Potok transcribes Russian speech; this site has been translated into English for convenience.
A voice note is turned into text by the Potok Telegram bot @potok_now_bot: send the recording in private messages, and it returns the text; a short note arrives at once, a long one as a file. If the note is a voice message from Telegram, the messenger also has a transcription button, but without Premium it is limited in number per week. The bot is free for 60 minutes per month.
A voice note is a quick way to dictate a thought on the go, but afterwards it still has to be read or forwarded as text. The easiest way is to send the recording to the Potok Telegram bot @potok_now_bot: it will transcribe it and send the ready text to the chat. If the note more often comes as a voice message in Telegram itself, the review of dictating text right in this messenger is on the page voice input in Telegram.
A voice note into text: steps through the bot
- Open the bot @potok_now_bot in Telegram and, if you are writing to it for the first time, press Start (the /start command).
- Send the voice note to the bot, as an attachment if it is saved as a file, or by forwarding if it is a voice message from a chat.
- Wait for the reply: the transcript of a short note arrives as text at once, of a longer one as a separate file.
- The export format, TXT or DOCX, is set in advance in the bot settings with the /settings command.
- In the same place, in /settings, timecodes and speaker markup are turned on, if there are several voices in the note.
- The ready text can be turned into notes at once with the Summary button: it collects the main points and the tasks by participants, if there are several.
Besides text: what else the bot sends
- along with the text the Summary button is available: a short summary of the note and the tasks by the participants of the conversation;
- the Tasks and deadlines button pulls out of the text separately who must do what and when;
- the Ask button answers a specific question about the content of the note, without retelling it whole;
- the Other format button gives the same text in Markdown, PDF, and also in the subtitle files SRT and VTT;
- if there are several voices and the markup was turned on in advance, the lines are labeled with the numbers Speaker 1, Speaker 2: the bot does not know names.
| Service | Platforms | Free | Price | Payment from Russia | Where speech is recognized |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potok bot and web version | Telegram (@potok_now_bot, mini app inside the bot) | 60 minutes per month | 7 days: 249 ₽, 30 days: 449 ₽, one year: 2 890 ₽; included in the Potok app subscription | Russian bank cards, rubles | cloud, servers in Russia; internet required |
| Otter.ai | Web, iOS, Android, Chrome extension, Desktop (Mac/Windows), integrations with Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet | Basic: 300 minutes of transcription per month, up to 30 minutes per meeting, 3 imported files over the whole lifetime of the account, free forever | $16.99/mo (Pro, monthly billing, 1200 min/mo); $8.33/mo (Pro, billed yearly (the full year is charged at once)); $30/mo (Business, monthly billing) | not directly: dollar billing through international payment processors declines cards issued in Russia and Belarus (confirmed by independent Russian-language guides on dtf.ru and vc.ru; no official Otter.ai statement about blocking Russia was found, this follows from general payment system restrictions) | cloud, US servers (the company is registered in the USA); the exact data center is not disclosed on the pricing page |
| Transkriptor | Web | 10 minutes on sign-up, limited to 2 min/day (according to the localized Russian site transkriptor.ru); the international site transkriptor.com states a free trial (up to 90 minutes according to secondary sources; the official pricing page could not be opened directly because it timed out) | 490 ₽/one-time (Start, 150 minutes (transkriptor.ru)); 790 ₽/one-time (Pro, 700 minutes (transkriptor.ru)); 1900 ₽/one-time (Premium, 2100 minutes (transkriptor.ru)) | yes, on the localized site transkriptor.ru: Visa/Mastercard/Mir bank cards with no fee, SBP via QR code with no fee, YooMoney with a 3% fee; payments are one-off (no subscription) and processed by the KASSA service. The international site transkriptor.com presumably bills in dollars; this is not confirmed directly (the pricing page timed out) | not disclosed |
| SaluteSpeech Bot (Sber) | Telegram | free; voice messages, audio and video notes | — | not disclosed | SaluteSpeech cloud (Sber) |
| Voicy (@voicybot) | Telegram | free; on the Wit.ai engine, recordings of up to 50 seconds | — | not disclosed | Wit.ai, Yandex SpeechKit or Google Speech; the user chooses the engine |
| Voicee (@Voicee_AI_Bot) | Telegram, Web | 45 minutes to start | 500 ₽/hour of recording (without a package; cheaper with packages) | rubles | not disclosed |
| KolerskyAI Whisper Bot | Telegram | the first 5 minutes | 69 ₽/15 minutes; 149 ₽/50 minutes; 490 ₽/200 minutes | rubles | not disclosed |
| Transkribator (@gotranscribeai_bot) | Telegram, Max | 3 transcriptions per month | — | not disclosed | not disclosed |
| Voix (@RecogMyAudioBot) | Telegram | voice messages up to 15 minutes, video up to 6 minutes | — | not disclosed | not disclosed |
| Telegram voice message transcription | Telegram | without Premium, a few transcriptions per week; with Premium, no limit on their number | — | not disclosed | Telegram servers |
| Speech2Text.ru | Web | 3 hours on sign-up | — | not disclosed | not disclosed |
| Service | Free | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Potok bot and web version | 60 minutes per month | 7 days: 249 ₽, 30 days: 449 ₽, one year: 2 890 ₽; included in the Potok app subscription |
| Otter.ai | Basic: 300 minutes of transcription per month, up to 30 minutes per meeting, 3 imported files over the whole lifetime of the account, free forever | $16.99/mo (Pro, monthly billing, 1200 min/mo); $8.33/mo (Pro, billed yearly (the full year is charged at once)); $30/mo (Business, monthly billing) |
| Transkriptor | 10 minutes on sign-up, limited to 2 min/day (according to the localized Russian site transkriptor.ru); the international site transkriptor.com states a free trial (up to 90 minutes according to secondary sources; the official pricing page could not be opened directly because it timed out) | 490 ₽/one-time (Start, 150 minutes (transkriptor.ru)); 790 ₽/one-time (Pro, 700 minutes (transkriptor.ru)); 1900 ₽/one-time (Premium, 2100 minutes (transkriptor.ru)) |
| SaluteSpeech Bot (Sber) | free; voice messages, audio and video notes | — |
| Voicy (@voicybot) | free; on the Wit.ai engine, recordings of up to 50 seconds | — |
| Voicee (@Voicee_AI_Bot) | 45 minutes to start | 500 ₽/hour of recording (without a package; cheaper with packages) |
| KolerskyAI Whisper Bot | the first 5 minutes | 69 ₽/15 minutes; 149 ₽/50 minutes; 490 ₽/200 minutes |
When the bot will not suit
A note that is not in Russian is not for this bot: it recognizes only Russian speech, and there is no translation. Real names of speakers will not appear either: numbers Speaker 1, Speaker 2 are put in their place. The bot does not transcribe a live conversation on the fly, only an already finished recording. It will not accept a link from Instagram or TikTok: of the video platforms it accepts only YouTube, VK Video and RuTube. A broader overview of transcription services is in the comparison of transcription services. This is cloud processing: without the internet the bot will not start, everything is computed on servers in Russia.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, forwarding works the same as sending a file directly: the bot accepts both forwarded recordings and attached files.
Yes, all transcripts stay in the My recordings section: you can open it and check against the text at any time.
With Potok you can dictate the minutes live, speaking them during or right after the meeting. Transcribing an already recorded audio file of a meeting (a finished Zoom or Telemost recording) is a separate transcription task: such a file can be sent to Potok's Telegram bot @potok_now_bot.
Voice input is real-time dictation into the active text field. Transcription turns an already finished audio or video recording (a lecture, a call, a podcast) into text after the fact, often with diarization (splitting by speaker).
Voice input is real-time dictation: you speak and immediately get text in the active field. Transcription turns an already finished audio or video recording (for example, a meeting recording) into text after the fact. The Potok app handles the first task, live dictation; finished recordings in Russian are transcribed by its Telegram bot @potok_now_bot.
Yes, several platforms have built-in meeting transcription: Zoom for cloud recordings, Microsoft Teams during the meeting, Google Meet on Google Workspace plans. The alternative is to record the sound and process it with a separate transcription service after the call. The Potok app does not do this kind of transcription, it is for live dictation; a call recording can be sent as a file to Potok's Telegram bot @potok_now_bot.
Transcribe your own recording
Forward a voice message, or send a file or a YouTube, VK Video or RuTube link to Potok's Telegram bot, and the text arrives in the same chat. 60 minutes per month for free.
Open @potok_now_bot in TelegramPrimary sources: core.telegram.org · www.ixbt.com · developers.sber.ru · t.me
Transcribe a recording in Telegram
Voice messages, video notes, audio and video are transcribed by Potok's Telegram bot @potok_now_bot: forward it a voice message from any chat, or send a file or a YouTube, VK Video or RuTube link. A short recording comes back as text in the chat, a long one as a file; timestamps and speaker labels can be turned on. The buttons give a short summary, tasks and deadlines, an answer to a question about the recording and export to TXT, DOCX, PDF or SRT. Large files, up to 2 GB, are easier to upload in the bot's mini app, via the Upload button next to the input field. The bot recognizes Russian speech; 60 minutes per month are free.