Best Transcription Jobs in 2021 Worth Doing - Best of Budgets (2024)

Last Updated: March 28th, 2021

Whether you’re thinking of a new career or just looking for some beer money, there are plenty of online companies offering transcription jobs. The best part is, as long as you have a laptop and decent typing skills, anyone can earn real money doing online transcription.

Learning Curve For Starting Your First Transcription Job

When you’re starting out, don’t get frustrated if it takes a while to earn real money transcribing. You may have to sign on to a few different companies to get enough work. Once you know which companies work for you, you can focus your efforts a bit more.

How much does it pay?

This can be hard to pin down. Different clients within a company may pay different rates, and your own speed and accuracy can play a big role in how much you earn per hour as a transcriptionist. I recall how my friend Jill was basically able to make a full time income last year transcribing when she took off for Europe to travel for a year, with only her laptop in tow.

If you want to get serious about doing transcribing full time, consider investing in a decent transcription software and foot pedal,as they will greatly improve your efficiency, which translates into more money for you at the job.

My friend Jill was basically able to make a full time income last year transcribing when she took off for Europe to travel for a year, with only her laptop in tow.

Transcription Courses

You don’t need a college degree to become a general transcriptionist, though some training first hand is highly advised. While you may already possess goodgrammar, spelling, and a fast typing speed, in today’s competitive transcribing market, that’s just not enough.

Employers these days are looking fortranscriptionists that can do more than type, butclean up bad audio, track more than two speakers, timestamp a file, and other higher level technical stuff. If you possess these skills going in, you are already way ahead of the game. That’s why some training goes a long way. One of the best, most affordable courses I’ve come across is the following byChelsea Flint:

• Learn Beginning to Advanced Transcription Skills

Transcription Tests

Most companies make you do a test to qualify, so start with your least favorite companies to get some practice before you move on to your top picks. Better yet, trysome free practices first online:

• GoTranscript Practice
• Listen and Write

Start working!

To get you started, I’ve carefully researched 20 of the best companies in 2020 that offer transcription work. I’ve categorized them into two groups, jobs for beginners and those with transcribing experience already:

• Best Transcription Jobs for Beginners
• Best Transcription Jobs for People with Experience

Best Transcription Jobs for Beginners

1. TranscribeMe

• Expected Pay: $15 to $22 per audio hour
• Payment Mode: Anytime via PayPal
• Qualifications: No experience needed
• Availability: Medium

TranscribeMe is a popular option for newbies interested in having a go at transcribing as a way to earn extra cash. They don’t require previous experience but a background in law or medicine can get you a higher pay rate. According to the company, monthly average earnings clock in at $250 while their top transcriptionists earn as much as $2,200.

TranscribeMe divides the projects that they receive into short 1 to 2 minute clips, making them less tedious to transcribe. To apply, just register, take the exam, and wait for their reply within 12 business days.

2. GMR Transcription

• Expected Pay: $0.70 to $1.25 per audio minute
• Payment Mode: Monthly via PayPal or direct bank transfer
• Qualifications: No experience needed, foot pedal required, US residents only
• Availability: High

GMR Transcription is one of the higher paying companies that do not require previous experience. However, they only accept US-based applicants and you need to have a foot pedal, MS Office, high-speed internet, and over-the-ear headphones to be considered.

Once you’ve passed the exam, you’ll have to transcribe 2 hours worth of audio first before you can start getting paid work. After the probationary period, you need to transcribe at least 4 audio hours every month. The good news is, they have a steady amount of work available year-round to help you meet this quota.

3. GoTranscript

• Expected Pay: Up to $0.6 per audio minute
• Payment Mode: Weekly via PayPal or Payoneer
• Qualifications: No experience needed
• Availability: Medium

GoTranscript doesn’t have strict requirements and their pay rates aren’t bad. They accept applicants from all over the world even without experience. However, you’ll have to prove your identity by sending an SMS code and your real-time photo.

The company has a reasonable turnaround time of 6 hours for 10-minute media so even slow typers can make it work. They don’t have a monthly quota as well so you’re free to work as much or as little as you want.

Their Glassdoor reviews are good with an average rating of 4.0. The most common complaint is that their audio files tend to have poor quality.

4. Daily Transcription

• Expected Pay: $0.75 to $0.85 per audio minute
• Payment Mode: Weekly by check
• Qualifications: No experience needed, at least 50 wpm, US and Canada residents only
• Availability: High

With clients like the Bank of America, The New York Times, HBO, and the US Air Force, Daily Transcription offers a steady amount of work with a good pay rate. As long as you’re a legal-aged citizen of the US or Canada, you can apply even without previous experience as a transcriptionist. You just need to pass the transcription test and skills assessment test.

After the training period, you’ll get tasks depending on the schedule slot you’ve signed up for. According to online reviews, there is enough work to keep you busy most of the time.

5. Rev

• Expected Pay: $0.30 to $1.10 per audio minute
• Payment Mode: Weekly via PayPal
• Qualifications: No experience needed
• Availability: High

Rev is a large network of more than 60,000 freelancers with 100,000 global clients like Amazon, Google, and Facebook. You just need good listening skills, a relatively fast typing speed, a reliable Internet connection, and a computer to apply.

Once you’re accepted, you get to choose from the hundreds of projects that are posted each day. From recorded interviews and focus groups to lectures and podcasts, there’s a variety of projects available so you’ll never get bored.

6. Casting Words

• Expected Pay: $0.085 to a bit over $1 per audio minute with bonus depending on work grade
• Payment Mode: Weekly via PayPal
• Qualifications: No experience needed
• Availability: High

To get hired by Casting Words, you just need to fill out a form. You may or may not need to take a test depending on your experience. Once you’re accepted, you can choose an assignment from the Available Jobs list.

Transcription jobs are bonus-based. This means that your pay rate depends on the grade that your submitted work received. For example, work graded 5 gets the base pay amount while the highest grade, 9, gets a total of 3x the base pay amount.

7. CrowdSurf

• Expected Pay: $0.03 to $0.20 per media minute with additional bonus rates
• Payment Mode: Paid through Work Market, from there withdraw funds via bank electronic transfer, Paypal, or WM Visa Card
• Qualifications: No experience needed
• Availability: Medium

CrowdSurf specializes in creating captions for education, entertainment, and business videos to help the hearing-impaired and second language viewerst. The videos are divided into 5 to 30-second clips to make the task easier to distribute among different transcriptionists.

Signing up is easy and all you need to do is pass the transcription assessment and provide a valid proof of your identity. In less than 5 days, you get an email with the login instructions.

The pay is relatively low and there is sometimes not enough work to do. Maintaining an average quality control (QC) score of 3.5 and a 900 qualification standing are also necessary to stay employed. On the bright side, reviews say that the video clips are interesting and fun to caption.

8. Upwork

• Expected Pay: Varies
• Payment Mode: Payment availability varies but are paid via local bank transfer, U.S. Dollar Wire Transfer, Instant Pay, PayPal, Payoneer, and M-Pesa
• Qualifications: No experience needed
• Availability: High

Upwork is the largest freelancer marketplace in the world with 3 million jobs posted annually in various fields including transcriptioning and captioning. There’s no base rate and it’s all about what you and your client agree on. Of course, more experienced transcriptionists will be able to charge higher rates. Still, this is one of the best places for beginners to gain experience and build a long-term relationship with different clients.

9. Tigerfish

• Expected Pay: At least $0.005 per word transcribed
• Payment Mode: Weekly via PayPal
• Qualifications: No experience needed, US residents only
• Availability: Medium

Tigerfish doesn’t require experience but they only accept US residents. You also need to have a telephone number where they can contact you, a Window-based PC, and, once you get accepted, a copy of PowerPlay which costs $229. You’ll have to invest and stay with Tigerfish for a while to recoup your losses. Fortunately, the company offers a relatively steady stream of work thanks to clients like USA Today, Airbnb, Wall Street Journal, and more.

The company pays per word transcribed so the faster you work, the more that you earn. Typing bursts aside, let’s say you have an average typing speed of 50 wpm. This means that you can earn about $15 per hour. That’s quite a good rate for beginners.

10. Transcription Outsourcing LLC

• Expected Pay: $0.80 to $1.10 per audio minute
• Payment Mode: Monthly via PayPal
• Qualifications: No experience needed
• Availability: High

A friendly support staff, good pay rate, and steady stream of projects – these are what Transcription Outsourcing offers. People who’ve worked with the company also say that most of the audio they have are of good quality so that’s a big plus. They offer all types of transcription- medical, legal, general, and even law enforcement related work.

Beginners are welcome to apply but you need to have a good command of the English language and be based in the US.

Best Transcription Jobs for People with Experience

Next, let’s look at your best options if you have previous transcribing experience. These jobs tend to pay more, or have more availability due to the higher barrier of entry.

1. SpeakWrite

• Expected Pay: $0.005 per word with 10% bonus for some shifts
• Payment Mode: Twice a month by direct deposit or check
• Qualifications: At least 60 wpm, US and Canada residents only, 1 year experience minimum, must have foot pedal
• Availability: High

SpeakWrite is constantly looking for general transcriptionists with at least a year of experience. Since their customer base is largely made up of legal, government, and law enforcement sector clients, they also welcome applicants with a background in law. Aside from having previous transcribing experience, candidates should also have a minimum typing speed of 60 wpm with at least 90% accuracy.

Once you’ve passed, you need to have a foot pedal to accept work. You can also choose your own shifts but you must work a minimum of 15 hours per month to stay employed.

2. 3Play Media

• Expected Pay: $10 to $30 per working hour
• Payment Mode: Monthly by direct deposit or check
• Qualifications: At least 75 wpm, US residents only
• Availability: Low

3Play Media doesn’t offer consistent work but they do pay well. According to feedback from people who have worked with them before, you can get paid anywhere from $10 to $30 per working hour. That’s working hour and not audio hour so they really pay well.

The job is a little different as well compared to other companies. With 3Play Media, you get video files that have already been transcribed by their speech recognition software. Since the computer-generated transcriptions aren’t completely correct, your job is to make sure that they are.

3. Transcript Divas

• Expected Pay: $0.84 to $2.98 per audio minute
• Payment Mode: Invoice processed within a week, paid via PayPal or bank transfer
• Qualifications: With experience preferred but not required
• Availability: Medium

Transcript Divas is a great choice for transcribers that are looking for a flexible schedule and good pay. According to the company, their aim is to pay more than the average rate for transcriptionists in the USA.

There are peak and off seasons in terms of the work available but that is common with companies in this industry. The Glassdoor and forum reviews are mostly positive except for their payment schedule which sometimes get delayed by a few days.

4. Ubiqus

• Expected Pay: $0.00588 per word for legal and $0.00695 per word for medical transcription
• Payment Mode: Every two weeks
• Qualifications: US residents only, at least 1 year experience, foot pedal recommended
• Availability: Medium

You can apply for three different positions – general, medical, and legal transcriptionists. They require relevant experience but, if you lack experience, you can simply state how you think you have the aptitude to do the tasks well.

They don’t have their rates posted on their website but a person who used to work for them mentioned the indicated rates above. So, if you have an average typing speed of 40 wpm, you can earn about $14.11 per hour doing legal transcriptions and $16.68 per hour for medical ones.

5. Quicktate and iDictate

• Expected Pay: general transcription = 0.0025 per word, medical transcription = 0.0050 per word; iDictate = at least 0.0050 per word
• Payment Mode: Weekly via PayPal
• Qualifications: Experience required, $20 for background check
• Availability: Medium

With Quicktate, you’ll be asked to transcribe audio files that are less than 5 minutes long. These are usually memos, letters, and voicemails. Meanwhile, iDictate is for longer audio files like lectures, podcasts, and conference calls.

Aside from requiring work experience, you’ll have to include 3 references that aren’t family members. You’ll also have to pay $20 for the background check. A copy of Express Scribe Pro which costs $70 is a must as well.

6. Athreon

• Expected Pay: $0.03 per line
• Payment Mode: Weekly via PayPal
• Qualifications: Must be a transcription training program graduate or have at least 2 years work experience
• Availability: High

Athreon has been offering general and medical transcription services in the US and Canada since 1988. They’ve built a solid customer base that enables them to supply their transcriptionists with a steady amount of work. In fact, they require their employees to do at least 500 lines daily, 5 days a week.

To qualify, you need to be a high school graduate or GED recipient with a certificate from a transcription training program. If you don’t have formal training, 2 years of relevant experience is a must. You’ll also be asked to undergo a background check.

7. Audio Transcription Center

• Expected Pay: $60 per audio hour for English, $150 per audio hour for foreign language
• Payment Mode: Weekly by check
• Qualifications: No experience needed, at least 75 wpm
• Availability: Medium

Most of the projects that Audio Transcription Center accept are for archives that will become historical records. This is why they require typing skills of at least 75 wpm with 98% accuracy. You’ll be asked to take an interest assessment exam so they can send you subjects which you are familiar with.

Reviews describe the work they offer as interesting and varied. Meanwhile, the management is organized and supportive. On the downside, there are sometimes not enough work to do.

8. Averbach Transcription

• Expected Pay: $1.00 per audio minute for normal files, and $1.50 per audio minute for rush jobs
• Payment Mode: PayPal
• Qualifications: At least 2 years experience
• Availability: Medium

Averbach Transcription is one of the highest paying companies on our list. For files that have a 2 days or more of turnaround, you get paid $1.00 per audio minute while those with overnight or same-day turnarounds will fetch you $1.50 per audio minute.

To be accepted, you need to have a minimum of 2 years transcribing experience and to pass the skills test.

You’ll be transcribing raw footage for TV and movies and interviews and focus groups for qualitative researchers.

9. Verbal Ink

• Expected Pay: $0.85 per audio minute
• Payment Mode: Monthly via PayPal or bank transfer
• Qualifications: Foot pedal required, experience not needed
• Availability: Medium

Verbal Ink, a division of Ubiqus, doesn’t require experience but you do need a foot pedal to work with them.

There isn’t a lot of information posted on their website but they do indicate that you can email them with your resume and cover letter. Their test, which is composed of two 13-minute long files with difficult audio and multiple people, is fairly extensive.

10. SpeechPad

• Expected Pay: $0.25 to $2.50 per audio minute
• Payment Mode: Every Tuesday and Friday via PayPal
• Qualifications: At least 40 wpm, experience required
• Availability: High

SpeechPad offers the highest maximum base rate out of all the companies we’ve looked into at $2.50 per audio minute. Even better, their typing speed requirement is only 40 wpm. You’ll need to pass two tests on basic transcription and grammar.

There are no minimum required hours and you’re free to choose which jobs you want to work on. However, rush jobs are by invitation only and you must have transcribed 500 hours of audio with at least a 96 rating to be considered.

Frequently Asked Questions About Transcribing

What Is the Difference Between Working Hours and Audio Hours?

Let’s say that a company pays $60 per audio hour. You might be thinking, “Cool, I get to earn $60 for every hour that I work.” But, that’s certainly not the case.

You see an audio hour is the actual length of the file you’ll have to transcribe. The time you’ll actually spend working on the file will be more than one hour. This brings as to the second question.

How Long Does It Take to Transcribe One Hour of Audio?

This depends on a lot of factors – your typing speed, hearing skills, audio quality, subject matter familiarity, and more. However, on average, a beginner can expect to take 6 hours to transcribe an hour of decent audio with clear speakers. Meanwhile, an experienced transcriptionist might take 4 hours or less.

Can You Earn Enough from Transcribing to Make It a Living?

Again, this depends on factors like experience, where you live, and how fast you work.

Taking the example above, if the company pays $60 for an audio hour, a beginner would earn $10 while an experienced transcriptionist would earn $15 per hour. Depending on where you live in the world, this might or might not be enough to live on.

Another factor to consider is the amount of work that the company can provide you. For most transcription companies, there are off and peak seasons so the income won’t be stable. An easy workaround to this is to work for more than just one company.

In most cases, transcribing online isn’t enough to make a living for beginners. However, as you develop your skills and gain more experience, you’ll be able to work faster and get a higher rate to help you make it your main source of income.

How Do I Earn More as a Transcriptionist?

Being a graduate of a transcription training program improves your skills so you can work faster. At the same time, it will improve your chances of getting in higher-paying companies. Once you’re earning, consider investing in equipment and software that can speed up your workflow.

What Transcribing Software and Equipment Do I Need?

Aside from a reliable, high-speed Internet connection and a computer or laptop, there are several things that you’ll need.

• Headphones – This one’s a no-brainer. You’ll want something well-padded with good noise isolation.
• Foot Pedal – Though not required by all transcription companies, a foot pedal can help you work faster by allowing you to play, rewind, and pause an audio without moving your hands.
• Word Processing Software – Get a copy of a word processing software like Microsoft Office. Make sure to familiarize yourself with the shortcut keys to streamline your transcription.
• Transcription Software – Some companies have their own dedicated app where you will be tasked to do the transcription. For others, you’ll be required to download at least a free version of Express Scribe or something similar.
• Time Tracking Software – Track your time with free apps like Clockify and Toggl to know how much time you spent transcribing audio.

What Is Medical Transcription? Legal Transcription?

Medical transcription is the process of transcribing the healthcare-related voice files, lecture notes, and other similar materials. Meanwhile, legal transcription is the act of transcribing materials concerning legal proceedings. This includes interviews, testimonies, court hearings, and client letters.

Since these specializations have difficult terms, transcriptionists who have related experience are paid more.

Want to make more money from home?

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Start Earning Money

Why not get started today? Make a short list of the companies that seem like a good fit, fill in the applications and try the tests. Within a few days you could be earning extra cash. Who knows? It might even be a gateway into a brand-new career!