How to choose a speech-to-text provider
Evaluate mode, accuracy, endpointing, latency, billing units, and request minimums.
Speech-to-Text Pricing Comparison
Compare transcription pricing, modes, and billing terms verified 2026-07-22.
Comparison methodology
Streaming, pre-recorded, and dynamic-batch rates are not interchangeable. Minimum duration, channel count, add-ons, and session-idle billing can change effective cost.
Every row links to the official source used for verification. Confirm purchase-critical rates directly with the provider.
Current catalog
| Provider | Model | Mode | Status | Price | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAI | GPT-4o Transcribe | pre-recorded | active | Token-billed | Verify GPT-4o Transcribe pricing |
| OpenAI | GPT-4o mini Transcribe | pre-recorded | active | Token-billed | Verify GPT-4o mini Transcribe pricing |
| OpenAI | GPT-4o Transcribe Diarize | pre-recorded | active | Token-billed | Verify GPT-4o Transcribe Diarize pricing |
| OpenAI | Whisper | pre-recorded | active | $0.0060/audio min | Verify Whisper pricing |
| OpenAI | GPT-Realtime-Whisper | streaming | active | $0.02/audio min | Verify GPT-Realtime-Whisper pricing |
| Sarvam AI | Saaras v3 | pre-recorded | active | 0.5 INR/audio minute | Verify Saaras v3 pricing |
| Sarvam AI | Saaras v3 + Diarization | batch | active | 0.75 INR/audio minute | Verify Saaras v3 + Diarization pricing |
| Chirp 3 | streaming | active | $0.02/audio min | Verify Chirp 3 pricing | |
| Chirp 3 — Dynamic Batch | dynamic-batch | active | $0.0030/audio min | Verify Chirp 3 — Dynamic Batch pricing | |
| ElevenLabs | Scribe v2 | pre-recorded | active | $0.003667/audio min | Verify Scribe v2 pricing |
| ElevenLabs | Scribe v2 Realtime | streaming | active | $0.0065/audio min | Verify Scribe v2 Realtime pricing |
| AWS | Amazon Transcribe — Batch | batch | active | $0.0060/audio min | Verify Amazon Transcribe — Batch pricing |
| AWS | Amazon Transcribe — Streaming | streaming | active | $0.01/audio min | Verify Amazon Transcribe — Streaming pricing |
| Deepgram | Nova-3 Monolingual — Pre-recorded | pre-recorded | active | $0.0077/audio min | Verify Nova-3 Monolingual — Pre-recorded pricing |
| Deepgram | Nova-3 Monolingual — Streaming | streaming | active | $0.0048/audio min | Verify Nova-3 Monolingual — Streaming pricing |
| Deepgram | Nova-3 Multilingual — Pre-recorded | pre-recorded | active | $0.0092/audio min | Verify Nova-3 Multilingual — Pre-recorded pricing |
| Deepgram | Nova-3 Multilingual — Streaming | streaming | active | $0.0058/audio min | Verify Nova-3 Multilingual — Streaming pricing |
| Deepgram | Flux English | streaming | active | $0.0065/audio min | Verify Flux English pricing |
| Deepgram | Flux Multilingual | streaming | active | $0.0078/audio min | Verify Flux Multilingual pricing |
| Mistral | Voxtral Mini Transcribe 2 — Batch | batch | active | $0.0030/audio min | Verify Voxtral Mini Transcribe 2 — Batch pricing |
| Mistral | Voxtral Mini Transcribe Realtime | streaming | active | $0.0060/audio min | Verify Voxtral Mini Transcribe Realtime pricing |
| Microsoft | MAI-Transcribe-1.5 | pre-recorded | preview | $0.0060/audio min | Verify MAI-Transcribe-1.5 pricing |
| Gladia | Solaria-3 — Async | pre-recorded | active | $0.01/audio min | Verify Solaria-3 — Async pricing |
| Gladia | Solaria-3 — Realtime | streaming | active | $0.01/audio min | Verify Solaria-3 — Realtime pricing |
| AssemblyAI | Universal-3 Pro | pre-recorded | active | $0.0035/audio min | Verify Universal-3 Pro pricing |
| AssemblyAI | Universal-2 | pre-recorded | active | $0.0025/audio min | Verify Universal-2 pricing |
| AssemblyAI | Universal-Streaming | streaming | active | $0.0025/session min | Verify Universal-Streaming pricing |
| AssemblyAI | Universal-3 Pro Streaming | streaming | active | $0.0075/session min | Verify Universal-3 Pro Streaming pricing |
| Speechmatics | Melia 1 — Batch | batch | active | $0.00215/audio min | Verify Melia 1 — Batch pricing |
| Speechmatics | Standard — Batch | batch | active | $0.0040/audio min | Verify Standard — Batch pricing |
| Speechmatics | Enhanced — Batch | batch | active | $0.006667/audio min | Verify Enhanced — Batch pricing |
| Speechmatics | Standard — Realtime | streaming | active | $0.0040/audio min | Verify Standard — Realtime pricing |
| Speechmatics | Enhanced — Realtime | streaming | active | $0.007167/audio min | Verify Enhanced — Realtime pricing |
| fal.ai | Scribe v2 on fal | pre-recorded | active | $0.0080/audio min | Verify Scribe v2 on fal pricing |
| fal.ai | Canary Streaming STT | streaming | active | $0.05/audio min | Verify Canary Streaming STT pricing |
| fal.ai | Wizper — Experimental | pre-recorded | variable | See source | Verify Wizper — Experimental pricing |
| Groq | Whisper Large V3 Turbo | pre-recorded | active | $0.000667/audio min | Verify Whisper Large V3 Turbo pricing |
| Groq | Whisper Large V3 | pre-recorded | active | $0.00185/audio min | Verify Whisper Large V3 pricing |
| Groq | Whisper Large V3 Turbo — Batch | batch | active | $0.000333/audio min | Verify Whisper Large V3 Turbo — Batch pricing |
| Groq | Whisper Large V3 — Batch | batch | active | $0.000925/audio min | Verify Whisper Large V3 — Batch pricing |
STT buyer guides
Turn detection and interruption handling
Design endpointing and barge-in behavior for conversational audio.
How to optimize voice AI latency
Measure the complete end-of-speech to audible-response path.