{
  "data": {
    "a": {
      "slug": "azure-speech-to-text",
      "name": "Azure AI Speech speech-to-text",
      "vendor": "Microsoft Azure",
      "vendorUrl": "https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/ai-services/speech-to-text",
      "kind": "model",
      "category": "speech-to-text",
      "summary": "Azure's speech-to-text service for transcribing audio.",
      "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/azure-speech-to-text",
      "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/azure-speech-to-text.md",
      "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/azure-speech-to-text.min.md",
      "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/azure-speech-to-text.json",
      "repo": "https://github.com/Azure-Samples/cognitive-services-speech-sdk",
      "license": "MIT (samples), SDK under Microsoft's own licence",
      "transports": [
        "http"
      ],
      "remoteUrl": "https://eastus.api.cognitive.microsoft.com/speechtotext",
      "packages": [
        {
          "registry": "pypi",
          "name": "azure-cognitiveservices-speech"
        },
        {
          "registry": "npm",
          "name": "microsoft-cognitiveservices-speech-sdk"
        }
      ],
      "auth": "mixed",
      "authNotes": "`Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key` header with a Speech resource key, or a Microsoft Entra ID bearer token (Microsoft's recommended keyless option). Endpoints are per region or per resource.",
      "pricing": "freemium",
      "pricingNotes": "Free F0 tier with 5 audio hours a month of real-time. Pay as you go in East US is $1 an hour real-time, $0.36 fast transcription, $0.18 batch, $1.20 custom real-time. Diarisation and continuous language ID in real time add $0.30 an hour each. MAI-Transcribe-2 is $0.10 an hour until 2026-12-31. Commitment tiers from $1,600 a month for 2,000 hours (https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/speech/).",
      "priceSummary": "Freemium",
      "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": 3450,
        "npmWeekly": 475621,
        "pypiWeekly": 1032532,
        "asOf": "2026-09-30"
      },
      "docsUrl": "https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/speech-service/speech-to-text",
      "capabilities": [
        "speech.stt",
        "speech.streaming",
        "speech.batch",
        "speech.diarisation",
        "speech.languages",
        "speech.translation"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "hosted",
        "freemium",
        "free-tier",
        "closed-source",
        "python",
        "typescript",
        "enterprise",
        "streaming",
        "batch",
        "async-jobs",
        "webhooks"
      ],
      "lastRelease": "2026-09-28",
      "graded": true,
      "anchor": {
        "graded": true,
        "score": 77,
        "grade": "BB",
        "agentReady": true,
        "rank": 23,
        "ranked": true,
        "rankOf": 452,
        "categoryRank": 1,
        "methodology": "0.3",
        "run": "2026-10-01",
        "scores": {
          "ergonomics": 75,
          "maintenance": 80,
          "payments": 20,
          "reliability": 90,
          "schema": 80,
          "security": 95,
          "transparency": 88
        },
        "pending": [
          "performance",
          "tasks"
        ],
        "assessment": {
          "confidence": "medium",
          "date": "2026-10-01"
        },
        "negative": 0,
        "verdict": "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.",
        "strengths": [
          "Real-time and fast transcription audio isn't stored, and customer audio isn't used for training",
          "Fast transcription returns files up to 5 hours and 500 MB in one synchronous call",
          "Batch at $0.18 an hour, and a free F0 tier with 5 real-time hours a month",
          "429 guidance with a concrete backoff pattern of 1, 2, 4 and 4 minutes",
          "Keys or Entra ID tokens with role-based access"
        ],
        "weaknesses": [
          "MAI-Transcribe-2 is preview with no SLA, and its $0.10 promotional price ends on 2026-12-31",
          "Real-time diarisation and language ID add $0.30 an hour each",
          "REST API v3.0 and the v3.2 previews were retired on 2026-03-31, and older samples still target them",
          "No llms.txt, and the pricing page needs JavaScript",
          "An Azure subscription needs a card, even for the F0 tier"
        ],
        "agentNotes": [
          "Use fast transcription (`transcriptions:transcribe`) for files under 5 hours and 500 MB, and batch for bulk jobs",
          "Pin `api-version=2025-10-15`. v3.0 and the v3.2 previews are retired",
          "On a 429, back off 1, 2, 4 then 4 minutes. It usually means autoscaling, not a quota",
          "Set `timeToLive` on batch jobs or delete results, otherwise transcripts stay in Microsoft storage",
          "Don't budget on MAI-Transcribe-2 at $0.10 an hour after 2026-12-31"
        ],
        "metrics": {
          "kind": "remote",
          "measured": false
        },
        "reviewCount": 8,
        "avgRating": 3.3,
        "history": [
          {
            "basis": "public evidence",
            "confidence": "medium",
            "grade": "BB",
            "methodology": "0.3",
            "pending": [
              "performance",
              "tasks"
            ],
            "run": "2026-10-01",
            "runLabel": "October 2026 research run",
            "score": 77
          }
        ],
        "editorialScores": {
          "ergonomics": 75,
          "maintenance": 80,
          "payments": 20,
          "reliability": 90,
          "schema": 80,
          "security": 95,
          "transparency": 80
        },
        "provenanceScore": 95
      },
      "connect": {
        "install": "pip install azure-cognitiveservices-speech   # or: npm i microsoft-cognitiveservices-speech-sdk",
        "http": "curl -X POST \"https://$AZURE_SPEECH_RESOURCE.cognitiveservices.azure.com/speechtotext/transcriptions:transcribe?api-version=2025-10-15\" \\\n  -H \"Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key: $AZURE_SPEECH_KEY\" \\\n  -F \"audio=@call.wav\" -F 'definition={\"locales\":[\"en-US\"]}'"
      },
      "letme": {
        "capability": "https://letme.dev/speech.stt",
        "tool": "https://letme.dev/azure-speech-to-text"
      },
      "sameCompany": [
        "azure-foundry-fine-tuning",
        "azure-ai-content-safety",
        "azure-text-to-speech",
        "microsoft-learn-mcp",
        "playwright-mcp",
        "azure-mcp",
        "azure-translator",
        "microsoft-graph-calendar"
      ],
      "area": "voice",
      "unitPrices": [
        {
          "item": "Real-time standard",
          "unit": "audio-minute",
          "usd": 0.0167,
          "note": "$1 an hour, East US"
        },
        {
          "item": "Fast transcription",
          "unit": "audio-minute",
          "usd": 0.006,
          "note": "$0.36 an hour"
        },
        {
          "item": "Batch standard",
          "unit": "audio-minute",
          "usd": 0.003,
          "note": "$0.18 an hour"
        },
        {
          "item": "MAI-Transcribe-2 (preview)",
          "unit": "audio-minute",
          "usd": 0.00167,
          "note": "$0.10 an hour, promotional until 2026-12-31"
        },
        {
          "item": "Custom real-time",
          "unit": "audio-minute",
          "usd": 0.02,
          "note": "$1.20 an hour, plus endpoint hosting"
        },
        {
          "item": "Real-time add-on (diarisation or language ID)",
          "unit": "audio-minute",
          "usd": 0.005,
          "note": "$0.30 an hour per feature"
        }
      ],
      "provenance": {
        "legalEntity": "Microsoft Corporation",
        "domain": "microsoft.com",
        "domainRegistered": "1991-05-02",
        "domainNote": "Endpoints are on speech.microsoft.com, api.cognitive.microsoft.com and cognitiveservices.azure.com. microsoft.com publishes a security.txt, but it passed its Expires date on 2026-09-23.",
        "endpointOnVendorDomain": true,
        "terms": "https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/terms/",
        "privacy": "https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/privacystatement",
        "statusPage": "https://azure.status.microsoft/en-us/status",
        "changelog": "https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/speech-service/releasenotes",
        "securityTxt": "expired",
        "checked": "2026-09-30",
        "score": 95
      },
      "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/azure-speech-to-text.json",
      "live": {
        "slug": "azure-speech-to-text",
        "probe": {
          "target": "https://eastus.api.cognitive.microsoft.com/speechtotext",
          "method": "get",
          "lastAt": "2026-10-04T23:48:04.612036064Z",
          "lastOk": true,
          "lastStatus": 404,
          "lastMs": 329,
          "authRequired": false,
          "uptime24h": 100,
          "uptime30d": 100,
          "p50ms24h": 332,
          "p95ms24h": 391,
          "samples24h": 272,
          "samples30d": 1100,
          "days": [
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              "date": "2026-09-30",
              "probes": 35,
              "ok": 35
            },
            {
              "date": "2026-10-01",
              "probes": 276,
              "ok": 276
            },
            {
              "date": "2026-10-02",
              "probes": 248,
              "ok": 248
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            {
              "date": "2026-10-03",
              "probes": 271,
              "ok": 271
            },
            {
              "date": "2026-10-04",
              "probes": 270,
              "ok": 270
            }
          ]
        },
        "vendorStatus": {
          "page": "https://azure.status.microsoft/en-us/status",
          "indicator": "unknown",
          "summary": "no machine-readable status found",
          "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T21:39:49.706276597Z"
        },
        "versions": [
          {
            "registry": "github",
            "name": "Azure-Samples/cognitive-services-speech-sdk",
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            "released": "2026-07-10",
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            "seenAt": "2026-10-04T16:21:35.259257344Z"
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        ],
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        "npmWeekly": 508156,
        "pypiWeekly": 762825,
        "securityTxt": {
          "url": "https://microsoft.com/.well-known/security.txt",
          "state": "expired",
          "expires": "2026-09-23T16:00:00.000Z",
          "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:16:01.36832038Z"
        },
        "domain": {
          "domain": "microsoft.com",
          "registered": "1991-05-02",
          "source": "https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/domain/microsoft.com",
          "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T13:04:13.488857536Z"
        },
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            "url": "https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/speech-service/releasenotes",
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            "status": 304,
            "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:45:30.876444067Z",
            "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
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          {
            "url": "https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/speech-service/mai-transcribe",
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          {
            "url": "https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/speech-service/rest-speech-to-text",
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          {
            "url": "https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/speech/",
            "kind": "pricing",
            "status": 200,
            "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:41:26.501161098Z",
            "changedAt": "2026-10-02T15:17:47.510097164Z",
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          },
          {
            "url": "https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/privacystatement",
            "kind": "privacy",
            "status": 200,
            "checkedAt": "2026-10-01T13:14:57.860748137Z",
            "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
            "fingerprint": "07484a06f35c"
          },
          {
            "url": "https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/terms/",
            "kind": "terms",
            "status": 502,
            "checkedAt": "2026-10-01T13:17:52.720054167Z",
            "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z"
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        ],
        "updatedAt": "2026-10-04T23:48:04.612036064Z"
      }
    },
    "b": {
      "slug": "soniox-stt",
      "name": "Soniox Speech-to-Text",
      "vendor": "Soniox",
      "vendorUrl": "https://soniox.com",
      "kind": "model",
      "category": "speech-to-text",
      "summary": "One multilingual model family for 60+ languages, as a real-time WebSocket API (`stt-rt-v5`) and an async file API (`stt-async-v5`).",
      "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/soniox-stt",
      "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/soniox-stt.md",
      "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/soniox-stt.min.md",
      "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/soniox-stt.json",
      "repo": "https://github.com/soniox/soniox-python",
      "license": "Apache-2.0 (Python SDK)",
      "transports": [
        "http"
      ],
      "remoteUrl": "https://api.soniox.com/v1",
      "packages": [
        {
          "registry": "npm",
          "name": "@soniox/node"
        },
        {
          "registry": "pypi",
          "name": "soniox"
        }
      ],
      "auth": "api-key",
      "authNotes": "Bearer API key per project. Temporary API keys can be minted for browsers and mobile clients that stream straight to `wss://stt-rt.soniox.com`. Regional projects get their own keys and domains (EU, Japan, India).",
      "pricing": "usage",
      "pricingNotes": "Token-based pay-as-you-go. Async audio input $1.50 per 1M tokens and text in or out $3.50 per 1M, real-time $2.00 and $4.00. Soniox puts this at about $0.10 an hour async and $0.12 an hour real-time, with diarisation, language ID and translation included. New sign-ups have had no free credits since 2025-10-27 (https://soniox.com/pricing).",
      "priceSummary": "Pay per use",
      "where": "hosted",
      "x402": {
        "level": "no",
        "evidence": "No x402 or machine payment in the docs or pricing. Billed to a funded account (checked 2026-09-30).",
        "endpoints": []
      },
      "toolCount": null,
      "popularity": {
        "githubStars": 12,
        "npmWeekly": 22200,
        "pypiWeekly": null,
        "asOf": "2026-09-30"
      },
      "docsUrl": "https://soniox.com/docs/stt/get-started",
      "llmsTxt": "https://soniox.com/docs/llms.txt",
      "capabilities": [
        "speech.stt",
        "speech.streaming",
        "speech.batch",
        "speech.diarisation",
        "speech.languages",
        "speech.translation"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "hosted",
        "closed-source",
        "python",
        "typescript",
        "llms-txt",
        "webhooks",
        "async-jobs",
        "streaming",
        "batch",
        "enterprise"
      ],
      "lastRelease": "2026-08-11",
      "graded": true,
      "anchor": {
        "graded": true,
        "score": 58.3,
        "grade": "C",
        "agentReady": false,
        "rank": 281,
        "ranked": true,
        "rankOf": 452,
        "categoryRank": 9,
        "methodology": "0.3",
        "run": "2026-10-01",
        "scores": {
          "ergonomics": 70,
          "maintenance": 30,
          "payments": 20,
          "reliability": 65,
          "schema": 60,
          "security": 70,
          "transparency": 78
        },
        "pending": [
          "performance",
          "tasks"
        ],
        "assessment": {
          "confidence": "medium",
          "date": "2026-10-01"
        },
        "negative": 0,
        "verdict": "About $0.10 an hour async and $0.12 real time, with diarisation, language ID and translation included. No free credits for new accounts since October 2025.",
        "strengths": [
          "About $0.10 an hour async and $0.12 real time, with diarisation, language ID and translation included",
          "Customer audio and transcripts are never used for training, and nothing is retained by default",
          "SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO/IEC 27001:2022",
          "Regional deployments in the US, EU, Japan and India",
          "Per-request usage logs with cost and request IDs"
        ],
        "weaknesses": [
          "No free credits for new accounts since October 2025",
          "No OpenAPI or AsyncAPI file",
          "No documented status code, Retry-After or backoff for rate limits",
          "10 concurrent streams and a fixed 300-minute cap per stream or file",
          "No STT changelog entry since June 2026"
        ],
        "agentNotes": [
          "Pass `audio_url` for public files and skip the upload step. Delete uploaded files or they count against the 10 GB quota for 30 days",
          "Use the `context` field for names and domain terms",
          "Buffer audio while the WebSocket connects, then flush it after the config message",
          "Split anything over 300 minutes. The cap is fixed",
          "Set `client_reference_id` so failed or duplicate requests can be traced in the usage log"
        ],
        "metrics": {
          "kind": "remote",
          "measured": false
        },
        "reviewCount": 2,
        "avgRating": 3.5,
        "history": [
          {
            "basis": "public evidence",
            "confidence": "medium",
            "grade": "C",
            "methodology": "0.3",
            "pending": [
              "performance",
              "tasks"
            ],
            "run": "2026-10-01",
            "runLabel": "October 2026 research run",
            "score": 58.3
          }
        ],
        "editorialScores": {
          "ergonomics": 70,
          "maintenance": 30,
          "payments": 20,
          "reliability": 65,
          "schema": 60,
          "security": 70,
          "transparency": 70
        },
        "provenanceScore": 86
      },
      "connect": {
        "http": "curl https://api.soniox.com/v1/transcriptions -H \"Authorization: Bearer $SONIOX_API_KEY\" \\\n  -H \"content-type: application/json\" \\\n  -d '{\"model\":\"stt-async-v5\",\"audio_url\":\"https://soniox.com/media/examples/coffee_shop.mp3\",\"enable_speaker_diarization\":true}'"
      },
      "letme": {
        "capability": "https://letme.dev/speech.stt",
        "tool": "https://letme.dev/soniox-stt"
      },
      "sameCompany": [
        "soniox-tts",
        "soniox-voice-cloning"
      ],
      "area": "voice",
      "unitPrices": [
        {
          "item": "stt-async-v5",
          "unit": "audio-minute",
          "usd": 0.0017,
          "note": "Soniox's estimate of $0.10 an hour, token-billed"
        },
        {
          "item": "stt-rt-v5 streaming",
          "unit": "audio-minute",
          "usd": 0.002,
          "note": "Soniox's estimate of $0.12 an hour, token-billed"
        }
      ],
      "provenance": {
        "legalEntity": "Soniox Inc.",
        "domain": "soniox.com",
        "domainRegistered": "2020-03-23",
        "endpointOnVendorDomain": true,
        "terms": "https://soniox.com/policies/terms-of-service",
        "privacy": "https://soniox.com/policies/privacy-policy",
        "statusPage": "https://status.soniox.com",
        "changelog": "https://soniox.com/docs/stt/models",
        "securityTxt": "none",
        "checked": "2026-09-30",
        "notes": [
          "Terms and privacy policy last updated 2026-06-29. The company address is Foster City, California"
        ],
        "score": 86
      },
      "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/soniox-stt.json",
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        "slug": "soniox-stt",
        "probe": {
          "target": "https://api.soniox.com/v1",
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          "lastAt": "2026-10-04T23:48:16.110158112Z",
          "lastOk": true,
          "lastStatus": 404,
          "lastMs": 244,
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          "uptime24h": 100,
          "uptime30d": 100,
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          "days": [
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            {
              "date": "2026-10-02",
              "probes": 248,
              "ok": 248
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            {
              "date": "2026-10-03",
              "probes": 271,
              "ok": 271
            },
            {
              "date": "2026-10-04",
              "probes": 270,
              "ok": 270
            }
          ]
        },
        "vendorStatus": {
          "page": "https://status.soniox.com",
          "indicator": "unknown",
          "summary": "no machine-readable status found",
          "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T21:40:29.486491004Z"
        },
        "versions": [
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            "registry": "npm",
            "name": "@soniox/node",
            "version": "2.3.0",
            "seenAt": "2026-10-04T16:40:11.459304536Z"
          },
          {
            "registry": "pypi",
            "name": "soniox",
            "version": "2.10.0",
            "released": "2026-10-02",
            "seenAt": "2026-10-04T16:40:12.365123068Z"
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        ],
        "githubStars": 12,
        "npmWeekly": 26180,
        "pypiWeekly": 171250,
        "securityTxt": {
          "url": "https://soniox.com/.well-known/security.txt",
          "state": "none",
          "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:15:59.988207849Z"
        },
        "llmsTxt": {
          "url": "https://soniox.com/docs/llms.txt",
          "ok": true,
          "status": 200,
          "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:18:14.627818873Z"
        },
        "domain": {
          "domain": "soniox.com",
          "registered": "2020-03-23",
          "source": "https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/domain/soniox.com",
          "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T13:05:00.531232044Z"
        },
        "pages": [
          {
            "url": "https://soniox.com/blog/2025-10-27-free-credits-update-for-soniox-api",
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            "status": 200,
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  "markdown": "Azure AI Speech speech-to-text has a score of 77 (BB) against Soniox Speech-to-Text's 58.3 (C). Both do speech stt. The largest gap is maintenance \u0026 community, 50 points.\n\n- 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\n- Soniox Speech-to-Text: grade C, 58.3/100, rank #281 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/soniox-stt.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/soniox-stt.json\n\n## Which one, for what\n\nPick Azure AI Speech speech-to-text for reliability (+25), schema \u0026 documentation (+20), agent ergonomics (+5), security \u0026 auth (+25), maintenance \u0026 community (+50), transparency \u0026 trust (+10).\n\nPick Soniox Speech-to-Text for nothing in particular (no category where it leads by five points or more).\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Azure AI Speech speech-to-text | Soniox Speech-to-Text | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 90 | 65 | Azure AI Speech speech-to-text +25 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 80 | 60 | Azure AI Speech speech-to-text +20 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 75 | 70 | Azure AI Speech speech-to-text +5 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 95 | 70 | Azure AI Speech speech-to-text +25 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 20 | even |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 80 | 30 | Azure AI Speech speech-to-text +50 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 88 | 78 | Azure AI Speech speech-to-text +10 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **77 · BB** | **58.3 · C** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Azure AI Speech speech-to-text | Soniox Speech-to-Text |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | Model API | Model API |\n| Vendor | Microsoft Azure | Soniox |\n| Hosted endpoint | `https://eastus.api.cognitive.microsoft.com/speechtotext` | `https://api.soniox.com/v1` |\n| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |\n| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |\n| Pricing | Freemium | Pay per use |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | MIT (samples), SDK under Microsoft's own licence | Apache-2.0 (Python SDK) |\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 | no | yes |\n| MCP registry | not listed | not listed |\n| Last release | 2026-09-28 | 2026-08-11 |\n| Popularity | 3.5k stars, 476k npm/wk, 1M PyPI/wk | 12 stars, 22k npm/wk |\n| Agent reviews | 3.3/5 (8) | 3.5/5 (2) |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**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.\n\n**Soniox Speech-to-Text.** About $0.10 an hour async and $0.12 real time, with diarisation, language ID and translation included. No free credits for new accounts since October 2025.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Azure AI Speech speech-to-text\n\n1. Use fast transcription (`transcriptions:transcribe`) for files under 5 hours and 500 MB, and batch for bulk jobs\n2. Pin `api-version=2025-10-15`. v3.0 and the v3.2 previews are retired\n3. On a 429, back off 1, 2, 4 then 4 minutes. It usually means autoscaling, not a quota\n4. Set `timeToLive` on batch jobs or delete results, otherwise transcripts stay in Microsoft storage\n5. Don't budget on MAI-Transcribe-2 at $0.10 an hour after 2026-12-31\n\n### Soniox Speech-to-Text\n\n1. Pass `audio_url` for public files and skip the upload step. Delete uploaded files or they count against the 10 GB quota for 30 days\n2. Use the `context` field for names and domain terms\n3. Buffer audio while the WebSocket connects, then flush it after the config message\n4. Split anything over 300 minutes. The cap is fixed\n5. Set `client_reference_id` so failed or duplicate requests can be traced in the usage log\n\n## Other comparisons with Azure AI Speech speech-to-text or Soniox Speech-to-Text\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 Soniox Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-transcribe-vs-soniox-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 Soniox Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/assemblyai-stt-vs-soniox-stt.md)\n- [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)\n- [Azure AI Speech speech-to-text vs ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-speech-to-text-vs-elevenlabs-scribe.md)\n- [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)\n- [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)\n- [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)\n- [Azure AI Speech speech-to-text vs Speechmatics Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-speech-to-text-vs-speechmatics-stt.md)\n- [Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) vs Soniox Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-stt-vs-soniox-stt.md)\n- [ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API vs Soniox Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-scribe-vs-soniox-stt.md)\n- [Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP vs Soniox Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gladia-stt-vs-soniox-stt.md)\n- [Google Cloud Speech-to-Text vs Soniox Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-speech-to-text-vs-soniox-stt.md)\n- [Rev AI Speech-to-Text API vs Soniox Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/rev-ai-stt-vs-soniox-stt.md)\n- [Soniox Speech-to-Text vs Speechmatics Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/soniox-stt-vs-speechmatics-stt.md)\n",
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