Whisper Transcription Without the Setup

NovaScribe is a web-based transcription app that uses OpenAI Whisper to convert audio and video to text for podcasters, researchers, journalists, and teams. Plans start at $2/month (200 minutes) with a free 30-minute trial. No coding or API setup required.

No credit card requiredNo coding required99 languages supported

Supported formats:

MP3WAVM4AFLACOGGMP4

Upload a file → Get transcript with speaker labels → Export as TXT, DOCX, SRT, VTT, or JSON.

Free: 30 minStarter: $2/mo (200 min)Basic: $5/mo (1000 min)Pro: $10/mo (2500 min)Studio: $20/mo (6000 min)

Limits & Specifications

Max file size2 GB
Max duration10 hours per file
Turnaround time~1 minute per 10 minutes of audio
Speaker detectionUp to 10 distinct speakers
Languages99 (auto-detected or manual selection)
Input formatsMP3, WAV, M4A, FLAC, OGG, MP4, MOV, WEBM
Export formatsTXT, DOCX, SRT, VTT, JSON

What is Whisper?

Whisper is OpenAI's open-source speech recognition model, released in 2022. It's trained on 680,000 hours of multilingual audio data and delivers impressive accuracy across 99 languages.

The model is available for anyone to use, but running it yourself requires technical setup: Python programming, GPU hardware, and ongoing maintenance. For most users, this creates a significant barrier to access.

NovaScribe removes that barrier. We run Whisper on our infrastructure, add speaker detection (which Whisper doesn't include by default), and provide a simple upload-and-download interface.

Learn more about general audio transcription or explore our features.

Sources: OpenAI Whisper GitHub · OpenAI Whisper Research

Whisper API vs NovaScribe

Using Whisper Directly

  • Requires Python programming knowledge
  • Need to set up API keys and billing
  • No speaker detection built-in
  • No user interface—command line only
  • Must handle file size limits yourself
  • Raw output needs formatting

Using NovaScribe

  • Upload files in your browser
  • No API keys or setup needed
  • Speaker detection included
  • Built-in editor and transcript viewer
  • Large files handled automatically
  • Export as TXT, DOCX, SRT, VTT, JSON

Cost Comparison: NovaScribe vs Whisper API

NovaScribe
Whisper API (DIY)
Per-minute cost~$0.005$0.006 + setup
Setup requiredNot IncludedExtra Work
Speaker detectionIncludedNot Included
User interfaceIncludedExtra Work

* NovaScribe cost based on Basic plan ($5/1000 min = $0.005/min). OpenAI API pricing as of January 2026; excludes development time and infrastructure costs. Source

How Speaker Detection Works

NovaScribe adds speaker diarization on top of Whisper transcription, identifying and labeling different voices as Speaker 1, Speaker 2, etc. You can rename speakers in the editor before exporting.

Specifications

  • Supports up to 10 distinct speakers per file
  • Works best with clear turn-taking (minimal crosstalk)
  • Speaker labels included in SRT, VTT, and JSON exports

Best Practices

  • Use quality microphones for clearest results
  • Minimize background noise and overlapping speech
  • For interviews: lapel mics produce best speaker separation

Known Limitations

Speaker detection may merge voices when speakers have similar vocal characteristics or when there's significant crosstalk. You can manually adjust labels in the editor.

View sample transcript output
[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Welcome to the podcast. Today we're discussing...
[00:00:05] Speaker 2: Thanks for having me. I'm excited to share...
[00:00:12] Speaker 1: Let's start with the basics. Can you explain...
[00:00:18] Speaker 2: Absolutely. The key concept here is...

Privacy & Data Handling

  • Encryption: Files encrypted in transit (TLS 1.3) and at rest (AES-256)
  • Retention: Files auto-delete after 30 days; manual deletion available anytime
  • Training: We do not use your audio to train models
  • Processing region: EU (Frankfurt)

See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service for details.

Whisper Transcription App

NovaScribe is essentially a Whisper app with a user-friendly interface. You get the power of Whisper's speech recognition without needing technical skills. Upload your audio, get your transcript, export in your preferred format.

How Whisper Transcription Works

Upload Your Audio

Drag and drop any audio or video file. We handle the conversion and preprocessing automatically.

Whisper + Speaker Detection

Your file is processed using Whisper for transcription, plus our speaker detection layer to identify different voices.

Review & Export

Edit your transcript in our built-in editor. Export as plain text, Word document, or subtitle files.

NovaScribe Whisper Features

Whisper's accuracy with additional features for real-world use

Whisper-Level Accuracy

Whisper achieves word error rates (WER) of approximately 3-5% on clear English audio, based on OpenAI's published benchmarks.

No Coding Required

Skip the Python scripts and API documentation. Just upload your file and get your transcript.

99 Languages

Whisper supports 99 languages including English, Spanish, German, French, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, and Hindi.

Speaker Detection Added

Speaker detection identifies up to 10 distinct speakers and labels them automatically; you can rename speakers before exporting.

Cloud Processing

No need to buy a GPU or run overnight processing jobs. Our servers handle the heavy lifting.

Secure Processing

Files are encrypted in transit and at rest. NovaScribe does not use customer audio to train machine learning models.

Whisper Transcription FAQ

NovaScribe使用真正的Whisper吗?

NovaScribe使用先进的语音识别技术,提供出色的准确率。我们不断改进模型,提供最佳转录效果。

需要安装什么吗?

不需要。NovaScribe完全基于网络。无需Python安装、命令行、GPU设置。只需在浏览器中上传文件。

与本地Whisper有什么不同?

运行本地Whisper需要技术知识和强大硬件。NovaScribe处理所有复杂性,并添加说话人识别和编辑工具等额外功能。

支持多少种语言?

NovaScribe支持99种语言的转录。系统可以自动检测语言,或您可以在上传前手动选择。

转录有多准确?

清晰音频可达95%以上准确率。准确率取决于音频质量、背景噪音和说话清晰度。您可以随时在内置编辑器中审核和修正。

我的文件是否安全?

是的。文件在传输和存储过程中加密。我们不会将音频用于AI模型训练。您可以随时删除文件。

Note: NovaScribe is not affiliated with OpenAI. We use Whisper-based technology for transcription. Results may vary based on audio quality and content type.

NovaScribe makes Whisper transcription accessible to everyone. Explore our related tools for specific use cases.