Looking for the best Rev alternative? If so, keep reading below to discover some awesome companies and sites like Rev transcription.
Rev is probably the world’s most popular speech-to-text transcription platform. With a network of over 72,000 freelancers and a pretty accurate speech recognition AI system, the company can produce incredibly distinct and high-quality transcripts, subtitles, and captions for professionals and businesses.
The company also boasts streamlined service delivery. Clients are guaranteed a fast turnaround time and can choose freelancers based on their track record. Transcriptionists, on the other hand, get access to a vast pool of assignments and enjoy a flexible working schedule.
As is with most top freelance platforms, however, Rev’s freelancer base is extremely crowded. There are lots of new jobs popping up by the minute, but there are even more transcriptionists and captioners waiting to pounce on them. Every passing second is a fight for survival.
Additionally, the software seems to struggle with industry jargon, non-native accents, and fast speakers, which translates to more work and not necessarily more pay for transcriptionists.
It would also be safe to say that most Revvers don’t fancy the platform’s grading system. Only accounts rated 4.5 stars and above can bid for work, which is not good for newbies trying to find their feet on the platform. It’s also not suitable for clients, as good transcriptionists can be locked out due to trivial mistakes they made in their novice days.
In words of one syllable, Rev is good, but it’s not perfect. Here are 15 other companies like Rev that you might want to give a shot.
Websites Like Rev For Transcriptionists
Related: 30 Best Online Transcription Jobs From Home
1. FlexJobs
FlexJobs is a popular all-around freelance platform with a very active transcription category. The website gives freelancers access to thousands of jobs but requires them to pay for a premium subscription first.
Although this prerequisite may prove a hurdle for most up-and-coming transcriptionists, it is also a sieve to separate great, determined freelancers from jokers. Perhaps this explains why FlexJobs is nowhere near as crowded as Rev and why so many transcription clients prefer FlexJobs to dedicated platforms.
How much you make on FlexJobs is not dictated by the platform’s policies but by the client’s preference and budget limits. Entry-level jobs do not pay the same as executive jobs, the same way part-time and freelance positions do not pay the same as long-term and full-time employment.
2. TranscribeMe
TranscribeMe uses artificial and human intelligence to produce high-volume speech-to-text transcripts. Given that the company hires some of the best professionals in transcription and translation, its AI is pretty accurate and grows at a remarkably high rate.
TranscribeMe puts aspiring freelancers through their paces before letting them into the assignment pool. Through its training program, the platform ensures each new freelancer knows their way around the interface and can deliver to client specifications.
TranscribeMe pays its transcriptionists between $15 and $22 per audio hour.
Additional Reading: 15 Websites Like TranscribeMe
3. Tigerfish
To become a Tigerfish transcriptionist, you must be a US citizen. You also ought to have a Windows PC, a reliable internet connection, a telephone number, and a copy of Express Scribe.
Being one of the oldest freelance platforms on the internet, Tigerfish offers a highly streamlined experience for clients and freelancers.
Its fast turnaround attracts top clients and ensures tasks are well distributed among its active transcriptionists.
What sets Tigerfish apart from other companies like Rev is that it doesn’t pay on a per-minute/hour basis. It uses pay-per-line, instead, with rates ranging between $0.03 and $0.04. That’s approximately $0.005 per word.
4. GMR Transcription
GMR Transcription is a magnet for both clients and transcriptionists. It’s not hard to see why. The service relies entirely on human effort and has a grading system that makes it easy for clients to spot and hire good fits.
From a freelancer’s point of view, the company offers plenty of job opportunities, as there is zero competition with AI. The pay is relatively good, too; a chunk of the $3.50 per minute for same-day delivery and $1.25 per minute for a 3-4 week turnaround that clients pay goes to the transcriptionist.
GMR boasts 99% accuracy for its transcripts, just like Rev, but then cancels that out with a frustrating user interface and a lack of a transcript editor.
It is safe to say that GMR’s outdated site is its biggest undoing. But if you’re a freelancer who prioritizes accuracy over aesthetics, it is one of the best Rev alternatives to try out.
5. Babbletype
Babbletype focuses on the market research industry. The specialization, alongside the fact that all its transcriptionists are in-house employees, makes it stand head and shoulders above general transcription companies like Rev.
If you are a fast typist and are familiar with the dynamics of the market research world, Babbletype is the platform for you.
The company is almost always hiring transcriptionists and translators. It primarily targets US-based transcriptionists and translators who can speak English and Arabic, French, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, German, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, or Korean.
Babbletype pays per audio-minute (not work-minute), so speed is vital if you want to earn decently from the platform. Freelancers receive pay weekly through PayPal.
More websites like Rev
Additional Reading: 30 Online Medical Transcription Jobs From Home
6. Scribie
Scribie is similar to Rev in that it offers a blend of machine-generated and human-generated transcription services. Freelancers are typically charged with reviewing AI-generated transcripts to ensure their accuracy.
It’s a fairly light job but one that you don’t get on a silver platter. Scribie has a long waiting list, and you can only receive jobs after all the people that came before you get their shot.
Depending on your expertise and project intricacy, you can make $5-$25 per audio hour and a bonus if you cross the three-hour mark during a pay period.
7. Speechpad
Not many transcription companies offer their freelancers as much freedom and flexibility as Speechpad. As long as you abide by the site’s strict confidentiality requirements, you can choose when, how often, and how much you want to work. You can also work from anywhere and choose the type of work to do.
All bidding and working is done on the Speechpad website. New transcriptionists are taken through a detailed application process and given a worker account after being approved for work.
Your worker account gives you access to the job board, where you can filter jobs by length, pay rate, turnaround time, etc. Note that you won’t automatically qualify for all assignments. But by clicking the Get Qualified button on listings, you will see each job’s requirements.
Entry-level work pays $0.25-$1.00 per minute while captioning assignments pay $0.30-$1.00 per minute. Payment is via PayPal.
8. Crowdsurf
Crowdsurf offers hundreds of transcription and captioning work opportunities to independent freelancers of all experience levels.
Every couple of minutes, the platform uploads new video files onto the work market, where transcriptionists can access them.
The files are usually small, so squeezing them into your schedule is not hard. Also, all listings display deadlines and other project-specific details to guide your choices.
The pay rate is $0.17-$0.20 per audio minute, depending on your proficiency and the amount of work you have to complete.
9. Daily Transcription
Daily Transcription claims to offer some of the highest pay rates on the market, with freelancers earning a base rate of $0.75-0.85 per audio minute. Its top transcriptionists apparently make up to $950, which is quite remarkable, given freelancers decide their schedules and availability.
The Daily Transcription application process is straightforward. You first fill out a personal profile form, then take a skill assessment test followed by a transcription test.
Next, you will receive training and be allowed to start working. Payments are made weekly by check. You can also make arrangements to be paid via payment PayPal.
10. Verbal Ink
Verbal Ink started as a transcription company but extended into writing after Ubiqus acquired it in 2016. The company hires only US residents as most of its clients are also based in the United States.
Albeit the company doesn’t have a standard pay rate, its website mentions that transcribers get a living wage working on it.
Like Rev, payment on Verbal Ink is on a per-audio-minutes basis. However, each assignment on Verbal Ink has its unique pay rate.
Going by internet sources, freelancers earn between $11 and $20 per audio hour, which is standard.
Other sites like Rev
Additional Reading: How to Become a Transcriptionist
11. Transcription Hub
Transcriptionists on Transcription Hub are classed into Bronze, Silver, and Gold levels, depending on how they perform on the initial admission tests and how clients rate them over time.
You don’t need experience to join the platform, and the top levels are not necessarily reserved for seasoned transcriptionists. Unlike most other websites like Rev, Transcription Hub provides a level playing field for newbies and veterans to battle it out for jobs.
Better yet, the platform is available to every aspiring transcriptionist the world over. You only need a computer, an internet connection, and an admission test pass to start.
TH Transcriptionists earn upwards of $0.71 per media minute.
12. Dictate Express
Dictate Express hires only the best transcriptionists, thanks to its extensive application process. As a candidate, you will be put through your paces via Spelling, Confusing Words, and Commas Use tests rounded out with an audio transcription test.
What makes Dictate Express different from Rev is that it requires a pledge of commitment from freelancers. The company expects you to work on their site for at least 45 minutes every day.
The pay rate on Dictate Express used to be $0.07 per line before dropping to $0.03 following the introduction of VR.
13. eScribers
Mainly targeting players in the legal niche, eScribers hires transcriptionists with knowledge about US law. You could be hired without experience, but then you must display a fair acquaintance with legal jargon and processes.
As a legal transcriptionist, you will be charged with listening to audio recordings by court administrators and attorneys and putting them into words. You may also be required to format your files a certain way before submitting them.
It’s a different animal from ordinary transcription, but it’s learnable and doable.
EScribers pays $1.25 per page via direct deposit into a US bank account.
14. VIQ Solutions
Previously known as Transcription Express, VIQ Solutions is a transcription website that provides opportunities to aspiring part-time and full-time transcriptionists in the United States, Australia, and Canada.
The platform is partly AI-driven and partly human-driven, so it doesn’t have as many opportunities as purely human-dependent websites. The pay rate may not be as high either, but the workload is relatively light, and freelancers can handle more tasks per time.
Before joining VIQ Solutions as a freelancer, you will need to take a typing test, a spelling test, a work-at-home compatibility test, and a homonym test. The company will then closely monitor your activity and decide on whether to keep you or not based on your transcript accuracy, ability to meet deadlines, etc.
VIQ Solutions’ pay rate is $7 per audio hour. Payment is made twice every month.
15. SpeakWrite
Founded in 1997, SpeakWrite has been around for nearly as long as the internet. Its clients are mostly government agencies and law companies, though there are opportunities for regular transcription.
To become a transcriptionist on the site, firstly, you need to be American or Canadian. Secondly, you need to have a computer and be able to type at least 60 words per minute. That should be easy if you have worked in an office environment for at least a year – which, in itself, is a requirement, by the way.
Lastly, you must clear federal, state, and local background checks.
SpeakWrite pays transcriptionists $0.005 per word, which, according to the company, translates to $12-$15 per hour for most freelancers.
Additional Reading: Can You Make Good Money as a Transcriptionist?
Wrapping up
The existence of so many companies like Rev is proof that there is no perfect transcription service. Each one is different, and it’s up to you to find the one that best suits your needs.
Have you worked on any of these platforms? How did you find them? Share your experience with us in the comment section.
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