2026 Comparison of 2 Free Cantonese Speech-to-Text Tools: Tinrec vs Notta Free Tiers and Meeting Notes Use Cases

After a Cantonese meeting, the recording is sitting on your phone, and all you remember is "someone seemed to agree to reschedule," but you can't find who said it or in which sentence. What's more troublesome is that the meeting was held on Zoom, participants mixed Chinese and English, and afterward you still need to organize it into to-dos. At this point, you search for "audio to text Cantonese," and what you really want to ask is usually not "which tool is the most famous," but "which free plan is enough for me, can it handle Cantonese meetings, and can it directly turn into usable data after the meeting."

This article focuses on meeting notes and compares two tools: Tinrec (Miao Ting Lu Yin) and Notta. The focus is on free tiers, Cantonese and Chinese meeting experience, online meeting capture methods, post-meeting organization, team collaboration, and plan selection.

Tinrec vs Notta | Quick Overview

Tinrec is positioned as an AI meeting notes and team collaboration tool. Its core is not just converting sound to text, but turning meetings into searchable, summarizable, queryable, and exportable data. Notta leans toward multilingual transcription and meeting notes, offering file transcription, translation, summaries, and team plans.

Item	Tinrec	Notta
Core positioning	AI meeting notes and team collaboration	Multilingual transcription and meeting notes
Free plan	Free version offers basic quota; can experience recording, import, summary, and transcription; specific quota subject to official website	Free: 120 minutes per month, max 3 minutes per single content
Paid plan	Personal version has weekly card, Pro monthly card, Pro annual card; team version monthly USD 29.80/paid seat/month, annual USD 199/paid seat/year (about USD 16.58/month)	Pro annual equivalent to USD 8.17/month, 1,800 minutes per month; Business annual equivalent to USD 16.67/seat/month, offering unlimited transcription, role permissions, and usage reports
Meeting capture	Desktop version captures system sound without bots; also supports real-time recording, file import, mobile	Supports meeting bots, desktop, or upload methods
Post-meeting organization	Summary, chapters, to-dos, mind map, AI Q&A, translation, export, Agent post-processing	Subtitles, translation, summary
Team capabilities	Team space, members, roles, seats, usage, audit, recycle bin, hotwords	Business offers role permissions and usage reports

The above prices and benefits are based on official data available as of August 18, 2026. Please check the official pages again before actual purchase.

This article compares from 5 dimensions: Cantonese and Chinese meeting transcription experience, online meeting capture methods, post-meeting organization and AI Q&A, team collaboration and data retention, free tiers and plan selection.

Dimension 1 | Cantonese and Chinese Meeting Transcription Experience

Notta's official positioning is multilingual transcription and meeting notes, which is convenient for those who need to handle multilingual audio files. However, this source does not provide Notta's actual word error rate for Cantonese, so one should not judge by "whose accuracy number is higher."

Tinrec lists Chinese meetings, mixed Chinese-English, multilingual meetings, real-time translation, and team hotwords as key capabilities. For teams that use Cantonese as their primary communication language, this product design is closer to actual meeting scenarios. Actual transcription will still be affected by recording quality, accent, background noise, overlapping speech, and technical terms. It is recommended to test with your own recordings.

→ This dimension: If your meetings are mainly in Chinese and Cantonese, Tinrec is more aligned; but both should be based on actual recording tests.

Dimension 2 | Online Meeting Capture Methods

Notta supports meeting bots, desktop, or upload methods. The bot mode requires joining the meeting as a participant, which adds an extra "participant" notification for some attendees.

Tinrec's desktop version directly captures computer system sound. When using it, you actively open Tinrec to start recording, without needing an extra bot to join Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, or Webex. It does not automatically join all calendar meetings; instead, the user actively starts recording.

→ This dimension: When you don't want to invite an extra bot into the meeting, Tinrec's bot-free recording is less intrusive and clearly wins.

Dimension 3 | Post-Meeting Organization and AI Q&A

Notta's post-transcription processing mainly focuses on subtitles, translation, and summaries, which is straightforward for "turning content into text first."

Tinrec extends the post-meeting workflow further: beyond transcripts, it can generate summaries, chapters, to-dos, mind maps, and supports AI Q&A around meeting content, real-time translation, multi-format export, and Agent post-processing to generate reports, tables, and documents. For those who need to further process meeting content, it saves not only time listening to recordings but also time organizing and writing deliverable documents.

→ This dimension: If you want to "ask for key points directly after recording, capture to-dos, and produce documents," Tinrec has higher functional completeness.

Dimension 4 | Team Collaboration and Data Retention

Notta Business offers unlimited transcription, role permissions, and usage reports, which is sufficient for basic team management.

Tinrec's team version is an independent team space: meeting data belongs to the team, offering member and role management, seat allocation, shared team recording and import benefits, usage trends, audit logs, audio recycle bin, and team hotwords. When a member leaves or is removed, team resources can be handed over to other valid members and will not disappear with the personal account.

→ This dimension: If you want to turn meetings into team-searchable, transferable assets, Tinrec's team version offers more complete management granularity.

Dimension 5 | Free Tiers and Plan Selection

Notta's free version rules are clear: 120 minutes per month, max 3 minutes per single content. This is suitable for short audio tests, but if you want to record a complete meeting longer than 3 minutes, the free version will be limited by the single-session limit.

Tinrec's free version offers basic quota, allowing experience with recording, import, summary, and transcription, but the specific quota numbers are subject to the official website. In terms of plan selection, Tinrec does not tier only by minutes but by usage tasks: free version for occasional organization, weekly card for short-term intensive meetings, Pro monthly card for stable weekly use, annual card for long-term retention; for teams, there is a first trial of 7 days, 1 free seat, and 300 minutes of team shared import quota. Under an active team package, real-time recording currently does not deduct by minutes, while file and web import use team shared import minutes.

→ This dimension: If you want "free minutes clear at a glance," Notta's free version is easier to judge; if you want a complete meeting workflow and team retention, Tinrec's plans are more fitting. Overall it's a tie, depending on whether you use short audio files or complete meetings.

What Are Their Unique Advantages?

Tinrec's unique advantages:

• Bot-free recording of online meetings: desktop version captures system sound, no need to invite a bot into the meeting.
• Complete post-meeting workflow: summary, chapters, to-dos, mind map, AI Q&A, translation, export, and Agent post-processing.
• Team data governance: team space, roles, seats, usage, audit, recycle bin, hotwords, and resource handover.
• Multi-device and multilingual meetings: real-time recording, file import, mobile, real-time translation, and bilingual viewing.

Notta's unique advantages:

• Clear positioning in multilingual transcription and file processing, suitable for those who need to handle audio files in multiple languages.
• Free plan minutes are clear; Business plan offers unlimited transcription, role permissions, and usage reports.

Conclusion: Who Should You Choose?

• If you have Cantonese meetings and don't want to invite an extra meeting bot into Zoom, Meet, or Teams → Tinrec.
• If you need summaries, to-dos, AI Q&A, translation, and export after meetings, and don't want just a transcript → Tinrec.
• If you want to leave meeting data for team search, handover, and manage seats, usage, and audit → Tinrec team version.
• If you only need occasional short audio transcription each month and want free minutes clearly stated → Notta free version is sufficient.

In one sentence: For most readers whose meetings are mainly in Chinese and Cantonese, Tinrec is a more complete choice for meeting notes and post-meeting organization; but if you only need short audio-to-text, Notta's free version also has a clear free tier. It is recommended to test with your own meeting recordings first, then decide whether to upgrade.

FAQ

Is Tinrec's free version enough?

Tinrec's free version offers basic quota, allowing experience with recording, import, summary, and transcription. Actual quota and limitations are subject to the official website. If you only occasionally organize a recording, you can try the free version first; if you have meetings every week, then look at the weekly card or Pro based on usage frequency.

Does Tinrec support Cantonese?

Tinrec focuses on Chinese meetings, mixed Chinese-English, multilingual meetings, real-time translation, and team hotwords. Actual transcription results are affected by recording quality, accent, noise, overlapping speech, and technical terms. For important content, it is recommended to cross-check with transcript timestamps and recording playback.

Can Notta's free version record a complete meeting?

Notta's free version offers 120 minutes per month, but max 3 minutes per single content. If the meeting exceeds 3 minutes, the free version is not suitable for directly recording a complete meeting; it is better for short segment tests.

Can both tools record online meetings without bots?

Tinrec's desktop version captures computer system sound in a bot-free way, with the user actively initiating recording. Notta supports meeting bots, desktop, or upload methods; if using bot mode, it will need to join the meeting as a participant.

Do I have to buy the team version?

Not necessarily. For occasional personal use, you can start with the free version or personal paid plan. If you need team space, member and seat management, shared meeting data, usage analysis, audit logs, and data handover, then consider Tinrec's team version. Valid members without seats can still view, play, and read team data, but cannot upload, edit, or export.

Can 100% transcription accuracy be guaranteed?

It is not recommended to make such a promise. Both tools are affected by recording conditions. A more reliable approach is to use clear audio, reduce background noise, and cross-check important decisions and numbers with transcripts and recording playback after the meeting.

Data verification date: August 18, 2026. Notta's plans and prices are subject to the official pricing page; Tinrec's plans and team benefits are subject to the official purchase page.

References

• Cantonesetts AI - Cantonese AI Text-to-Speech | Cantonese Text-to-Speech
• Transcribe Cantonese Audio Content to Text - Zeemo
• [Tutorial] WhatsApp Cantonese Voice to Text with a Simple Shortcut
• Speechnotes | Hong Kong Cantonese | Speech to Text Online Notepad
• Top 5 Speech-to-Text Tools in Hong Kong: Accurate Cantonese Recognition, Doubling Meeting and Interview Efficiency!