Potok turns speech into text in 33 languages, including English and Russian.
The Potok Telegram bot @potok_now_bot converts audio to text: forward a file or a voice message in private messages, and a short recording comes back as text, a long one as a file. The bot also has a mini app for files up to 2 GB. Recognition is free for 60 minutes per month; for fast dictation of your own text the Potok app fits.
Do you have an audio recording, such as an interview, a lecture or a voice recorder note, and no time to transcribe it by hand? The Potok Telegram bot @potok_now_bot transcribes a file you send into text without installing programs. The bot is cloud-based: recognition runs on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet.
How to convert audio to text with a bot in Telegram
Transcription takes a few steps, without entering card details and without installing apps. No registration is needed: the bot works right after the /start command.
- Open the bot @potok_now_bot in Telegram and press Start, which is the /start command.
- Send an audio file: in private messages you can send it as a document, forward a voice message or a video note from another chat, or paste a link to YouTube, VK Video or RuTube. In a group where the bot is added as an administrator, it accepts voice messages, video notes and audio up to 10 minutes long.
- Wait for the reply. A short recording comes back as text right in the chat, a longer one as a separate file; the file format (TXT or DOCX) is chosen in the bot settings, /settings.
- Under the finished text the buttons Summary, Tasks and deadlines, Ask and Other format appear: you can get a short retelling, a list of tasks by speaker or an answer to your own question about the content of the recording.
- The bot adds timestamps
[mm:ss]and speaker labels (Speaker 1, Speaker 2) if you turn them on beforehand in /settings; by default it sends plain text without them.
What you get in reply
The text the bot returns is already proofread: punctuation and capital letters are placed, obvious recognition errors are fixed, but the bot does not shorten or retell the text by default; that is a separate Summary button. What you can get next:
- the finished transcript, as text in the chat or a TXT/DOCX file, depending on the length of the recording;
- an export in other formats: Markdown, PDF, and also SRT and VTT subtitles if you need the recording for a video;
- a short summary with the Summary button and a list of tasks with the Tasks and deadlines button: who does what and by when;
- an answer to your own question about the content of the recording with the Ask button, without reading the whole text again;
- the saved recording in the My recordings section, which you can open again at any time.
The same is available in a browser, in the bot's mini app: sign in by email or through Telegram, drag a file of up to 2 GB into the window or paste a link to YouTube, VK Video or RuTube. Recordings and access are shared between the bot and the web version. If you need a broader overview of transcription services for comparison, there is a separate article, a comparison of audio-to-text transcription services.
| Service | Free | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Potok bot and web version | 60 minutes per month | 7 days: 249 ₽, 30 days: 449 ₽, one year: 2 890 ₽; included in the Potok app subscription |
| Voix (@RecogMyAudioBot) | voice messages up to 15 minutes, video up to 6 minutes | — |
| TurboScribe | 3 files a day, each up to 30 minutes | $20/mo (Unlimited, monthly) |
| KolerskyAI Whisper Bot | the first 5 minutes | 69 ₽/15 minutes; 149 ₽/50 minutes; 490 ₽/200 minutes |
| Kontur.Tolk | not disclosed | — |
| Notta | 120 minutes per month, up to 3 minutes per recording | $13.99/mo (Pro, monthly, 1800 minutes); $27.99/mo (Business, monthly) |
| Audio2Text | 15 minutes per month | 295 ₽/mo (Basic, 500 minutes); 495 ₽/mo (Standard, 1000 minutes); 1245 ₽/mo (Expert, 5000 minutes) |
When the bot will not fit
The bot will not fit if the recording is not in Russian: it recognizes 100+ languages (the language is detected automatically), and there is no translation into another language. You will not learn the speakers' names: the bot labels lines only as Speaker 1, Speaker 2, without names. Transcription happens after the file or link is sent, not during the call itself: the bot is not built for a live broadcast during a conversation. The bot accepts links to Instagram (Reels and posts with video) and TikTok, as well as YouTube, VK Video and RuTube. And the bot cannot work without an internet connection: there is no offline transcription. Separately, why transcribing a conversation of several people is harder than dictating one voice is covered in the article why meeting transcription is harder than ordinary dictation (in Russian).
Frequently asked questions
Yes, the Potok Telegram bot @potok_now_bot transcribes audio for free for 60 minutes per month, and the limit renews on the 1st; after that transcription of new recordings is unavailable until the limit renews. For large files it is easier to use the bot's mini app, where you can also drag in a file of up to 2 GB.
Yes, in private messages you can paste a direct link to YouTube, VK Video or RuTube to the bot, or forward the file itself. You do not need to upload the audio anywhere separately: the bot downloads the recording by the link and returns the text.
How to convert audio to text with a bot in Telegram. 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 How to convert audio to text with a bot in Telegram you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Try it on your own recording
Potok's Telegram bot transcribes a voice message, video note, audio or video, and its buttons make a summary and a task list. 60 minutes per month for free.
Open @potok_now_bot in TelegramPrimary 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.