Verithiathe honest score on any app
Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

Transcribe vs Speechify

Transcribe 4.5★ · Free to download 75
Winner Transcribe
Speechify 4.7★ · Free + IAP 60

Transcribe is better for accurate, multi-speaker audio transcription, while Speechify excels as a text-to-speech reader for personal use, despite its high cost and limited library.

Full reviews: Transcribe · Speechify

Transcribe offers highly accurate transcription, speaker identification, and flexible pricing for audio and video files, though it has some bugs and inconsistent performance. Speechify provides text-to-speech with various voices, but users frequently complain about its high cost, misleading advertising regarding its book library, and technical issues.

Head to head

Transcription Accuracy edge: TranscribeR2R7R8R9
Transcribe Transcribe users frequently praise its high accuracy for transcribing audio files, even with accents, and its ability to identify different speakers R2R8. However, some users report significant inaccuracies, missed words, or issues with live transcription R7R9.
Speechify Speechify is primarily a text-to-speech app, not a transcription service. Reviews mention it reading text aloud, but not transcribing audio into text.
Features & Functionality edge: TranscribeR2R8R9R10
Transcribe Transcribe offers features like fast transcription, speaker identification, in-app speaker name editing, and multiple export formats R2. It supports various audio sources R8 and some users appreciate text enhancement features . However, some report issues with video uploads, missing features like bulk editing, and problems with live transcription R9R10.
Speechify Speechify's core functionality is text-to-speech, offering various voice options, including celebrity voices . It allows scanning physical books, though this feature is often criticized for being tedious and not working as advertised R97. Users also mention issues with app crashes and content not loading .
Ease of Use tieR1R6R10R32
Transcribe Many Transcribe users find it easy to use and navigate, with some noting a quick learning curve R32R44. However, some experience difficulties with purchasing more time, editing transcriptions, or uploading videos R1R6R10.
Speechify Speechify is generally described as easy to set up and navigate by some users . However, others find it confusing to operate, especially regarding scanning books and understanding its features R97.
Price/Value edge: TranscribeR9R18R20R21
Transcribe Transcribe offers a free trial (15-30 minutes) R27R44R53 and then charges per hour (around $5-6/hour) or offers pro/unlimited subscriptions R9R18R20R49. Users appreciate the a-la-carte option for occasional use , but some find it expensive or unclear about pricing upfront R21.
Speechify Speechify is frequently criticized for being very expensive, with high subscription costs (e.g., $140/year) and additional charges for books or premium voices . Many users feel the advertising is misleading, implying free access or a broader library than what's available without further payment .
Reliability & Support edge: TranscribeR3R5R6R10
Transcribe Transcribe has mixed reviews on reliability. Some users report it works beautifully and consistently R5, while others experience issues like uploads failing, lost hours, recording stopping unexpectedly, or in-app purchases not being delivered R3R6R10. Customer service is praised for being responsive and helpful when issues arise .
Speechify Speechify users report frequent reliability issues, including app crashes, glitches after updates, and scanned pages being deleted or not loading . There are also complaints about poor customer service regarding refunds and subscription issues .
Pick Transcribe if

you need accurate transcription of audio or video files, especially with multiple speakers, and prefer a pay-as-you-go model or responsive customer support R2.

Pick Speechify if

you primarily need a text-to-speech reader for digital content and are willing to pay a premium for various voice options, despite potential issues with its library and scanning features .

Evidence note: Speechify has a significantly higher number of ratings, but a large portion of its negative reviews stem from perceived misleading advertising about its free features and limited book library, which skews its overall user satisfaction for those expecting a free or comprehensive service. Transcribe's reviews, while fewer, offer a more direct assessment of its core transcription functionality.

Frequently asked

Is Transcribe truly free?
Transcribe offers a limited free trial, typically 15 to 30 minutes of transcription, after which you need to pay per hour (around $5-6/hour) or purchase a subscription R27R44R49R53.
Can Speechify read any book?
Speechify's advertisements often imply it can read any book by scanning, but users report its built-in library is very limited, and for most books, you have to manually scan each page, which is described as impractical and tedious R88R97R103R106.
Does Transcribe identify different speakers?
Yes, Transcribe is praised by users for accurately identifying different speakers in audio files and assigning speech text to them, with the ability to update speaker names within the app R2R9R32.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R2] Transcribe 5/5 · US Top of the Line features: I found the following features very helpful, 1. Transcribes m4a audio files very accurately and very fast! 2. It transcribes a 30min audio file in matter of minutes 3. It very accurately identifies different speakers & assigns speech text to them. 4. Allows me to update the name of the speakers within the app itself. 5. I can easily export the Transcript to an email recip
  2. [R7] Transcribe 2/5 · US Not accurate at all: I wanted to use this to record a conversation between myself and a Spanish speaking lawyer and his assistant. They were speaking Spanish to each other and me English. The voice pickup was horrible (iPhone 13) and the translations were extremely spotty and didn’t make sense. I would not use this for any conversations which are important. Really disappointed.
  3. [R8] Transcribe 5/5 · US Transcribe is great!: It transcribes with precision from the languages I use, and accepts audio texts from multiple sources. I love it.
  4. [R9] Transcribe 3/5 · US Voice Memos yes; Live not so much: I really liked this app and used it to transcribe Voice Memos. Speaker identification is pretty accurate as most of the transcription. Expensive compared to other apps at $6/hr. Doesn’t edit out the “uhms” and “uhs.” I switched to live transcription ($15 monthly fee, unlimited) only to find a significant drop in accuracy even dropping several words in sentences.
  5. [R10] Transcribe 2/5 · US Issues uploads videos: This app works when it wants to. It does not upload videos well.
  6. [R1] Transcribe 1/5 · US Imposible to go to PRO: No me permite comprar la versión Pro, me dice que no puedo acceder a App Store
  7. [R6] Transcribe 3/5 · US Time: I bought more time to complete a recording and didn’t realize in doing that instead of covering the last bit of time it redid the whole video and would now have to buy more time to complete the work I need to do. Leaving time left over if I were to buy more time.
  8. [R32] Transcribe 5/5 · US So easy to use!: I used this on a whim to transcribe a court case and it took less than 5 min from download to learn what to do and do it. 30 min transcript broken down with speaker and time.
  9. [R18] Transcribe 3/5 · US Great, with one major flaw: I found the dictation to be pretty solid for normal dictations. It’s way better than Siri. However, they charge you for silence. Silence is something that can be easily stripped, and should come for free. UPDATE: developer contacted me, said this didn’t exist because they were working on new speech API. Developer said pro version provided unlimited dictation, but the do
  10. [R20] Transcribe 5/5 · US Prefect for Transcription: This app is exactly what I need. I want my audio to be transcribed into text. It works perfectly! And the price is economical.
  11. [R21] Transcribe 3/5 · US Expensive: Too Expensive
  12. [R3] Transcribe 3/5 · US Use to be a great app: Not sure what happened but it started to become less accurate, takes forever to upload and took away hours I didn’t use and now says I’m at 0. This use to be my go to, and transcribed well especially adding speakers assigned to the transcriptions. I’m moving on to other apps, but hopefully they fix this for future users.
  13. [R5] Transcribe 5/5 · US it works: it works just like it said it would
  14. [R27] Transcribe 3/5 · US Only 15 minutes free: It worked pretty well and I only needed to edit a few words, which were mostly technical terms or proper names. But you can only upload 15 minutes of audio for free, so it wasn’t helpful for transcribing a 28-minute interview.
  15. [R44] Transcribe 5/5 · US SO generous: Wow, I just wanted to transcribe a 13 minute video I had, for free, & without an account! They give you 30 minutes. I’m SO glad! 🙏🏼 And thank you, so much. Also the app is easy to navigate & underwhelming! ☝🏼 Basic & easy :-)
  16. [R49] Transcribe 1/5 · US Everyone should know up front...: It cost 4.99 an hour.
  17. [R53] Transcribe 1/5 · US Pay by the hour: Free for 15 minutes then makes you pay a heavy price by the hour
  18. [R88] Speechify 1/5 · US False Advertising: The ads for this app shows someone taking a photo of a book and then being able to have it read to them. This is not how it works unless the book is among their limited library!!
  19. [R97] Speechify 2/5 · US Not what is shows in commercials: There is a lot of books not in this app. I’ve looked up seven and none of them have been in the app. And it’s not easy to download like they show in the commercial where you just scan the book and it starts reading it to you. You have to scan any book that is not in the app page by page and either added it to the app or just let it read it page by page. so, there’
  20. [R103] Speechify 1/5 · US Very disappointed: The advertisement implies that you can simply take a picture of most any book with your phone and the book can be read to you. Reality is that there are fewer than 100 books in their “library”. Incredibly misleading and disappointing. Would like my money back!
  21. [R106] Speechify 1/5 · US The most useless app I’ve ever downloaded: The ads are all false. None of the books I’ve searched for are available. Even best selling authors, like Parker, Patterson and Clancy, are unavailable. Waste of money

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store