7 Cantonese Speech-to-Text Software Tested in 2026: Which One Really Understands Mixed Chinese-English?

Put the same Cantonese recording into different AI tools, and the transcripts can vary widely. So instead of asking "which Cantonese speech-to-text software is best," ask yourself one question first: Is the recording you have a meeting that needs follow-up, or a file that needs archiving?

This question determines whether you should choose a "meeting notes" or "file transcription" tool. The following 7 options are introduced based on this distinction.

Why Convert Cantonese Recordings to Text?

Cantonese is hard to transcribe not because AI isn't smart enough, but because "spoken" and "written" language are two different systems. In recordings, colleagues say things like "係咪" (is it), "搞掂" (done), "唔該晒" (thanks a lot), but in formal meeting minutes, these need to become "whether," "completed," "thank you"—most general AI just types what it hears, and the time you spend editing ends up similar to typing it yourself.

Add another layer: Hong Kong meetings mix Chinese and English. "This campaign launches next week, budget needs to be confirmed"—two languages in one sentence, and Mandarin-oriented tools often break it apart or mistranslate.

So before choosing a tool, figure out what kind of user you are: an office worker who has daily meetings and needs to produce minutes afterward, or someone who occasionally needs to turn an interview recording into text. The following 7 solutions cover both needs.

Tinrec (秒聽錄音) — Turn Meetings into Searchable, Collaborative Team Data

One-line positioning: Not just transcribing, but organizing meetings into data you can continue working with.

Desktop version records meetings without a bot: No need to invite a bot to Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, or Webex; the desktop version directly captures computer system audio and produces a transcript while the meeting is ongoing. For those who don't want to see "recording bot has joined" in client meetings, this is quite important.

Post-transcription workflow: AI summaries, chapters, key points, and action items are automatically generated; you can also view the meeting structure as a mind map. Want to ask "What was the supplier's quote?" Just ask in the AI chat box—no need to re-listen to an hour-long recording. Supports real-time translation and bilingual comparison, useful for cross-language meetings. Results can be exported to Notion, Google Docs, OneNote, Dropbox, etc., and you can also use Agent post-processing to generate reports, tables, and documents.

Team version: Independent team space; meeting data belongs to the team; you can set owners, admins, and regular members, assign and revoke seats; includes team hotwords, usage analytics, audit logs, and audio recycle bin. Note that roles and seats are two different things—members with valid roles but no seats can view, play, and read team data, but cannot upload, edit, or import/export.

Pricing: Personal plans include free version, weekly card, Pro monthly, and annual cards—choose based on usage frequency. Team version is USD 29.80 per paid seat per month, or USD 199 per paid seat per year (about USD 16.58/month), with 2,000 minutes of shared team import quota per paid seat per month; eligible teams get a 7-day trial, 1 free seat, and 300 minutes shared quota for the first time. Real-time recording is currently not deducted by minutes under active team plans and seats. Actual prices are subject to the official purchase page.

Who it's for: Office workers who have meetings every day and need to produce minutes and follow up on action items; departments that want to move meeting records from personal phones to a team database.

Subanana — Cantonese Transcription Done in the Browser

One-line positioning: A web tool designed for Cantonese, no software installation required.

Upload audio or video files, or paste a YouTube link, and AI will transcribe into text with speaker separation and punctuation; mixed Chinese-English is handled, and you can choose spoken or written style. You can also record directly in the browser during meetings or interviews. The first 15 minutes of each file can be previewed for free, so you can see the result for your recording before deciding to pay—this approach is quite practical for those unsure about accuracy.

Who it's for: YouTubers, content creators who need subtitles and spoken-to-written conversion.

iFLYTEK — Professional-Grade Recognition for Chinese Languages

One-line positioning: A veteran solution that invests heavily in Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese) recognition.

It is one of the few options in the Hong Kong market offering high-accuracy Cantonese transcription, and thus has supporters in industries with strict requirements for voice records, such as legal, medical, and education. Unlike the two above, it is more of a "professional recognition engine," not centered on meeting minutes workflow. Pricing is subject to the official page.

Who it's for: Professionals who require high recognition accuracy and work primarily in Chinese.

Notta — Multilingual Transcription Plus Team Solutions

Free version: 120 minutes per month, max 3 minutes per item; Pro annual billing about USD 8.17/month, 1,800 minutes per month; Business annual billing about USD 16.67/seat/month, offering unlimited transcription, role permissions, and usage reports. Covers multi-platform transcription, meeting notes, file import, and translation—highest overlap with Tinrec.

Who it's for: Users who want one tool to handle files in multiple languages.

Otter.ai — Strong for English Meetings, Not Enough for Cantonese

Otter is a mature AI meeting assistant. Basic free plan: 300 minutes per month; Pro annual billing about USD 8.49/user/month, including 1,200 minutes of in-app recording and 10 file imports per month; Business offers unlimited meetings and in-app recording. Accuracy and automatic summaries for English meetings are well-regarded, but Cantonese support is insufficient—if 90% of your meetings are in Cantonese, not recommended as your main tool.

Who it's for: Multinational companies, teams that mainly meet in English.

TurboScribe — Long Files and Batch Transcription

Free version: 3 files per day, max 30 minutes per file; Unlimited annual billing USD 120 (about USD 10/month), paid version supports up to 10 hours or 5 GB per file, and can upload 50 files at once. It is a cost-effective file transcription tool, focusing on long files, batch processing, subtitles, and translation.

Who it's for: People who have piles of historical recordings to clear at once and don't need real-time meeting features.

Google Docs / Google Keep — Completely Free Live Dictation

Free, but only suitable for short phrases and live dictation: does not support uploading audio files, and does not distinguish speakers. Fine for jotting a quick memo, but unrealistic for organizing an hour-long meeting.

Who it's for: Zero budget, only need occasional voice memos.

With So Many Options, How Should You Choose?

• Want summaries, action items, AI Q&A, and export after transcription → Tinrec
• Need to organize Chinese and mixed Chinese-English content together, with bilingual comparison → Tinrec
• Switch between phone, computer, and web → Tinrec
• Don't want to buy extra recording hardware, use existing computer and phone → Tinrec
• Mainly for YouTube subtitles, need spoken-to-written conversion → Subanana
• Work mainly involves professional Chinese records, pursuing stable recognition → iFLYTEK
• Need to clear dozens of long recordings at once → TurboScribe
• Don't want to pay at all, only for short memos → Google Docs voice input

4 Things to Know Before Converting Cantonese Recordings to Text

1. No tool will do 100% of spoken-to-written conversion for you. Even if AI transcribes well, converting "係咪" to "whether" still requires manual editing. The approach is to first extract key points using AI summaries and action items, then proofread only the paragraphs you need to quote—don't listen from start to finish. Tinrec's AI Q&A is for this step—asking "What were the three requests the client made?" is much faster than re-listening.

2. Recording quality determines everything. Environmental noise and recording distance are the biggest variables; multiple people talking over each other, air conditioning vents during meetings—any tool will see accuracy drop. The same app, placed on the table versus in front of the speaker, can produce very different results.

3. Check free quotas carefully. Free limits vary greatly: some are daily file counts (TurboScribe 3 per day, 30 minutes per file), some are per-item length limits (Notta free 3 minutes per item), some are first 15 minutes preview (Subanana). Before choosing, estimate how many minutes of recording you have per month.

4. For team use, distinguish roles and seats. Take Tinrec team version as an example: data is shared at the team level, not set as private per file; roles govern management, seats govern usage eligibility. When a member leaves or is removed, the team resources they were responsible for must be handed over to other active members—they don't leave with the person.

Also, before recording, remember to confirm compliance with local regulations and obtain consent from participants when necessary.

Conclusion

There is no "one-size-fits-all" for Cantonese speech-to-text: subtitle creators, file clearers, and daily meeting attendees need completely different features. But if you face the most common scenario for Hong Kong office workers—daily meetings, producing minutes and following up on action items afterward—Tinrec is the most feature-complete on the list: bot-free recording, transcript, summary, action items, AI Q&A, export, and team space all in one, no extra hardware needed. The others each have their clear territory; just match them according to the "How to Choose" section above.

References

• Free Cantonese Speech-to-Text App 2026 | Subanana
• Top 5 Speech-to-Text Tools in Hong Kong: Accurate Cantonese Recognition, Doubling Meeting and Interview Efficiency!
• Latest 4 Cantonese Speech-to-Text Tools in 2026: Solving Mixed Chinese-English and Meeting Notes Pain Points - Tinrec Blog
• SoundType AI Ultra-Accurate Transcript, Speech-to-Text, AI Dictation - Google Play App
• Free Transcription of Chinese (Cantonese) Audio to Text in Seconds