Which Transcription Engine to Choose: Nano, Standard, Premium, or Ultra
Compare VoxScriber's 4 transcription engines — cost in cycles, strengths, and which plans include each one.
VoxScriber has 4 transcription engines, each with a different quality profile and cycle cost. The default for all plans is Premium; you choose the others when uploading the file, depending on what your plan allows.
The 4 engines
Premium (default)
Cost: 4 cycles per minute
High-accuracy transcription, optimized for Brazilian Portuguese, with automatic summaries and speaker detection. It's the default engine for all plans, from free to Enterprise, and the most reliable for day-to-day use.
Standard
Cost: 1 cycle per minute (the cheapest)
Excellent for audio with background noise, varied accents, and difficult recordings. Because it uses 4 times fewer cycles than Premium, it's the right choice to get more hours out of the same balance.
Ultra
Cost: 10 cycles per minute
Maximum quality, with accurate multi-speaker detection and flawless punctuation. Ideal for interviews and meetings with many voices where separating who said what is critical.
Nano (in browser)
Cost: 0 cycles (free)
Runs directly in your browser: the audio never leaves your device. It has its own monthly allowance per plan and is ideal for sensitive content or saving cycles. Learn more at Local in-browser transcription.
Availability by plan
| Plan | Premium | Standard | Ultra | Nano |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Yes | Yes | - | Yes |
| Lite | Yes | Yes | - | Yes |
| Advanced | Yes | Yes | - | Yes |
| Pro / Premium (subscription) | Yes | Yes (large-v3 model) | Yes | Yes |
| Hour packs | Yes | Yes (large-v3 model) | - | Yes |
| Enterprise | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
If you try to use an engine that isn't included in your plan, you'll see the message: "Your current plan doesn't allow using this engine. Upgrade to unlock it."
Doing the math: with 720 cycles (Lite plan), you can transcribe 3 hours on Premium — or up to 12 hours on Standard. If the audio is clean and you have a high volume, Standard is usually the best value.
How to choose in practice
- Clean audio, general use: stick with Premium (default).
- Lots of noise, strong accent, street recording: use Standard — besides being cheaper, it handles noise best. See Noisy audio.
- Several people speaking and you need to know who said what: Ultra (Pro plans or higher).
- Sensitive content or low balance: Nano, which doesn't spend cycles and keeps the audio on your device.
Cycle fractions are rounded up. A 61-second audio on Premium costs 5 cycles (not 4.07).
Frequently asked questions
Can I switch engines after transcription has already started?
No. The engine is set when you upload. To use another engine, upload the file again with the option you want.
Why does the same audio cost 4 times more on Premium than on Standard?
Each engine has a different processing cost. Standard uses 1 cycle per minute; Premium, 4; Ultra, 10. The balance is the same — what changes is how much each minute consumes.
Can the free plan use the Standard engine?
Yes. The free plan has access to Premium, Standard, and Nano. With the 120 monthly cycles, you can transcribe up to 120 minutes on Standard.
Which engine is used in automatic retries after a failure?
Premium, because it's the most reliable — regardless of the original engine. See Automatic retries.
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