Good Tape
Transcription built by journalists, for journalists. Audio deleted after processing by default. EU servers, ISO 27001, GDPR compliant. 2.5M users.
What should journalists know about Good Tape?
Good Tape started as a newsroom hack at Zetland, a Danish digital newspaper. Software engineer Jakob Steinn sat next to journalists complaining about transcription, built a tool on OpenAI's Whisper, and it spread. Zetland spun it out in 2023. Now 2.5M users and $2M ARR with a 10-person team — bootstrapped, no VC. The privacy story is genuine: audio deleted after processing by default, AES-256 encryption at rest, TLS 1.2/1.3 in transit, EU-only servers, ISO 27001 certified, and they host their own LLM for summaries rather than piping data to third-party APIs. Accuracy is 90-95% on clear audio, competitive with Otter.ai and raw Whisper, but Good Tape adds proprietary audio preprocessing that helps with noisy field recordings. The real edge over Otter: Good Tape never trains on your data, period. Otter trains on de-identified recordings. For journalists handling sensitive sources, that difference matters. Handles 100+ languages with strong performance on European and regional languages that competitors fumble. The 20-hour monthly cap on Pro is the main friction point — heavy users will burn through it.
Transcribing interviews with genuine privacy guarantees. Multilingual transcription, especially European and regional languages. Newsrooms that need org-wide deployment with DPA, SSO, and admin controls. Journalists who need audio deleted after transcription without thinking about it.
Real-time transcription during live events — no live mode. High-volume users who need more than 20 hours/month without paying for Business tier. Workflows that depend on deep integrations with Slack, Zoom, or Google Meet — Good Tape is deliberately simple, drag-and-drop only. Users who want unlimited free transcription.
Security & Privacy
Data is scrambled while being sent to their servers
Data is scrambled when stored on their servers
Where servers are located — affects which governments can request your data
Privacy policy summary
Audio files deleted automatically after transcription — that's the default, not an opt-in. Optional Safe Vault for encrypted long-term storage. Never trains AI on user data. Never shares with third parties. Hosts its own LLM for summary features rather than using third-party APIs. Pro and Business tiers include a formal Data Processing Agreement. Account data retained up to 5 years after termination unless you request deletion. ISO 27001 certified. AES-256 at rest, TLS 1.2+ in transit.
How to protect yourself:
Use Business tier with DPA and SSO for newsroom-wide deployment. The default auto-delete after transcription is the right posture for sensitive source material — don't override it unless you need the audio. Export transcripts and delete originals. For the most sensitive work, be aware that account metadata (not audio) can be retained up to 5 years post-termination — request explicit deletion if needed.
ISO 27001 certified. AES-256 encryption at rest, TLS 1.2/1.3 in transit. Audio deleted after processing by default. EU-only servers and subprocessors. No AI training on user data. Hosts own LLM rather than routing to third-party APIs. DPA available on Pro and Business tiers. Built by journalists for journalists — privacy is architectural, not bolted on.
Who Owns This
Known issues
Accuracy drops on low-quality recordings, heavy accents, and overlapping speakers — a real gap for field journalists working in noisy environments. 20-hour monthly cap on Pro can be limiting for high-volume users. Free tier's 3-transcription limit makes it hard to properly evaluate before committing. No real-time or live transcription. No video editing features. Some Trustpilot complaints (2025) about unclear cancellation flow and unexpected annual charges — check billing terms carefully before subscribing. No integrations with Slack, Zoom, or Google Meet by design.
Pricing
Free: 3 transcriptions/month, 30-min max per file, waiting queue. Pro: €13.75/month — 20 hours/month, speaker labels, AI summaries, smart search, bulk uploads, DPA. Business: custom pricing per seat (20 hrs/seat), SSO, API, SLA, admin dashboard, tailored onboarding.
This is an editorial assessment based on publicly available information as of 2026-04-02, using our published methodology. Independent security review is pending. Security posture can change at any time. This is not a guarantee of safety.
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