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AI Transcriptions by Riverside vs Sonix

Two fact sheets from our own research, side by side — pricing, platforms, API access and status re-checked by us rather than quoted from the vendors. AI Transcriptions by Riverside starts at $24, Sonix at $25. Only AI Transcriptions by Riverside has a free tier. Only Sonix ships a public API.

AI Transcriptions by RiversideFree automatic transcription for audio and video files, with speaker labels and TXT or SRT export, from Riverside.SonixTranscription, translation and subtitles with a browser editor

Side by side

FactAI Transcriptions by RiversideSonix
CategorySpeech-to-Text & TranscriptionSpeech-to-Text & Transcription
Pricing modelFreemiumPaid
Starts at$24 month$25 month
Public APINoYes
PlatformsWeb, macOS, iOS, AndroidWeb, API
CompanyRiversideFM, Inc.Sonix, Inc.
Launched—2017
Last verifiedSep 1, 2026Sep 6, 2026

What our research says

AI Transcriptions by Riverside

The free single-speaker transcription has no signup and is genuinely usable on its own for quick jobs. The multi-speaker detection most podcasters actually want sits behind the same $24/month plan that unlocks Riverside's full recording and editing suite, so you're buying into the whole platform, not just transcription.

Pros

  • Free single-speaker transcription with no account required
  • Speaker detection and labeling on paid plans
  • Exports to TXT or SRT, and lets you edit video by editing the transcript text
  • Broad format support (MP3, WAV, MP4, MOV)

Cons

  • Multi-speaker detection requires a paid plan bundled with the wider recording platform, not sold standalone
  • No API mentioned for automated transcription pipelines
  • Company recently renamed from Riverside.fm to Riverside, so older links and branding are inconsistent

Sonix

Pick Sonix when the transcript is a working document you will correct, subtitle and hand off — the editor is the product, not the ASR. If you mainly want live meeting notes, Otter is cheaper and better suited; if the recording is legally critical, Rev's human tier is the safer route.

Pros

  • The word-locked editor makes correcting a long transcript far faster than re-typing
  • 50+ languages for both transcription and translation, priced at the same hourly rate
  • REST API with batch processing and custom vocabulary is included with subscriptions
  • SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA posture and a stated no-training policy on customer files

Cons

  • Per-seat pricing at $25/mo each punishes small teams sharing one library
  • Hour allowances are the real constraint; Core's 5 hrs/mo goes fast on video
  • The 99% accuracy claim is vendor marketing — independent tests put it near peers, around the mid-90s
  • No free plan, only a 30-minute trial

Which one fits

Choose AI Transcriptions by Riverside if you need

  • Podcasters and video creators already recording through Riverside
  • Quick, free single-speaker transcripts with no account
  • Turning a transcript into SRT captions for video

Choose Sonix if you need

  • Journalists and researchers cleaning up long interview recordings
  • Video teams producing multilingual subtitle tracks from one master file
  • Legal, medical and academic work where custom vocabulary matters
  • Engineering teams batch-transcribing a media archive through the API

More comparisons

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