Otter.ai costs $16.99/month. Fireflies.ai charges $19/month. Rev wants $29.99/month. Trint runs $52/month.
That's $200 to $600+ per year — just to turn speech into text.
If you're searching for a transcription app with no subscription, you're not alone. Subscription fatigue is real, and the transcription market is one of the worst offenders. Most apps charge monthly fees for something that AI can now do locally on your phone.
The good news: there are genuine one-time purchase transcription apps that you buy once and use forever. No monthly fees. No annual renewals. No "your trial has expired" pop-ups.
Here's every legitimate option in 2026, with honest pros and cons.
Why Are Most Transcription Apps Subscription-Based?
Cloud transcription services have ongoing server costs. Every time you transcribe a recording, audio is uploaded to remote servers, processed by AI, and sent back. The company pays for that compute time, and they pass the cost to you — monthly.
Offline transcription apps work differently. They run the AI model directly on your device. There are no servers. No ongoing costs for the developer. That's why they can charge a one-time fee and still be sustainable.
The trade-off: offline apps require a reasonably modern device (the AI model needs processing power). But if your phone is from 2020 or newer, you're almost certainly fine.
The True Cost of Transcription Subscriptions
Let's do the math on what you'd spend over 2 years with popular subscription transcription apps:
| Service | Monthly Price | 2-Year Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Otter.ai Pro | $16.99/mo | $407 |
| Fireflies.ai Pro | $19/mo | $456 |
| Rev AI | $29.99/mo | $720 |
| Trint | $52/mo | $1,248 |
| Viska | $6.99 once | $6.99 |
| WhisperNotes | $4.99 once | $4.99 |
The difference is staggering. A transcription app you buy once pays for itself in the first day compared to any monthly subscription.
Best One-Time Purchase Transcription Apps
1. Viska — Best Overall (iPhone & Android)
Viska is the standout meeting notes app with no monthly fee. It runs OpenAI's Whisper speech-to-text model entirely on your phone, so transcription happens locally without an internet connection.
What makes Viska particularly compelling for meeting transcription is the AI summary feature. After transcribing, it uses an on-device LLM (Llama 3.2) to generate meeting summaries, extract action items, and let you ask questions about the recording — all without touching the cloud.
Pros
- One-time purchase — no subscription ever
- Works on both iPhone and Android
- 100% offline — your data never leaves your device
- AI-powered meeting summaries and action items
- No account required
- Supports 90+ languages via Whisper
Cons
- Requires iPhone 12+ or recent Android for optimal performance
- AI summary features need iPhone 15+ or newer Android
- Processing takes a few minutes (trade-off for privacy)
Best for: Anyone who wants a complete meeting transcription solution without recurring costs. Especially valuable for professionals handling confidential conversations — lawyers, therapists, journalists, business leaders.
Download Viska →2. WhisperNotes — Best for Apple Ecosystem
WhisperNotes is a clean, focused transcription app for Apple users. It runs OpenAI's Whisper Large V3 Turbo model locally, delivering fast and accurate results — especially on Apple Silicon Macs.
The Universal Purchase means you buy it once and get it on both iPhone and Mac. If you're deep in the Apple ecosystem, that's solid value.
Pros
- Extremely affordable at $4.99
- Universal Purchase (iPhone + Mac)
- Very fast on Apple Silicon Macs
- Lock screen recording widget
- Clean, minimal interface
Cons
- No AI summaries or action items — transcription only
- No Android version
- Mac experience is significantly better than iPhone
- No speaker identification
Best for: Apple ecosystem users who want fast, accurate, no-frills transcription without paying monthly.
3. MacWhisper — Best for Mac Power Users
MacWhisper is a Mac-only app that gives you granular control over Whisper models. The Pro version ($29 one-time) adds batch processing, multiple export formats, and the ability to choose between different model sizes for speed vs. accuracy trade-offs.
Pros
- Free tier available for basic use
- Pro is a one-time $29 purchase
- Multiple Whisper model options
- Batch processing for multiple files
- Export to SRT, VTT, and other formats
Cons
- Mac only — no mobile app
- More technical than other options
- No meeting-specific features
- Interface is utilitarian, not polished
Best for: Mac users who process lots of audio files and want maximum control over the transcription engine.
4. Google Recorder — Free (Pixel Only)
Google Recorder deserves mention because it's free, offline, and genuinely good. The catch: it only works on Google Pixel phones. If you have one, it's an excellent transcription app with no subscription.
Pros
- Completely free
- Offline transcription
- Speaker labeling
- Searchable transcripts
- Google ecosystem integration
Cons
- Pixel phones only
- No AI summaries
- Limited export options
- Tied to Google's ecosystem
Best for: Pixel phone owners who want free, offline transcription.
5. 360Converter Offline Transcriber
360Converter offers an offline desktop transcription tool. The free version handles basic transcription, while the Pro version adds batch processing and more features.
Pros
- Available on Windows (rare for offline transcription)
- Free tier available
- Whisper-based accuracy
Cons
- Desktop only — no mobile
- Interface feels dated
- Limited documentation
- Smaller developer (update frequency uncertain)
Best for: Windows users who need offline desktop transcription.
Comparison: One-Time Purchase Transcription Apps
| Feature | Viska | WhisperNotes | MacWhisper | Google Recorder | 360Converter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $6.99/$4.99 | $4.99 | Free/$29 | Free | Free/$9.99 |
| iPhone | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Android | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | Pixel only | ❌ |
| Mac | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Windows | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| 100% Offline | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| AI Summaries | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Action Items | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Speaker ID | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
| No Subscription | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
What About "Freemium" Apps?
Some transcription apps offer free tiers, but they're designed to push you toward a subscription. Watch out for:
- Otter.ai Free: 300 minutes/month, then $16.99/mo. Also sends your audio to cloud servers and uses data for AI training.
- Fireflies.ai Free: Limited minutes, then $19/mo. Cloud-based.
- Microsoft 365 Copilot: "Free" with your Office subscription ($30/mo for Copilot features). Cloud-based.
These aren't true one-time payment transcription solutions. They're free trials with a subscription wall. Once you hit the limit — and you will — you're paying monthly.
Why One-Time Purchase Apps Are Better Value
Beyond the obvious cost savings, transcription apps you buy once have structural advantages:
No Pressure to Cancel
Subscription apps bet on inertia. You sign up, forget about it, and keep paying. One-time purchase apps have no recurring charges to forget about.
No Feature Gating
Subscription apps often lock features behind higher tiers. With one-time purchase apps, you get everything from day one.
Privacy by Design
Most one-time purchase transcription apps are offline by design — that's how they avoid ongoing server costs. This means your data stays on your device. No cloud processing, no privacy concerns, no data used for AI training.
They Actually Respect Your Time
No login screens. No "upgrade to Pro" banners. No "you've used 80% of your monthly minutes" warnings. You open the app, transcribe, and move on.
How to Choose the Right App
If you need iPhone + Android support: Viska is the only cross-platform option with AI features and a one-time price.
If you're Apple-only and want pure transcription: WhisperNotes at $4.99 is hard to beat.
If you're a Mac power user: MacWhisper Pro at $29 gives you the most control.
If you have a Pixel phone: Google Recorder is free and excellent — start there.
If you want AI summaries and action items: Viska is currently the only one-time purchase app that offers on-device AI meeting intelligence.
If privacy is your top priority: Any offline transcription app eliminates cloud risks. Viska and WhisperNotes both process audio entirely on-device.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are one-time purchase transcription apps as accurate as subscription services?
Yes. Apps like Viska and WhisperNotes use the same OpenAI Whisper AI model that powers many cloud services. The accuracy is comparable — the difference is where the processing happens (your device vs. remote servers), not the quality of the transcription. For more on how Whisper works, see our complete Whisper AI guide.
What's the cheapest transcription app with no subscription?
Google Recorder is free but limited to Pixel phones. For broader availability, WhisperNotes is $4.99 (Apple only) and Viska is $6.99 on iOS / $4.99 on Android. All are one-time purchases.
Can I use these apps for long meetings?
Yes. All listed apps can handle long recordings. Processing time scales with length — a 1-hour meeting might take 5-10 minutes to transcribe on-device. Cloud services are faster because they use powerful servers, but the trade-off is your privacy and a monthly fee.
Do one-time purchase transcription apps work offline?
Most do, and that's the main reason they can charge a one-time fee — no ongoing server costs. Viska, WhisperNotes, MacWhisper, and Google Recorder all work completely offline. Your audio never leaves your device.
What's the best meeting transcription app for work?
For work meetings, you want accuracy, AI summaries, and privacy. Viska offers all three at a one-time cost of $6.99-$4.99. It transcribes meetings, generates summaries, and extracts action items — all on-device with no subscription.
Will these apps keep working if the developer stops updating them?
Since offline transcription apps run entirely on your device, they'll continue to work even if the developer stops updates — as long as your phone's operating system supports them. This is another advantage over cloud services, which stop working the moment the company shuts down.
Stop paying monthly for transcription
Viska — One-time purchase. AI summaries. 100% offline. Your meetings stay on your device.
Download Viska →