Simon Says vs Sonix Comparison 2026
Simon Says exports a transcript straight into Premiere or Resolve and can assemble a rough cut from the lines you select, for $15 an hour pay as you go or $20 a month with two hours included. Sonix bills by the hour too, at $10, cheaper on that meter, and suits work that arrives in bursts rather than every week, with Core at $25 a month for five hours. Simon Says is built to land inside an edit; Sonix is built to be paid for only when you actually transcribe.
At a glance
- Sonix starts cheaper, at $10.
- Neither has a free tier.
Side by side
Simon Says | Sonix | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $20 | From $10 |
| Pricing model (they differ) | Paid subscription | Free trial, then paid |
| Free tier | No | No |
| Billing (they differ) | Monthly or annual | Usage-based |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Not stated | Not stated |
Simon Says
Transcription built to land in an edit
Simon Says transcribes and translates, then exports into the editing software the footage is already in rather than handing back a text file to retype. The transcript editor pairs with a visual subtitle editor for checking how captions sit on the picture. An assembly mode on the paid tiers lets a rough cut be built by selecting lines of the transcript, which is the feature documentary editors buy it for.
Our note
The break-even is a little over an hour a month, and below that the pay as you go tier is the right answer. Assembly mode is the feature worth paying the subscription for, and it is the one nothing else in this category does properly.
Sonix
Transcription you can pay for by the hour
Sonix will bill by the hour rather than by the month, which is the right shape for somebody who transcribes a batch of interviews twice a year and nothing in between. Accuracy across its 54 languages is good and the editor lines the text up against the audio. Subscribers get storage and an AI workspace that the hourly rate does not include.
Why people weigh these two
- Sonix instead of Simon Says
- Sonix sells transcription by the hour from $10, with an editor that lines the text up against the audio.
- Simon Says instead of Sonix
- Simon Says formats the transcript to drop straight into an editing timeline, starting at $20 with no free tier, built for a video editor rather than a researcher.
Which one should you pick
Pick Simon Says if the transcript needs to become an edit: assembly mode builds a rough cut from selected lines, and everything exports straight into the timeline. Pay as you go is $15 an hour, and the $20 a month Starter plan pays for itself past roughly an hour of use a month.
Pick Sonix if the work arrives in bursts, like an interview series twice a year, and a subscription would sit unused most months. Pay As You Go is $10 an hour, a third cheaper than Simon Says' hourly rate, and Core at $25 a month for five hours works out to $5 an hour if you do subscribe.
Common questions
- Which is cheaper for occasional pay-as-you-go transcription?
- Sonix, at $10 an hour against Simon Says' $15 an hour, a third less.
- Can Sonix build a rough cut from the transcript like Simon Says' assembly mode?
- No, that is not in its feature list. Sonix aligns text to audio so a transcript is quick to correct, but assembling a cut from selected lines is specific to Simon Says.
- Which one supports more languages?
- Simon Says states translation to over 100 languages. Sonix states 54, which it describes as more than most competitors reach.
- Can I test either one before paying?
- Sonix gives 30 free minutes with no card, enough to judge accuracy on your own audio. Simon Says has no free tier, but its pay-as-you-go rate needs no card to start and no monthly commitment either.
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.