Pashto audio to text, for recordings that run for hours
Upload a Pashto audio or video file and get every word written in Pashto script, a timestamp at the start of each paragraph and an English translation under it. A recording of up to 15 minutes is free in full. Anything longer shows its first part free, and the whole recording, up to 6 hours, is one payment of $5.
- Pashto script with its own letters, such as ټ, ډ, ړ, ښ and ځ, written right to left
- Kandahar, Kabul, Peshawar and Quetta speech written as spoken, not standardized
- Choose Pashto, not Dari or Urdu, so the speech is written in the right language
- English under every paragraph is preselected; switch it off or pick another language
- Up to 6 hours and 2 GB for $5; 12 hours per job on Unlimited
Real output from a demo recording. Click a timestamp to see where it sits in the audio.
How to transcribe a Pashto recording
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1
Upload the file
Drop an MP3, M4A, WAV, OPUS, MP4 or other audio or video file of up to 2 GB. Pashto and English are already selected.
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2
Check the free first part
Read the opening minutes in Pashto with the English underneath and compare them with the audio. Pashto has fewer training recordings than the largest languages, so this check matters.
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3
Unlock and download
Pay $5 once for the whole recording, fix names on screen, then download Word, PDF, TXT, SRT or VTT.
Pashto is not Dari and not Urdu
All three are written in an Arabic-based script, and someone who does not read them can easily mix them up. They are different languages. Pashto has letters that Dari and Urdu do not use, such as ښ, ږ, ځ and څ, and its retroflex sounds are written with letters like ټ, ډ, ړ and ڼ. If the spoken language is set to Urdu or Dari for a Pashto recording, the model is pointed at the wrong language from the first second. This page sets it to Pashto for you.
Speakers in Afghanistan often drop Dari words into Pashto, and speakers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or Karachi drop in Urdu and English. Those borrowed words stay as they were said, so a quote from the transcript matches the audio.
Southern and northern Pashto
The same written letter can sound different from one region to the next. A Kandahari speaker says ښ close to "sh", while a speaker from Peshawar says something closer to "kh". The tool is told to write the words the way Pashto is normally spelled, so the regional pronunciation does not change the spelling of a common word. Rare village names, tribal names and family names are written as they sound: check them against the audio, because no model knows every name.
Who reads a Pashto transcript
- Immigration lawyers and caseworkers who need the English next to the Pashto of an asylum interview
- Researchers with long interviews from Afghanistan or the tribal districts of Pakistan
- Families keeping an elder's stories, poems and landays in writing
- Mosque and community organizers with recorded talks and lessons
What a chat assistant does with a long Pashto file
A chat assistant can be useful for a short, clear Pashto clip. With an hour or more, it tends to hit an upload limit, or it returns a summary in English instead of the Pashto itself. Here the file is cut into parts of up to ten minutes, each part is written out in full, and the parts are joined in order with their real timestamps.
How the tool works, what it costs and how your files are handled is on the Long Audio & Video to Text page; prices for every tool are on the pricing page.
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Questions and answers
Can ChatGPT transcribe a two-hour Pashto recording?
Not reliably. Chat assistants limit audio length and long transcripts do not fit in one reply, so you tend to get a shortened version or an English summary. This tool writes out every ten-minute part in Pashto and joins them in order.
Is the translation good enough for court?
No translation made by an AI model is a sworn translation. Treat the transcript and the English as a working draft; for a hearing, a certified translator may still be required.
What does a long Pashto recording cost?
One payment of $5 covers a recording of up to 6 hours. Unlimited is $19 a week, renews weekly and can be cancelled any time; it allows up to 12 hours per job.
Can I get the Pashto in Latin letters?
No. Pashto speech is written in Pashto script. The English line under each paragraph is for readers who do not read it.
Who can see my recording?
Only you. It goes to an AI model provider only to be transcribed and is not used to train models. Jobs started without an account are deleted after 7 days, and you can delete yours whenever you like.