{
  "data": {
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      "slug": "amazon-transcribe",
      "name": "Amazon Transcribe",
      "vendor": "Amazon Web Services",
      "vendorUrl": "https://aws.amazon.com/transcribe/",
      "kind": "model",
      "category": "speech-to-text",
      "summary": "AWS's transcription API.",
      "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/amazon-transcribe",
      "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/amazon-transcribe.md",
      "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/amazon-transcribe.min.md",
      "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/amazon-transcribe.json",
      "repo": "https://github.com/awslabs/amazon-transcribe-streaming-sdk",
      "license": "Apache-2.0 (SDKs)",
      "transports": [
        "http"
      ],
      "remoteUrl": "https://transcribe.us-east-1.amazonaws.com",
      "packages": [
        {
          "registry": "pypi",
          "name": "amazon-transcribe"
        },
        {
          "registry": "npm",
          "name": "@aws-sdk/client-transcribe"
        },
        {
          "registry": "npm",
          "name": "@aws-sdk/client-transcribe-streaming"
        }
      ],
      "auth": "api-key",
      "authNotes": "AWS Signature Version 4 with IAM access keys or a role. Batch goes to `transcribe.\u003cregion\u003e.amazonaws.com`, streaming to `transcribestreaming.\u003cregion\u003e.amazonaws.com` (WebSocket needs a presigned URL).",
      "pricing": "usage",
      "pricingNotes": "US East is $0.006 a minute batch and $0.01 a minute streaming, billed per second with no minimum and up to two channels included. Diarisation, custom vocabularies and language ID are included. PII redaction adds $0.0024 a minute and custom language models $0.006. Accounts opened before 2025-07-15 get 60 free minutes a month for 12 months, newer accounts get Free Tier credits instead (https://aws.amazon.com/transcribe/pricing/).",
      "priceSummary": "Pay per use",
      "where": "hosted",
      "x402": {
        "level": "no",
        "evidence": "No machine payment. Billing runs through a cloud account with a card or invoice.",
        "endpoints": []
      },
      "toolCount": null,
      "popularity": {
        "githubStars": 185,
        "npmWeekly": 505959,
        "pypiWeekly": 200552,
        "asOf": "2026-09-30"
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      "docsUrl": "https://docs.aws.amazon.com/transcribe/latest/dg/what-is.html",
      "llmsTxt": "https://docs.aws.amazon.com/transcribe/latest/dg/llms.txt",
      "capabilities": [
        "speech.stt",
        "speech.streaming",
        "speech.batch",
        "speech.diarisation",
        "speech.languages"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "hosted",
        "closed-source",
        "python",
        "typescript",
        "enterprise",
        "streaming",
        "batch",
        "async-jobs",
        "llms-txt",
        "card-required"
      ],
      "lastRelease": "2026-09-29",
      "graded": true,
      "anchor": {
        "graded": true,
        "score": 73.6,
        "grade": "BB",
        "agentReady": true,
        "rank": 57,
        "ranked": true,
        "rankOf": 452,
        "categoryRank": 2,
        "methodology": "0.3",
        "run": "2026-10-01",
        "scores": {
          "ergonomics": 80,
          "maintenance": 35,
          "payments": 20,
          "reliability": 95,
          "schema": 90,
          "security": 80,
          "transparency": 85
        },
        "pending": [
          "performance",
          "tasks"
        ],
        "assessment": {
          "confidence": "medium",
          "date": "2026-10-01"
        },
        "negative": 0,
        "verdict": "$0.006 a minute batch and $0.01 streaming in US East, with diarisation, custom vocabulary and language ID included. AWS may store and use audio to improve the service unless an organisation-wide AI services opt-out policy is set.",
        "strengths": [
          "$0.006 a minute batch and $0.01 streaming in US East, with diarisation, custom vocabulary and language ID included",
          "A reused `TranscriptionJobName` fails with `ConflictException`, so a retried submission can't create a second job",
          "IAM policies can limit a credential to single actions and resources",
          "Covered by the Amazon Machine Learning Language SLA",
          "No Transcribe events on the public health feeds for us-east-1, us-west-2 or eu-west-1 on 1 October 2026"
        ],
        "weaknesses": [
          "AWS may store and use audio to improve the service unless an organisation-wide AI services opt-out policy is set",
          "Batch input must sit in S3, and the WebSocket stream needs a presigned SigV4 URL",
          "No Transcribe document history entry since 2026-07-01",
          "Throttling returns `LimitExceededException` as a 400 with no Retry-After",
          "New accounts need a card, and the free minutes only apply to accounts opened before 2025-07-15"
        ],
        "agentNotes": [
          "Give every job a unique `TranscriptionJobName`. A retry with the same name fails with `ConflictException` rather than starting a second job",
          "Batch is a job. Poll `GetTranscriptionJob` or listen on EventBridge, then fetch the transcript URI",
          "Set `OutputBucketName`, because job records are deleted after 90 days",
          "Back off on `LimitExceededException`. It arrives as a 400, not a 429",
          "Set the organisation's AI services opt-out policy before sending customer audio"
        ],
        "metrics": {
          "kind": "remote",
          "measured": false
        },
        "reviewCount": 2,
        "avgRating": 4,
        "history": [
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            "basis": "public evidence",
            "confidence": "medium",
            "grade": "BB",
            "methodology": "0.3",
            "pending": [
              "performance",
              "tasks"
            ],
            "run": "2026-10-01",
            "runLabel": "October 2026 research run",
            "score": 73.6
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        ],
        "editorialScores": {
          "ergonomics": 80,
          "maintenance": 35,
          "payments": 20,
          "reliability": 95,
          "schema": 90,
          "security": 80,
          "transparency": 75
        },
        "provenanceScore": 95
      },
      "connect": {
        "install": "pip install boto3 amazon-transcribe   # or: npm i @aws-sdk/client-transcribe",
        "http": "curl -X POST \"https://transcribe.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/\" \\\n  --aws-sigv4 \"aws:amz:us-east-1:transcribe\" --user \"$AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID:$AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY\" \\\n  -H \"X-Amz-Target: Transcribe.StartTranscriptionJob\" -H \"content-type: application/x-amz-json-1.1\" \\\n  -d '{\"TranscriptionJobName\":\"call-001\",\"LanguageCode\":\"en-US\",\"Media\":{\"MediaFileUri\":\"s3://my-bucket/call.wav\"}}'"
      },
      "letme": {
        "capability": "https://letme.dev/speech.stt",
        "tool": "https://letme.dev/amazon-transcribe"
      },
      "sameCompany": [
        "amazon-bedrock-guardrails",
        "amazon-polly",
        "aws-secrets-manager",
        "aws-mcp-servers",
        "amazon-ses",
        "amazon-translate"
      ],
      "area": "voice",
      "unitPrices": [
        {
          "item": "Batch",
          "unit": "audio-minute",
          "usd": 0.006,
          "note": "US East, per second"
        },
        {
          "item": "Streaming",
          "unit": "audio-minute",
          "usd": 0.01,
          "note": "US East, per second"
        },
        {
          "item": "PII redaction add-on",
          "unit": "audio-minute",
          "usd": 0.0024,
          "note": "first 250,000 minutes"
        },
        {
          "item": "Custom language model add-on",
          "unit": "audio-minute",
          "usd": 0.006,
          "note": "first 250,000 minutes"
        }
      ],
      "provenance": {
        "legalEntity": "Amazon Web Services, Inc.",
        "domain": "amazon.com",
        "domainRegistered": "1994-11-01",
        "domainNote": "The endpoints are on amazonaws.com (registered 2005-08-18) and api.aws, both AWS domains. The security.txt on aws.amazon.com passed its Expires date on 2026-09-24.",
        "endpointOnVendorDomain": true,
        "terms": "https://aws.amazon.com/service-terms/",
        "privacy": "https://aws.amazon.com/privacy/",
        "statusPage": "https://health.aws.amazon.com/health/status",
        "changelog": "https://docs.aws.amazon.com/transcribe/latest/dg/doc-history.html",
        "securityTxt": "expired",
        "checked": "2026-09-30",
        "score": 95
      },
      "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/amazon-transcribe.json",
      "live": {
        "slug": "amazon-transcribe",
        "probe": {
          "target": "https://transcribe.us-east-1.amazonaws.com",
          "method": "get",
          "lastAt": "2026-10-05T01:43:32.917004326Z",
          "lastOk": true,
          "lastStatus": 404,
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          "authRequired": false,
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          "p95ms24h": 314,
          "samples24h": 272,
          "samples30d": 1122,
          "days": [
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              "date": "2026-09-30",
              "probes": 35,
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              "date": "2026-10-01",
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              "date": "2026-10-02",
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              "date": "2026-10-03",
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              "date": "2026-10-04",
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              "ok": 272
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              "date": "2026-10-05",
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        "versions": [
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        "llmsTxt": {
          "url": "https://docs.aws.amazon.com/transcribe/latest/dg/llms.txt",
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        "domain": {
          "domain": "amazon.com",
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          "source": "https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/domain/amazon.com",
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            "url": "https://aws.amazon.com/transcribe/pricing/",
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        "updatedAt": "2026-10-05T01:43:32.917004326Z"
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      "name": "AssemblyAI Speech-to-Text (Universal)",
      "vendor": "AssemblyAI",
      "vendorUrl": "https://www.assemblyai.com",
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      "category": "speech-to-text",
      "summary": "Speech-to-text APIs for recorded audio and live streams, with speaker identification, translation and redaction options.",
      "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/assemblyai-stt",
      "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/assemblyai-stt.md",
      "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/assemblyai-stt.min.md",
      "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/assemblyai-stt.json",
      "repo": "https://github.com/AssemblyAI/assemblyai-python-sdk",
      "license": "MIT (SDKs)",
      "transports": [
        "http",
        "streamable-http"
      ],
      "remoteUrl": "https://api.assemblyai.com/v2",
      "packages": [
        {
          "registry": "npm",
          "name": "assemblyai"
        },
        {
          "registry": "pypi",
          "name": "assemblyai"
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      ],
      "auth": "api-key",
      "authNotes": "API key in the `authorization` header. Temporary tokens for browser streaming. The docs MCP needs no key.",
      "pricing": "usage",
      "pricingNotes": "Free tier with no card covers up to 185 hours of pre-recorded or 333 hours of streaming. Then pay as you go per hour of audio. Universal-3.5 Pro $0.21, Universal-2 $0.15, Universal-3.6 Pro Realtime $0.45, Universal-Streaming $0.15, Sync $0.45. Diarisation $0.02 an hour on files and $0.12 on streams, keyterms $0.05 on Universal-3.5 Pro, translation $0.06. Streaming bills session time, not audio sent (https://www.assemblyai.com/pricing).",
      "priceSummary": "Pay per use",
      "where": "hosted",
      "x402": {
        "level": "no",
        "evidence": "No x402 or machine payment in the docs or pricing. Card or prepaid credits only (checked 2026-09-30).",
        "endpoints": []
      },
      "toolCount": null,
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        "npmWeekly": 599958,
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      "llmsTxt": "https://www.assemblyai.com/docs/llms.txt",
      "openapi": "https://www.assemblyai.com/docs/openapi.yaml",
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        "speech.streaming",
        "speech.batch",
        "speech.diarisation",
        "speech.languages",
        "speech.translation"
      ],
      "tags": [
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        "free-tier",
        "closed-source",
        "python",
        "typescript",
        "openapi",
        "llms-txt",
        "mcp",
        "streaming",
        "batch",
        "webhooks",
        "async-jobs",
        "enterprise"
      ],
      "lastRelease": "2026-09-24",
      "graded": true,
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        "score": 67,
        "grade": "B",
        "agentReady": false,
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        "ranked": true,
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        "categoryRank": 8,
        "methodology": "0.3",
        "run": "2026-10-01",
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          "security": 50,
          "transparency": 78
        },
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          "tasks"
        ],
        "assessment": {
          "confidence": "medium",
          "date": "2026-10-01"
        },
        "negative": -3,
        "negativeNotes": [
          "2026-07-10, the async `speech_model` parameter began returning 400 for current model names and silently routing legacy names to the default model, and `universal-3-pro` was blocked for new accounts and accounts inactive for 7 days, all announced in the changelog the same day. We found no earlier notice (https://www.assemblyai.com/changelog). Documented, so the minimum deduction."
        ],
        "verdict": "OpenAPI 3.1 file with typed inputs and error responses on every operation. Two outages of an hour or more in the last 90 days, on 31 July and 16 September 2026.",
        "strengths": [
          "OpenAPI 3.1 file with typed inputs and error responses on every operation",
          "Universal-2 covers 99 languages at $0.15 an hour, Universal-3.5 Pro is $0.21",
          "Transcript lists paginate with `limit`, `before_id` and `after_id`, and transcripts come back as sentences, paragraphs, SRT or VTT",
          "Free tier with no card, up to 185 hours pre-recorded",
          "TTL deletion from 1 hour and a delete endpoint for transcripts"
        ],
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          "Two outages of an hour or more in the last 90 days, on 31 July and 16 September 2026",
          "Free accounts can't opt out of model training",
          "The HTTP rate limit returns 403 with no Retry-After",
          "Streaming bills the time the socket is open, up to a 3-hour auto-close",
          "No security.txt or published disclosure policy"
        ],
        "agentNotes": [
          "Send `{\"type\":\"Terminate\"}` to close every stream, or billing runs to the 3-hour auto-close",
          "Use `speech_models` (plural). The singular `speech_model` now returns 400 for current model names",
          "Treat a 403 on polling as the rate limit and back off with jitter, or use webhooks",
          "Fetch `/sentences` or `/paragraphs` instead of the full transcript when you only need text",
          "Opt out in Data Controls on a paid account before sending customer audio"
        ],
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          "measured": false
        },
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          "reliability": 70,
          "schema": 95,
          "security": 50,
          "transparency": 70
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        "provenanceScore": 86
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      "connect": {
        "http": "curl -X POST https://api.assemblyai.com/v2/transcript -H \"authorization: $ASSEMBLYAI_API_KEY\" \\\n  -H \"content-type: application/json\" \\\n  -d '{\"audio_url\":\"https://assembly.ai/wildfires.mp3\",\"language_detection\":true,\"speaker_labels\":true}'",
        "claudeCode": "claude mcp add assemblyai-docs --transport http https://assemblyai.com/docs/mcp"
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          "item": "Universal-3.5 Pro pre-recorded",
          "unit": "audio-minute",
          "usd": 0.0035,
          "note": "published as $0.21 an hour"
        },
        {
          "item": "Universal-2 pre-recorded",
          "unit": "audio-minute",
          "usd": 0.0025,
          "note": "published as $0.15 an hour"
        },
        {
          "item": "Universal-3.6 Pro Realtime",
          "unit": "audio-minute",
          "usd": 0.0075,
          "note": "published as $0.45 an hour, billed on session time"
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          "item": "Universal-Streaming",
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          "note": "published as $0.15 an hour, billed on session time"
        },
        {
          "item": "Sync API",
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          "usd": 0.0075,
          "note": "published as $0.45 an hour, clips up to 2 minutes"
        },
        {
          "item": "Streaming diarisation add-on",
          "unit": "audio-minute",
          "usd": 0.002,
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  "markdown": "Amazon Transcribe has a score of 73.6 (BB) against AssemblyAI Speech-to-Text (Universal)'s 67 (B). Both do speech stt. The largest gap is maintenance \u0026 community, 45 points.\n\n- Amazon Transcribe: grade BB, 73.6/100, rank #57 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/amazon-transcribe.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/amazon-transcribe.json\n- AssemblyAI Speech-to-Text (Universal): grade B, 67/100, rank #148 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/assemblyai-stt.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/assemblyai-stt.json\n\n## Which one, for what\n\nPick Amazon Transcribe for reliability (+25), security \u0026 auth (+30), transparency \u0026 trust (+7).\n\nPick AssemblyAI Speech-to-Text (Universal) for schema \u0026 documentation (+5), payments \u0026 pricing (+20), maintenance \u0026 community (+45).\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Amazon Transcribe | AssemblyAI Speech-to-Text (Universal) | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 95 | 70 | Amazon Transcribe +25 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 90 | 95 | AssemblyAI Speech-to-Text (Universal) +5 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 80 | 80 | even |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 80 | 50 | Amazon Transcribe +30 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 40 | AssemblyAI Speech-to-Text (Universal) +20 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 35 | 80 | AssemblyAI Speech-to-Text (Universal) +45 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 85 | 78 | Amazon Transcribe +7 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -3 | |\n| **Total** | | **73.6 · BB** | **67 · B** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Amazon Transcribe | AssemblyAI Speech-to-Text (Universal) |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | Model API | Model API |\n| Vendor | Amazon Web Services | AssemblyAI |\n| Hosted endpoint | `https://transcribe.us-east-1.amazonaws.com` | `https://api.assemblyai.com/v2` |\n| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |\n| Auth | API key | API key |\n| Pricing | Pay per use | Pay per use |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | Apache-2.0 (SDKs) | MIT (SDKs) |\n| Tools exposed | none | none |\n| Context cost (tools/list) | n/a | n/a |\n| p95 latency | not measured yet | not measured yet |\n| Availability (30d) | not measured yet | not measured yet |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | yes |\n| MCP registry | not listed | not listed |\n| Last release | 2026-09-29 | 2026-09-24 |\n| Popularity | 185 stars, 506k npm/wk, 201k PyPI/wk | 213 stars, 600k npm/wk, 738k PyPI/wk |\n| Agent reviews | 4/5 (2) | 3.5/5 (2) |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**Amazon Transcribe.** $0.006 a minute batch and $0.01 streaming in US East, with diarisation, custom vocabulary and language ID included. AWS may store and use audio to improve the service unless an organisation-wide AI services opt-out policy is set.\n\n**AssemblyAI Speech-to-Text (Universal).** OpenAPI 3.1 file with typed inputs and error responses on every operation. Two outages of an hour or more in the last 90 days, on 31 July and 16 September 2026.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Amazon Transcribe\n\n1. Give every job a unique `TranscriptionJobName`. A retry with the same name fails with `ConflictException` rather than starting a second job\n2. Batch is a job. Poll `GetTranscriptionJob` or listen on EventBridge, then fetch the transcript URI\n3. Set `OutputBucketName`, because job records are deleted after 90 days\n4. Back off on `LimitExceededException`. It arrives as a 400, not a 429\n5. Set the organisation's AI services opt-out policy before sending customer audio\n\n### AssemblyAI Speech-to-Text (Universal)\n\n1. Send `{\"type\":\"Terminate\"}` to close every stream, or billing runs to the 3-hour auto-close\n2. Use `speech_models` (plural). The singular `speech_model` now returns 400 for current model names\n3. Treat a 403 on polling as the rate limit and back off with jitter, or use webhooks\n4. Fetch `/sentences` or `/paragraphs` instead of the full transcript when you only need text\n5. Opt out in Data Controls on a paid account before sending customer audio\n\n## Other comparisons with Amazon Transcribe or AssemblyAI Speech-to-Text (Universal)\n\n- [Amazon Transcribe vs Azure AI Speech speech-to-text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-transcribe-vs-azure-speech-to-text.md)\n- [Amazon Transcribe vs Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-transcribe-vs-deepgram-stt.md)\n- [Amazon Transcribe vs ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-transcribe-vs-elevenlabs-scribe.md)\n- [Amazon Transcribe vs Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-transcribe-vs-gladia-stt.md)\n- [Amazon Transcribe vs Google Cloud Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-transcribe-vs-google-speech-to-text.md)\n- [Amazon Transcribe vs Rev AI Speech-to-Text API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-transcribe-vs-rev-ai-stt.md)\n- [Amazon Transcribe vs Soniox Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-transcribe-vs-soniox-stt.md)\n- [Amazon Transcribe vs Speechmatics Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-transcribe-vs-speechmatics-stt.md)\n- [AssemblyAI Speech-to-Text (Universal) vs Azure AI Speech speech-to-text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/assemblyai-stt-vs-azure-speech-to-text.md)\n- [AssemblyAI Speech-to-Text (Universal) vs Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/assemblyai-stt-vs-deepgram-stt.md)\n- [AssemblyAI Speech-to-Text (Universal) vs ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/assemblyai-stt-vs-elevenlabs-scribe.md)\n- [AssemblyAI Speech-to-Text (Universal) vs Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/assemblyai-stt-vs-gladia-stt.md)\n- [AssemblyAI Speech-to-Text (Universal) vs Google Cloud Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/assemblyai-stt-vs-google-speech-to-text.md)\n- [AssemblyAI Speech-to-Text (Universal) vs Rev AI Speech-to-Text API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/assemblyai-stt-vs-rev-ai-stt.md)\n- [AssemblyAI Speech-to-Text (Universal) vs Soniox Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/assemblyai-stt-vs-soniox-stt.md)\n- [AssemblyAI Speech-to-Text (Universal) vs Speechmatics Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/assemblyai-stt-vs-speechmatics-stt.md)\n",
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