Cassette
Cassette is a San Francisco-based private company that provides an on-device speech-to-text transcription application for recording, transcribing, and searching conversations, primarily serving UX researchers and designers via a freemium model with tiered usage-based subscription plans.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Cassette does
Cassette (legal entity: cassette.design) is a San Francisco-based private company that operates a speech-to-text transcription application for recording, transcribing, and searching important conversations such as user interviews, meetings, lectures, and video calls. The core product leverages machine learning for real-time transcription and runs processing locally on-device; audio is encrypted in transit and stored only on the user's device, with no server transmission and no human review of conversations. The product supports six languages (English US/UK, French, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, and Portuguese BR) and claims over 90% transcription accuracy in test conditions. Differentiating features include one-tap color-coded bookmarks with tag themes or emotions, visual Briefs summaries, searchable annotated transcripts, time-stamped comments, shared Notebooks for team collaboration, and pre-built conversation Guides drawn from Stanford d.school Design Thinking methodology.
The business model is a hybrid freemium-plus-usage-based subscription: all non-transcription features are free, while transcription usage is gated behind three pricing tiers (Freelancer, Professional, Enterprise) with monthly transcription minute limits and annual billing available for enterprise. Distribution is product-led and self-serve through the cassette.design website, supplemented by a direct enterprise contact motion and native integrations with Dropbox, Google Drive, Evernote, Slack, Box, email, and AirDrop. The primary customer persona is UX researchers and designers conducting user interviews; secondary segments include professionals, knowledge workers, and remote teams seeking to document meetings and video calls.
Cassette was founded in 2014 and is reported at 1–10 employees. The company has raised approximately $1.23M in a single seed round in February 2015 led by New Enterprise Associates with AME Cloud Ventures, BluePointe Ventures, Correlation Ventures, and Inspovation Ventures participating; no subsequent funding rounds are disclosed. The company is privately held with no parent entity or disclosed institutional ownership beyond the 2015 investor group.
Cassette firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Cassette
- Legal name
- cassette.design
- Website
- https://cassette.design
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Cassette is a San Francisco-based private company that provides an on-device speech-to-text transcription application for recording, transcribing, and searching conversations, primarily serving UX researchers and designers via a freemium model with tiered usage-based subscription plans.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Cassette industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Speech-to-Text Transcription Software
- NAICS
- Other Sound Recording Industries (51229), Other Sound Recording Industries (512290)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Transcription & Data Capture (Audio/Video to Text) (BPAAAKAI)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Text-to-Speech (TTS) & Voice Synthesis (HDAAAFAB), Live Audio Recording, Repurposing & Podcast Conversion (MPACAEAN)
Keywords
Where Cassette is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Cassette business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Transcription Services (Usage-based): Core revenue from transcription usage. Cassette offers free access to all features except transcription, with users purchasing transcription minutes or plans based on their usage needs. The company offers three pricing tiers (Freelancer, Professional, Enterprise) with different monthly transcription limits.
- Subscription Plans: Monthly and annual subscription plans with tiered access to transcription limits. The platform offers three distinct pricing plans to serve different user segments from individual freelancers to enterprise teams.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Usage-based | Monthly | Freelancer Plan - Individual users with basic transcription needs |
| Usage-based | Monthly | Professional Plan - Power users with higher transcription requirements |
| Usage-based | Annual | Enterprise Plan - Team and organizational deployment |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels3 records
Cassette product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Cassette is a speech-to-text transcription application that records, transcribes, and searches important conversations such as user interviews, meetings, lectures, and video calls. It uses on-device machine learning to provide real-time transcription with over 90% accuracy, supporting English (US/UK), French, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, and Portuguese (BR). The product includes color-coded bookmarks, visual Briefs summaries, shared collaborative Notebooks, searchable transcripts, and Stanford d.school-derived conversation Guides.
Product overview
Cassette is a single unified product—a speech-to-text transcription application that enables users to record, transcribe, and search important conversations. The core Cassette app provides real-time speech-to-text transcription with machine learning, supporting six languages (English US/UK, French, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese BR). Key features include automatic audio recording, color-coded bookmarks with tags, searchable annotated transcripts, Briefs (visual summaries of highlights), time-stamped comments, and a Notebook for capturing takeaways. The product includes collaboration features such as shared Notebooks and Guides for preparing conversation questions. Three pricing tiers offer different monthly transcription limits, with all non-transcription features being free.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Cassette
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 90% transcription accuracy in test conditions
Companies that use Cassette
Customer profileSegments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Cassette technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration7 records
AI capability6 records
Feature7 records
Cassette partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators1 record
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Cassette competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Happy Scribe: Transcription and subtitling service with AI and human options, supporting multiple languages. Comparable on multi-language transcription positioning and serves overlapping content creator and researcher segments.
- Notta: AI transcription product supporting multiple languages with real-time transcription, summaries, and export. Competes on the same core workflow with similar freemium and tiered subscription pricing model.
- Otter.ai: Direct competitor in AI-powered meeting and conversation transcription with real-time speech-to-text, summaries, and team collaboration. Targets overlapping user segments (knowledge workers, remote teams, researchers) and competes head-to-head with Cassette's core value proposition.
- Sonix: Direct competitor offering automated transcription with multi-language support, editing, and export capabilities. Targets similar user segments including researchers, journalists, and content creators.
- Descript: Competitor in AI-powered transcription combined with audio/video editing. Targets content creators, podcasters, and researchers with a workflow-integrated product that overlaps with Cassette's transcription-and-analysis positioning.
- Rev: Established transcription provider offering both AI and human-powered transcription services. Competes directly on the core transcription workflow with broader service offerings and enterprise positioning.
- Trint: Direct competitor providing AI transcription with collaborative editing, search, and export workflows for journalists, researchers, and content teams. Closely comparable on transcription-first positioning with team collaboration features.
- Fireflies.ai: Direct competitor offering AI meeting transcription, summarization, and collaboration features for teams and enterprises. Competes on the same workflows (meetings, interviews, calls) and has raised significantly more capital.
- Tactiq: Competitor offering meeting transcription as a browser extension for Zoom, Google Meet, and Teams. Targets similar knowledge-worker and remote-team use cases with overlapping collaboration features.
Emerging players
- Dovetail: UX research and customer insights platform that has expanded into transcription and analysis of user interviews. Directly competes with Cassette's primary UX researcher customer segment with a more comprehensive research workflow product.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Cassette social profiles
Digital presenceCassette financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Cassette leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Cassette funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors5 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Cassette M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Cassette
What does Cassette do?
Cassette is a speech-to-text transcription application that records, transcribes, and searches important conversations such as user interviews, meetings, lectures, and video calls. It uses on-device machine learning to provide real-time transcription with over 90% accuracy, supporting English (US/UK), French, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, and Portuguese (BR). The product includes color-coded bookmarks, visual Briefs summaries, shared collaborative Notebooks, searchable transcripts, and Stanford d.school-derived conversation Guides.
Is Cassette a public or private company?
Cassette is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Cassette founded?
Cassette was founded in 2014. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Cassette based?
Cassette is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Cassette make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Transcription Services (Usage-based) is the primary driver. The others are subscription Plans.
Who are Cassette's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Happy Scribe, Notta, Otter.ai, Sonix, Descript, Rev, Trint, Fireflies.ai and Tactiq. Dovetail is listed as an emerging player.
Does Cassette have an API?
No public API is recorded for Cassette.
What industry is Cassette in?
Cassette's product category is Speech-to-Text Transcription Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAAAKAI, Transcription & Data Capture (Audio/Video to Text), with a secondary code of HDAAAFAB, Text-to-Speech (TTS) & Voice Synthesis. Its NAICS code is 51229.