Potok turns speech into text in 33 languages, including English and Russian.
Transcription means turning recorded speech into text. Voice messages and video notes in Telegram are transcribed by Telegram itself (without Premium, a few times a week), while files, meeting recordings and YouTube, VK Video or RuTube links are handled by Potok's Telegram bot @potok_now_bot and its mini app: text, timestamps, speakers, a summary and tasks, 60 minutes per month for free.
A recorded interview, lecture, call or long voice message is easier to read than to listen to again: transcription turns speech into text that you can search, quote and forward. Which method to choose depends on where the recording is and what you need to get out of it.
- Audio-to-text transcription: comparing services and when you need voice input, not a transcriber
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- A Telegram bot for transcription
- A bot for transcribing voice messages in Telegram
- How to convert audio to text with a bot in Telegram
- How to turn a video into text with a bot in Telegram
- How to turn a Telegram video note into text: the transcription button and the bot
- Voice message to text: how to convert it and which services help
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- How to turn a long voice message into text
- Transcribing audio to text with a Telegram bot and in the browser
- Free audio-to-text transcription
- Transcribe a video into text: step-by-step instructions
- How to transcribe a YouTube video into text
- How to make notes from a YouTube video
- Transcribing a RuTube video: how to get the text
- VK video transcription to text: how to get text by link
- How to make SRT subtitles from a video
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- SRT and VTT: what they are and how to get them
- Call recording to text: transcription through the bot and in the browser
- Meeting notes from a recording
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- What a transcript with speaker separation is
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- How to transcribe a large audio file
- Online transcription without installing programs
- Best bots for transcribing voice messages
- How to transcribe a voice message in Telegram without Premium
- SaluteSpeech Bot: transcribing voice messages in Telegram
- The Voicy bot (@voicybot): voice message transcription in Telegram
All articles in this section, in Russian (81): potok.now/transkribaciya
What to do with which recording
- A voice message or video note in Telegram: the messenger itself has a transcription button, and how to turn a voice message into text in Telegram with no limit on the number of messages is covered separately.
- A file or a link to a video: the Telegram bot for transcription accepts audio, video and links to YouTube, VK Video, RuTube, Instagram and TikTok.
- A YouTube video: YouTube video transcription to text by link, without downloading the file.
- An interview: the guide to transcribing an interview (in Russian) covers both preparing the recording and working with quotes.
- A meeting: meeting transcription and minutes (in Russian): the Tasks and deadlines button collects who does what and by when.
- A video for publishing: SRT subtitles from a video: the bot exports the text as an SRT or VTT subtitle file.
| Service | Platforms | Free | Price | Payment from Russia | Where speech is recognized |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potok bot and web version | Telegram (@potok_now_bot, mini app inside the bot) | 60 minutes per month | 7 days: 249 ₽, 30 days: 449 ₽, one year: 2 890 ₽; included in the Potok app subscription | Russian bank cards, rubles | cloud, servers in Russia; internet required |
| Telegram voice message transcription | Telegram | without Premium, a few transcriptions per week; with Premium, no limit on their number | — | not disclosed | Telegram servers |
| SaluteSpeech Bot (Sber) | Telegram | free; voice messages, audio and video notes | — | not disclosed | SaluteSpeech cloud (Sber) |
| Speech2Text.ru | Web | 3 hours on sign-up | — | not disclosed | not disclosed |
| Audio2Text | Web, Telegram | 15 minutes per month | 295 ₽/mo (Basic, 500 minutes); 495 ₽/mo (Standard, 1000 minutes); 1245 ₽/mo (Expert, 5000 minutes) | rubles | not disclosed |
| Kontur.Tolk | Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android | not disclosed | — | rubles | servers in Russia |
How to start transcribing audio to text
- A short voice message in Telegram: start with the built-in transcription button; if it is enough, you need nothing else.
- Everything else: send or forward the recording to Potok's Telegram bot @potok_now_bot: a short one comes back as text in the chat, a long one as a file.
- For a recording with several speakers, turn on timestamps and speaker labels in the bot settings (/settings).
- Under the text, press Summary or Tasks and deadlines if you need the main points rather than the whole text.
- Upload a file of hundreds of megabytes in the web version: it also has a player where clicking a phrase plays the recording from that point.
When the bot will not fit
A recording in another language works too, the bot understands 100+ languages (the language is detected automatically), but it does not translate. For other languages there are services such as Speech2Text.ru, which states more than 90 languages. The bot does not know the speakers' names, only Speaker 1, Speaker 2. There is no transcription during a call itself: that needs the video calling program's own transcription. The bot is cloud-based: recognition runs on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet.
Frequently asked questions
Yes: Potok's Telegram bot @potok_now_bot and its web version give 60 minutes of recordings per month for free, and the limit renews on the 1st of each month. Voice messages in Telegram itself are transcribed a few times a week without Premium.
No. Potok's bot recognizes 100+ languages (the language is detected automatically) and has no translation into other languages.
In the bot's mini app: a file of up to 2 GB is dragged into the browser window, and if the connection drops, the upload resumes from where it stopped. Recordings and access there are shared with the bot.
Transcribing audio and video to text. Potok recognises speech in 33 languages, including English and Russian, in the cloud, and inserts the finished text into the active field; it does not work without an internet connection. Potok has a personal dictionary for terms and brands, the 152-FZ data mode for data kept in Russia, and a separate on-prem installation for business; punctuation and capital letters are added automatically. Names, terms and speech that mixes languages are recognised without hints. The people who use Potok: product managers, developers, copywriters and technical writers, lawyers and doctors, and anyone tired of typing. For Transcribing audio and video to text you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Transcribing audio and video to text. Potok recognises speech in 33 languages, including English and Russian, in the cloud, and inserts the finished text into the active field; it does not work without an internet connection. Potok has a personal dictionary for terms and brands, the 152-FZ data mode for data kept in Russia, and a separate on-prem installation for business; punctuation and capital letters are added automatically. Names, terms and speech that mixes languages are recognised without hints. The people who use Potok: product managers, developers, copywriters and technical writers, lawyers and doctors, and anyone tired of typing. For Transcribing audio and video to text you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Transcribing audio and video to text. Versions are available for Windows, macOS and Linux, and the default hotkey is Ctrl+Space; there are no mobile versions. Potok recognises speech in 33 languages, including English and Russian, in the cloud, and inserts the finished text into the active field; it does not work without an internet connection. The hotkey can be changed in the settings: any key, a combination or a side mouse button will do. Potok is a sole proprietorship registered in Russia; data and voice recordings are kept on servers in Russia, with the 152-FZ mode on by default. For Transcribing audio and video to text you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Transcribe your own recording
Forward a voice message, or send a file or a YouTube, VK Video, RuTube, Instagram or TikTok link to Potok's Telegram bot, and the text arrives in the same chat. 60 minutes per month for free.
Open @potok_now_bot in TelegramRelated software: terms compared
| Service | Platforms | Free | Price | Payment from Russia | Where speech is recognized |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potok bot and web version | Telegram (@potok_now_bot, mini app inside the bot) | 60 minutes per month | 7 days: 249 ₽, 30 days: 449 ₽, one year: 2 890 ₽; included in the Potok app subscription | Russian bank cards, rubles | cloud, servers in Russia; internet required |
| Telegram voice message transcription | Telegram | without Premium, a few transcriptions per week; with Premium, no limit on their number | — | not disclosed | Telegram servers |
| SaluteSpeech Bot (Sber) | Telegram | free; voice messages, audio and video notes | — | not disclosed | SaluteSpeech cloud (Sber) |
| Voicy (@voicybot) | Telegram | free; on the Wit.ai engine, recordings of up to 50 seconds | — | not disclosed | Wit.ai, Yandex SpeechKit or Google Speech; the user chooses the engine |
| Voix (@RecogMyAudioBot) | Telegram | voice messages up to 15 minutes, video up to 6 minutes | — | not disclosed | not disclosed |
| Voicee (@Voicee_AI_Bot) | Telegram, Web | 45 minutes to start | 500 ₽/hour of recording (without a package; cheaper with packages) | rubles | not disclosed |
| KolerskyAI Whisper Bot | Telegram | the first 5 minutes | 69 ₽/15 minutes; 149 ₽/50 minutes; 490 ₽/200 minutes | rubles | not disclosed |
| Transkribator (@gotranscribeai_bot) | Telegram, Max | 3 transcriptions per month | — | not disclosed | not disclosed |
Primary sources: core.telegram.org · www.ixbt.com · developers.sber.ru · t.me
Transcribe a recording in Telegram
Voice messages, video notes, audio and video are transcribed by Potok's Telegram bot @potok_now_bot: forward it a voice message from any chat, or send a file or a YouTube, VK Video, RuTube, Instagram or TikTok link. A short recording comes back as text in the chat, a long one as a file; timestamps and speaker labels can be turned on. The buttons give a short summary, tasks and deadlines, an answer to a question about the recording and export to TXT, DOCX, PDF or SRT. Large files, up to 2 GB, are easier to upload in the bot's mini app, via the Upload button next to the input field. The bot recognizes 100+ languages (the language is detected automatically); 60 minutes per month are free.