The difference production makes

Transcribed isn't the same as done.

We ran a real deposition through MAXScribe's $300-a-month AutoTranscript — the tool many reporters already pay for — and through Stenobox, then checked both against the reporter's certified transcript. Same audio. The incumbent came back with three times the errors — before you fix a single name or split a single turn.

Run out of the box, with no custom word list or speaker setup for either tool, and scored against the certified transcript with the same open method. Every line on this page is verbatim from the tools' actual output, and Stenobox's matches the certified transcript.

238

errors in MAXScribe's $300/mo auto-transcript of one 34-minute deposition

with Stenobox — same audio, scored the same way

The real gap isn't accuracy. It's the work left on your desk.

Three times the errors is the least interesting part of this comparison. The story is everything you'd still have to do by hand to turn MAXScribe's draft into one you can certify.

To make it certifiable, you must…	MAXScribe AutoTranscript	Stenobox
Know who is speaking	Labeled SPEAKER 2, 3, 4 — never a name	Named (MR. / MS.)
Keep each turn with the right speaker	Answers land inside the question	Each turn separated, Q. / A.
Capitalize sentences	Comes back lowercase	Done
Spell the names right	Fixed by hand, every one	Matched the certified transcript
Format dates & numbers	Reformat to court rules	Already court format
Your actual job	Rebuild, then verify	Just verify

The same deposition, up close.

Two places MAXScribe's draft breaks down — structure, then names — and then the scoreboard. Every line is verbatim from its actual AutoTranscript output, checked against the reporter's certified transcript.

1 The witness's answers come back inside the attorney's question

MAXScribe AutoTranscript $300/mo tier, unedited

SPEAKER 3: okay. so my records reflect that you're involved in an accident on or around September 25 of 2024. does that date sound familiar? yes. okay. so for purposes of today's deposition, it will be revolving around that accident. so if I say accident or incident, I'll be referring to that September twe -- 25 2024 date. okay? okay. and before we get started, I just wanna make sure that you don't have your own attorney in this matter. is that correct? no, I do not. okay. …

Stenobox court-ready

Q. Okay. So my records reflect that you were involved in an accident on or around September 25th of 2024. Does that date sound familiar?

A. Yes.

Q. Okay. So for purposes of today's deposition, it will be revolving around that accident. Um, so if I say accident or incident, I'll be referring to that September 25th, 2024 date, okay?

A. Okay.

Q. And before we get started, I just want to make sure that you don't have your own attorney in this matter. Is that correct?

A. No, I do not.

✓ The highlighted words on the left are the witness answering — filed inside the attorney's turn, under a numbered speaker label. The certified transcript reads like the right side: six separate turns. How often this happens varied by hearing in our tests — frequent on this one, occasional on the other — but it appeared in every file we ran, and the labels are never names, only SPEAKER 2, 3, 4.

2 Names — the errors a spell-checker can't see

Certified transcript	MAXScribe heard	Stenobox
…315 Turwill Lane, Kalamazoo, Michigan 49006.	…315 Terrell Lane, towns, Michigan, 49006.	…315 Turwill Lane, Kalamazoo, Michigan 49006.
Banuelos (the witness, throughout)	ban way los	Banuelos
Highhouse	Hih us · Hi hause · hih use	Highhouse
Tylenol	Telin Al	Tylenol

✓ One witness's surname, rendered wrong seven times, three different ways — and a Michigan city that came back as "towns." On our other test hearing the pattern repeated: MAXScribe wrote "DoorDash" as "door" ten times and spelled the insurer's name, Cure, three different ways. Names are where auto-transcripts hurt, because every one must be fixed by hand.

3 The scoreboard — same audio, same certified transcript, same scorer

Hearing	Stenobox	Otter	MAXScribe AutoTranscript
Deposition, 34 min (4,597 certified words)	98.54% · 67 errors	96.04% · 182 errors	94.82% · 238 errors
Deposition, 37 min (3,695 certified words)	97.08% · 108 errors	not run	93.61% · 236 errors

✓ Word accuracy against the reporter's certified transcript, insertions included. On the hearing we ran all three tools, MAXScribe's $300/mo tier scored below Otter — a general meeting app — and Stenobox beat both. Two different hearings, and the gap holds: roughly three and a half points, about 3× the errors — before you count any of the formatting work above.

How we tested: MAXScribe 5.98's AutoTranscript, July 2026, run as installed — no custom word list or speaker setup for any tool, Stenobox included, so no tool got an advantage. Output scored unedited against the reporter's certified transcripts using the same open scoring method for all three. To be fair, MAXScribe does whole jobs Stenobox doesn't — live realtime feeds and multi-channel capture — and its pricing is a story of its own → MAXScribe and Stenograph are trademarks of Stenograph, L.L.C.; Stenobox is not affiliated with or endorsed by Stenograph.

Transcribed isn't the same as done.

The real gap isn't accuracy. It's the work left on your desk.

The same deposition, up close.

Stop rebuilding transcripts. Start verifying them.