AssemblyAI vs Happy Scribe Comparison 2026
AssemblyAI is a speech to text API with no interface: send audio, get a transcript back, priced at $0.15 an hour with 185 free hours to build on. Happy Scribe is a finished app for transcripts and subtitles in 60-plus languages, free for short recordings and then $8.50 a month, with a human proofreader available on top of the machine. One is for a developer writing software around transcription. The other is for somebody who wants a transcript this afternoon without writing a line of code.
Speech to text you call as an API
Transcripts and subtitles in 60-plus languages
At a glance
- Both have a genuinely free tier.
Side by side
AssemblyAI | Happy Scribe | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Not listed | From $8.50 |
| Pricing model | Free plan, paid tiers | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing (they differ) | Usage-based | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | Not stated | None |
| API | Yes |
AssemblyAI
Speech to text you call as an API
AssemblyAI is a speech to text API rather than an app: you send audio and get back a transcript, with speaker labels and summarisation available on the same call. Both pre-recorded and live streaming are covered, and the free tier is generous enough to build something real before paying anything. It is bought by people writing software, not by people who want a transcript this afternoon.
Our note
At fifteen cents an hour the price is not the thing to agonise over, so pick on accuracy for your audio and on whether you want speaker labels in the same call. Deepgram is the direct comparison and the two trade places depending on the recording.
Happy Scribe
Transcripts and subtitles in 60-plus languages
Happy Scribe does machine transcription and subtitles, and will sell you a human pass over the top when the machine is not good enough. The export list is long, including the subtitle formats an editor actually needs. Minutes are metered per year rather than per month, which suits lumpy production.
Only on this side
Why people weigh these two
- Happy Scribe instead of AssemblyAI
- Transcripts and subtitles in 60-plus languages from $8.50 with a free tier, sold as a service rather than called from code.
- AssemblyAI instead of Happy Scribe
- AssemblyAI is speech to text called as an API rather than used through a product interface, free to start, for building transcription into your own tool.
Which one should you pick
Choose AssemblyAI if you are building software that needs transcripts, a tool for creators or an internal pipeline, with speaker labels or live streaming captions behind an API call. Usage is $0.15 an hour with no monthly plan, and 185 free hours is enough to build and test something real before paying anything.
Choose Happy Scribe if you want a transcript and burned-in subtitles today, in more than one language, without writing code. Basic is $8.50 a month, Pro is $19 for 7,200 minutes a year with the full export list editors need, and human proofreading is available separately when the machine is not accurate enough. Happy Scribe is the wrong tool for anybody building a product around transcription, and AssemblyAI is the wrong tool for anybody who just wants a finished transcript without opening an editor.
Common questions
- Which of these is meant for a developer to build on?
- AssemblyAI is the API itself: audio in, structured text out, at $0.15 an hour after 185 free hours. Happy Scribe is a finished app for transcripts and subtitles, built for somebody who wants the output directly rather than something to integrate.
- Which one offers human proofreading?
- Happy Scribe does, charged separately from the subscription, for files where the machine transcript is not accurate enough. AssemblyAI's pipeline is automated end to end, with speaker labels and summaries generated on the same API call rather than checked by a person.
- How do the free allowances compare?
- AssemblyAI gives 185 free hours of pre-recorded transcription and 333 hours of streaming, aimed at testing before you commit any code. Happy Scribe gives unlimited 45-minute meeting recordings free plus a 10-minute trial of AI transcription, watermarked on video export until you pay.
- Which one handles subtitles for social video?
- Happy Scribe. It exports SRT on every plan and VTT, STL, XML, FCPXML and EDL from Pro upward, at $19 a month for 7,200 minutes a year. AssemblyAI returns structured text and speaker labels through its API, and turning that into a subtitle file is left to whatever you build on top of it.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.