Rev Transcription Review – Pros & Cons [2023]

Rev is a transcription and captioning tool that allows users to transcribe audio and video files with speed and accuracy. The platform has advanced speech recognition technology to convert speech into text in more than 120 languages. You also get to create captions and subtitles for your content with Rev. It even has human transcriptionists to get your job done (though this is a bit more expensive the accuracy is also higher). The quick turnaround time and flexible pricing make this a popular platform for transcription. Still, Rev has some drawbacks that we will cover in our review. Let’s dive in and explore its features, pros, cons, and pricing plans.

Top Features of Rev

Rev has quite an impressive feature set. We’re going to highlight the top features in our review, which will benefit most users.

Automatic Transcription of Audio and Video Files

With Rev, you can transcribe your audio and video files automatically. The state-of-the-art Rev AI takes care of the transcription to deliver documents faster and with fewer errors. With this tool, you can handle a large amount of transcription in a very short time.

Multiple Languages and Dialects

Transcription is highly useful for overcoming language barriers. Rev supports transcription in more than 120 languages so that you can generate transcription in any language you want. The tool also understands various dialects, so transcribing tough-to-decode audio or video files will be easier with Rev.

Customizable Timestamps with Speaker Identification

Timestamps in your transcriptions can be easily customized with Rev. Plus, you have speaker identification to make the transcription more accessible to the audience. Though it sometimes missed the correct identification, the overall performance seemed to be satisfactory. And various formatting options are available to shape the transcripts according to your needs.

Integration with Editing Tools

Powerful integration with third-party tools is one of the strongest selling points of Rev. By connecting your Rev account to audio and video editing software; you can easily generate transcriptions, captions, or subtitles for the content you want. So it gives a seamless experience.

Secure File Storage and Sharing

If you are working with a lot of transcriptions regularly, storing them securely is crucial. Rev allows you to store your files on the cloud, so the chance of losing them is close to zero. Plus, you can easily share files with others through the platform.

High Accuracy Rate

Transcriptions generated by Rev is highly accurate. You can achieve more than 90% accuracy with automatic transcriptions. Human transcriptions can reach the mark of 99% accuracy. But the automatic transcription seemed to deviate from the standard accuracy rate sometimes. Otherwise, the captions and subtitles were pretty accurate.

Fast Turnaround Time

The tedious job of transcription can be done very quickly using Rev. It can deliver transcriptions of large files within 24 hours. The turnaround time even reduces if the file is small. Though the pricing changes a bit when you want to get the transcriptions fast, most transcriptions take between 5 and 12 hours to complete.

Human-Verified Transcription

Besides the automatic transcription performed by the advanced AI tool, you can order human transcriptions on the platform. A professional transcriptionist will create and verify your transcriptions to make sure there are no errors. Though this process takes a bit longer than automatic transcription, you might get a more accurate transcription.

Captions and Subtitles

Transcriptions aren’t the only thing this tool can handle. With Rev, you can create stunning captions and subtitles for your content. The captions seemed to be relevant to your content most of the time. And the subtitles were very accurate, considering the turnaround time.

Rev API for Integration

If you are developing your own applications, you can use the Rev API to integrate its transcription service into the applications. This saves you from building the service from scratch, and the integrated service is expected to perform excellently. It also saves a lot of time and money.

Automatic Punctuation and Capitalization

Correct punctuation is extremely important to make your transcripts understandable. Rev generates automatic punctuation to produce high-quality transcripts that are easily understandable. The necessary capitalization is also done automatically so that you don’t need to spend time fixing these issues.

Transcription Editor

AI-generated transcriptions may not always be 100% accurate or up to your liking. So, you might want to make changes to polish the transcript. Rev allows you to do that through the transcription editor, where you can edit the generated transcript and give it a finishing touch to make it look more humane. This seemed to be a great feature for users who are always keen to be perfect.

Bulk Orders

To reduce the turnaround time, you can throw multiple files at the tool, and it will take care of them all at once. As all the files get transcribed simultaneously, it is very useful for users with vast amounts of transcribing tasks. So, you can boost productivity by ordering bulk transcriptions on the platform.

Customizable Settings for Various Industries

You might not require the same tone of transcription all the time. For example, if you are transcribing a legal document, the tonality should vary from that of a medical document. Luckily, you have the ability to customize these settings on Rev. Though the feature needs more refinement, it is pretty good in terms of altering the overall tonality.

Using Verbatim

You have the option to generate your transcript with verbatim. This means that the tool can add filler words as necessary to make the transcription more suitable for your needs. But this costs a bit higher than the regular cost of transcription. You can also exclude verbatim from your transcriptions.

Recognizing Non-Verbal Sounds

Plain transcriptions may sometimes be boring. To explain the mood of an audio or video file, non-verbal sounds, like applause or laughter, are essential. Rev has the ability to include these sounds in the transcriptions if you choose the option. Though the accuracy should still be improved, at least the feature is there.

Easy Collaboration

While working on transcriptions, you may want your teammates to access the necessary files. Collaborating with teammates is super easy. And you can even invite your clients to share the progress of the work, especially if you are working freelance.

User-Friendly Interface

The interface of this tool is pretty friendly to all levels of users. All the tools and options are organized neatly, but you might need some time to be familiar with them. Uploading files and working on the transcription editor is also easy. And the tool is pretty responsive, so you won’t find notable lags.

Recording and Uploading via Mobile App

Rev even offers a mobile app where you can record audio files directly. And if you have the files on your mobile device, you can upload files from there. It is very helpful when you want to start transcription on the go.

Pros & Cons of Rev

Like other transcription platforms, Rev has its pros and cons.

Rev Plans & Pricing

Rev currently offers two pricing models – pay-as-you-go and enterprise. Here’s an overview of each:

• Pay-as-you-go – It has different rates for different types of transcriptions.
  • Machine Transcription – starting at $0.02/minute
  • Human Transcription – starting at $1.50/minute
  • Language Identification – starting at $0.003/minute
  • Sentiment Analysis – starting at $0.0008/10 words
  • Topic Extraction – starting at $0.0008/10 words
• Enterprise – ask for a quote
  • Flexible commercial items
  • Dedicated account manager
  • Priority technical support
  • Additional free credits for evaluation

Our Take on Rev

Rev is an efficient transcription and captioning tool that offers various transcription services at an affordable price. It has a fast turnaround time to boost your productivity. Plus, you can work with multiple files at the same time. The accuracy rate is more than 90% for machine transcriptions. You can also order human transcription, where the accuracy rate is about 99%. You also have the ability to customize various settings to include or exclude verbatim, non-verbal sounds, etc. It also offers captions and subtitles for your content. The transcription editor is handy for making changes. And the tool supports over 120 languages. But captions and subtitles aren’t available in all languages. The supported file formats are limited, which can be an issue. Machine transcription is affordable at $0.02 per minute, but human transcription costs $1.50 per minute.