# Transcription accuracy and cost, measured

> Free in-browser tools for subtitles, word error rate and transcription cost, and a benchmark of speech-to-text accuracy on openly licensed recordings with human transcripts. Every figure is measured or sourced, the data is published, and nothing you open in the tools leaves your browser.

By TranscribeBench. Updated 8 October 2026. Canonical URL: https://transcribebench.com/

## The recording matters more than the tool

Transcription vendors quote accuracy on clean speech. On 33.6 minutes of openly licensed recordings with human transcripts, the same open-source model, Whisper medium.en, got 1.9% of words wrong on clean read speech, 3.7% with restaurant noise, 13.6% in relaxed video calls between speakers of different first languages, and 22.6% in four-person meetings. The [benchmark](/whisper-baseline-benchmark/) has every clip, every transcript and the code.

That is why the most useful test is one on your own audio. The [WER calculator](/wer-calculator/) scores any transcript against a corrected one, with the same code the benchmark uses, and the [guide to choosing a tool](/how-to-choose-a-transcription-tool/) walks through a ten-minute test and the cost comparison.

## How the site works

**Measured, or not stated.** Accuracy figures come from the [benchmark](/whisper-baseline-benchmark/), run on recordings with human transcripts under open licenses, and scored by published code. Vendor accuracy claims are not repeated as facts. Commercial tools are tested only within their terms and free tiers, and each vendor sees its results before they are published; in the first round none could be tested yet, and the [methodology](/methodology/) explains why.

**Prices with sources.** The [cost calculator](/transcription-cost-calculator/) reads every price from the vendor's own page, with the date and the quote. Where a page does not state a number, the calculator says "Check vendor".

**Tools that keep your files.** The [subtitle converter](/subtitle-converter/) and the calculators run in your browser. Nothing you open or paste is uploaded ([privacy](/privacy/)).

**Paid links are labeled.** The site may earn affiliate commissions from some vendors, labeled "(paid link)" wherever they appear. None are active today. They never change what is tested or what the results say ([affiliate disclosure](/affiliate-disclosure/)).