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Best speech-to-text (STT) APIs: per-hour prices from official pages

Updated Nov 6, 2026. Listed A to Z, not ranked. Prices change often: confirm with each provider.

Speech-to-text APIs transcribe audio files or live streams. Most bill per minute or per hour of audio, with different rates for pre-recorded vs real-time and for add-ons such as speaker diarization. Below are published rates from each provider’s own pricing page, read Nov 6, 2026.

Want meeting notes rather than an API? See AI meeting notes apps. For agents, see speech-to-text API for AI agents.

Published STT rates (pay as you go)

ProviderPublished pricingNotes
AssemblyAIUniversal-3.5 Pro $0.21/hr; Universal-2 $0.15/hr (pre-recorded)Add-ons: speaker diarization $0.02/hr; keyterms prompting $0.05/hr on Universal-3.5 Pro (included on Universal-2)
DeepgramNova-3 monolingual $0.0077/min ($0.46/hr streaming); multilingual $0.0092/minGrowth plan lower ($0.0065/min Nova-3); billed per second; $200 free credit
SpeechmaticsPre-recorded from $0.12/hr (Melia 1); Enhanced $0.38/hr; real-time Melia 1 $0.20/hr, Enhanced $0.40/hr$100 in free credits, no card; volume discounts up to 25%

Quoted from each provider’s official pricing page on Nov 6, 2026.

Speech-to-text tools in our directory (3)

ToolWhat it doesHow you payPublished priceLinks
CartesiaReal-time voice AI: text-to-speech and speech-to-text models plus managed voice agents, in 44 languages.Card / subscriptionFree $0 (20K credits); Pro $5; Startup $49; Scale $299/mo; voice agents $0.03/min; telephony $0.014/min. Checked Nov 6, 2026 on cartesia.ai/pricing. (checked 2026-11-06)Listing · Pricing
DeepgramSpeech-to-text, text-to-speech and voice agent APIs for developers building real-time voice apps.Card / subscriptionPay as you go Nova-3 monolingual streaming $0.0077/min; Growth prepaid from $4,000/year. Voice Agent Standard $0.075/min. Checked Nov 6, 2026 on deepgram.com/pricing. (checked 2026-11-06)Listing · Pricing
Murf AIAI voice platform for voiceovers and conversational agents, with a text-to-speech and speech-to-text API.Card / subscriptionAPI: $10 free credit, then pay as you go from $0.01 per 1,000 characters (Falcon 2.1 text-to-speech). Studio plans: see provider. (checked 2026-10-22)Listing · Pricing

How to compare STT prices

  • Per minute vs per hour. $0.0077 per minute is about $0.46 per hour, which is how Deepgram itself states it.
  • Batch vs streaming. Real-time transcription is usually priced higher than pre-recorded files (Speechmatics lists both).
  • Add-ons. Diarization, keyterms and medical modes can add per-hour fees (AssemblyAI lists each).

FAQ

What does a speech-to-text API cost per hour?
On Nov 6, 2026: AssemblyAI Universal-2 $0.15/hr and Universal-3.5 Pro $0.21/hr; Speechmatics from $0.12/hr pre-recorded; Deepgram Nova-3 $0.0077/min (about $0.46/hr streaming) on pay as you go.
Which STT APIs have free credit?
Deepgram lists $200 in free credit and Speechmatics $100, both with no card required, on their pricing pages (Nov 6, 2026).

Sources (read Nov 6, 2026): www.assemblyai.com/pricing · deepgram.com/pricing · www.speechmatics.com/pricing

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