AI · head to head
Rev vs Thanos
Rev
AI
Human and AI transcription, captions and subtitles priced per minute
- From
- Free
- Free plan
- Yes
Thanos
Cloud
Highly available Prometheus with long-term object storage
- From
- Free
- Free plan
- Yes
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Rev human transcription at 1.99 US dollars a minute means roughly 120 dollars an hour of audio, so a long-form interview series costs more in transcription than most teams assume before they run the arithmetic.; Thanos several components — sidecar, store, querier, compactor, ruler — each with its own configuration and failure modes
- They diverge on capability: Rev covers Human transcription, Thanos covers Global query.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Rev and Thanos actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Rev
- Human transcription
- AI transcription
- Captions and subtitles
- Legal transcripts
- File analysis
- Clio integration
- Rev API
- Speaker identification
Only in Thanos
- Global query
- Object storage retention
- Deduplication
- Downsampling
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Rev
- A law firm that needs a deposition transcript in a court-acceptable page format with a fixed turnaround and a published per-page price it can bill to a matter.not Thanos
- A documentary or podcast producer costing a project in advance, because human transcription at a published per-minute rate makes the transcription line item a known number.not Thanos
- A broadcaster needing compliant human captions rather than machine captions, where accuracy is a regulatory requirement and not a convenience.not Thanos
- A team with high AI volume and occasional high-stakes files, using the subscription for the bulk and paying the discounted human rate only where accuracy matters.not Thanos
Thanos
- Querying metrics across many clusters or regions from one placenot Rev
- Retaining metrics for years without local disk growthnot Rev
- Removing the gap that appears when a single Prometheus instance restartsnot Rev
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Rev
- Human transcription at 1.99 US dollars a minute means roughly 120 dollars an hour of audio, so a long-form interview series costs more in transcription than most teams assume before they run the arithmetic.
- AI minutes are allocated per seat per month and do not roll over, so bursty workloads, which is how most media production actually behaves, waste allowance in quiet months and run out in busy ones.
- The product direction has moved towards legal and investigative use, so a newsroom or media buyer is choosing a tool whose roadmap priority sits elsewhere.
- Foreign-language subtitles are priced from 6.49 to 15.99 US dollars per minute, an order of magnitude above transcription, which makes multi-language localisation of any volume of video expensive enough to change the plan.
- Human turnaround is stated in hours rather than guaranteed contractually on the published plans, so a hard broadcast or filing deadline needs an agreement beyond the standard terms.
Thanos
- Several components — sidecar, store, querier, compactor, ruler — each with its own configuration and failure modes
- The compactor is a common source of operational trouble and must not run twice against the same bucket
- Query latency over object storage is meaningfully higher than local Prometheus
- Object storage costs and API request charges become real at high volume
Pricing, plan by plan
Rev
Free- FreeFree
- 45 AI transcription and caption minutes per month
- Up to 5 files analysed
- No human transcription included
- Essentials$25.49/month
- 5,000 AI minutes per seat per month
- Up to 3 seats
- 10 per cent discount on human transcription, captions and subtitles
- Pro$47.99/month
- 10,000 AI minutes per seat per month
- Up to 5 seats
- 15 per cent discount on human work
- Unlimited$undefined/month
- Unlimited AI minutes
- Up to 500 files analysed at once
- Dedicated account specialist
Thanos
Free- ThanosFree
- Full functionality
- No usage limits
- Community support
Which should you pick?
Choose Rev if
- You need human transcription.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android, API.
- You also want ai transcription.
Choose Thanos if
- You need global query.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Kubernetes, Linux, Docker.
- You also want object storage retention.
Questions people ask
- Is Rev or Thanos better?
- Neither clearly leads. Rev starts at Free and Thanos at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Rev or Thanos?
- Rev starts at Free and Thanos at Free.
- Does Rev or Thanos run on more platforms?
- Rev runs on Web, iOS, Android, API. Thanos runs on Kubernetes, Linux, Docker.
- Can I use Rev for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Rev best used for?
- Rev is most often used for a law firm that needs a deposition transcript in a court-acceptable page format with a fixed turnaround and a published per-page price it can bill to a matter., a documentary or podcast producer costing a project in advance, because human transcription at a published per-minute rate makes the transcription line item a known number., a broadcaster needing compliant human captions rather than machine captions, where accuracy is a regulatory requirement and not a convenience., a team with high ai volume and occasional high-stakes files, using the subscription for the bulk and paying the discounted human rate only where accuracy matters.. Of those, a law firm that needs a deposition transcript in a court-acceptable page format with a fixed turnaround and a published per-page price it can bill to a matter. and a documentary or podcast producer costing a project in advance, because human transcription at a published per-minute rate makes the transcription line item a known number. are not what Thanos is typically brought in for.
- What can Rev do that Thanos cannot?
- Rev covers Human transcription, AI transcription, Captions and subtitles, Legal transcripts. Thanos covers Global query, Object storage retention, Deduplication, Downsampling.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Rev: How much is human transcription?
1.99 US dollars per minute with a stated accuracy target above 99 per cent, typically returned within 12 hours. Subscribers get 10 to 15 per cent off.
Thanos: Is Thanos free?
Yes, open source and CNCF-incubating. Costs are the object storage it uses.
Rev: Is there a free tier?
Yes, 45 AI minutes per month and up to 5 files analysed, with no human transcription included.
Thanos: Does Thanos replace Prometheus?
No. It runs alongside existing Prometheus servers, adding global query, deduplication and long-term storage.
Rev: Do unused AI minutes roll over?
No. The allowance is per seat per month and resets, which penalises irregular workloads.
Thanos: Thanos or VictoriaMetrics?
Thanos layers onto Prometheus using object storage and is the more established multi-cluster answer. VictoriaMetrics is a separate store aiming at lower resource use and fewer moving parts.
Rev: Can it do subtitles in other languages?
Yes, across seventeen languages, priced from 6.49 to 15.99 US dollars per minute, considerably more than transcription.
Rev: Is Rev still a good choice for newsrooms?
It works, but the subscription tiers are now positioned around legal and investigative workflows, so a newsroom should compare it against a tool built specifically for journalism.
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