Transcribe a Sermon, Get the Text with Speaker Labels
Upload a sermon recording, or paste a link, and ScreenApp turns the audio into a transcript with speaker labels and timestamps. Record the service with the browser recorder or the iOS and Android apps first if you have not already, then upload the file or the link here to get the transcript.
A written transcript lets congregation members who missed a service read the message at home, and it gives deaf and hard-of-hearing members equal access to what was said. Members who want to revisit one point can search the text instead of scrubbing through an hour of audio.
What you get:
- A transcript with speaker identification, in 99 languages
- AI chat with any recording, so you can ask what was said about a topic instead of scanning the whole transcript
- chapters with timestamps, so a longer service is split by topic
- AI notes: action items with an owner and deadline, and decisions listed separately
- Export as PDF, DOCX, TXT, SRT and VTT
- Free plan: one recording of up to 45 minutes, with AI chat on it
How to Transcribe a Sermon
- Upload or paste a link: Drag in the audio or video file from your soundboard, a phone recording, or a video camera (MP3, WAV, M4A, AAC, OGG and FLAC), or paste a link to a livestream replay on YouTube, Vimeo, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and most other public video links (Twitch, Loom, Dropbox, Google Drive, Pinterest, X, Threads, Douyin, Kuaishou, Bilibili) through a generic importer. No account setup is needed to start.
- Let it transcribe: The audio is converted to text and each speaker, the pastor, a worship leader, a scripture reader, is separated into their own label, with a timestamp on every sentence.
- Review and export: Read the transcript in the browser, correct a name or a term, and export as PDF, DOCX, TXT, SRT and VTT for a newsletter, the church website, or a study guide.
Accuracy depends on the audio. A direct feed from the soundboard or a lavalier microphone on the speaker works best; a phone left in the pews will pick up more room noise and produce more gaps. Names, places, and recurring terms specific to your church can be added as custom vocabulary for transcription. See how we measure accuracy.
Sermon Transcription vs Other Services
| Feature | ScreenApp | Rev | GoTranscript | Happy Scribe |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | one recording, up to 45 min | 45 min/month (AI) | Not stated | 10-min trial, no file limit |
| Transcription | Included | $0.25/min (AI), $1.99/min (human) | Not stated (per-minute rate behind a linked sheet) | Included with the plan |
| Speaker identification | Included | Not stated | Speaker IDs, timestamps, sentiment, and JSON exports | Not stated |
| Accuracy claim | WER by language | 99%+ accurate, delivered in 12 hours or less | 99.4% (human) | 85% (AI) / 99% (human) |
| Languages | 99 | 37 | 140+ | 60+ |
| Paid plan | $19/month annual | $25.49/month annual | Not stated | $8.50/month annual |
Sources, checked 2026-09-13: screenapp.io/accuracy#languages, screenapp.io/pricing, screenapp.io/help/how-many-minutes-can-i-record, rev.com/pricing, rev.com/apps-and-tools/audio-transcription-app, gotranscript.com/pricing, happyscribe.com/sermon-transcription, happyscribe.com/pricing
- vs Rev: Rev’s free plan gives 45 AI minutes a month, then charges $0.25 per minute for an AI transcript or $1.99 per minute for a human one. A weekly service adds up fast at either rate. ScreenApp’s plans include transcription and AI notes at a flat monthly price.
- vs GoTranscript: GoTranscript offers 5-day, 3-day, 1-day, or 6 to 12-hour turnaround tiers and claims 99.4% accuracy on human transcription, but per-minute pricing sits behind a separate spreadsheet rather than on the pricing page itself. ScreenApp’s pricing is a flat plan you can check before you upload anything.
- vs Happy Scribe: Happy Scribe’s automatic service claims 85% accuracy, rising to 99% for human transcription delivered within a day. ScreenApp’s free plan renews each cycle rather than being a one-time trial.
Who Uses Sermon Transcription
Pastors and preachers keep a written archive of every message for personal study and future sermon preparation, and can search past scripture references or pull a quote for an upcoming series.
Church administrators publish the week’s message to the congregation website or app as text, alongside the recording.
Ministry teams repurpose a transcript into devotionals, email newsletters, or study guides without retyping the message by hand.
Bible study leaders build discussion questions and reference material directly from the transcript of a recorded talk.
Religious broadcasters and podcasters turn a transcript into show notes, a blog post, or captions for an episode.
Multilingual churches transcript and caption translation, so a message delivered in one language can be read by members who speak another.
FAQ
How do I transcribe a sermon for free?
Upload your recording, or paste a link, click transcribe, and download the finished text. The free plan covers one recording of up to 45 minutes, with AI chat on it and no registration required to start.
How accurate is AI sermon transcription?
Accuracy depends on the recording, not on the fact that it is a sermon: a clear soundboard feed or lapel microphone transcribes the same way clear speech does in any recording, as shown by per-language word error rates. A phone left in the pews or a large room with background noise will produce more gaps. Names and recurring terms specific to your church can be added as custom vocabulary for transcription.
Does it identify who is speaking?
Yes, speaker identification separates the pastor, a worship leader, and a scripture reader into their own labels when more than one person speaks during the same recording. You can review and relabel a speaker in the online editor if a turn is mislabeled.
What audio and video formats are supported?
The platform accepts MP3, WAV, M4A, AAC, OGG and FLAC for audio, and MP4, WebM, MOV, AVI, MKV, WMV, and FLV for video. You can also paste a link to a service recorded on YouTube, Vimeo, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and most other public video links (Twitch, Loom, Dropbox, Google Drive, Pinterest, X, Threads, Douyin, Kuaishou, Bilibili) through a generic importer instead of uploading a file.
Can I record the service live instead of uploading it afterward?
Yes. Use the browser recorder or the iOS and Android apps to record from the pulpit or the sound booth, then the recording is ready to transcribe here.
Does sermon transcription work in languages other than English?
ScreenApp transcribes in 99 languages. Whether your services are in Spanish, Korean, Tagalog, or Swahili, upload the recording and the transcript comes back in that language.
Can I export the transcript for a newsletter or the church website?
Yes, as PDF, DOCX, TXT, SRT and VTT. Copy the text into a newsletter, paste it into the church website’s CMS, or pull a quote for a bulletin.
Is my sermon recording kept private?
Recordings are encrypted in transit and stored with AES-256, and are not used to train AI models. Security controls are published on the trust center.
Can I transcribe a whole series of sermons at once?
Yes, bulk upload of multiple files lets you upload and process multiple recordings at once, useful for a backlog of services or an entire sermon series.
