Documentation

Welcome to ScribeMate — your AI-powered study and meeting companion. This guide will help you get up and running quickly.

Create an Account Sign up with your email address or use Google / GitHub single sign-on. A free account gives you immediate access to core features including 60 minutes of transcription per month and 5 AI chat calls per day.

Your Dashboard After signing in you land on the Dashboard. Here you can see your recent sessions, quick stats (total sessions, minutes transcribed this month), and shortcuts to create a new session or import audio files.

Creating Your First Session Click "New Session" from the Dashboard or sidebar. Give the session a title (e.g. "Physics Lecture — Quantum Mechanics"), choose a session type (Lecture, Meeting, Audio Import, or Other), select the source language and an optional translation language, then hit "Start Session" to begin.

Sessions are the core unit in ScribeMate. Each session represents one recording or imported audio file together with its transcript, translations, summaries, and AI conversations.

Session Types ScribeMate supports four session types: Lecture, Meeting, Audio Import, and Other. Choosing the right type helps tailor the AI summarization style.

Language Selection Choose a source language from 50+ supported options, or select "Auto-detect" to let the system identify the language automatically. Optionally pick a target translation language to get real-time side-by-side translations.

Recording Controls During a live session you can Pause, Resume, or Stop recording at any time. When you stop, the session is saved automatically. You can also manually save at any point.

ScribeMate delivers lightning-fast speech-to-text with industry-leading accuracy.

50+ Languages Transcription is available in over 50 languages including English, Chinese (Simplified & Traditional), Japanese, Korean, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic, and many more.

Low Latency Transcripts appear in under 500 milliseconds — nearly instant — so you can follow along in real time.

Multiple Providers ScribeMate leverages several speech recognition engines under the hood (Azure Cognitive Services, Google Cloud Speech-to-Text, and more). An automatic fallback chain ensures that if one provider is unavailable, the system seamlessly switches to the next.

Accuracy With 99%+ transcription accuracy on clear audio, ScribeMate captures every word reliably. For best results, use a quality microphone and minimize background noise.

Break language barriers with instant, side-by-side translation.

Dual-Column Display The default display shows the original transcript on the left and the translated text on the right, making it easy to follow both versions simultaneously.

Switch Languages on the Fly You can change the target translation language at any time during a live session without restarting — the new language applies to all subsequent segments instantly.

ScribeMate is powered by leading AI models (GPT-4o, Anthropic Claude, and others) to help you get more from your sessions.

AI Summarization Generate automatic summaries and key-point extractions from your transcripts. Summaries can be triggered manually or configured to auto-generate every 5 minutes during a live session (Settings → General → Auto Summary).

AI Chat Ask questions about your session content in a conversational interface. For example: "What were the three main arguments discussed?" or "Summarize the action items." The AI has full context of the current session's transcript.

Usage Limits AI features are usage-limited by plan tier: Free (5 calls/day), Starter (20/day), Pro (100/day), Max (300/day).

Drag and drop files onto the Import page, or click to browse. ScribeMate processes the audio and creates a new session with the full transcript.

Max plan users also get access to bulk export — export multiple sessions at once.

ScribeMate uses a local-first architecture designed to keep you in control of your data.

Local Storage By default, all your transcripts, translations, summaries, and session data are stored locally on your device using IndexedDB. This data never leaves your device unless you explicitly enable cloud sync.

Enable auto-sync in Settings → Storage to automatically back up new sessions. Cloud data is encrypted in transit (TLS 1.3) and at rest (AES-256).

Customize ScribeMate to match your workflow. Access Settings from the sidebar or the gear icon.

Storage Configure cloud sync settings and monitor your cloud storage usage. Enable auto-sync to automatically back up sessions to the cloud. Storage capacity depends on your plan tier.

Subscription View your current plan, usage statistics (session minutes, AI chat calls, cloud storage), and manage or upgrade your subscription.

ScribeMate offers four plans to fit every need:

Free — $0/month 60 min/month transcription, 5 AI chats/day, keyword search, 50+ languages, 1 concurrent session.

Starter — $4.99/month (or $3.99/month billed annually) 150 min/month, 20 AI chats/day, keyword search, 20 MB file import, 50 MB cloud sync, TXT & Markdown export, 2 concurrent sessions.

Pro — $19.99/month (or $15.99/month billed annually) 600 min/month, 100 AI chats/day, AI Q&A search, recording playback, 200 MB file import, 1 GB cloud sync, TXT, Markdown & PDF export, 3 concurrent sessions.

Max — $39.99/month (or $31.99/month billed annually) 1,200 min/month, 300 AI chats/day, semantic search, recording playback, video translation, 2 GB file import, 50 GB cloud sync, TXT, Markdown, PDF, DOCX & SRT export, 50+ languages with custom glossary, 5 concurrent sessions.

Annual billing saves 20% on all paid plans.

Payment Methods We accept all major credit and debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, Amex), PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Pay.

Managing Your Subscription Go to Settings → Subscription → Manage Subscription to view billing history, update payment methods, switch plans, or cancel. Changes take effect immediately for upgrades; for cancellations, you retain access until the end of the current billing period.

Usage Tracking Monitor your usage in Settings → Subscription: session minutes used, AI chat calls today, and cloud storage consumed.

How do I upgrade my plan? Sign in to your account, go to Settings → Subscription, and select the plan you want to upgrade to. Changes take effect immediately.

Can I switch between monthly and yearly billing? Yes, you can switch at any time. When switching from monthly to yearly, the remaining balance of your current cycle will be prorated.

Is there a student discount? Yes! Students with a .edu email address get 20% off the Pro plan. Sign up with your .edu email to automatically receive the discount.

What payment methods do you accept? We accept all major credit and debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, Amex), PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Pay.

Can I cancel anytime? Absolutely. You can cancel your subscription at any time from Settings. You'll continue to have access until the end of your current billing period.

Is my data secure? Yes. ScribeMate uses a local-first architecture — data stays on your device by default. Cloud-synced data is encrypted in transit (TLS 1.3) and at rest (AES-256). We do not sell your data.

What audio formats are supported? For import: MP3, WAV, M4A, OGG, FLAC, WebM, and MP4.

How accurate is the transcription? 99%+ accuracy on clear audio with supported languages. For best results, use a quality microphone and minimize background noise.

Can I use ScribeMate offline? Transcription and translation require an internet connection to reach the speech recognition and translation providers. However, previously created sessions stored locally are always accessible offline.