Best Hindi, Tamil and Indian-language transcription tools in 2026
Updated 30 October 2026. Competitor facts below were read on each tool's own website (dates and links at the end). We make hearlog, so we say where other tools fit better.
The short answer
- Hindi, Hinglish and other Indian languages, recorded in rooms and on phones: hearlog — made in India, writes Hindi-English mixing as spoken, 300 free minutes a month, Pro from ₹299/month, SRT subtitles.
- Online team calls in English with a bot or bot-free capture: the meeting-notes tools in the table (Otter, Fathom, Fireflies, Krisp and others) are built for that.
- Podcast or video production: studio tools such as Riverside and Descript record and edit; they are different products from a transcription app.
- A language outside the major Indian ones: check the language lists below — a few tools list 100+ languages.
Tools compared (what each site says)
| Tool | Indian languages listed | Free plan | Cheapest paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| hearlog | Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Marathi, Malayalam, Kannada and more; Hinglish as spoken | 300 minutes a month, files to 100 min, no card | Pro ₹299/month or ₹2,990/year |
| Maestra | Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Marathi, Malayalam, Kannada, Gujarati and Punjabi listed for transcription | No free plan with stated limits on the pricing page (it offers a free start / trial) | Lite: $23/month (yearly) for 180 minutes a month; or pay as you go, $12 per 60 minutes |
| Fireflies.ai | Hindi (and Hindi in Latin script), Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Marathi, Malayalam, Kannada, Gujarati and Punjabi listed | Free: transcription with limits noted on the page, limited AI summaries, 400 minutes of storage per team | Pro: $10 per seat/month billed annually |
| Happy Scribe | Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Marathi, Malayalam, Kannada, Gujarati and Punjabi listed | Free: meeting recordings up to 45 minutes each, a 10-minute free trial of AI transcription, 3 files a month with AI Chat | Basic: $8.50/month billed annually, or $17 billed monthly |
| MeetGeek | Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Marathi, Malayalam, Kannada, Gujarati and Punjabi listed | Basic: free, 3 hours of transcription a month, 3 months of storage | Pro: $15.99 on the plan card ($9.99 per user/month in its calculator) |
| VEED | Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Marathi, Malayalam and Punjabi subtitle pages listed | Not checked | Not checked |
| Tactiq | Hindi, Telugu, Bengali, Malayalam, Kannada and Gujarati each have a transcription page linked | Free: 1 user, 10 transcripts a month, 5 AI credits a month | Pro: $8 per user/month, annual billing |
| Notta | Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Gujarati listed for transcription | Free: 120 minutes a month, up to 3 minutes per conversation, 50 file uploads a month | Pro: $8.17/month billed annually ($97.99/year); 1,800 minutes a month, up to 5 hours per recording |
| Sonix | Hindi, Bengali, Marathi and Tamil listed | No ongoing free plan; a one-time trial with 30 transcription minutes | Pay as you go: $10 per hour of media; Core subscription $25/month |
| Trint | Hindi, Bengali, Marathi and Tamil listed | Not checked | Not checked |
| Rev | Hindi, Tamil and Telugu listed (on plans above Essentials) | Free: 45 AI transcription and caption minutes a month, 1 user | Essentials: $25.49 per seat/month billed annually, or $29.99 monthly |
| Sembly AI | Hindi and Tamil listed | Free trial: 1 meeting hour, 1 user | Basic: $10/month billed annually ($17 billed monthly, per its FAQ) |
| Descript | Hindi listed as Beta; no other Indian language listed | Free: 60 media minutes a month | Hobbyist: from $16 per person/month (the page also shows $24; annual vs monthly is not labelled) |
| Fathom | Hindi listed; no other Indian language listed | Free plan: unlimited recordings and transcriptions (some features marked limited use) | Premium (individuals): $20/month or $16/month billed annually; Team: $19 or $15 per user/month, 2-user minimum |
| tl;dv | Hindi listed; no other Indian language listed | Free plan at 0.00 EUR; limits not stated on the page we could read | Pro: 18.00 EUR per seat/month billed annually; 29.00 EUR billed monthly |
| Krisp | Hindi listed; no other Indian language listed | No ongoing free plan shown; a 7-day free trial, no card required | Core: $16 per user/month billed monthly, $8 per user/month billed annually |
| Read AI | Hindi listed for meeting reports; no other Indian language listed | Free: 5 meeting transcripts a month, no card required | Pro: $15 per user/month billed annually, or $19.75 billed monthly |
| Otter.ai | No Indian language in the stated list | Basic: 300 minutes a month per user, up to 30 minutes per conversation, 3 file imports per user (lifetime) | Pro: $8.33 per user/month billed annually ($16.99 shown struck through; $8.49* shown for monthly) |
Read on each tool's own site on 15 Oct 2026 (Fathom and Krisp re-read on 30 Oct 2026); prices change, so confirm on their page. Not listed above because we could not read an Indian-language list on their site: TurboScribe, Transkriptor, Riverside.
What to check before you choose
- Your exact language. "Supports Hindi" is not "supports Tamil". Open the tool's language list and find yours.
- Mixed speech. If you speak Hinglish, upload a real minute of it and read the result before paying.
- Where the audio comes from. Tools that join online calls do not help with a classroom or a phone recording you already have.
- Price in your currency. Most tools price in dollars; hearlog prices in rupees in India.
- Accuracy. No honest tool can promise one number for every voice and room. Check names, dates and amounts before sharing a transcript.
Where hearlog is the better fit — and where it is not
hearlog suits lectures and UPSC notes, legal case folders, interviews, WhatsApp voice notes and SRT subtitles in Indian languages, and lets you ask one question across a folder of recordings. It does not join your Zoom or Meet calls, and it does not record video. If you need a bot in online meetings, or a language outside its 50+, another tool in the table may suit you better.
Questions
Which transcription tool is best for Hindi and Hinglish?
It depends on the job. hearlog is built around Indian languages and writes mixed Hindi-English as spoken, with 300 free minutes a month. Several other tools also list Hindi; the table on this page shows what each tool's own site says, with the date it was read.
Is there a free Indian-language transcription app?
hearlog's free plan gives 300 minutes a month with files up to 100 minutes and no card. Other tools have free plans or trials with different limits — see the table.
Can these tools write subtitles (SRT) in Indian languages?
hearlog Pro downloads .srt subtitle files in the language of the transcript (4 hours a month, with extra-hour packs). Check each other tool's own site for subtitle export in the language you need.
Source data checked 2026-10-15 unless marked otherwise.
hearlog
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