Audio to Notes & Audio Summarizer — Key Points From Any Recording
Upload a meeting, lecture, interview or voice memo and get a transcript with speaker labels and timestamps — plus a summary with the key points, decisions and action items pulled out.
99 languages · any audio or video format · nothing to install
Start with the transcript — upload a recording
Your notes are only as good as the transcript underneath them, so this is the part worth checking first.
Drop your audio file here
or click to browse
Audio: MP3 · WAV · M4A · FLAC · OGG · AAC · AIFF · WMA · AMR · OPUS
Video: MP4 · MOV · AVI · MKV · WebM · FLV · WMV
Up to 200 MB · first 5 minutes free, no account
Free 5-minute preview · no account · files up to 200 MB. Your notes are only as good as the transcript underneath them, so this is the part worth checking first. By VexaScribe Editorial · Published · Updated VexaScribe converts audio recordings into structured notes: a full transcript with timestamps and speaker labels, plus an AI summary with key points, decisions, and action items. Upload any recording format. Processing takes ~5 minutes per hour. Export to TXT, DOCX, SRT, or JSON. AI chat picks up where notes end. Notes and summary capture the structure, but the details you didn't know to extract stay buried in the transcript. Ask the recording directly — “what did the speaker mean by X,” “did anyone push back on the timeline,” “find the exact quote about budget” — and get answers grounded in the full audio, with clickable timestamps that seek to the moment. Available on paid plans.
What happens to your recording, and where this gets things wrong
Meeting and interview audio is often the most sensitive file someone uploads all week. Here is the part most tools leave you to guess at.
Your audio is not training data
Uploads are not used to train speech or language models — not yours, not anyone's. Recordings are processed to produce your transcript and notes, and that is the whole purpose they are used for.
How long files are kept
This differs by path, so it is worth being exact. A free preview is transient — it exists to show you the transcription quality, and nothing is kept for you afterwards. With an account, your recordings and transcripts stay in your library until you delete them, because the point of an account is being able to come back to a meeting from three months ago. If you would rather a file not persist, delete it after exporting. Full privacy policy.
Overlapping speech is where every tool degrades
When two people talk over each other, the transcript tends to catch the louder voice and lose the other — and speaker labels are least reliable in exactly those moments. This is true of every automatic system on the market, ours included. A structured discussion where people take turns transcribes far better than a heated four-way call, and notes built on a blurred passage inherit the blur.
On accuracy numbers — including other people's
You will see figures like “96% accurate” on competitor pages, almost always without a test set, an audio condition, or a date attached. A single number cannot describe a system whose error rate swings with microphone quality, accent, overlap, background noise and domain vocabulary. We are not going to publish one for ourselves either. What we can offer instead is the check: run five minutes of your own worst recording through the tool above, free, and read the result. That is worth more than anyone's benchmark, because it uses your audio.
Can't ChatGPT or Gemini just do this?
For a short voice memo, genuinely yes — upload it and ask for bullet points. Where it stops working is the recording this page is actually about.
File limits bite first. An hour of audio is a large file, and assistant upload caps are far below what a lecture or a long meeting produces — so the practical answer is splitting the recording into pieces and stitching the results, which is where the timeline and the thread of the conversation get lost.
No speaker labels, no timestamps. You get prose, not “Mike said this at 00:12.” For notes where the decision matters less than who committed to it, that is the whole value gone — and there is no way to jump back to the audio and check.
Nothing to go back to. A chat reply is not a transcript you can search six weeks later, export as DOCX, or hand to someone who was not in the room.
If you do want to work that way, we wrote the honest version of it: transcribing audio with ChatGPT — including what it costs in practice and where it falls over.
Or skip the audio — summarize a transcript right now
Already have a transcript, or want to see what the notes look like before you upload anything? Paste text below and pick the summary type. This is the same summarizer that runs on your recordings.
One free summary per week, no account · up to 5,000 characters · the deeper lists show their first few items
2. Add the transcript
One free summary per week — no account needed.
0 / 5,000
Audio to Notes vs. Audio to Text
“Notes” implies intelligence — not just every word, but the useful parts, organized.
| Audio to Text | Audio to Notes | |
|---|---|---|
| Output | Raw verbatim transcript | Structured notes: summaries, key points, action items |
| Processing | Speech recognition only | Speech recognition + AI comprehension |
| User expectation | “Give me every word” | “Give me the useful parts, organized” |
| Format | Wall of text with timestamps | Headings, bullets, speaker labels, highlights |
| Word count | ~8,000 words per hour | ~800–1,200 words per hour |
VexaScribe gives you both: the full transcript (for reference and searching) AND the AI summary (for immediate action). Looking for raw text? See transcribe audio.
Works with Any Recording Type
Meetings
Decisions, action items, follow-ups — export to your project tool
Lectures
Key concepts, definitions, timestamps — feed into your study tool
Interviews
Speaker-labeled quotes, themes, key moments — for your article or research
Voice Memos
Ideas, brainstorms, to-dos — structured for your notes app
Podcasts
Episode highlights, quotes, chapter markers — for show notes
Phone Calls
Client conversations, sales calls — CRM-ready notes
How Audio to Notes Works
Upload your recording
Any format. Meetings, lectures, interviews, voice memos, podcasts, phone calls. Up to 200 MB without an account, 5 GB once you have one.
AI transcribes + summarizes
Full transcript with timestamps and speaker labels, plus a structured summary with key points, decisions, and action items.
Export your notes
Download as TXT, DOCX, SRT, or JSON. Copy and paste into Notion, Obsidian, Google Docs, or any notes app.
What You Get
[00:00:12] Sarah: Let's start with the Q3 results. Revenue was up 12% compared to last quarter, which puts us ahead of our target by about 3 percentage points.
[00:00:28] Mike: That's largely driven by the enterprise segment. We closed 14 new accounts in September alone, which is a record for us.
[00:00:41] Sarah: Right. The concern is retention. We're seeing churn tick up from 4.2% to 5.1% in the SMB segment. We need to address that before Q4 planning.
[00:00:58] Mike: I'll have the customer success team pull a root-cause analysis by Friday. My hunch is onboarding quality.
... continues for ~8,000 words per hour
Key Points
- •Q3 revenue up 12% vs last quarter, 3pp ahead of target
- •Enterprise segment driving growth: 14 new accounts in September (record)
- •SMB churn increased from 4.2% to 5.1% — needs attention before Q4
Decisions
- •Prioritize SMB retention analysis before Q4 planning
- •Investigate onboarding quality as potential churn driver
Action Items
- •Mike: Deliver SMB churn root-cause analysis by Friday
- •Sarah: Schedule Q4 planning session after analysis review
Summary
Q3 exceeded revenue targets driven by record enterprise sales. SMB churn is the primary concern heading into Q4. Team will conduct root-cause analysis this week before setting Q4 goals.
The same recording, six different sets of notes
A sales call and a lecture are both an hour of two people talking. What is worth writing down is not remotely the same. Pick the type and the notes change shape — not just the wording, but what gets pulled out in the first place.
Meeting
Decisions, action items with owners, follow-ups
Sales call
Objections, pricing talk, next steps, buying signals
Interview
Quotable answers by speaker, themes, key moments
Lecture
Concepts, definitions, terminology, what to review
Podcast
Highlights, chapter markers, pull quotes for show notes
General
Key points and a plain summary, for anything else
You can regenerate a recording under a different type without re-uploading it, so a recording filed under the wrong one is not a re-run. Already have a transcript? Paste it instead.
Notes in a language nobody in the room was speaking
The notes do not have to be in the language of the recording. A meeting held in Turkish can produce English notes directly — the summary is generated in the language you ask for, rather than written in Turkish and then run through a translator.
Why that distinction matters
Summarising and then translating compounds two lossy steps: whatever the summary flattened is gone before the translator ever sees it, and names, figures and technical terms drift on the way through. Generating the summary in the target language keeps the full transcript in view the whole time, so an action item lands as an action item rather than as a translated sentence that used to be one.
Useful when the people who need the notes were not in the room: a distributed team, a client in another market, or a researcher working through interviews in a language they read better than they speak. The transcript stays in the original language, so nothing is lost — you get both.
Integrate with Your Notes App
Export from VexaScribe in universal formats that work with every notes app.
Notion
Export DOCX or TXT, paste into a Notion page. The AI summary becomes the note body.
Obsidian
Export TXT or Markdown-formatted output. Works with your vault structure.
Google Docs
Export DOCX, open in Google Docs for sharing and collaboration.
Evernote
Export TXT, clip into an Evernote note with tags.
VexaScribe doesn't have direct API integrations with note-taking apps yet. Export + paste is the current workflow.
Why Choose VexaScribe for Audio to Notes
Everything you need to turn recordings into actionable notes
AI summary with key points
Not just a transcript — structured notes with summaries, decisions, and action items extracted automatically.
Speaker identification
Know who said what across any recording type — meetings, interviews, panel discussions.
Timestamps on every sentence
Jump back to the exact audio moment. Click any timestamp to hear the original recording.
99 languages, and notes in a different one
Transcribe a recording in any of 99 languages — and generate the notes in a language you choose, not just the one that was spoken.
All formats supported
MP3, WAV, M4A, FLAC, MP4, MOV, OGG, AAC, and more. Upload any audio or video file.
From $2/month
200 minutes of audio processing. Free trial with 30 minutes, no credit card required.
Audio to Notes vs. Dedicated Note-Taking Tools
| Feature | VexaScribe | Otter | AudioPen | Voicenotes | Granola |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upload an existing file | Any audio or video format | Yes — but 3 imports total on free | Yes, on Prime | Yes | No — captures system audio live |
| Longest single recording | Up to 10 hours per file | 30 min per conversation on free | 15 min per recording | Not published | Length of the meeting |
| What the free tier really gives you | 5-min preview with no account; 30 min with one | 300 min/mo, 3 file imports ever, exports locked | Limited notes; styles and uploads need Prime | Free tier, no card; limited transcription | Last 30 days of notes only |
| Speaker labels | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Structured notes | 6 summary types | Summary + action items | Rewrites speech into your chosen style | Summary + to-dos | Enhances notes you typed yourself |
| Notes in a different language than the audio | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Joins live meetings | No — upload only | Yes, bot joins | No | No | Yes, no bot |
| Notes app integration | Export DOCX / TXT, paste | Notion, Slack, CRM | Zapier | Obsidian plugin, Notion, Zapier | Notion, Slack |
| Paid price | $2–$20/mo flat | $8.33–$16.99/user/mo | $99/yr (~$8.25/mo) | $9–$14.99/mo | $14/user/mo |
| Best for | A backlog of long recordings to work through | Recurring meetings you want captured live | A messy voice memo you want written up well | Quick memos that feed an Obsidian vault | Your own meeting notes, sharpened |
Free-tier and pricing figures taken from each vendor's own pricing page, verified September 2026. These change often — Granola's free limit moved from a 25-note cap to a 30-day window during its 2026 rebrand, and third-party roundups still cite the old number. Check the vendor before you commit.
Pick by how your audio arrives, not by feature count. If it arrives as files you already have — a term's worth of lecture recordings, a folder of interviews — the upload row is the only one that matters, and Otter's free tier is the trap: 300 minutes a month sounds generous until you notice file imports are capped at three, ever. If your audio is a meeting happening right now, we are the wrong tool and Granola or a bot is the right one; our AI note taker guide covers that category properly.
On the tools promising unlimited free notes. Search this topic and you will meet pages advertising free structured notes with no sign-up and no limits. Two worth knowing about: ScreenApp's feature page says free accounts get the full feature set, while its own pricing page lists 3 files, one transcription per month and 3 AI generations per month; Mindgrasp's page says “100% Free with No Sign-Up” and “no limits”, while its pricing is a 4-day card-required trial and then $5.99–$14.99/month, with no permanent free tier. We would rather tell you our preview stops at five minutes than find out you discovered it yourself.
Simple, Affordable Pricing
Pay only for transcription minutes. AI summaries and notes are included with every plan at no extra charge.
Free
Free
30 min
$2/mo
Starter
200 min
$5/mo
Basic
1,000 min
$10/mo
Pro
2,500 min
$20/mo
Studio
6,000 min
Audio to Notes FAQ
What is the best tool to convert audio to notes?
It depends on how your audio reaches you. For recordings you already have as files — lectures, interviews, a backlog of meetings — VexaScribe ($2/mo) transcribes and summarises them with no per-file import cap. For short voice memos you want rewritten as clean prose, AudioPen (~$99/year) is purpose-built for that and nothing else. For a meeting happening right now, where you want your own typed notes sharpened rather than a transcript, Granola ($14/user/mo) is unique — but it captures live system audio and will not accept an uploaded file at all. Verified September 2026.
Can I turn a voice recording into structured notes?
Yes. Upload any recording to VexaScribe — voice memos, meetings, lectures, interviews. You'll get a transcript with timestamps plus an AI summary with key points, decisions, and action items. Export to TXT or DOCX for your notes app.
What's the difference between audio to text and audio to notes?
Audio to text produces a raw verbatim transcript (~8,000 words per hour). Audio to notes produces structured summaries with key points, action items, and decisions (~800–1,200 words per hour). VexaScribe gives you both: full transcript for reference and AI summary for immediate action.
Does VexaScribe integrate with Notion?
Not directly via API. Export your notes as DOCX or TXT from VexaScribe, then paste into Notion. The AI summary becomes your note body, with key points as bullets and action items as checklist items. For native Notion integration, Notion's own AI Meeting Notes feature (Business plan) works for live meetings.
Can I use audio to notes for lectures?
Yes — upload your lecture recording and get a transcript with timestamps plus a key-points summary. For full study material generation (flashcards, quizzes), pair VexaScribe with Google NotebookLM or Knowt. See our transcript-to-summary page for the Lecture summary type with terminology glossary and review questions.
Can I get notes in a different language than the recording?
Yes. The summary is generated in whatever language you pick, independently of the language spoken in the audio — a meeting held in Turkish can produce English notes directly, rather than being summarised in Turkish and then translated. The transcript stays in the original language, so you keep both. This is generated from the full transcript rather than from an already-shortened summary, which is why names, figures and action items survive the language change intact.
Is it safe to upload a confidential meeting recording?
Your uploads are not used to train speech or language models. A free preview is transient and nothing is kept for you afterwards; with an account, recordings and transcripts stay in your library until you delete them, so you can return to an old meeting — if you would rather a file not persist, delete it after exporting. Full details are in our privacy policy.
How accurate is audio to notes?
Accuracy depends on the recording, not the tool alone: microphone quality, accents, background noise, domain vocabulary and how much people talk over each other all move it, which is why a single headline percentage is not meaningful. Overlapping speech is the most common failure — the transcript catches the louder voice and speaker labels are least reliable there. The free 5-minute preview exists so you can test your own worst recording rather than trust anyone's benchmark.
Can ChatGPT or Gemini convert audio to notes instead?
For a short voice memo, yes. For a long meeting or lecture it breaks down: assistant upload limits are well below an hour of audio, so you end up splitting the file, and you get prose without speaker labels or timestamps — no way to see who committed to what, or to jump back to the moment in the audio. You also get a chat reply rather than a transcript you can search, export, or share later.
Is it safe to upload a confidential meeting recording?
Your uploads are not used to train speech or language models. A free preview is transient and nothing is kept for you afterwards; with an account, recordings and transcripts stay in your library until you delete them, so you can return to an old meeting — if you would rather a file not persist, delete it after exporting. Full details are in our privacy policy.
How accurate is audio to notes?
Accuracy depends on the recording, not the tool alone: microphone quality, accents, background noise, domain vocabulary and how much people talk over each other all move it, which is why a single headline percentage is not meaningful. Overlapping speech is the most common failure — the transcript catches the louder voice and speaker labels are least reliable there. The free 5-minute preview exists so you can test your own worst recording rather than trust anyone's benchmark.
Can ChatGPT or Gemini convert audio to notes instead?
For a short voice memo, yes. For a long meeting or lecture it breaks down: assistant upload limits are well below an hour of audio, so you end up splitting the file, and you get prose without speaker labels or timestamps — no way to see who committed to what, or to jump back to the moment in the audio. You also get a chat reply rather than a transcript you can search, export, or share later.
How long does it take to process audio to notes?
Approximately 5 minutes per hour of audio. A 30-minute meeting takes ~2–3 minutes. A 2-hour lecture takes ~10 minutes. You'll receive both the full transcript and AI summary when processing completes.
Is there a free audio to notes tool?
VexaScribe offers a 5-minute preview with no account and 30 free minutes once you have one (no credit card). Otter's free plan advertises 300 minutes a month, but if you are uploading files rather than recording live meetings the binding limit is different: three audio or video imports total, ever, plus a 30-minute cap per conversation. AudioPen offers about 10 free notes at 3 minutes each. Voicenotes has a genuine free tier for short voice memos with no card required. For unlimited free processing, self-hosted Whisper produces transcripts but not structured notes. Vendor figures verified September 2026 — free tiers in this category change often.
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Transcript to Summary
Already have a transcript? Paste and pick from 6 summary types — meeting, sales, interview, lecture, podcast, general