Add-on: Transcription Service
$79/year — Bring your own API key
Timestamped transcripts for every episode — your API account, your costs.
AI transcription without a middleman markup.
Transcription Service connects Benecaster to your own transcription API account — OpenAI Whisper, AssemblyAI, Deepgram, or Rev.ai. You bring the API key. Transcription costs go directly to your provider; Benecaster doesn’t mark them up or sit between you and the billing.
Transcripts are stored with full timestamps, displayed as an interactive reader on episode pages (click any timestamp to jump the player), and indexed for search. You control which episodes get transcribed and which don’t.
Four providers. You choose.
| Provider | Notes |
|---|---|
| OpenAI Whisper | Popular, well-documented, competitive per-minute pricing |
| AssemblyAI | Strong accuracy, good speaker detection |
| Deepgram | Fast, cost-effective at scale |
| Rev.ai | Human review options available via their platform for high-accuracy needs |
One API key, shared across all your shows. Per-show and per-episode transcription is opt-in independently — enable transcription for the shows and episodes where it matters.
Transcripts that do more than sit on a page.
- Timestamped transcript storage with the full provider response
- Interactive transcript on episode pages — click any timestamp to jump the audio player
- Plain text extraction for search indexing (works with core Standard Search and AI Search add-on)
- Same tier-based visibility controls as episode content — show or hide transcripts by subscription tier
- The transcript visibility setting applies to both the on-page display and the
<podcast:transcript>tag in the RSS feed — subscribers on ineligible tiers don’t see the transcript in their podcast app either - SEO-optimized transcript rendering
- Transcript edit and correction interface — fix mishearings before publishing
- Export transcript as SRT (video captions), VTT (web players), or plain text
- Episode list status indicator: each episode shows transcription state — not configured, ready to transcribe, processing, or complete
- Transcription trigger from the episode editor — request transcription with one click; the job runs in the background
What does transcription actually cost?
Transcription costs vary by provider and audio length. As a rough guide at typical podcast lengths (30–90 minutes per episode):
- OpenAI Whisper: approximately $0.006/minute — a 60-minute episode costs ~$0.36
- AssemblyAI: similar range, varies by feature tier
- Deepgram: competitive pricing, volume discounts available
A podcaster releasing two 60-minute episodes per month spends roughly $1–2/month in API costs at these rates. Provider pricing changes — check each provider’s current rates before selecting.
Benecaster adds no markup. The $79/year is for the add-on software; API usage is billed directly by your provider to your account.
Pairs well with
- AI Search — transcript content is indexed and available for semantic search queries
- Standard Search (core) — transcript text automatically included in keyword search results; no add-on required
- Guest Manager — speaker name mapping in transcripts when diarization is enabled
Requires / Works with
- Requires: Benecaster with any paid plan
- Requires: An API key from a supported transcription provider (OpenAI, AssemblyAI, Deepgram, or Rev.ai)
- Works with: Core Standard Search (included free) and AI Search add-on for transcript-inclusive episode search
