How Rev Offers Accurate Transcripts & Captions for $1.50/min

One of the most common questions we get asked at Rev is how we offer such low prices while guaranteeing a high level of accuracy. After doing sufficient research to find the best online transcription service, businesses often end up asking what the catch is with Rev’s pricing. How can Rev charge $1.50 per minute, return the final transcript or caption file in just a few hours and still maintain 99%+ accuracy? Many assume we automate the work through voice recognition software or outsource the work to low-cost firms overseas, but that’s not the case as I’ll discuss in this post.

Who Does the Work?

Rev uses humans, rather than software, to do all of our transcription and caption work. We have a large network of more than 10,000 freelancers (Revvers) that fulfill thousands of orders every day. Every Revver is required to pass a stringent grammar, spelling, and skills test to qualify. Due to the requirement for strong English skills, nearly all of our Revvers are based in the United States and Canada.

How is the Work Done so Fast?

Traditional software such as Microsoft Word is tedious to use for transcription because it doesn’t seamlessly incorporate audio and video files in the interface. For this reason, we provide our Revvers with proprietary software and tools that our engineers built that make them up to 7x more efficient than with other software. In addition to the tools we’ve created for them, Revvers share knowledge in our private forum, asking questions and discussing ideas on how to be more efficient when working on customer files.

How Do You Control Quality?

One of the many ways we control quality is by having transcription and caption files graded by our most experienced Revvers. To work with us, a Revver must maintain an incredibly high level of performance. Aside from our internal grading processes and quality monitoring, our clients are also able to grade the quality of the files they receive. These scores are factored into the overall standing of each Revver.

How Do You Keep Prices Low?

We like to keep things simple for our customers by having transparent pricing. Many services advertise a low “base rate” but add in hidden charges for things like accents, multiple speakers, poor audio quality, and technical content. Our goal is to avoid the complexity around determining the final price for a transcript or caption file. Hiring people that work from home helps us keep overhead costs down and allows us to charge a fixed price of $1.50 per minute.

Our dedication to providing high-quality, low-cost services to our customers has earned us more than 2,700 5-star reviews. Our Revvers have worked on more than 30 million minutes of audio and video files for 100,000+ clients including companies like Google, Dropbox, Comcast and PBS, as well as small businesses, freelance journalists and independent filmmakers. If you’re trying to decide what service to use, be sure to check out our post on how to choose the best online transcription service.