Interview transcription
From recorded conversation to quotable, time-stamped text — with privacy your sources can trust.
By Anubhav Jain, Trustample founder · Updated July 2026 · Claims verified against the live product
Free: 60 min per 30 days, files up to 30 min / 50 MB · Paid plans: 10 to 100 hrs, files up to 2 GB. Big video? Upload just its audio track — same transcript, much faster upload.
Encrypted in transit · audio & video auto-delete in 30 days · never used to train AI
Optional settings
Set this for the most accurate result on quiet or mixed audio.
Get a second copy translated into another language (Pro).
Uncommon words the AI might misspell — list them so they come out right.
Whether it's journalism, user research or academic fieldwork, the analysis can't start until the interview is text. Trustample turns an hour-long recording into a time-coded transcript in minutes, with every word clickable for quick correction.
Privacy is built in, not bolted on: audio and video auto-delete after 30 days (transcripts are kept), any file can be deleted instantly, and paranoid mode destroys the recording the moment transcription finishes — useful when recordings are sensitive.
The craft difference between transcribing an interview and transcribing anything else is verification. A quote that goes into print or a findings report has to survive scrutiny, so the editor keeps every sentence tied to its audio: click the line, hear the moment, confirm the words. Names and technical terms — the things engines mishear most — go into the custom vocabulary box before upload, which measurably improves their recognition; whatever still slips through is a one-click fix that propagates to every export.
How it works
- 1Upload the interview recording (phone, recorder or video call export).
- 2Get a transcript with timestamps — click any sentence to replay that moment.
- 3Verify quotes against the audio, correct inline, export DOCX or PDF.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Can it tell the interviewer and interviewee apart?
Yes — automatic speaker labels come on every paid plan. Two-person interviews label very reliably: segments arrive as Speaker 1 and Speaker 2, and renaming them to "Interviewer" and "Participant" updates the whole transcript.
How do I verify a quote is accurate?
Click the sentence in the transcript — the built-in player jumps to that exact moment so you can hear it. That's the fastest quote-checking workflow there is.
Is it safe for confidential interviews?
Files are stored encrypted and never used to train AI models. Audio and video auto-delete after 30 days; paranoid mode deletes the file immediately after transcription; and you can hard-delete everything, including your account, at any time.
What about interviews in Spanish or mixed languages?
Pick the spoken language before uploading for best accuracy — Spanish, English and 14 more are supported. Auto-detect works too, but explicit selection is more reliable for casual conversational audio.
How long does an hour-long interview take to transcribe?
Typically 2–5 minutes, running in the background — upload a day's fieldwork and let the dashboard collect the results. Compare that with the 4–6 hours per interview hour that typing it yourself takes.
Can I transcribe a phone or in-person interview recorded on my phone?
Yes — voice-memo files (M4A on iPhone, various on Android) upload as-is. For in-person interviews, a phone on the table between you records well; for phone calls, check your local consent rules before recording.
An honest note: Interviews recorded in cafés or over bad phone lines are the classic hard case: background chatter competes with the voices, and accuracy drops. When the setting is noisy, placing the phone closer to the quieter speaker makes more difference than anything a transcription engine can do afterwards.
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