A recent XDA piece by a longtime Otter.ai subscriber argued that Google Recorder had quietly gotten good enough to cancel the paid plan. The pitch is hard to ignore: free, runs on-device, no monthly minute cap, no cloud uploads. We spent two weeks running the same meetings, lectures, and voice memos through seven transcription apps for Android to see whether that conclusion holds, and which paid options still earn their price.
The short version: Google Recorder is the new default if you own a Pixel, Otter still wins for team meetings, and a couple of newer cloud apps are doing more for less than they did a year ago. For anyone outside the Pixel ecosystem, the picture is messier, and that is where most of the testing time went.
What to look for in a transcription app
- On-device vs cloud. On-device transcription keeps audio off the internet and works on planes. Cloud transcription tends to be more accurate on long files, multiple speakers, and accents, and adds features like summaries and search.
- Accuracy. Most apps now claim 95 to 99 percent on clean English. Real-world numbers drop sharply on accents, technical jargon, and crosstalk. Test on your own audio before you commit.
- Speaker labels and timestamps. Critical for interviews and meetings. Not every app supports both, and the ones that do vary in how easy it is to relabel speakers afterward.
- Export formats. TXT and DOCX cover most needs; SRT and VTT matter if you caption video; JSON helps if you pipe into another tool.
- Language support. English is universal. Anything beyond that, check the supported list and the accuracy for your specific language.
- Free tier limits. Free plans usually cap monthly minutes, file length, or feature access. Read the fine print before importing your archive.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | On-device | Languages | Free plan | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Recorder | Pixel owners, private notes | Yes | 15+ (Pixel) | Yes, unlimited | Free |
| Otter | Team meetings, integrations | No | English, French, Spanish | 300 min/mo | $16.99/mo Pro |
| Notta | Multilingual files | No | 58 | 120 min/mo | $8.17/mo annual |
| Transkriptor | Long recordings on a budget | No | 100+ | 90 min trial | $19.99/mo Premium |
| Microsoft Word (Transcribe) | Microsoft 365 subscribers | No | 9 (mobile) | Included | M365 sub |
| Samsung Voice Recorder | Galaxy owners, quick notes | Partial | English + Galaxy STT langs | Yes | Free |
| Speechnotes | Long offline dictation | Yes (Android STT) | Many via Android | Yes | Free with ads |
| Whisper (woheller69) | Open-source, private files | Yes | 90+ via Whisper | Yes | Free |
The apps
1. Google Recorder, best for Pixel owners and private notes
Google Recorder is the reason this article exists. It runs the transcription model entirely on the phone using Google’s on-device speech stack, so audio never leaves the device unless you explicitly share it. Recordings show a live transcript while you speak, automatic speaker labels appear after the fact, and search lets you jump to any spoken phrase across your full library. Recent Pixel builds also generate AI summaries in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Hindi, and Mandarin.
The accuracy is the surprise. In our testing on clean English, transcripts came out comparable to Otter on a Pixel 8 Pro, with the bonus that they were generated locally in real time. Long files do not need to be uploaded and processed in a queue, which matters when you want to search a two-hour meeting on the train home.
Where it falls short: Officially a Pixel app. It is installable from APK mirrors on non-Pixel phones, but several features lean on Pixel-only AI hardware, and Google has historically blocked sideloaded use over time. Also no team workspace, no real integrations beyond Google Docs.
Pricing: Free, no ads, no subscription. Bundled on Pixel phones.
Platforms: Android (Pixel). Wear OS companion for quick capture.
Bottom line: If you own a Pixel, this is the app to try first. The free, private, on-device pitch is real.
2. Otter, best for team meetings and integrations
Otter built its reputation on live meeting transcription, and the workflow still feels more polished than most competitors. The Otter Assistant joins Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams as a participant, takes the transcript, generates a summary, and pushes the result into Slack, Notion, or your calendar. Speaker labels learn voices over time, and the in-app chat lets you ask questions about any recorded meeting.
For interviews and personal recordings, accuracy on clean English audio sits in the high nineties, with reliable timestamps and exportable DOCX, PDF, TXT, and SRT. The Android app records locally and uploads in the background, so a dropped signal does not lose the file.
Where it falls short: Free tier limits Pro features and caps monthly minutes (300 minutes, plus a 30-minute cap per file). Languages outside English, French, and Spanish are still not supported. Pricing climbs fast for teams.
Pricing: Free with 300 min/mo. Pro $16.99/mo. Business $30/user/mo.
Platforms: Android, iOS, web, Chrome extension.
Bottom line: Still the best choice if your job is meetings and your team lives in Zoom or Teams. For solo voice notes, the value gap is closing fast.
3. Notta, best for multilingual files
Notta is the app to pick when your recordings are not in English. It supports transcription in 58 languages and translation into 42, with the same speaker labels, summaries, and timestamps you would expect. Accuracy on Japanese, Korean, and Mandarin in our testing held up better than Otter, which is consistent with the app’s origins in the East Asian market.
The Android app records locally, imports MP3, MP4, M4A, WAV, and CAF, and exports to TXT, DOCX, SRT, and PDF. The Pro plan unlocks 1800 minutes per month, a 90-minute single-file cap, and AI summaries with action items. Notta also offers a meeting bot for Zoom, Meet, and Teams on paid tiers.
Where it falls short: Free tier is restrictive: 120 minutes per month and a 3-minute cap per file makes it impractical for anything beyond a quick test. Some advanced features sit behind the Business plan.
Pricing: Free 120 min/mo. Pro $8.17/mo annual or $13.99/mo. Business from $16.67/user/mo annual.
Platforms: Android, iOS, web, Chrome extension.
Bottom line: The best multilingual transcription app on Android, and a credible Otter alternative if you can live with the file cap on the free tier.
4. Transkriptor, best for long recordings on a budget
Transkriptor focuses on file-based transcription rather than live meetings. Upload a recording, pick the language from a list of over 100, and the result lands in a web editor with speaker labels, timestamps, and an AI summary. The Android app also records directly, but its strength is handling long files, including hour-plus lectures and interviews, without the per-file limits that hobble the free tiers on Notta and Otter.
The web editor is genuinely good for cleanup work. You can search, replace, retime segments, merge speakers, and export to TXT, DOCX, PDF, or SRT. The mobile app is mostly a capture and viewing tool, with the heavy editing left to the browser.
Where it falls short: The free trial is one-shot, 90 minutes total. After that you are on a paid plan. The mobile UI is functional rather than polished, and some users report transcription queue waits on busy days.
Pricing: Free 90 min trial. Premium $19.99/mo with unlimited transcription. Cheaper annual plans available.
Platforms: Android, iOS, web.
Bottom line: A solid pick for journalists, students, and researchers who upload long recordings and want predictable monthly pricing.
5. Microsoft Word (Transcribe), best for Microsoft 365 subscribers
Microsoft Word ships transcription as a built-in feature for Microsoft 365 subscribers. On Android, the Word mobile app handles live dictation in nine languages, with a further thirty in preview as of early 2025. For file-based transcription, the full Transcribe tool sits in Word on the web, accepts WAV, MP4, M4A, and MP3 uploads, generates speaker-labelled transcripts, and drops them directly into a Word document.
If you are already paying for Microsoft 365 for Word, Excel, OneDrive, and Outlook, the transcription minutes are free with the subscription: 300 minutes per month on a standard plan, 30000 minutes per month with a Copilot license. Transcripts drop into the document with timestamps and citations, which is useful when you need to quote from the original recording.
Where it falls short: The full Transcribe feature is web-only, so on a phone you are loading the browser version of Word. Mobile-only users get dictation but not file upload transcription. Requires a paid Microsoft 365 subscription to access either feature.
Pricing: Microsoft 365 Personal $9.99/mo, Family $12.99/mo. Copilot license adds $30/user/mo for the higher minute pool.
Platforms: Android (mobile dictation), web (full Transcribe), Windows, macOS, iOS.
Bottom line: Quietly the best deal for anyone already paying for Microsoft 365, because the transcription minutes come free with the subscription.
6. Samsung Voice Recorder, best for Galaxy owners and quick notes
Samsung Voice Recorder is the closest answer Galaxy owners have to Google Recorder. It records in standard, interview, or speech-to-text mode. The speech-to-text mode generates a live transcript while you record, leaning on Samsung’s on-device speech engine plus any downloaded language packs. With One UI 6 and later, summaries and translation also appear on Galaxy AI devices.
For a built-in app, it does the basics well: long recordings, file management, sharing as M4A or text. Interview mode separates speakers on stereo recordings using the Galaxy’s beamforming microphones, which is genuinely useful for two-person sit-downs.
Where it falls short: Speech-to-text accuracy lags behind Google Recorder and Otter, especially in mode-switching and on accents. Galaxy AI features are tied to recent flagship phones. No team or cloud workspace beyond Samsung Notes integration.
Pricing: Free, preinstalled on Galaxy phones. No subscription.
Platforms: Android (Samsung Galaxy).
Bottom line: Already on your phone if you have a Galaxy. Good enough for voice notes, less good for serious interview work.
7. Speechnotes, best for long offline dictation
Speechnotes is the rare dictation app built for sustained sessions. It uses the Android speech recognition engine, which means it works offline on devices with downloaded language packs and stays accurate on common English. Where a normal keyboard mic stops after a short pause, Speechnotes keeps listening until you tap stop, which makes it useful for drafts, journal entries, and long voice memos.
The interface stays minimal on purpose: a big mic button, a text editor, voice commands for punctuation and line breaks, and Google Drive backup. Free with ads; a one-time premium unlock removes them and adds a few productivity features.
Where it falls short: This is dictation, not file transcription. You cannot upload a recording for it to process; you have to speak in real time. Accuracy depends on which Android STT engine you have installed and which language packs you have downloaded.
Pricing: Free with ads. Premium one-time purchase removes ads and adds shortcuts.
Platforms: Android, web.
Bottom line: The right pick when you want to talk a long note into your phone without battling timeouts.
Honourable mention: Whisper (woheller69), best for open-source on-device file transcription
Whisper by woheller69 is a free, open-source Android app that runs OpenAI’s Whisper model on-device using whisper.cpp. You pick a model size (tiny, base, small, medium), drop in or record an audio file, and the transcript appears with no network calls and no account. Supports more than 90 languages out of the box, including the harder ones where mainstream apps stumble.
Distribution is F-Droid, which means installation needs the F-Droid client or a sideloaded APK; it is not on Google Play. The tradeoff is genuine privacy: nothing leaves your phone, no telemetry, no subscription. A related project, Transcribro, takes a similar approach with a system-wide voice keyboard, though it is currently English-only and distributed via Accrescent rather than F-Droid.
Where it falls short: Larger models need more RAM and battery, and processing time scales with file length on lower-end phones. No live meeting transcription, summaries, or speaker labels. Setup involves downloading model files.
Pricing: Free, open source, no ads.
Platforms: Android via F-Droid.
Bottom line: The best open-source on-device choice for non-Pixel users who want full control and do not need a meeting bot.
How to pick the right one
If you own a Pixel, install Google Recorder first. It covers most of what people pay Otter for, with the bonus of running locally.
If your job is meetings and your team uses Zoom, Meet, or Teams, the Otter Assistant is still worth the subscription. The integrations, search across history, and shared workspace are the reason teams stay. The free 300 minutes per month is enough to confirm it fits.
If you work in a non-English language or translate between languages often, Notta is the right choice. Its model handles Japanese, Korean, and Mandarin better than the Western incumbents.
If you mostly upload long files (lectures, interviews, depositions), Transkriptor has the most generous unlimited tier once you are paying, and the web editor is built for cleanup.
If you already pay for Microsoft 365, you have transcription minutes you are not using. The web Transcribe feature in Word is the answer; the mobile app handles dictation.
If you own a Galaxy and want something built-in, Samsung Voice Recorder is adequate for voice notes. For interviews and meetings, install Otter or Notta alongside it.
If privacy is the priority and you are willing to sideload, the Whisper F-Droid app gives you the same model that powers many paid services, running offline on your phone.
Frequently asked questions
Is Google Recorder available on non-Pixel phones?
Officially no. It is bundled with Pixels and not listed on Google Play for other devices. APK mirrors carry the file, but several features rely on Pixel-specific AI hardware and may not work, and Google has periodically tightened restrictions on sideloaded installs.
Which app has the highest transcription accuracy?
On clean English audio, Otter, Notta, and Google Recorder all sit in the 95-99 percent range in our testing. The differences appear with accents, technical jargon, and overlapping speakers, where Otter’s larger model has a small edge. For non-English languages, Notta is usually the most accurate.
Can transcription apps work entirely offline?
Google Recorder, Samsung Voice Recorder (in STT mode), Speechnotes (with Android language packs), and the Whisper F-Droid app run on-device. Otter, Notta, Transkriptor, and Microsoft Word Transcribe all require an internet connection because the model runs in their cloud.
Are these apps safe to use for confidential recordings?
Cloud apps upload your audio. Read each app’s data handling policy before transcribing anything sensitive. On-device options (Google Recorder, Speechnotes, the Whisper F-Droid app) are the safer choice for medical, legal, or confidential business audio because the audio never leaves the phone.
Do any free plans let you transcribe long files?
Most free tiers cap either monthly minutes or per-file length. Google Recorder is the only mainstream option with no limits, because the work happens on your phone. Speechnotes is unlimited but requires you to dictate in real time rather than upload a file.
What audio formats can I import?
Otter, Notta, Transkriptor, and Microsoft Word Transcribe accept the common formats: MP3, MP4, M4A, and WAV. Some also accept AAC, CAF, and OGG. On-device apps generally only transcribe what they themselves record, though the Whisper F-Droid app accepts external files.
