Languages

Transcription in 33 languages

Scriptorium transcribes speech in 33 languages, plus automatic language detection, and you can try a file free without signing up (up to 15 minutes). Pick your language for notes on its dialects, script and quality; the groups below say honestly where the small model has more or less to work with and where it needs more editing.

Grouping by how much speech data Whisper-family models are known to have seen per language. It is our own rough guide, not a measured score, and real results depend mostly on audio quality. Not sure which language it is? Audio to text detects it for you.

Large amount of training data: still a draft

Good amount of training data: expect corrections

Less training data: expect more editing

Least training data: treat the draft as a rough guide

Read this site in your language

These pages are written natively, not machine-translated word for word.

More reading: how to transcribe non-English audio, recordings with more than one language. All use cases are on the use cases page.

Questions

How many languages can it transcribe?

33 languages plus automatic detection. Each has its own page here, with notes on dialects, writing system and what to proofread.

Are all languages equally accurate?

No. Speech-recognition models of the Whisper family have seen far more English, Spanish, German, French, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese and Korean than languages such as Urdu or Bengali, and the small model that tryscriptorium.com runs shows the difference. The groups above are a rough guide, not a measured score, and no accuracy figure is published.

Which language setting should I use?

Pick the language when you know it: each language page presets its uploader. If you do not know it, or the recording mixes languages, use Audio to text and let it detect.

Can it translate?

A signed-in account can turn speech into English text. Transcripts and subtitles otherwise stay in the language that was spoken; there are no other translation targets.

Is it free?

Yes — one file up to 15 minutes and 25 MB with no account, up to 3 tries a day. A free account keeps your transcripts in a library and lifts the guest limits; the current limits and paid plans are on the pricing page.

Try it with your own file

Upload a recording and read the transcript.

Transcribe free — no sign-up Create free account