Refer Kalima: Free Transcription Time for You and Your Friends

Most people don't find good tools through ads. They find them through others: a colleague shows in a meeting how she writes her minutes, a classmate shares the transcript after a lecture, someone on the team mentions in passing that he no longer types up his interviews. That is how many people come to Kalima too.

We want to reward those recommendations, on both sides. With the referral program you share your personal link. Anyone who signs up through it starts with extra transcription time, and you earn credit for every successful referral. This post explains how the program works, what you get out of it and what to keep in mind.

At a glance

• Your friend gets 3 hours of transcription time.
• You get 1 hour per successful referral.
• If your friend later subscribes to a paid plan, you get 5 more hours.
• From three referrals on, tier rewards are added, up to a month of Plus.
• A referral counts once your friend has confirmed their email address and recorded ten minutes.

What you and your friends get

The time is added to your account as credit on top of what your plan includes. You can use it for everything Kalima transcribes: live recordings of meetings and lectures as well as uploaded audio and video files.

Three hours is more than a quick test for your friend. It covers several team meetings, a full lecture or a long interview, so they can try Kalima in their real work before deciding on a plan.

Tier rewards from three referrals

The more people you invite, the more it pays off. On top of the hour per referral, there are tiers:

If you already pay for a plan, you get 20 hours of credit instead of the Plus month. Each tier pays out exactly once. If you skip past several tiers at once, you get all of them.

A worked example

Say you recommend Kalima to your team and your course, and ten people sign up and record something. Two of them later subscribe.

• 10 referrals × 1 hour = 10 hours
• Tier rewards for 3, 5 and 10 referrals = 3 + 8 + 20 = 31 hours
• 2 subscriptions × 5 hours = 10 hours

That adds up to 51 hours of transcription time for you. Each of the ten people also starts with 3 hours.

When a referral counts

A referral counts once your friend has done two things:

1. Confirmed their email address.
2. Recorded ten minutes in total. Several short recordings add up.

Only then do you both receive your time. The reason is simple: the program should reward people who actually try Kalima. Someone who was really invited records something anyway, while empty accounts earn nothing. That keeps the program fair for everyone who refers honestly.

The subscription bonus is credited 30 days after the first payment. Until then, your referral history shows it as pending.

How to share your link

1. Click the person-with-a-plus icon at the bottom of the sidebar ("Invite friends"). Or open your profile and choose the Referral tab.
2. Copy your referral link or your referral code.
3. Or use Share to send the link straight via WhatsApp, X, LinkedIn or email.

Anyone who opens your link sees an invitation page that shows how much time is waiting after their first recording, and can create a free account right there, with an email address or with Google.

Who to recommend Kalima to

A referral works best when you know how Kalima would help the other person. A few examples:

• Colleagues who write minutes after every meeting or track action items from conversations.
• Students who take notes in lectures, review seminars or run interviews for their thesis.
• Researchers and journalists who transcribe long interviews and need to find individual quotes again.
• Consultants, coaches and therapists who would rather focus on the person in front of them than on their notes.
• People who work in several languages and want to follow conversations with live translation.

A short personal message usually works better than a bare link. Mention what you use Kalima for and how much time it saves you.

Keeping track

The Referral tab shows at any time how many people you have invited, how many of them subscribed and how much time you have earned. A progress bar shows how close you are to the next tier.

The referral history lists each invitation as pending or credited. Hover over the status to see what is still missing, for example the email confirmation or the first ten minutes of recording.

Frequently asked questions

What if my friend doesn't sign up right away?

Kalima remembers your invitation for 30 days on the device where your link was opened. If your friend signs up within that time, the referral is credited to you, even if they visited other pages in between.

Can I invite people who already have a Kalima account?

No. A referral is recorded at sign-up, so it only applies to new accounts.

Can I refer myself?

No. Referring yourself, for example through a second account, is not rewarded.

Is there a limit?

Up to 25 referrals are rewarded per calendar month. The count starts over the following month.

Where do I see my credited time?

In the Referral tab under "Time Earned". The credit is added to your account directly, there is nothing to redeem.

Share your link

Know someone who spends a lot of time writing up meetings, lectures or interviews? Now is a good time to share your link. You'll find it at the bottom of the sidebar under "Invite friends".