⚔️ Abrège vs TranscribeMe
TranscribeMe counts your minutes. Abrège counts your voice notes.
TranscribeMe is a full WhatsApp bot, backed by the TranscribeGo platform: transcription, summaries, translation, 90+ languages, a web app. Its free tier stops at 10 minutes of audio a month, that's two or three slightly long voice notes. Abrège does one thing, inside WhatsApp, and counts in summaries rather than minutes.
Where TranscribeMe is a good choice
Credit where it's due: TranscribeMe does clearly more than Abrège. It's a native WhatsApp bot, plus a Telegram bot and a web app to drop files into. Beyond transcription, the platform offers AI summaries, automatic translation, article generation from audio, and claims 90+ languages. It's published by Rather Labs, in Argentina, and it's a serious product. If you transcribe long recordings, if you need the full text, translation, or to work outside WhatsApp, they're far better equipped than we are. Abrège does none of that.
Where Abrège changes the game
The difference comes down to the unit of measure, and it's more concrete than it looks. On their side, the free tier is worth 10 minutes of audio a month: a single 12-minute voice note goes over it. Then it's $6.99 a month for 200 minutes, $19.99 for 1,000. With Abrège, you count in summaries: 5 a month for free, whatever their length, and the entry tier is €3 a month. But long voice notes are precisely the ones you'd rather not listen to, so charging by the minute means charging the most for exactly what's the problem. The rest is about scope: they aim at transcription broadly, we aim at one move, forward a WhatsApp voice note and get the gist, with a summary tuned for spoken French, its accents and its slang.
The comparison
Abrège vs TranscribeMe, point by point
| 🍿 Abrège | TranscribeMe | |
|---|---|---|
| Free-tier unit | 5 summaries a month | 10 minutes of audio a month |
| A 12-minute voice note | Counts as 1 summary | Blows the free quota on its own |
| Entry price | €3/month | $6.99/month (200 min) |
| What you get | The gist, transcription optional | Transcription, summary, translation, article |
| Where it works | WhatsApp, Telegram, web app | |
| Languages | 100+, tuned for spoken French | 90+ languages |
| Publisher | French company | Rather Labs, Argentina |
Comparison checked and updated in September 2026. Source: transcribego.com.
« They count the minutes. We count the voice notes. »
Choose TranscribeMe if...
- → You transcribe long recordings and you want the full text.
- → You need translation, generated articles, or a web app.
- → You want the same tool on Telegram as much as WhatsApp.
Choose Abrège if...
- Your voice notes are long: counting in summaries rather than minutes changes everything.
- You want the gist in three lines, not a full text to re-read.
- You want one simple thing done well, and €3 covers it.
Frequently asked questions
- It has a free tier, but capped at 10 minutes of audio a month, then $6.99 for 200 minutes and $19.99 for 1,000. So it's a trial tier rather than a free service. Abrège offers 5 summaries a month, with no length limit per voice note, then €3 a month.
- Scope and unit of measure. TranscribeMe aims at transcription broadly: full text, translation, articles, 90+ languages, a web app. Abrège does one move, forward a WhatsApp voice note and get the gist. If you want the toolbox, take them. If you just want to stop listening to voice notes, take Abrège.
- Because a 12-minute WhatsApp voice note blows TranscribeMe's free monthly quota on its own, while it counts as one summary with us. Charging by the minute makes the most expensive thing precisely what's the problem: long voice notes, the ones you specifically want to avoid listening to.
- Yes. Both names coexist today: the WhatsApp bot is called TranscribeMe, the platform hosting it is called TranscribeGo. Same publisher, Rather Labs. If you were looking for TranscribeMe and landed on TranscribeGo, you're in the right place.
More on the blog
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