Potok turns speech into text in 33 languages, including English and Russian.
You can transcribe a VK video to text without downloading the file, through the Potok Telegram bot @potok_now_bot: paste the link to the video, and the bot returns the text. For heavy videos the bot's mini app will do. 60 minutes of transcription a month are free; for dictating your own text by voice on a computer there is the separate Potok app.
A video from VK can be converted to text without downloading a file to the computer: a link to the video is enough. It works both for the Telegram bot and for the web version, and for a short summary in Russian the browser itself has a built-in feature.
Where to get the link to a VK video
- Open the video you need on vk.com or in the VK app and copy the link to it: the ordinary page address of the video will do, and you do not need to download the file separately.
- If the video is already saved as a file on your device, you do not need the link at all: the file is sent directly, like any other audio or video file.
- It is convenient to copy the link in advance and keep it at hand: after that it is pasted once into a message to the bot or into the field of the web version.
VK video transcription to text through the bot
- Open the bot @potok_now_bot in Telegram and start it with the /start command, if you have not opened it yet.
- Paste the link to the VK video right into the message to the bot: you do not need to download and upload the file separately.
- Wait for the reply: a short video comes as text in the chat, a long one as a file; the format for long replies (TXT or DOCX) is set in advance in the settings.
- The buttons under the text, “Summary”, “Tasks and deadlines”, “Ask”, “Other format”, are useful if you need not the whole text but a brief content or an answer about the video.
- A heavier video is more convenient to process in the bot's mini app: the same VK Video link, sign-in by email or through Telegram, a limit of 2 GB per file.
A summary of the video right in the browser
Yandex Browser has a built-in video summary feature: it is free, recognition runs in the Yandex cloud, and it works with Russian-language videos. If you need specifically a short summary of a VK video, not the full text, it is worth trying this feature right in the browser first. When you need the exact full text, with buttons for tasks, export to a file or a breakdown by phrases, a separate transcription service such as the Potok bot fits better. How a short summary differs from full transcription is covered in the article transcription and voice input: what is the difference.
| 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 |
| Happy Scribe | 10 minutes of AI transcription | $17/mo (Basic, monthly, 120 minutes); $29/mo (Pro, monthly, 600 minutes) |
| SaluteSpeech Bot (Sber) | free; voice messages, audio and video notes | — |
| Video summary in Yandex Browser | free | — |
| Notta | 120 minutes per month, up to 3 minutes per recording | $13.99/mo (Pro, monthly, 1800 minutes); $27.99/mo (Business, monthly) |
| Speech2Text.ru | 3 hours on sign-up | — |
| Tactiq | 10 meeting transcriptions per month | $12/mo (Pro, 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 not to give the bot a VK video
A video not in Russian, or a video that needs to be translated into another language, is not for this: the bot recognizes 100+ languages (the language is detected automatically) and does not translate. The bot accepts links to Instagram (Reels and posts with video) and TikTok, as well as YouTube, VK Video and RuTube. It labels the voices in a video only with the numbers “Speaker 1”, “Speaker 2” and does not name the participants. Without the internet the transcription will not start: the Potok bot is cloud-based, and recognition runs on servers in Russia. You can compare ready transcription services with each other in a separate analysis, the comparison of transcription services.
Frequently asked questions
For long videos it is more convenient to go straight to the bot's mini app: it accepts both a link to the video and a file up to 2 GB, and the result goes to “My recordings” the same way as from the bot.
VK video transcription 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 VK video transcription to text you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
VK video transcription 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 VK video transcription to text you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
VK video transcription 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 VK video transcription to text you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
VK video transcription to 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 VK video transcription to text you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Recording to text
Send a recording to Potok's Telegram bot or upload a file of up to 2 GB in the bot's mini app. The first 60 minutes of every month are 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.