# How long can a recording be?

> Canto records for hours without a length cap — the practical limit is the free plan's monthly transcription minutes, not recording time.

Updated: 2026-08-16 · Canonical: https://usecanto.com/help/recording/recording-limits/

There's no fixed cap on recording length — Canto is built for long-form audio, and multi-hour recordings (an all-day workshop, a long interview) are normal use. The limit you'll actually meet is a different one: on the free plan, only 100 min / mo of audio get transcribed each month.

## Recording time vs. transcription minutes

These are two separate things:

- **Recording** — capturing and storing audio. Effectively unlimited in length; a recording runs until you stop it.
- **Transcription** — turning that audio into a transcript, which is what the plan meters. Every recorded or [imported](https://usecanto.com/help/recording/import-audio-ios-android/) minute that gets transcribed counts.

So a three-hour recording is never cut off at the recorder — but on the free plan it alone uses a large share of the month's transcription allowance. Recordings past the allowance are kept, playable, and untranscribed until you upgrade or the month resets — see [Why is my recording locked or not transcribed?](https://usecanto.com/help/transcription/locked-recordings/). Pro removes the transcription cap; see [What do Free, Pro, and Team include?](https://usecanto.com/help/billing/plans/)

## What actually constrains a very long recording?

Practical device things, not Canto rules:

- **Battery** on mobile — the biggest factor for all-day sessions. Lock the screen and start charged, or plug in. See [Does Canto record in the background?](https://usecanto.com/help/recording/background-recording/)
- **The open tab** on the web — the browser tab must stay open the whole time, so multi-hour web recordings mean a laptop that doesn't sleep. Prefer the phone for long sessions.
- **Upload size** — audio is compressed for upload at roughly 15 MB per hour, so even a long session uploads quickly on Wi-Fi and tolerably on mobile data.
- **Interruptions** — on a phone, an incoming call pauses the recording until it ends ("Paused by another app — will resume automatically" on iOS). For hours-long coverage where you can't touch the phone, put it in Do Not Disturb.

## Is there a minimum length?

No, but transcription needs something to work with — a two-second clip won't produce notes. Short voice memos of a sentence or more work fine; see [Use Canto for dictation and voice notes](https://usecanto.com/help/recording/dictation/).

## FAQ

### Does pausing extend how long I can record?

Paused time isn't recorded and isn't transcribed, so a meeting with long breaks costs only its spoken parts. Pause freely during breaks — see [Start, pause, and resume a recording](https://usecanto.com/help/recording/start-pause-stop/)

### I'm mid-recording and worried about my remaining minutes

Finish the recording — stopping never discards audio. If you're over the allowance it's stored untranscribed, and upgrading transcribes it automatically without re-recording. See [What happens when I hit my limit?](https://usecanto.com/help/billing/what-happens-at-limit/)

Related articles:

- [What do Free, Pro, and Team include?](https://usecanto.com/help/billing/plans/)
- [Why is my recording locked or not transcribed?](https://usecanto.com/help/transcription/locked-recordings/)
- [Does Canto record in the background?](https://usecanto.com/help/recording/background-recording/)