Watch Your Voice Turn Into Text as You Talk
ScreenApp’s voice to text live tool runs in your browser, on a laptop, tablet, or phone, and shows a running caption of your speech on screen as you talk. It needs a microphone and an internet connection, nothing to install.
The live caption is a beta feature: it is a rough, running line of text, not the finished transcript. Once you stop and the recording processes, the polished version, with punctuation and speaker labels, is ready in your account a few minutes later.
What you get:
- A live caption on screen while you speak, so you can check the words are being picked up
- The finished transcript afterward, in 100+ languages, with speaker identification
- Export as PDF, DOCX, TXT, SRT and VTT
- Free plan: 2 transcriptions of recordings up to 45 minutes each, with AI chat on it
Recordings are stored in your account and open on any device where you sign in.
How to Convert Voice to Text Live
- Open the tool and allow the microphone: Grant microphone access when your browser asks. No app or extension is required.
- Speak and watch the caption: Text appears on screen as you talk. Stop whenever you are done.
- Read the finished transcript: A few minutes after you stop, the full transcript is ready with punctuation, speaker labels, and timestamps, alongside AI notes.
Accuracy depends on your microphone and how much background noise there is. A quiet room with the microphone close to your mouth gives the cleanest result. See how we measure accuracy.
Voice to Text Live vs Other Apps
| Feature | ScreenApp | Speechnotes | SpeechTexter | Otter.ai |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 2 transcriptions, up to 45 min each, free | free, ad-supported dictation | free | 300 minutes/month, 30 minutes per conversation |
| Languages | 100+ | Not stated | 70+ | 6 |
| Export formats | PDF, DOCX, TXT, SRT and VTT | Not stated | .doc and .txt | Not stated |
| Paid plan | $19/month annual | $1.90/month | Free, no paid tier stated | $8.33/month annual |
Sources, checked 2026-09-17: screenapp.io/accuracy#languages, ScreenApp pricing, speechnotes.co, speechtexter.com, otter.ai/pricing
- vs Speechnotes: Speechnotes is free, ad-supported dictation, and removing the ads costs $1.90 a month. It does not state a language count or speaker labels. ScreenApp adds speaker labels and a searchable transcript on the free plan.
- vs SpeechTexter: SpeechTexter is free, in 70+ languages, and exports as .doc and .txt. It does not state speaker labels. ScreenApp’s free plan adds those, plus AI chat on the transcript.
- vs Otter.ai: Otter’s free plan caps you at 300 minutes a month and 30 minutes per conversation, in 6 languages. ScreenApp’s free plan covers 2 transcriptions of recordings up to 45 minutes each, in 100+ languages.
Who Uses Voice to Text Live
People who find typing slow. Speaking a paragraph is faster than typing it for a lot of people, and watching the caption confirms the words are landing before they move on.
Students in a lecture or seminar. Live captions help someone follow along in real time, then the finished transcript and AI notes are there to study from afterward.
People who are deaf or hard of hearing. A live caption on screen lets someone follow a conversation as it happens, with a saved transcript to check back on, something an on-screen-only caption tool does not offer.
Multitaskers on a phone or tablet. Since the tool runs in a browser, it works on a phone during a walk or a call just as it does at a desk, with no app to install first.
Anyone drafting a quick note or message by voice. Talking out a message and reading it back on screen is quicker than typing it out, especially for a longer note.
