Potok turns speech into text in 33 languages, including English and Russian.
Zoom has built-in transcription, but it appears only for a paid cloud recording: Pro, Business, Education or Enterprise. For an ordinary, free recording on a computer, the text comes from the Potok Telegram bot @potok_now_bot: send a file and it returns text split by speaker. For heavy files the bot's mini app fits; 60 minutes of transcription per month are free.
Zoom can both record a meeting and make a transcript from it itself, but only on a paid plan and from a cloud recording. If the plan is free or the recording is simply on the computer, the text is obtained from it in another way.
Where to get the Zoom recording file
- Recording to the computer works on any account, including a free one: it can be started by the host, a participant to whom the host has given permission, or a co-host.
- Such a recording goes into the Zoom folder inside Documents (on Windows it is Documents\Zoom, on a Mac Documents/Zoom) and consists of two files: an MP4 video and a separate M4A audio track.
- Recording to the cloud can be turned on only by the host and co-hosts, and it is available only on the paid plans Pro, Business, Education and Enterprise.
- A finished cloud recording is stored in the Zoom web portal, on the Recordings and transcripts page.
- Any of these files, the local MP4 or a recording downloaded from the cloud, can be sent to where video or audio is turned into text.
Transcribing a Zoom meeting into text through the bot
- Send the recording file or a separate audio track to the Telegram bot @potok_now_bot: find it and press “Start” if you have not opened it yet.
- Send the file as a document. For a meeting with several participants, turn on speaker labels in the bot settings (/settings) in advance, and the lines will be split by voice.
- A short recording will come back as text right in the chat, a long one as a TXT or DOCX file; the format of the reply is chosen in the same place, in the settings.
- The “Summary” button under the reply will collect the gist of the meeting, and “Tasks and deadlines” shows who took on what.
- For a heavy file it is simpler to use the web version, the bot's mini app: sign in by email or through Telegram, files of up to 2 GB. And for dictating your own text, rather than transcribing someone else's recording, there is the Potok app, including right in Telegram.
Zoom's own transcription
Zoom has built-in transcription, but you can get it only from a cloud recording on a paid account: Pro, Business, Education or Enterprise. It is turned on in the cloud recording settings with the “Create audio transcript” checkbox, after which the text appears next to the recording itself in the web portal. An ordinary local recording on the computer, available on the free plan too, does not get such a transcript. The built-in tool has nothing to offer here, and it is simpler to send the file to the Potok bot or to its web version.
| 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 |
| SaluteSpeech Bot (Sber) | Telegram | free; voice messages, audio and video notes | — | not disclosed | SaluteSpeech cloud (Sber) |
| Fireflies.ai | Web, iOS, Android, Chrome extension | limited storage and AI credits | — | not disclosed | not disclosed |
| Transkriptor | Web | 10 minutes on sign-up, limited to 2 min/day (according to the localized Russian site transkriptor.ru); the international site transkriptor.com states a free trial (up to 90 minutes according to secondary sources; the official pricing page could not be opened directly because it timed out) | 490 ₽/one-time (Start, 150 minutes (transkriptor.ru)); 790 ₽/one-time (Pro, 700 minutes (transkriptor.ru)); 1900 ₽/one-time (Premium, 2100 minutes (transkriptor.ru)) | yes, on the localized site transkriptor.ru: Visa/Mastercard/Mir bank cards with no fee, SBP via QR code with no fee, YooMoney with a 3% fee; payments are one-off (no subscription) and processed by the KASSA service. The international site transkriptor.com presumably bills in dollars; this is not confirmed directly (the pricing page timed out) | not disclosed |
| Kontur.Tolk | Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android | not disclosed | — | rubles | servers in Russia |
| 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 |
| TurboScribe | Web | 3 files a day, each up to 30 minutes | $20/mo (Unlimited, monthly) | not disclosed | not disclosed |
| Video summary in Yandex Browser | Yandex Browser | free | — | not disclosed | Yandex cloud |
| Speech2Text.ru | Web | 3 hours on sign-up | — | 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 |
| Voix (@RecogMyAudioBot) | Telegram | voice messages up to 15 minutes, video up to 6 minutes | — | not disclosed | not disclosed |
| 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 |
| SaluteSpeech Bot (Sber) | free; voice messages, audio and video notes | — |
| Fireflies.ai | limited storage and AI credits | — |
| Transkriptor | 10 minutes on sign-up, limited to 2 min/day (according to the localized Russian site transkriptor.ru); the international site transkriptor.com states a free trial (up to 90 minutes according to secondary sources; the official pricing page could not be opened directly because it timed out) | 490 ₽/one-time (Start, 150 minutes (transkriptor.ru)); 790 ₽/one-time (Pro, 700 minutes (transkriptor.ru)); 1900 ₽/one-time (Premium, 2100 minutes (transkriptor.ru)) |
| Kontur.Tolk | not disclosed | — |
| Audio2Text | 15 minutes per month | 295 ₽/mo (Basic, 500 minutes); 495 ₽/mo (Standard, 1000 minutes); 1245 ₽/mo (Expert, 5000 minutes) |
| TurboScribe | 3 files a day, each up to 30 minutes | $20/mo (Unlimited, monthly) |
| Task | Characters | Typing (200 chars/min) | Voice (900 chars/min) |
|---|---|---|---|
| chat reply | 300 | 2 min | 0.5 min |
| 1500 | 8 min | 1.7 min | |
| post or meeting minutes | 4000 | 20 min | 4.4 min |
| article | 10000 | 50 min | 11.1 min |
When it is better not to trust the bot with a meeting recording
A recording in another language works too, the bot understands 100+ languages (the language is detected automatically), but it does not translate. There will be no text during the call itself either: the bot accepts only an already finished, complete recording. Participants in the reply will be labeled not by names but by the numbers “Speaker 1”, “Speaker 2”. The bot accepts links to Instagram (Reels and posts with video) and TikTok, as well as YouTube, VK Video and RuTube. The Potok bot is cloud-based: recognition runs on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet. Other options for transcribing recordings are collected in the comparison of transcription services.
Frequently asked questions
Yes: by default the host, a participant who has been given permission, or a co-host can start recording to the computer, and this works on any account, including a free one.
Transcribing a Zoom meeting into 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 a Zoom meeting into text you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Transcribing a Zoom meeting into 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 a Zoom meeting into text you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Transcribing a Zoom meeting into 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 a Zoom meeting into text you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Transcribing a Zoom meeting into text. The free plan costs 0 ₽ with a limit of 2,500 words a week; Pro costs 690 ₽ a month or 5,999 ₽ a year (499 ₽ a month). Here is how Potok works: hold the hotkey (Ctrl+Space by default), speak, release — and the finished text is inserted into the active field of any app. 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 a Zoom meeting into 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 TelegramPrimary sources: yandex.ru · vc.ru · speech2text.ru · audio-2-text.ru
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.