English" on its Premium plans. PlainScribe translates transcripts between any of its 47 supported languages, so you can turn an English recording into Spanish, Japanese or German subtitles as well as translating into English.
Yes. LongScribe's "Find speakers" is a Premium feature and uses twice the minutes. PlainScribe labels speakers automatically on every transcript at the normal $0.067/min rate.
LongScribe says it keeps your uploaded media temporarily for retries and then deletes it automatically. PlainScribe removes raw audio once processing completes and deletes transcripts 30 days after creation. For recordings that should never leave your computer, PlainScribe's free desktop app transcribes fully offline.
Get your first transcript free (up to 2 hours), with speaker labels, a summary and subtitle export included.No subscription, no credit card required to try.