Voice memos, seminar recordings, podcasts, interviews, office hours, meetings - upload the file and Scholarly's AI Meeting Notes turns the recording into clean, organised notes you can actually study from.
Free: 3 files, up to 8 MB and 60 min each · No credit card required
Updated October 2026
Used by 200,000+ learners and professionals worldwide
Quick answer
How do I convert an audio file to notes?
Upload the file to Scholarly: MP3, M4A (phone voice memos), WAV, WebM, or OGG audio, or an MP4 video, and Scholarly uses the audio track. It transcribes the recording with timestamps, then writes structured notes automatically: topic headings, definitions, examples, and key takeaways. Free: 3 recordings in total, files up to 8 MB, and up to 60 minutes transcribed per file. Premium: 20 a week, files up to 300 MB, up to 10 hours each. Laureate: 100 a week, files up to 1,000 MB, up to 10 hours each. The transcript and notes do not use AI Creation Credits; turning them into flashcards or a quiz does. Best for: voice memos, lectures, seminars, interviews, and meetings you want as organised notes.
1Upload the audio file (or a video - Scholarly uses its audio track).
2Scholarly transcribes it, then writes organised notes with topic headings and timestamps.
3Review the notes, then generate flashcards, a quiz, or ask the AI chat about the recording.
What audio works
One tool for every recording you collect as a student
If it's spoken and you can save it as a file, Scholarly can turn it into notes.
Voice memos
The 20-minute memo you recorded explaining a topic to yourself before an exam - turned into an outline you can actually revisit.
Lecture recordings
Full class sessions, including 2–3 hour seminars. Get notes organised by topic instead of a wall of raw transcript.
Seminars & tutorials
Discussion-heavy sessions where arguments, counterexamples, and themes matter more than slides.
Podcasts
Course-relevant episodes become structured notes you can search and cite instead of vague memories of "that one episode".
Interviews & fieldwork
Research interviews and oral histories transcribed with timestamps, then summarised by theme for your write-up.
Office hours & study groups
The places where the real explanations happen - captured, transcribed, and condensed into the points that matter.
Example output
What do the notes look like?
Here's the shape of the notes Scholarly generates from a typical recording - a student's 38-minute exam-review voice memo on enzyme kinetics.
enzyme-kinetics-review.m4a
38:12 · voice memo · transcribed and structured by Scholarly
Michaelis–Menten model02:10
Reaction velocity rises with substrate concentration but saturates at Vmax - the enzyme's active sites become the bottleneck.
Km is the substrate concentration at half of Vmax; a low Km means high affinity between enzyme and substrate.
Assumes steady state: the enzyme–substrate complex forms and breaks down at equal rates.
Competitive vs. non-competitive inhibition14:45
Competitive inhibitors bind the active site - raising substrate concentration can outcompete them, so Vmax is unchanged but apparent Km rises.
Non-competitive inhibitors bind elsewhere and lower Vmax; extra substrate can't rescue the reaction.
Lineweaver–Burk plots27:30
Double-reciprocal plot turns the Michaelis–Menten curve into a straight line - easier to read Vmax and Km from intercepts.
Inhibition types are distinguishable by how the lines pivot: same y-intercept for competitive, same x-intercept for non-competitive.
Every heading keeps its timestamp, so you can jump back to the original audio when a detail matters. From here, one click generates flashcards or a practice quiz from the same recording.
Deep dive
What audio formats can I upload?
MP3, M4A (the format most phone voice-memo apps use), WAV, WebM, and OGG audio upload directly, and so do MP4, WebM, and OGG video files; Scholarly transcribes the audio track and ignores the picture. Files can be up to 8 MB on Free, 300 MB on Premium, and 1,000 MB on Laureate, and paid plans transcribe up to 10 hours per file, so multi-hour seminars do not need to be split.
How is Audio to Notes different from transcription?
Transcription gives you the verbatim record - every sentence, in order. Notes are the condensed version: organised by topic, with definitions and takeaways pulled out. If what you mainly need is the verbatim text with timestamps, use Lecture Transcription instead. Audio to Notes runs the same transcription underneath, then does the organising for you - and keeps the transcript attached either way, so you never lose the source.
How good is the result on messy, rambling audio?
Better than you'd expect, with honest limits. Spoken explanations are naturally repetitive and out of order - that's exactly what the note-generation step fixes, because it organises by topic rather than by the order things were said. A rambling 40-minute memo usually becomes a tight one-page outline.
What genuinely hurts quality is bad audio, not bad structure: a microphone far from the speaker, heavy crosstalk, or loud background noise degrade the transcript the notes are built on. For anything high-stakes, check critical numbers and terms against the timestamped transcript - it takes seconds, and you're verifying against what was actually said.
What can I do after the notes are generated?
The recording becomes a source in your Scholarly workspace, so everything builds on it without re-uploading: generate spaced-repetition flashcards or a practice quiz from the notes, ask the recording questions and get answers that cite the exact passage of the recording, or combine it with your PDFs and slides into one study set for the exam.
MP3, M4A, WAV, WebM, and OGG audio files, plus video files like MP4 - Scholarly uses the audio track. That covers voice memos, lecture recordings, seminar audio, podcasts saved as files, and interview recordings.
Do iPhone voice memos work?
Yes. iPhone voice memos are M4A files, which upload directly. Share the memo to your computer or upload it from the phone's browser - no conversion needed.
How long can the audio be?
On the Free plan, each recording stops at 60 minutes, and you get 3 recordings in total. Premium and Laureate record up to 10 hours per recording, so 2 to 3 hour seminars and long workshops fit in one recording. If you upload a file longer than your limit, the full audio is kept but only the first 60 minutes (Free) or 10 hours (paid) are transcribed. Longer recordings take a little more time to process after you stop.
Does it handle multiple speakers?
Yes. Multi-person seminars, meetings, and interviews are transcribed in full and organised by topic in the notes. The transcript does not add speaker labels and is not edited in place, so where who-said-what matters, use the timestamps to check the audio or note names in your own copy.
What do the generated notes include?
Topic headings with timestamps, definitions of key terms, the examples used in the recording, and a set of takeaways - organised by topic rather than the order things were said. The full transcript stays attached for verification.
Can I make flashcards or a quiz from the audio?
Yes. Once the notes are generated, one click creates spaced-repetition flashcards or a practice quiz from the same recording - no copying text between tools.
Does it transcribe in my language?
Scholarly detects the spoken language automatically, so you do not choose it before recording, and the summary, topics, and title come back in that same language instead of being translated into English. Flashcards, quizzes, and other study material made from the recording can be generated in any of the 70+ output languages in Scholarly's language picker. If your language is less widely spoken, try a short recording first to check the transcript quality.
Is Audio to Notes free?
Yes, to start. Free includes 3 recordings or uploads in total (the allowance does not reset), files up to 8 MB, and up to 60 minutes transcribed per file, with the transcript and notes included. No credit card is needed. Premium includes 20 a week and Laureate 100, each up to 10 hours, with larger uploads. Turning notes into flashcards or a quiz uses an AI Creation Credit, and Free includes one for life.
How do I turn a recording into notes?
Upload the recording to Scholarly - a voice memo, lecture, seminar, podcast, or interview in MP3, M4A, WAV, WebM, OGG, or a video file. Scholarly transcribes it with timestamps, then turns the recording into structured notes: topic headings, definitions, examples, and takeaways. The transcript stays attached so you can verify any detail, and the same recording becomes a source you can build flashcards, a quiz, or cited chat answers from - no copying text between tools.
Free makes a lecture of about 2 minutes in 720p with the Scholarly logo, to watch in Scholarly. Premium and Laureate make lectures up to 45 minutes in 1080p that you can download as an MP4, with the logo off if you choose.
With the Scholarly logo, to watch in Scholarly. Podcasts of about 2 min.
1 free AI Creation Credit total
2 lifetime images · Beta
3 lifetime AI Chat messages
1 free file upload total (8MB)
AI Meeting Notes: 3 meetings total, no reset, up to 60 minutes, notes included
5 lifetime quiz questions
1 completed practice exam total
15 lifetime voice minutes
32-page PDF to flashcards
500 lifetime autocomplete words
Use it to generate flashcards, improve a deck, or create a podcast, video lecture, slides, infographic, mind map, Summary, worksheet, spreadsheet, story book, timeline, SOP, flowchart, lesson plan, or outline, or run Deep Research. A meeting recorded with it comes with its transcript and AI Meeting Notes.
Pricing shown in USD by default. Local currency may be available in app or at checkout.
Compare plans
Image creation · Beta
Shared across Image Studio and chat. Separate from AI Creation Credits. Free images are lifetime and do not reset. Paid allowances reset weekly without rollover. Limits may change during beta.
Free
2 lifetime
Premium
40/week
Laureate
80/week
AI chat
Premium and Laureate include unlimited AI chat on Auto. Chat starts on Best, and premium models such as GPT 6.1 Sol, Claude Sonnet 5.5, and Claude Opus 5.5 draw on a weekly premium usage allowance; when it runs out, chat keeps going on Auto until it resets. Chat never spends AI Creation Credits.
Free
3 total
Premium
Unlimited
Laureate
Unlimited
Premium chat models (Best)
Chat answers on Best, the strongest model, by default. Premium models draw on a weekly allowance that resets every Monday at 00:00 UTC; long threads, large files, background tasks, and Claude Opus 5.5 use it faster. When it runs out, chat keeps going on Auto until the reset.
Free
Not included
Premium
Weekly usage
Laureate
4× weekly usage
AI Creation Credits
AI Creation Credits cover videos, slides, documents, and other AI creations. Most models use 1 credit, a few use 2, and Frontier models use 2, 3, or 4. Image Studio and chat images have a separate weekly allowance.
Free
1 total
Premium
15/week
Laureate
80/week
Podcast length
Free episodes are about 2 minutes. Paid plans can set a target length up to 60 minutes.
Free
About 2 minutes
Premium
Up to 60 minutes
Laureate
Up to 60 minutes
Video lecture length
Free lectures with a length control are about 2 minutes. Paid plans can set a target up to 45 minutes. Short uses its own short video format.
Free
About 2 minutes
Premium
Up to 45 minutes
Laureate
Up to 45 minutes
Video lecture resolution
Free
720p
Premium
1080p
Laureate
1080p
Download lectures as MP4
Free
-
Premium
Included
Laureate
Included
Scholarly logo on lectures
Free
Always on
Premium
Your choice
Laureate
Your choice
File uploads
Free
1 total (8MB)
Premium
Unlimited (300MB)
Laureate
Unlimited (1 GB each)
PDF to flashcards
Free
32 pages
Premium
1000 pages
Laureate
3000 pages
Sources per creation
Free
Up to 1
Premium
Up to 10
Laureate
Up to 20
Practice questions
Free
5 total
Premium
Unlimited
Laureate
Unlimited
Practice exams
Free
1 total
Premium
Unlimited
Laureate
Unlimited
Voice mode
Free
15 min total
Premium
2 hr/day
Laureate
12 hr/day
Autocomplete
Free
500 words total
Premium
Unlimited
Laureate
Unlimited
Export to Anki
Free
-
Premium
Included
Laureate
Included
Support
Free
Standard
Premium
Priority
Laureate
Priority
Feature
Free
Premium
Laureate
Image creation · Beta
2 lifetime
40/week
80/week
AI chat
3 total
Unlimited
Unlimited
Premium chat models (Best)
Not included
Weekly usage
4× weekly usage
AI Creation Credits
1 total
15/week
80/week
Podcast length
About 2 minutes
Up to 60 minutes
Up to 60 minutes
Video lecture length
About 2 minutes
Up to 45 minutes
Up to 45 minutes
Video lecture resolution
720p
1080p
1080p
Download lectures as MP4
-
Included
Included
Scholarly logo on lectures
Always on
Your choice
Your choice
File uploads
1 total (8MB)
Unlimited (300MB)
Unlimited (1 GB each)
PDF to flashcards
32 pages
1000 pages
3000 pages
Sources per creation
Up to 1
Up to 10
Up to 20
Practice questions
5 total
Unlimited
Unlimited
Practice exams
1 total
Unlimited
Unlimited
Voice mode
15 min total
2 hr/day
12 hr/day
Autocomplete
500 words total
Unlimited
Unlimited
Export to Anki
-
Included
Included
Support
Standard
Priority
Priority
What customers say
Scholarly has enhanced the quality of notes and questions I administer to my tutees. Insightful, to the point.
TD Georgas
Tutor
I have very good experience with Scholarly it summarise me scientific text in hovel academic level with citation. I use this for any therapeutic area . It is great and useful tool.
Diana
Scholarly user
Scholarly has been a valuable tool for my studies. The AI-generated flashcards and intuitive features make organising and retaining information much easier.
Briana
Scholarly user
This app is great for studying for big test. Drop your PDF's in the system and it'll do the trick. You can organise it specifically for your needs.
Kelvin
Scholarly user
Your questions, answered
Is Scholarly free to use?
Yes! The free plan includes core study tools with lifetime allowances: 3 AI Chat messages, 500 autocomplete words, 5 quiz questions, 15 voice minutes, 1 practice exam, one free AI Creation Credit total, and 1 file upload. These allowances do not reset. Image Studio and chat also share 2 lifetime images during beta; this separate Free allowance does not reset and may change. Upgrade to Premium for 15 AI Creation Credits per week and unlimited uploads.
What uses my free AI Creation Credits?
AI Creation Credits are shared across flashcards, podcasts, videos, slides, AI Documents, Deep Research, and the Transcribe tool. The selected model determines the credit cost. Recording a meeting does not use an AI Creation Credit. Transcript and notes are included, up to 10 hours on paid plans.
Can I cancel any time?
Absolutely. There are no contracts or commitments. You can cancel your subscription at any time from your account settings, and you'll keep access until the end of your billing period.
What payment methods do you accept?
We accept all major credit and debit cards through Stripe. Pricing is displayed in USD by default, but local currency is available in the app.
Can I use Scholarly with a class or school?
Yes. For a school or organisation-wide rollout, contact us at hello@scholarly.so and we'll help you find the right setup.
What happens when I hit a free plan limit?
You'll see a prompt to upgrade. Your existing work is never lost. Limits only apply to new actions. Most Free allowances are lifetime limits. The separate beta image allowance includes 2 lifetime images on Free with no reset, 40 per week on Premium, and 80 per week on Laureate. Limits may change during beta. Premium includes 15 AI Creation Credits per week, podcasts up to 60 minutes, video lectures up to 45 minutes, unlimited uploads, chat, autocomplete, quizzes, and exams, plus more daily voice time.
