# Azure AI Speech speech-to-text vs ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API

> Azure AI Speech speech-to-text has a score of 77 (BB) against ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API's 69 (B). Both do speech stt. The largest gap is security & auth, 40 points. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-speech-to-text-vs-elevenlabs-scribe
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-speech-to-text-vs-elevenlabs-scribe.md (~1,850 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-speech-to-text-vs-elevenlabs-scribe.min.md (~380 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-speech-to-text-vs-elevenlabs-scribe.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-04

Azure AI Speech speech-to-text has a score of 77 (BB) against ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API's 69 (B). Both do speech stt. The largest gap is security & auth, 40 points.

- Azure AI Speech speech-to-text: grade BB, 77/100, rank #23 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/azure-speech-to-text.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/azure-speech-to-text.json
- ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API: grade B, 69/100, rank #117 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/elevenlabs-scribe.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/elevenlabs-scribe.json

## Which one, for what

Pick Azure AI Speech speech-to-text for reliability (+20), security & auth (+40), maintenance & community (+5), transparency & trust (+17).

Pick ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API for schema & documentation (+15), payments & pricing (+20).

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Azure AI Speech speech-to-text | ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 90 | 70 | Azure AI Speech speech-to-text +20 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 80 | 95 | ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API +15 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 75 | 75 | even |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 95 | 55 | Azure AI Speech speech-to-text +40 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 40 | ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API +20 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 80 | 75 | Azure AI Speech speech-to-text +5 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 88 | 71 | Azure AI Speech speech-to-text +17 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **77 · BB** | **69 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Azure AI Speech speech-to-text | ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model API | Model API |
| Vendor | Microsoft Azure | ElevenLabs |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://eastus.api.cognitive.microsoft.com/speechtotext` | `https://api.elevenlabs.io/v1` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, stdio |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT (samples), SDK under Microsoft's own licence | MIT (SDKs) |
| Tools exposed | none | none |
| Context cost (tools/list) | n/a | n/a |
| p95 latency | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Availability (30d) | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| MCP registry | not listed | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-09-28 | 2026-09-28 |
| Popularity | 3.5k stars, 476k npm/wk, 1M PyPI/wk | 3.1k stars, 1.1M npm/wk, 2.2M PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | 3.3/5 (8) | 3.5/5 (2) |

## Verdicts

**Azure AI Speech speech-to-text.** Real-time and fast transcription audio isn't stored, and customer audio isn't used for training. MAI-Transcribe-2 is preview with no SLA, and its $0.10 promotional price ends on 2026-12-31.

**ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API.** $0.22 an hour for batch with 90+ languages and diarisation to 32 speakers. Audio may be used for training unless the account opts out, and the opt-out isn't retroactive.

## Before you call either

### Azure AI Speech speech-to-text

1. Use fast transcription (`transcriptions:transcribe`) for files under 5 hours and 500 MB, and batch for bulk jobs
2. Pin `api-version=2025-10-15`. v3.0 and the v3.2 previews are retired
3. On a 429, back off 1, 2, 4 then 4 minutes. It usually means autoscaling, not a quota
4. Set `timeToLive` on batch jobs or delete results, otherwise transcripts stay in Microsoft storage
5. Don't budget on MAI-Transcribe-2 at $0.10 an hour after 2026-12-31

### ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API

1. Create a key restricted to speech-to-text with a credit quota and an expiry
2. Use `source_url` for hosted files instead of downloading and re-uploading
3. Set `webhook=true` for long files so the call doesn't block
4. Back off exponentially on any of the three 429 codes
5. Opt out under Data use before sending customer audio. It only covers later uploads

## Other comparisons with Azure AI Speech speech-to-text or ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API

- [Amazon Transcribe vs Azure AI Speech speech-to-text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-transcribe-vs-azure-speech-to-text.md)
- [Amazon Transcribe vs ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-transcribe-vs-elevenlabs-scribe.md)
- [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)
- [AssemblyAI Speech-to-Text (Universal) vs ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/assemblyai-stt-vs-elevenlabs-scribe.md)
- [Azure AI Speech speech-to-text vs Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-speech-to-text-vs-deepgram-stt.md)
- [Azure AI Speech speech-to-text vs Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-speech-to-text-vs-gladia-stt.md)
- [Azure AI Speech speech-to-text vs Google Cloud Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-speech-to-text-vs-google-speech-to-text.md)
- [Azure AI Speech speech-to-text vs Rev AI Speech-to-Text API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-speech-to-text-vs-rev-ai-stt.md)
- [Azure AI Speech speech-to-text vs Soniox Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-speech-to-text-vs-soniox-stt.md)
- [Azure AI Speech speech-to-text vs Speechmatics Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-speech-to-text-vs-speechmatics-stt.md)
- [Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) vs ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-stt-vs-elevenlabs-scribe.md)
- [ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API vs Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-scribe-vs-gladia-stt.md)
- [ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API vs Google Cloud Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-scribe-vs-google-speech-to-text.md)
- [ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API vs Rev AI Speech-to-Text API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-scribe-vs-rev-ai-stt.md)
- [ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API vs Soniox Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-scribe-vs-soniox-stt.md)
- [ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API vs Speechmatics Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-scribe-vs-speechmatics-stt.md)