Comparison

CueScribe vs Transcriptinator

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

CueScribe

This app transforms audio recordings into searchable, speaker-identified text transcripts. It processes everything locally on your device, offering various export formats for seamless integration with other productivity tools. Maintain privacy with no cloud uploads.

Highlights
  • On-device transcription and speaker identification
  • Import audio from various sources
  • Speaker labeling and naming
  • Searchable transcript library
  • Export in plain text, Markdown, or JSON
  • Optional iCloud sync
  • Supports 17 regional variants across 6 languages
Features
Read full description

CueScribe turns recordings into transcripts that know who spoke when, entirely on your iPhone. Record a conversation in the app, or import audio from Voice Memos, Files, or any other app. CueScribe transcribes them locally, separates the voices, and lets you name each speaker. The result lands in a library you can search, tag, and share. No cloud servers, no audio uploads, no accounts. Export to plain text, Markdown, JSON, or OKF and drop a transcript into Obsidian, Notion, an AI tool like Claude, or wherever you keep your notes. CueScribe captures the words. Your tools do the thinking and the linking. WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH CUESCRIBE • Interviews. Journalists, researchers, and oral historians get speaker-labeled transcripts of long-form conversations. • Meetings and One-on-Ones. Drop a recording in after a call, get a transcript with named participants, and tag it by project for later. • Lectures and study notes. Record a class and search the transcript by keyword when you need to find a specific point. • Podcasts and content. Capture an episode and walk away with a transcript ready for show notes, blog posts, or quote pull-outs. • Therapy, coaching, and legal work. Privacy-sensitive professions get accurate transcripts without their clients' audio touching an online service. • Field research and site visits. Record observations on the go and tag them by site or subject so they're easy to find later. • Voice journaling. Capture a thought as audio, read it back as text, and search across months of entries. WHY CUESCRIBE • Knows who said what. Every transcript is automatically split into speaker turns. Tap a speaker to give them a name (Sarah, Client, Interviewer), and these flow through every export format, much needed context for your AI tooling. Name a speaker once and CueScribe recognizes their voice in future recordings, naming them automatically. • Everything runs on-device. Both transcription and speaker identification happen on your iPhone using state-of-the-art speech processing. Your audio is never processed online, and the source audio can be deleted after processing. • Capture on Apple Watch. Record from your wrist and recordings sync to your iPhone to transcribe automatically. • Share audio from Voice Memos (or any app that exports audio) and CueScribe opens and starts transcribing. • Speaks your variant. 17 regional variants across 6 languages, so the transcriber is tuned to the accent in your recording. • Your library, organized. Tag transcripts. Filter by All, Recent, Untagged, or your tags. Search by title, tag or speaker. Sort by recorded date, transcribed date, or title. • Share in the format you need. One-tap copy as plain text, or export as plain text, Markdown, JSON, or OKF, depending on your destination. Speaker names are baked into every format. • Automate with Shortcuts. Export transcripts from the Shortcuts app to slot CueScribe into your workflows. • Syncs across your devices. Optional iCloud sync keeps transcripts in step on iPhone and iPad via your private iCloud database. Audio never syncs, but is backed by your iCloud Device Backup. LANGUAGES CueScribe transcribes audio in 17 regional variants across 6 languages. Pick one variant per recording, matched to the speaker's accent, for best accuracy. Every variant runs fully on-device. • English: United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa • Spanish: Spain, Mexico • French: France, Canada • German: Germany • Italian: Italy • Portuguese: Brazil, Portugal PRIVACY No online processing, no tracking, no analytics, and no sign-in. Transcription and speaker identification run on-device, and the source audio can be deleted after processing. If you enable iCloud Sync, only text (transcripts, statistics, tags, speaker names, etc.) syncs through your own private Apple iCloud.

About

Transcriptinator

Features
Read full description

Transcriptinator turns your voice into structured notes without sending audio anywhere. RECORD & TRANSCRIBE, FULLY OFFLINE Tap Record. Speak. Get a transcript. Everything happens on your iPhone using open-source Whisper models — audio never leaves your device, and the app works with no internet after initial setup. LEARNS WHO'S SPEAKING Enroll your voice once and Transcriptinator recognises you in every future recording. Add colleagues, family, or interview subjects with one guided sample each. Multi-speaker conversations get labelled automatically. IMPORT EXISTING AUDIO Bring in voice memos, meeting recordings, or any audio file from Files. Transcriptinator decodes WAV, M4A, MP3, AIFF, and more, then processes them the same way as live recordings. PICK YOUR QUALITY TIER - Fast (Whisper base, ~200 MB): quick turnaround for short notes - Balanced (Whisper small, ~600 MB): the everyday default - Accurate (Whisper medium, ~1.4 GB): best quality for interviews and meetings OPTIONAL: BRING YOUR OWN AI Connect your own API key from Anthropic, OpenAI, or Google to unlock: - Automatic document classification (meeting, todo list, journal, interview, etc.) - Todo extraction with assignees and due dates - Calendar event extraction with dates and locations - Question, decision, and note extraction - Custom extraction rules you write yourself Only text transcripts are sent to the provider you choose. Audio and speaker embeddings never leave your device. The app is fully useful without any AI configured. WHAT YOU'LL SEE - Home: your recordings, tap to play, swipe to transcribe or delete - Recording detail: full transcript with per-speaker chips and tap-to-seek - People: manage voice profiles, rename, merge, or delete - Extractions: todos, events, and notes with one-tap "Add to Calendar" or Share WHY OFFLINE MATTERS - No monthly subscription for transcription - Works on planes, in remote locations, at conferences with poor WiFi - Sensitive conversations (medical, legal, personal) stay on your phone - No account required — install and go Requires ~1 GB of storage for the recommended model bundle plus your recordings. Downloads happen once during setup.

Screenshots

CueScribe4 screens
Transcriptinator4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Transcriptinator at none against CueScribe's 2. Transcriptinator also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs monthly) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. CueScribe sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Transcriptinator asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

CueScribe ships an update monthly, Transcriptinator every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 5, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
CueScribe versus Transcriptinator: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCueScribeTranscriptinator
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings3 — better—
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, Apple WatchiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS26.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB34 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperGraeme WeltonCherry Blossom Development

In-app purchases

2 purchases

CueScribe

Subscriptions2
  • Plus Monthly3 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Plus Yearly$19.991 Year
None

Transcriptinator

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is CueScribe free?
CueScribe is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Transcriptinator free?
Transcriptinator is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do CueScribe or Transcriptinator have ads?
Neither CueScribe nor Transcriptinator shows ads.
Which is updated more often, CueScribe or Transcriptinator?
CueScribe ships an update monthly, and Transcriptinator every 5 days. Most recently, CueScribe was updated on October 5, 2026 and Transcriptinator on October 3, 2026.

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