2026 Speech-to-Text Tools Compared: Which One Handles Chinese Best According to Dcard 2024 Discussions?

If you search for "speech-to-text" on Dcard, you'll probably see a dozen or so tools pop up. But the first question you should ask yourself isn't "which one gets the most recommendations"—it's: do you want a transcript, or do you want data you can use right after a meeting ends?

In those 2024 discussion threads, the complaints were pretty consistent: post-meeting organization takes too much time, Chinese transcription sometimes outputs simplified characters or strange words, and "you only get a transcript—you still have to extract the key points yourself." This article starts from these three pain points and takes a close look at Tinrec and Notta, the two tools most often compared on Dcard.

Tinrec vs Notta | Quick Overview

Tinrec (Miaoting Recording) is an AI meeting notes and collaboration tool for individuals and teams, focused on turning recordings into meeting data that can be searched, queried, and handed off. Notta is a tool that started with multilingual transcription and translation, covering file transcription, subtitles, and meeting notes.

Item	Tinrec	Notta
Core positioning	AI meeting notes and team collaboration	Multilingual transcription, translation, and meeting notes
Online meeting recording	Desktop version captures system audio; no bot needed	Meeting bot joins, or upload files
Keeps audio files	Yes; teams also have an audio recycle bin	Usually yes
Free quota	Free version offers basic quota for trial	120 minutes per month, max 3 minutes per session
Paid reference	Team version annual USD 199 per paid seat per year (about USD 16.58/month)	Pro annual equivalent from USD 8.17/month

Other tools often mentioned on Dcard are Otter and TurboScribe. The former leans toward English business meetings, and the latter toward batch file transcription. Their positioning is different, so this article won't cover them in detail.

Dimension 1 | Do you need to put a bot into online meetings?

When Notta records online meetings, it mainly uses a meeting bot approach, having an AI participant join Zoom or Meet to record for you. It's convenient, but when the host sees an extra stranger join, they usually ask, "Who is this?"

Tinrec's desktop version directly captures computer system audio, handling meeting audio played on a computer such as Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and Webex, without needing an extra bot to join. Note that this does not mean it automatically joins all calendar meetings—you still need to open Tinrec yourself and start recording.

→ This dimension: Tinrec wins. The difference is that no extra participant appears in the meeting room.

Dimension 2 | How smoothly does it handle Chinese and mixed Chinese-English?

This is the most frequently complained-about point on Dcard. Notta supports many languages, but as a tool advertised for multilingual use, Taiwanese users often encounter simplified characters and non-localized wording in actual output; this is related to model and language settings, not entirely a matter of tool quality.

Tinrec covers Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and multilingual meeting scenarios, supports organizing mixed Chinese-English content, and also provides team hotwords, allowing you to maintain internal product codes and proper nouns to reduce the chance of technical terms being transcribed incorrectly. It also supports real-time translation, allowing you to switch between original text, translation, or bilingual view.

One reminder: neither tool should promise a fixed accuracy rate. Recording quality, background noise, accents, and overlapping speakers all affect results. For important content, it's recommended to replay the recording and verify against timestamps.

→ This dimension: Each has its strengths. Tinrec is closer to Taiwanese teams in Traditional Chinese and team terminology maintenance.

Dimension 3 | After transcription, how much work is left for you?

After Notta produces a transcript, it offers outputs such as summaries, translations, and subtitles, covering basic post-meeting needs. But if your habit is one transcript, one key points document, and another to-do list, you still have to do it yourself.

Tinrec builds the post-meeting workflow into the tool: automatically generating summaries, chapters, and key points, extracting to-dos from discussions, and also supporting AI Q&A around meeting content. When you need to submit a report, you can use Agent post-processing to generate documents, reports, or tables, and export to common tools like Notion, Google Docs, OneNote, and Dropbox for further editing.

→ This dimension: Tinrec wins. The difference is how much work remains after "getting the transcript."

Dimension 4 | When teams use it together, does the data stay?

Notta's Business plan provides role permissions and usage reports, so team scenarios are supported.

Tinrec's team version is an independent team space, not multiple people sharing one personal account. Meeting data belongs to the team, and when members change, it is handed over to other active members, so it won't all disappear just because someone leaves. Management covers role and seat allocation, team shared quota, usage trends and member rankings, team hotwords, audit log queries and exports, and a 30-day audio recycle bin.

Here's an easy point of confusion: roles determine who can manage the team, and seats determine who can record, upload, edit, and export. Members without a seat can still view and play team data, but cannot perform resource-usage operations.

→ This dimension: Tinrec wins. Governance is more granular.

Dimension 5 | Is the free version enough, and when should you pay?

Notta's free version offers 120 minutes per month with a 3-minute limit per session. The quota is clearly stated—enough for short meetings, but long meetings will hit the limit. Pro annual billing is about USD 8.17/month with 1,800 minutes per month; Business annual billing is about USD 16.67 per seat per month, mainly offering unlimited transcription.

Tinrec's free version offers a basic quota, which you can use to try recording, importing, summaries, and transcription. The personal version also has weekly cards, Pro monthly cards, and Pro annual cards, suitable for different usage frequencies; the team version offers a 7-day trial for first-time eligible users, 1 free seat, and 300 minutes of shared import quota. After payment, each seat gets 2,000 minutes of team shared import quota per month, and real-time recording under an active plan is currently not deducted by minutes. For actual personal version quotas and prices, please refer to the official website purchase page.

→ This dimension: If you only do file transcription, Notta's quota is easier to calculate; if you need to handle online meetings and team collaboration, Tinrec's pricing is closer to actual usage.

What unique advantages does each have?

Tinrec's features

No meeting bot needed; the desktop version directly records online meetings, which is especially practical for client meetings.

Keeps recordings and supports file import, so interviews, courses, and historical audio outside of meetings can all be organized together.

Complete post-meeting outputs: summaries, chapters, to-dos, AI Q&A, reports, and table generation all in one place, and can be exported to existing workflows.

More complete team governance capabilities, with corresponding designs for seats, usage, auditing, recycle bin, and resource handover.

Notta's features

Strong foundation in multilingual and translation, offering more choices when handling non-Chinese content.

Clear free quota rules, and the Business plan offers unlimited transcription, attractive to pure high-volume transcription users.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the free version mentioned on Dcard really enough?

It depends on your meeting length and frequency. The free version is suitable for first verifying recognition quality, but if you have regular meetings every week, the quota usually won't last to the end of the month, and you'll eventually need to upgrade.

Does Tinrec need a meeting bot to join?

No. The desktop version captures system audio, and users simply start recording themselves, so no extra participant appears in the meeting.

Which one has more accurate Chinese recognition?

There's no fixed answer. It's recommended to take the same recording of your own meeting and run it through both tools for comparison, especially for mixed Chinese-English and company proper nouns.

What's the difference between the team version and the personal version? What is a seat?

Personal version data belongs to the personal account. The team version is an independent space where data belongs to the team, with additional roles, seats, shared quota, usage, and auditing. Seats determine whether you can record, upload, edit, and export; roles determine management permissions.

Will team members see all meeting data?

Currently, sharing is mainly at the team level. Active members can read team data, and file-level granular permissions are not yet available.

What should I pay attention to before recording?

Please comply with local regulations and, when necessary, obtain participants' consent before recording and transcribing.

Conclusion: Which one should you choose?

• If you want online meetings without adding a bot → Tinrec (desktop version captures system audio)
• If you care about Traditional Chinese, mixed Chinese-English, and team terminology → Tinrec (supports team hotwords and bilingual view)
• If you need to directly produce summaries, to-dos, and reports after meetings → Tinrec (AI Q&A and Agent post-processing)
• If you need to manage team seats, usage, and operation logs → Tinrec (team space, auditing, and recycle bin)
• If you only occasionally convert audio files to text and don't need team features → Notta's plan is enough

In one sentence: For most Taiwanese teams, Tinrec handles the work of "that hour after the meeting ends," not just converting text. It's recommended to first use the free version with your own meeting recording for a trial run, then decide whether to upgrade.

References

• Speech-to-text Dcard | Quickly find experts to serve you - PRO360
• Expert-reviewed Top 10 Audio-to-Text Recommendations | mybest
• Free Speech-to-Text Tools Dcard Discussion: Is the Free Version Enough? When to Upgrade? - Miaoting Recording Blog
• What is speech-to-text? Speech-to-text recommendations and discussions on PTT/Dcard and related news are all on Computer King Ada -
• Sharing 'AI Speech-to-Text' Tools - National Cheng Kung University forum | Dcard