Is TranscribeMe Legit and Worth It? (Detailed Review)

If you are looking for a way to make money from home, you have maybe heard transcribing jobs can be a good way. One platform that offers jobs like this is TranscribeMe.

But is TranscribeMe legit or just a waste of time?

With so many transcription platforms out there this is important to know before choosing which one to join.

So let me just reveal right away that it is a legit platform – but this does not mean it will necessarily be a good option for you. You need to know exactly what to expect before joining so you go into it with the right expectations.

This TranscribeMe review will, therefore, give you an in-depth look into exactly what you get, how to get started, and how much you can earn, so you can easily find out if this is for you or not.

What is TranscribeMe and what does it offer?

TranscribeMe is a platform where you can either join to find workers to transcribe for you, or you can join to make money as a transcriptionist.

In this review, I will focus on how good it is as a way to make money from home and what you need to be aware of before investing time in this.

Let me just make it clear right away that TranscribeMe is a legit platform that has existed since 2012. So it is potentially a real way to make money.

In short, what it offers is simply a way to create an income you can have from anywhere as you can see they explain in the image below.

This sounds very good, but that does not mean it can live up to your expectations or that it is the right platform for you.

There are many details about how to get jobs, how much you can really earn, etc. that are important to know before deciding to join or not.

So let’s start by going over how you get started and how you apply for jobs before going into how much you can then earn.

How do you apply for TranscribeMe jobs?

The first thing you need to do if you want to start earning on TranscribeMe is to simply join on their website.

It is completely free to join and it only takes a few minutes. Once you have confirmed your email, you get access to the platform.

However, you cannot just start applying for jobs right away.

The first thing you need to do is to pass an exam.

The exams are an important part of getting started on TranscribeMe so I will explain more about how this works in a whole section below.

So you just need to be aware that you cannot just join and start earning right away. They want to make sure you are really qualified before they will offer paid jobs to you.

How to pass TranscribeMe exams?

Without passing the exams, you will not be able to get access to jobs on TranscribeMe.

This does make sense since people are paying to have transcriptions done on TranscribeMe and it needs to be done properly so, of course, they need to make sure you are truly qualified.

So when you first join, you will see a long list of exams you can take.

The image above just shows some of the available exams. But don’t worry – you do not have to pass all of them to get started.

The first step is to complete the entrance exam in the language in which you wish to transcribe (more about available languages later).

Once you successfully pass, you will start getting access to paid jobs.

You can then take further exams to get access to more jobs and higher-paying jobs.

But if you have never done transcriptions before, you need to be aware that it is not enough to just be a good writer. There are specific demands when it comes to transcriptions.

For each exam, you can find a document with guidelines and training so you know what they are looking for.

It is important to follow these guidelines to have a chance to pass the exams.

However, if you are completely new, it might be better to first take a proper transcribing training course, to improve your chances of success.

No matter what, it is important you take these exams seriously as you will not get access to paid work unless you pass.

If you do not pass, you can usually try again. How many times you can try depends on the specific exam.

But for the English entrance exam you, for example, have 2 attempts and for both attempts, you get 1 immediate retry if you fail. So practically speaking, you will have 4 attempts.

If you still do not pass, you have to wait 30 days before you get 2 attempts again.

So it is possible to try regularly if you do not pass right away. But if that is the case, it is probably a very good idea to make sure to look carefully at the guidelines and get some training not to keep wasting time by trying too many times.

Just be aware that there is no feedback for exams you fail. So it is up to you to figure out what you did wrong and how to improve.

Below you can see a short video from TrancsribeMe that shows exactly how the registration and taking exams work:

How will you get paid?

Once you have passed the exam, you get access to applying for jobs.

But before getting to how much you can then expect to earn, let’s go over how you can even get your earnings as this is very important to know before spending any time.

TranscribeMe offers pretty good payment conditions, in my opinion. You will get paid via PayPal.

Currently, this is the only way to receive payment but it is very convenient so that is not really a problem, in my opinion. But if you do not like PayPal, this platform is not for you.

What I like is that there is not as such any payout threshold. You can request a payout at any time.

They will then payout on a weekly basis. So you will be able to get your earnings fairly quickly which is great.

Who can join?

You, of course, need to know who can even join.

It is possible to join no matter where you live – that is the beauty of a platform like this. You just have to be 18 years or older.

Something TranscribeMe offers that not that many similar platforms offer is also that you can earn by transcribing in different languages.

You can see the main languages they offer work in above.

No doubt the most jobs will be in English, but if you speak any of the other languages you can see above, you might be able to find extra work at times.

Also, you do not need any special equipment to do the work. Clearly you need a stable internet connection and it is also best if you have a computer so you can type faster.

It can also be an advantage to have headphones to be able to hear the audio better.

But that is all the demands to get started.

How much money can you make on TranscribeMe?

So now the big question you need to know before deciding if TranscribeMe is the right working platform for you or not – how much can you earn?

It is difficult to give an exact answer for but I have gathered some information that will give you an idea about what to expect.

First of all, you need to know that TranscribeMe does not guarantee you will get any specific amount of work – that entirely depends on the number of clients that need work to be done.

And when there is work, you need to accept it fairly quickly before others do the work.

But as one of the members says on the website – with patience and effort, it is possible to eventually get access to a decent amount of work.

How much does this mean in dollars though?

Well, according to TranscribeMe itself, you can earn between $15-$22 per audio hour.

It is important to know that this does NOT mean you will make this per working hour. It will take more than one hour to transcribe one hour of audio.

Exactly how long it will take then depends on your speed.

But seeing as most jobs on TranscribeMe are between 2-4 minutes of audio time, you need to take quite a lot of different jobs.

When looking at reviews on Glassdoor from workers, it is also clear to see that the main con mentioned is that the rate per hour is not always very high.

Also, a commonly mentioned disadvantage is that you will not always be able to find work.

On the other hand, many people mention flexibility as a great aspect and that you can work your way up and get access to special teams and higher-paying jobs as a great thing about TranscribeMe.

So it is possible to make money on the platform. But you just need to know that it will require effort and it will not be fast and easy money.

Final verdict

TranscribeMe is a legit way to make money as a transcriptionist.

But it is not the best option for all. It depends a lot on your preferences and expectations – and on how fast you type.

So let’s finish this review by summing up the pros and cons so you can get a better overview before deciding if it is for you or not.

Pros:

• Free to join
• Gives flexible working hours
• You can try the exam several times if you fail
• You can work from anywhere

Cons:

• Limited earning potential
• Steep learning curve if you are a beginner
• It takes time to get access to higher-paying jobs

Overall, there is no doubt that TranscribeMe can be a flexible way to make money from anywhere if you are a fast typer and a good transcriptionist.

If you are a beginner, it might, however, be worth first taking a transcriptionist course to make sure you have the right skills to get a higher income.

You just need to do it with the right expectations – it is potentially possible to make close to a full-time income if you are very skilled but it will not be easy.

So whether it is the right option for you or not depends on your preferences and skills. But TranscribeMe definitely is one of the good options if you want to work from home as a transcriptionist.

 

I hope this review has helped you find out exactly what TranscribeMe offers and if it is the right option for you or not.

If you have any comments, questions, or have any experiences with TranscribeMe yourself, I would love to hear from you in a comment below.