Rev.com is extremely popular among freelancers, content creators, and online business owners.
The company or website has been there in the world of providing editing, transcription, caption, and subtitles services for a long time now.
A lot of freelance transcriptionists, captioners, translators, and subtitlers work with or aspire to work with Rev.com to earn money either on the side or full-time.
But what is the real deal? What is the truth about Rev.com? Is it a good platform for freelancers to work and clients to order projects?
In this Rev.com review, I’m going to share with you every possible detail and help you decide whether or not you should order projects from Rev.com for your online business, and whether or not you should work for Rev.com as a freelancer.
So, without wasting any time further, let’s jump right in and explore everything we can about Rev.com.
- What is Rev.com?
- Is Rev.com Legit?
- Is Rev.com A Good Place For Client Projects?
- Who Can Join Rev.com As A Freelancer?
- How Much Does Rev.com Pay To Captioners?
- How Much Does Rev.com Pay To Transcribers?
- How Much Does Rev.Com Pay To Subtitlers?
- How Much Does Rev.Com Pay Translators?
- Summing Up: How Much Does Rev Pay?
- Rev.com Payments Methods For Clients
- How Do Freelancers Get Paid?
- Pros Of Rev.com
- Cons Of Rev.com
- What People Are Saying About Rev?
- In Conclusion
- [FAQs] Frequently Asked Questions
What is Rev.com?
Rev.com is an American company that provides speech-to-text services such as transcription, subtitles, translation, and captioning.
The company was started back in the year 2010 by two former oDesk colleagues – Jason Chicola and Josh Breinlinger to help online businesses/YouTubers get their businesses growing.
The founders were accompanied by four former MIT classmates, namely, Dan Kokotov, David Abramento, Mark Chen and, Paul Hack.
With initial funding of over 4.5 million dollars, they have grown Rev tremendously in the past decade to over 50,000 independent freelancers working for the company.
The jobbers are paid roughly a dollar ($1) per minute for every audio or video project. Rev.com work with all small and big individuals and entities out there on the planet.
They work with a lot of people/corporations from individual clients to major companies such as Microsoft, Amazon, PBS, and Viacom.
Globally it is ranked as the best speech-to-text company by many freelancers and clients.
Rev gained a great reputation and a lot of positive client feedback over the past couple of years.
The company also raised its rates from $1 per minute to $1.25 per minute. In 2018, PC Magazine named it an “Editor’s Choice” service, and the following year it was called the best captioning and transcription service by the same magazine.
Is Rev.com Legit?
Rev.com is a completely legit platform or website that helps businesses get their transcription, captioning, translation, and subtitling projects get done with the help of their network of freelance professionals. The freelancers complete the projects and get paid for the same. Rev has been featured in publications like Forbes, Entrepreneur, and PC Magazine and hence, a trusted organization you can work with.
Earning a substantial amount of money from the comfort of your home while defining your working hours has been the norm now.
Many freelancers, therefore, look for various online platforms to make good money while doing what they can and when they can.
The problem is, a lot of these freelance platforms are hard to find considering the competition. Most platforms pay small amounts for micro-jobs.
However, the majority of freelancers who want to work for Rev.com may have some disturbing questions on the legitimacy of this platform.
Let me clear this out for you. Is Rev.com a scam? Well, the thing is, different transcribers may have different opinions concerning this question. Their experiences highly dictate the answer.
Many freelancers have, therefore, got convinced that Rev.com is a scam. A sharp definition of a scam is an act or an operation that is ambiguous, which usually involves acquiring money.
But that’s not the case with Rev.com. It is actually a legit and profitable website/platform for both clients and freelancers. It is not a scam and best of all, you don’t have to pay anything upfront to get started. It’s free.
Some of the freelancers that get kicked out have no idea of the reason behind this. And to express their frustration, they complain that Rev.com makes merely low payments on work done and that the graders are not consistent.
If you are a genuine personality who knows stuff related to translation, transcription, captioning, or subtitling, and if clients or contractors like your work, Rev.com will be a great platform for you to work with.
Other than this, Rev.com’s support team is quite responsive. You can contact the team in case you have got any questions or doubts in mind and they will respond to you as quickly as possible.
Is Rev.com A Good Place For Client Projects?
The short answer is yes. According to the clients who have worked with Rev.com, the services offered by the company are satisfactory and can be used for the better.
Clients have said the platform is absolutely free to use, the transcription quality is top-notch, and it is a ‘must’ website for anyone who is looking to get their projects done at affordable prices.
I would say that the service speed is pretty impressive. Unlike other platforms/service providers that make you wait for days, Rev.com delivers projects in just a matter of few hours.
I really like the way their website’s user interface is put together. The design is pretty great, the backend section is functional, and you can order projects without any kind of difficulties.
Who Can Join Rev.com As A Freelancer?
Rev.com hires freelancers from different parts of the world. There are eight countries that Rev.com accepts its freelancers from. The countries are:
- United States
- Germany
- United Kingdom
- Canada
- Ireland
- New Zealand
- Netherlands
- South Africa
You have to consider that in the United States, not all states’ freelancers are allowed to work with Rev.com. For example, California is declined due to its labor rules.
Rev.com requires all the workers to be at least 18 years of age as per their service agreement. You also need to demonstrate the masterly level of listening and typing skills as you will have to complete projects as fast as possible.
To start working with them as a freelancer, you need to go through their guide and do their test. Once you complete the steps that are required to join the company as a freelancer, you will have to wait for three to eight weeks.
The number of applicants at that specific period dictates the period you stay on this waitlist. As a freelancer myself, I would recommend you also check out some alternatives in the time frame so that you are not dependent on one company/source.
Once your application is approved, you are eligible to register your account and start working with them.
If you get to the point where you no longer want to work for Rev, you have to be careful that you don’t “sell” your account to anyone. Concerns about the sale of accounts by freelancers in countries that are not allowed to apply have been rising.
These accounts are later used by scum people willing to work with the company. To end this account selling and scamming game, ID verification has been initiated to ensure that only qualified freelancers and accepted locations get to work with this company.
How Much Does Rev.com Pay To Captioners?
For a captioner, Rev.com pays anywhere from $0.54 to $1.20 per minute audio file. It depends on the type of files you choose to work on. Mostly, urgent files are paid at a higher rate of $1.00 to $1.20 because they have less submission time.
The amount of money you make with Rev.com is dependent on how good you are at choosing straightforward and well-paying jobs, as well as, how fast you complete the projects.
The faster you work, the more projects you will be able to work on…and the more projects you work on, the more money you are going to earn.
Make sure you pick a clear and easy-to-complete file. By picking a clear file, you will be able to caption your claimed file fast and claim another one for better revenue generation opportunities.
You also need to have super listening skills and be fast at typing. According to Rev.com, the average earning for a captioner is $245 weekly and $1495 monthly.
It is just an average amount. If you give it your all and know how to plan, you can earn up to $400 in a week. For instance, there are a set of files known as redo jobs which also appear on the Find Work page.
If you want to make a good sum of money with minimum effort, you are going to want to head for these specific files at all times. If you don’t know what a Redo job is, it is a job that has is poorly done, and the graders have decided it should be done again by a different captioner.
You as a freelancer can choose to work on those, make the corrections, and get it done with flying colors. It will help you to spend less time since you do not have to caption the whole file.
You can also decide to work on only Rush files (urgent projects) to maximize your earnings. Great tip there, right?
How Much Does Rev.com Pay To Transcribers?
Rev.com is a legit platform to make money online and requires utmost dedication to make that good cash every transcriber wants to.
Before embarking on payments, it is good to know what transcribing requires and who is a transcriber.
If you are out there reading this review, you might already know what transcription is and what a transcriber has to do but it’s my responsibility to share everything I possibly can.
Transcription is the process of converting either recorded or live speech to a written text document. It demands good listening and typing skills. You need to attentively listen to what is being said and have to type it accurately.
Often this kind of service is demanded by business owners either when they are publishing blog posts, sharing presentations, or adding descriptions to videos/media.
Different platforms usually have different rates and pricing. With Rev.com, payments to a transcriber are per audio or video minute. It ranges from $0.30 to $1.10 per minute. For maximum production, a transcriber must have several aids (quality headset, text expanders, voice recognition, and a foot pedal) that will help them make that job easier.
Internet connectivity has to be reliable at all times and is really necessary. If you are a person who cannot hold up the traditional 9 to 5 job, you can benefit from being a transcriber and enjoy your work-life balance.
How Much Does Rev.Com Pay To Subtitlers?
Working as a subtitler for Rev.com can be a very good side hustle for you. It is because the demand for linguists with subtitling skills is very high will continue to rise as more and more content creators/business people will be getting online.
Not many people can speak, let alone translate English to multiple languages. With Rev.com, you can create over 15 different foreign subtitles.
Many companies that offer subtitling jobs pay an average of $1 to $3 per minute. In a month, this translates to roughly $17,000. Although it’s practically impossible for one to work every minute of the day.
However, Rev.com stands out because a subtitler is paid roughly $3-$7 per minute, which translates to $50,000 per month. Adding a foreign subtitle to a video helps clients reach bigger audiences with their videos.
How Much Does Rev.Com Pay Translators?
Translation means converting words from one language into another, and a translator is a person who usually does it. If you are fluent in many languages, you might qualify to be a translator in Rev.
Though you can’t honestly expect any crazy pay and a stable flow of works, but it is worth trying since you are doing it all from the comfort of your house and not doing a manual job.
Your Rev Pay rates depend on the jobs you handle. On average translators, earn $0.05 to $0.07 per word. As a freelance translator, the best way you can earn is to have multiple sources of income online.
Summing Up: How Much Does Rev Pay?
Rev is not a “fire-your-boss” type of job. It’s a passive means of income for some extra cash to top up your monthly balance.
Although Rev doesn’t expressly state the exact reign salaries for the top earners, translators from big Companies like Smart Crowd range their earnings as high as $36 per hour.
Here’s the summary once again:
| Freelance Role | Rev.com’s Pay Rate |
|---|---|
| Captioner | $0.54-$1.20 per minute |
| Transcriber | $0.30-$1.10 per minute |
| Subtitler | $3.00-$7.00 per minute |
| Translator | $0.05-$0.07 per word |
Rev.com Payments Methods For Clients
Rev offers a wide range of payment options to meet every need of each customer. You can set up your Rev account with any payment method you would like to but of course, limitations apply. Below are Rev Payments method:.
Credit Card: Rev accepts all major credit cards out there. You can add or edit your credit card information in the payment settings. You can access the section from the upper right menu by clicking the gear icon and then head over to payment methods in the left menu.
PayPal: Clients can also make payments with the help of PayPal if they don’t want to use credit cards.
Prepaid Balance Option: Just like with most of the websites out there providing writing or transcribing services, you can also add prepaid balance and work with the balance to order projects as a client.
How Do Freelancers Get Paid?
Freelancers who work for Rev are paid via PayPal and payments are made on a weekly basis. It’s great because you don’t have to wait for the month to get by and wait for the salary.
Pros Of Rev.com
- Customers, as well as freelancers, are happy about Rev.com. Most of them also consider working with them for as long as they can. Customers seeking the services are fluttered due to how fast freelancers work on their projects.
- Freelancers meet tight deadlines that make the site a reliable one, especially when a client has many orders to take down in a short period.
- They also charge fair rates for freelancers to work on projects. Despite the availability of different clients claiming that it is too much, the services offered are worth the charges.
- Also, I really am in love with their website. It’s very user-friendly and people will love it.
- The quality of audio transcription and video captioning is also very high. It is the main reason why many clients decide to work with Rev.com.
- People who are required to meet tight deadlines at their workplaces view Rev.com as an unbelievable blessing. One can say that the site has brought success to many companies.
- Also, the clients are happy about how to style guidelines they require to apply in their projects.
- The quick and excellent customer service by the Rev.com team is also among the aspects that make clients want more and more of the site services. The team works great, and their feedback is fast.
- For freelancers who wish to account for either transcribers or captioners, are only supposed to apply and pass simple tests. It makes it easy for one to get a chance to work with Rev.com as a freelancer. A freelancer should reach for the correct wording from a team. It is mainly for those words that they have raised in their issues.
Cons Of Rev.com
- Though Rev.com is ranked globally as the best speech-to-text service company, both freelancers and clients have raised many concerns.
- Job safety is not an assurance that a contractor can start working for a company.
- Accounts are terminated without prior notice. It can be devastating to a freelancer who has no other means to earn a living.
- Rev.com graders grade jobs very harshly, and this results in low metrics in freelancer accounts. It puts an account at the risk of being closed. The standard used to grade contractor jobs is also very high.
- Many freelancers have complained that the time to complete jobs is inadequate, considering penalties are imposed if they do not submit their assignments on time. Most of their jobs also pay less despite working for many hours to complete a particular task.
- Most jobs offered are challenging because some clients submit videos with poor audio quality. It can be an uphill-climbing job for a freelancer.
- Rev has a support service that responds to queries raised by freelancers, but they take a bit longer to reply to someone. On the other hand, clients are replied as fast as possible. I don’t like that!
- There have been complaints from clients regarding their videos being posted by freelancers without their authorization. But the company took action on that and got rid of those freelancers.
What People Are Saying About Rev?
Rev.com has received thousands and thousands of reviews on Trustpilot and they have gotten a lot of positive reviews.
82% of the people have rated their service as excellent, 10% have rated as great, 3% have rated as average, 2% have rated poor, and 2% have chosen to rate it as bad.
While there are always pros and cons of every company, most of the freelancers and clients are very happy with the company and hence, it’s a thumbs up.
In Conclusion
If you are a business owner or content creator who is looking forward to having your projects worked on to achieve great quality, be it the translation of foreign languages, captioning, or transcription, I highly recommend you should pick Rev.com over other sites.
On the other hand, you can start a successful freelancing career as either a transcriptionist, captioner, translator, or subtitler and make a living out of it.
It’s a great website to check out. I have personally worked with Rev.com and no regrets at all.
I hope you found this review helpful. If you have anything to share or ask, feel free to jump into the comments section down below and let everyone know what your thoughts are.
[FAQs] Frequently Asked Questions
The answer to this question is, yes! Rev.com or Rev is a trusted website or platform used by hundreds of thousands of businesses or individuals all across the globe.
Rev.com works on a simple business business model. The company provides various transcription services to people that are completed by their team of freelancers.
You can signup for Rev as a freelancer and complete freelance projects to earn money.
