How to Transcribe a Discord Call, With or Without a Bot

Discord’s pages describe no call transcript, and its privacy policy says it generally does not store what is said in calls. To transcribe a Discord call, capture it while it happens: a transcription bot in a server voice channel, or a desktop app such as Reline, which writes a live transcript with no bot. Tell everyone first.

To turn a call into text, something has to capture people’s voices, so treat a transcript like a recording. A bot in the channel is visible to everyone there (Craig, for one, adds [RECORDING] to its nickname), but a recorder on your own computer adds nothing to the call: nobody knows unless you say so, so the notice is on you. Several US states, California among them, require every party to agree before a call is recorded, and in the EU you need a lawful basis under the GDPR and should say why you record. Rules differ by country and state, so check the rules where everyone on the call is. The simple habit: say at the start of the call that you are recording for notes, and stop if someone objects.

Discord’s Terms of Service and Community Guidelines do not mention recording calls. The Terms say other people’s content is theirs and that you may not use it without that person’s consent or as allowed by law; they do not say whether that covers voices. The Guidelines say not to share someone’s personally identifiable information without consent. Many servers add their own rules on bots and recording, so read those too.

One line is enough: "I would like to record this call to get a transcript for my notes. Is that OK with everyone?" Wait for a clear yes before you press Record. A desktop recorder is not a way to record someone in secret: if the answer is no, do not record.

A Discord bot joins a voice channel like a member, so everyone in the channel can see it. Someone with the right permissions in the server has to add it first, and some communities do not allow bots at all. Encryption does not keep a bot out: Discord says its end-to-end encryption, which every app has needed to join a call since the beginning of March 2026, also supports bots and apps.

• Transcription bots write text during the call. SeaVoice, for example, says it posts real-time transcripts to a chat channel as people talk and sends a final transcript and the voice recording by DM after the session.
• Recording bots save the audio first. Craig says it records voice and stage channels with a separate audio track for each speaker, for up to 6 hours, and keeps recordings for 7 days. You start it with /join, and it adds [RECORDING] to its nickname. Transcripts (WebVTT, SRT or plain text) are for its Tier 3 Supporters, from the recording’s download page.

The fair case for a bot: it does not depend on your computer, and Craig’s separate track for each speaker keeps every person’s words apart, which one recording on your computer cannot. The costs: it is visible (good for consent), it needs a server and someone allowed to add it, and the bots’ own pages describe server channels, not private DM calls.

Since early March 2026, Discord encrypts every voice and video call end to end, outside stage channels. That protects the call on its way between devices, but your computer still plays everyone’s voice. Reline’s desktop app records your microphone (you) and the sound your computer plays (everyone else), and writes the transcript live while it records. Nothing joins the call or the server, so it works the same in a DM call, a group DM call or a server voice channel. Reline does not detect Discord calls on its own: you press Record.

1. Install the Reline desktop app for Mac and sign in. The Free plan includes 10 hours of transcription.
2. Allow the microphone when macOS asks, then allow system audio. On macOS 14.2 and later this is an audio-only permission.
3. Join the Discord call on the same Mac and ask whether you may record for notes. Once everyone agrees, press Record in Reline. The transcript starts as people talk.
4. Stop the recording when you leave the call. You get the transcript, an AI summary and the kept audio, with a play button on every transcript line.

1. Install the Reline desktop app for Windows, sign in and allow the microphone.
2. Make the headset or speakers you hear Discord on your Windows default output device, and check that Discord plays through it. Reline records that whole device, so Discord playing on another device is missed, and music or notifications on it are recorded too.
3. Join the call, ask first, then press Record in Reline.
4. Stop when you leave and open the note for the transcript, summary and audio.

On Linux, Reline for Linux (beta) works the same way: your microphone plus system audio, through PulseAudio or PipeWire.

• Language: 60+ languages with automatic language detection, so a call in Spanish, Portuguese or German is transcribed in that language.
• Speakers: the transcript is labeled Me vs Other (your microphone vs everything your computer plays). In a voice channel with several people, open Who is on the other side beside the record button and choose Separate speakers (beta): Reline numbers each voice on the call side (an estimate), and you click a voice to name it yourself. Reline does not read names from Discord.
• Audio: the recording is kept with the note, so you can replay a line when the text looks wrong.

Only if someone recorded it. Discord’s privacy policy says it generally does not store the contents of voice or video calls, so a call nobody recorded leaves nothing to transcribe.

• Microsoft Word: Transcribe, in Word for the web and in Word for Microsoft 365 on Windows for commercial accounts, has an upload option for .wav, .mp4, .m4a and .mp3 files, with 300 minutes of uploaded audio a month on a Microsoft 365 subscription. It separates speakers and numbers them.
• Whisper: OpenAI’s open-source speech recognition is free under the MIT License. You install it yourself with Python and ffmpeg and run it from a command line, so it suits people who are comfortable with that.

Not with Reline: it has no mobile app and cannot capture a call on a separate phone. A bot listens in the server’s voice channel itself, so it can work whichever device people join from, but the bots’ pages describe server channels, not DM calls. If you want a transcript of a DM call, take the call on your computer.

• Calls that are already over: with no audio or video upload, a finished recording stays with a file transcriber.
• Calls on your phone: there is no mobile app, and Reline only hears calls that play on the computer.
• Knowing for sure which voice is whose: Separate speakers numbers voices as an estimate. A bot with one track per speaker, such as Craig, is more reliable here.
• Video and streams: Reline keeps audio and a transcript, not the picture or a Go Live stream.
• Windows sound: Reline records the whole default output device, not only Discord. Wear a headset and mute other sounds.
• Older Macs: before macOS 13 only your microphone is recorded, so you get your side of the call only.
• Offline use: transcription, summaries and storage run in the cloud. Only the capture is local.

The Free plan includes 10 hours of transcription. Install the desktop app before the call, not during it, and make a short test call with someone who knows it is a test, so you can see both sides appear in the transcript.

• Discord, Privacy Policy (effective 29 September 2025): discord.com/privacy
• Discord, Terms of Service (effective 29 September 2025): discord.com/terms
• Discord, Community Guidelines (effective 29 September 2025): discord.com/guidelines
• Discord blog, "Every voice and video call on Discord is now end-to-end encrypted" (18 May 2026): discord.com/blog/every-voice-and-video-call-on-discord-is-now-end-to-end-encrypted
• Discord Developer Documentation, OAuth2 (adding a bot to a server): docs.discord.com/developers/topics/oauth2
• Craig, home page, FAQ and transcription docs: craig.chat, craig.chat/faq, docs.craig.chat/features/transcription
• Seasalt.ai, SeaVoice Discord bot: wiki.seasalt.ai/seavoice/discord/discord-bot
• Microsoft Support, "Transcribe your recordings": support.microsoft.com/en-us/word/transcribe-your-recordings
• OpenAI, Whisper: github.com/openai/whisper