TurboScribe vs Whisper
A hosted service or an open-source transcription model
At a glance
TurboScribe is a hosted transcription service. OpenAI Whisper is an open-source speech recognition model that runs through local tools or custom infrastructure.
Prices, limits and features
Guide updated 2026-10-01. TurboScribe: prices and features as of September 2026; Whisper: prices and features as of October 2026.
| Feature | TurboScribe | Whisper |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | TurboScribeYes 3 transcripts a day, each file up to 30 minutes, 1 file at a time, lower processing priority. | WhisperYes MIT-licensed software; compute, hosting and engineering remain the user’s responsibility. |
| Paid plan pricing | TurboScribeUnlimited: US$20/mo, or US$10/mo billed yearly US$120/year or US$20 billed monthly. Any local-currency conversion is approximate; the plan is priced in USD. One paid plan. "Unlimited" is backed by a stated fair-use figure: the FAQ says there are no overall caps and its systems are designed for at least 720 hours a month. | Whisper— |
| Languages | TurboScribe98+ languages transcription | Whisper— |
| AI clips from long video | TurboScribe— | Whisper— |
| Transcription | TurboScribeYes Whisper-based, with three speed/accuracy modes. Exports DOCX, PDF, TXT, CSV, SRT and VTT. | WhisperYes |
| Subtitles / captions burned in | TurboScribe— | Whisper— |
| Translation | TurboScribeYes Transcripts and subtitles to 134+ languages, or transcribe any language straight to English. | WhisperPartly Multilingual models translate speech into English; this is not arbitrary target-language translation. |
| Speaker labels | TurboScribeYes "Speaker Recognition" option at upload; the speaker count can be set or auto-detected. | Whisper— |
| YouTube timestamps / chapters | TurboScribe— | Whisper— |
| Audiograms | TurboScribe— | Whisper— |
| Public API | TurboScribeNo "TurboScribe does not offer an API or automated access to our service." | WhisperPartly Hosted whisper-1 is a separate paid API; the open-source package is not a managed API. |
| Mobile app | TurboScribe— | Whisper— |
| Team workspaces | TurboScribePartly TurboScribe for Teams is per-seat licences with consolidated billing, not a shared workspace. | Whisper— |
TurboScribe plan allowances
- Transcripts per day: 3 (Free)
- Max file length: 30 minutes (Free)
- Files per upload: 1 (Free)
- Max file length / size: 10 hours / 5 GB (Unlimited)
- Files per upload: 50 (Unlimited)
- Monthly usage: No overall cap; "designed to enable you to transcribe at least 720 hours" a month (Unlimited)
Whisper plan allowances
- Hosted API max file size: 25 MB (Hosted API)
Where TurboScribe wins
- Unlimited transcription for US$10/month billed yearly (US$20 monthly), with files up to 10 hours / 5 GB and 50 uploads at a time.
- A free tier that needs no card: 3 files a day, up to 30 minutes each.
- Translation into 134+ languages is included in its one paid plan.
Where Whisper wins
- Self-hosting provides control over infrastructure and integration.
- An open-source model can be embedded in a custom transcription pipeline.
Try it on your own material
Use the same audio in TurboScribe and a local Whisper workflow. Account for model downloads, hardware, processing time, storage and transcript cleanup; a free software licence does not make the operating work free.
Create more from every recording
Exemplary AI turns a recording into a transcript in 99 languages, short clips, subtitles, audiograms and written content, all in one workspace. The Free plan includes 200 one-time credits; paid plans offer additional credits and features.