Getting started with AI transcription tool Good Tape

Good Tape delivers precisely what it promises: fast, accurate transcription built for journalism workflows. While it lacks some advanced features competitors offer, its combination of affordability, security and reliability makes it ideal for newsrooms that prioritize substance over bells and whistles.

The tool’s newsroom origins show in thoughtful details, such as source protection options and time-coded navigation optimized for story development. For many journalists, that focused approach beats feature-heavy alternatives that cost significantly more.

Here’s how to get up and running quickly.

Step 1: Set Up and Pricing

Good Tape keeps pricing simple with one plan: $17 per month or $190 per year. Teams of five or more can request custom pricing.

Your subscription includes:

• 20 hours of transcription monthly
• Unlimited file uploads
• No file size restrictions
• AI summaries included
• Speaker labels

Step 2: Upload Your File(s)

True to its minimalist nature, GoodTape is a stripped down web page where you upload your files and await your  transcript. Free accounts will be waiting longer. 

Getting audio into Good Tape:

1. Drag and drop audio files directly onto the webpage interface, or click upload
2. Good Tape auto-detects language, but you can manually select if needed
3. Supported formats include common audio and video files

Privacy tip: Extra-security-conscious users who don’t want the audio to be saved can uncheck a box when they upload files.

Step 3: Work with Your Transcript

Basic navigation:

• Transcripts appear with automatic time codes (default: every ~11 seconds, which is great for podcasters and broadcasters)
• Click any word to jump to that moment in the audio
• Use this for fact-checking quotes or finding specific soundbites

Editing tools:

• Edit text directly in the transcript
• Highlight key sections in four colors for organization
• Copy text with or without time codes for use in stories

Step 4: Use AI Features

Generate summaries:

• Click a button at the top of the transcript to produce an AI-generated summary, including time codes. 

AI chat (Beta feature):

• Enable in Settings → Member card → toggle switch
• Ask questions about transcript content
• Useful for finding specific topics or themes across long interviews

Step 5: Organize Your Work

File management:

• Files appear in left sidebar, newest first
• Create collections to organize related transcripts

Is Good Tape Right for Your Newsroom?

Choose Good Tape if you:

• Need reliable, affordable transcription
• Handle sensitive sources requiring data security
• Need EU-based servers, strict European data privacy laws, or AES-256 data encryption.
• Want to ensure AI models never train on your data.
• Want simple tools without feature bloat
• Primarily work with interviews and audio content

Consider alternatives if you need:

• Mobile app for live transcription (expected in the fall)
• Integration with Slack, Google Drive or Microsoft Office
• Advanced video editing features
• Real-time collaboration tools

Pro Tips and Known Issues

Disappearing summaries:

• Copy AI summaries immediately—they can disappear when you navigate away

Maximize accuracy:

• Record in quiet environments when possible
• Good Tape handles most accents and audio quality well
• Speaker identification works, but it can lag behind speaker changes by a few words

Workflow integration:

• Good Tape works well as a standalone tool
• No direct integration with common newsroom tools (yet)

Alternatives to Good Tape

Otter: 

• Aimed at business users
• Trains AI models with (de-identified) user recordings 
• Similar monthly costs but caps users at 10 files

Alice:

• More integration features
• Data security is not (yet) certified
• Pay by the hour of transcription

Descript: 

• Extensive video and audio editing features
• AI training by opt-in only
• More expensive

Trint: 

• Video and audio editing and story-building
• Substantially more expensive

• Category: Getting Started Guides
• Tag: AI, Transcription