Podcast transcription cost: one episode or a monthly plan?
Compare the real Loqena cost for one podcast episode, four episodes, 10 hours and 20 hours, including the one-time $5 pack and $9/$19 monthly plans.
| Recording volume | Minutes | Best current option | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 episode | 60 min | 1 pack | $5 once |
| 4 episodes | 240 min | Pro 600 | $9/month |
| 10 episodes | 600 min | Pro 600 | $9/month |
| 20 episodes | 1,200 min | Pro 2000 | $19/month |
Estimate your monthly recording volume
Enter the number of episodes and their average duration. The estimate uses the current Loqena prices before tax.
Estimate only. Audio usage is based on detected duration; multiple packs may require separate purchases.
Prices before any applicable tax. Confirm the exact file duration and checkout total before purchasing.
The short answer
For one 60-minute episode, Loqena's 60 Minute Pack costs $5 once and does not renew. If you process 240 minutes or more in a month, the $9 Pro 600 plan can cost less than buying separate packs. The Pro 2000 plan costs $19 per month and covers up to 2,000 minutes. The price shown at Waffo checkout is the authoritative price and may include applicable tax.
What the free allowance covers
Every device gets 30 free transcription minutes per day, capped at 180 minutes per month. A 60-minute episode can technically fit inside the monthly free allowance, but not inside one daily allowance. If you need the whole episode today, split the work across days or use paid minutes.
When the one-time pack is cheaper
For one 60-minute episode, the $5 pack is $4 cheaper than the $9 monthly plan. The same logic applies when your recording volume is irregular: a one-time pack does not create a recurring subscription. A two-hour recording needs two packs, or $10, which is still close to the monthly entry price; check the current checkout and the exact duration before buying.
When Pro 600 becomes cheaper
Four 60-minute episodes require 240 paid minutes. Four one-time packs cost $20, while Pro 600 costs $9 per month and includes 600 minutes. The monthly plan becomes the better fit when you regularly produce roughly four or more hours of audio each month and can use the recurring allowance.
When Pro 2000 makes sense
Ten 60-minute episodes use 600 minutes and fit Pro 600. Twenty 60-minute episodes use 1,200 minutes; that exceeds the 600-minute plan but fits Pro 2000 for $19 per month. Subscription minutes reset on renewal and do not roll over, so compare the plan against the minutes you expect to use during that billing period.
Costs beyond the minute price
Budget review time as well as transcription minutes. You still need to check names, numbers and quotes; automatic speaker separation is not included by default; and subtitle timing may need correction. A cheap first pass is useful only when it reduces the total time spent editing the final transcript and show notes.
A simple decision rule
Start with the actual duration of the recording you need to process now. If it is a single episode or an occasional job, price the required number of 60-minute packs. If the monthly total repeatedly exceeds the pack cost, compare Pro 600. Move to Pro 2000 only when the projected monthly minutes exceed 600 but remain within 2,000.
Inspect the output before committing to a larger plan
Use the real 19-second transcript example to judge the first-pass quality on names, punctuation and timestamps. A small one-time purchase is the lowest-risk way to evaluate the workflow before choosing a recurring plan. Loqena does not promise human-level accuracy, legal certification or automatic overlapping-speech separation.