{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "cartesia-ink-stt", "name": "Cartesia Ink", "vendor": "Cartesia", "vendorUrl": "https://www.cartesia.ai", "kind": "model", "category": "speech-to-text", "summary": "Cartesia's hosted speech-to-text API. Ink 2 transcribes live audio in five languages over a WebSocket with built-in turn detection, and the older Ink Whisper model transcribes uploaded files in about 100 languages.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cartesia-ink-stt", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cartesia-ink-stt.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cartesia-ink-stt.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cartesia-ink-stt.json", "dns": "cartesia-ink-stt.grade.anchorterminal.com", "repo": "https://github.com/cartesia-ai/cartesia-python", "license": "Proprietary hosted service under the Cartesia Terms of Service. The Python and JavaScript SDKs are Apache-2.0", "transports": [ "http", "websocket", "streamable-http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://api.cartesia.ai", "packages": [ { "registry": "pypi", "name": "cartesia" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@cartesia/cartesia-js" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "cartesia-mcp" } ], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "Self-serve API key (`sk_car_...`) from the Playground at play.cartesia.ai/keys, sent as `Authorization: Bearer` or `X-API-Key`. Browser clients use an access token with an `stt` grant, valid for at most one hour, passed as the `access_token` query parameter on WebSockets. Usage and key-metadata endpoints need a separate admin key (https://docs.cartesia.ai/use-the-api/api-conventions).", "pricing": "freemium", "pricingNotes": "Billed in credits. `ink-2` costs 3 credits a second of audio on both realtime endpoints, silence included. `ink-whisper` costs 1 credit a second in realtime and 1 credit per 2 seconds in batch (https://docs.cartesia.ai/pricing). Plans are Free ($0, 20,000 credits a month), Pro ($5, 100,000), Startup ($49, 1.25 million) and Scale ($299, 8 million), so an agent's owner can start without a contract. Commercial use starts at Pro (https://www.cartesia.ai/pricing).", "priceSummary": "Freemium", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the docs index, the pricing pages or the STT reference (checked 2026-10-09).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 134, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-09" }, "docsUrl": "https://docs.cartesia.ai/use-the-api/stt/compare-endpoints", "llmsTxt": "https://docs.cartesia.ai/llms.txt", "openapi": "https://docs.cartesia.ai/latest.yml", "capabilities": [ "speech.stt", "speech.streaming", "speech.batch", "speech.languages" ], "tags": [ "official", "hosted", "model", "closed-source", "streaming", "batch", "free-tier", "python", "typescript", "openapi", "llms-txt", "mcp", "status-page", "security-txt", "soc2", "enterprise" ], "lastRelease": "2026-09-17", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 67, "grade": "B", "agentReady": false, "rank": 340, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 1486, "categoryRank": 10, "methodology": "0.7", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 74, "maintenance": 84, "payments": 35, "reliability": 73, "schema": 89, "security": 47, "transparency": 68 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-11-01" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "Ink 2 streams transcripts with turn detection built into the model, documented by an AsyncAPI file with typed ranges and structured errors. The terms, last revised 14 June 2024, let Cartesia train on inputs and outputs unless the customer opts out, and zero data retention is an Enterprise setting. Ink 2 has no batch endpoint and no diarisation.", "bestFor": "Suited to voice agents that need turn detection and transcription from one model in English, French, Hindi, Japanese or Spanish, and to teams already using Cartesia text-to-speech.", "strengths": [ "`/stt/turns/websocket` emits `turn.start`, `turn.update`, `turn.eager_end`, `turn.resume` and `turn.end`, so no separate voice activity detector is needed", "OpenAPI and AsyncAPI files, llms.txt and Markdown twins of every docs page, with enums and numeric ranges on the WebSocket parameters", "Structured errors on `Cartesia-Version` 2026-03-01 and later, with `error_code`, `title`, `message`, `request_id` and an optional `doc_url`", "Short-lived access tokens (at most one hour) carry an `stt` grant, and admin keys are a separate key type from standard keys", "The status page lists Speech to Text in four regions, at 99.97% (US), 99.994% (EU and APAC) and 100% (AU) for July to October 2026" ], "weaknesses": [ "The terms let Cartesia train models on inputs and outputs unless otherwise agreed. Opting out is a form in the Playground's data controls", "Zero data retention is an Enterprise plan setting, and no retention period for other plans was found in the terms, privacy policy or docs", "`ink-2` supports English, French, Hindi, Japanese and Spanish only and has no batch endpoint. `POST /stt` accepts `ink-whisper` only", "No diarisation or speaker labels in the reviewed documentation, and realtime input is raw mono PCM with `encoding` and `sample_rate` required", "The terms of 14 June 2024 forbid automation software (bots) and any robot or scraper that accesses the Services to collect data, which matters before any probe is run", "No SLA was found, and a 429 for exceeding the concurrency limit is documented without a `Retry-After` header or backoff guidance" ], "agentNotes": [ "Use `wss://api.cartesia.ai/stt/turns/websocket` with `model=ink-2`, `encoding`, `sample_rate` and `cartesia_version=2026-08-14`. All four are required.", "Send raw mono audio in chunks of about 100 ms at the speed it was spoken. Pushing a whole file into the socket can return an internal server error.", "Read the final text from `turn.end` only. `transcript` is cumulative within a turn, so joining `turn.update` events duplicates text.", "Send `{\"type\": \"close\"}` after the last audio and keep reading until the server closes the socket, or the buffered tail is lost.", "Check `encoding` and `sample_rate` against the source before sending. The docs say the server might not return an error when they are wrong." ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 4, "avgRating": 3.3, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "B", "methodology": "0.7", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 67 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 74, "maintenance": 84, "payments": 35, "reliability": 73, "schema": 89, "security": 47, "transparency": 49 }, "provenanceScore": 86, "checked": { "categories": { "ergonomics": "2026-11-01", "maintenance": "2026-11-01", "payments": "2026-11-01", "reliability": "2026-11-01", "schema": "2026-11-01", "security": "2026-11-01", "transparency": "2026-11-01" }, "last": "2026-11-01", "lastMoved": "2026-11-01", "oldest": "2026-11-01", "stale": false, "staleAfterDays": 90 } }, "connect": { "install": "pip install 'cartesia[websockets]' # or: npm install @cartesia/cartesia-js", "claudeCode": "claude mcp add --transport http --scope user cartesia https://mcp.cartesia.ai/mcp" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/speech.stt", "tool": "https://letme.dev/cartesia-ink-stt" }, "sameCompany": [ "cartesia-tts", "cartesia-voice-cloning" ], "area": "voice", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Ink 2 realtime, Scale plan", "unit": "audio-minute", "usd": 0.0067, "note": "180 credits a minute at $299 for 8M credits. Cartesia quotes $0.39 an hour" }, { "item": "Ink 2 realtime, Startup plan", "unit": "audio-minute", "usd": 0.0071, "note": "180 credits a minute at $49 for 1.25M credits" }, { "item": "Ink 2 realtime, Pro plan", "unit": "audio-minute", "usd": 0.009, "note": "180 credits a minute at $5 for 100,000 credits" }, { "item": "Ink Whisper realtime, Scale plan", "unit": "audio-minute", "usd": 0.0022, "note": "60 credits a minute at $299 for 8M credits" }, { "item": "Ink Whisper batch, Scale plan", "unit": "audio-minute", "usd": 0.0011, "note": "30 credits a minute at $299 for 8M credits" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Cartesia AI, Inc.", "domain": "cartesia.ai", "domainRegistered": "2023-05-10", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://www.cartesia.ai/legal/terms", "privacy": "https://www.cartesia.ai/legal/privacy", "statusPage": "https://status.cartesia.ai", "changelog": "https://docs.cartesia.ai/changelog/2026", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-10-09", "score": 86 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cartesia-ink-stt.json", "live": { "slug": "cartesia-ink-stt", "probe": { "target": "https://api.cartesia.ai", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-11-07T18:20:16.156024384Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 200, "lastMs": 58, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 63, "p95ms24h": 150, "samples24h": 239, "samples30d": 7205, "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-09", "probes": 85, "ok": 85 }, { "date": "2026-10-10", "probes": 247, "ok": 247 }, { "date": "2026-10-11", "probes": 247, "ok": 247 }, { "date": "2026-10-12", "probes": 247, "ok": 247 }, { "date": "2026-10-13", "probes": 248, "ok": 248 }, { "date": "2026-10-14", "probes": 249, "ok": 249 }, { "date": "2026-10-15", "probes": 253, "ok": 253 }, { "date": "2026-10-16", "probes": 252, "ok": 252 }, { "date": "2026-10-17", "probes": 253, "ok": 253 }, { "date": "2026-10-18", "probes": 256, "ok": 256 }, { "date": "2026-10-19", "probes": 255, "ok": 255 }, { "date": 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"page": "https://status.cartesia.ai", "indicator": "none", "summary": "All Systems Operational", "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T18:20:38.071530544Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "cartesia-ai/cartesia-python", "version": "v4.2.0", "released": "2026-09-02", "seenAt": "2026-11-06T23:13:21.986639847Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@cartesia/cartesia-js", "version": "4.2.0", "seenAt": "2026-11-06T23:13:20.096185165Z" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "cartesia", "version": "4.2.0", "released": "2026-09-02", "seenAt": "2026-11-06T23:13:19.901762474Z" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "cartesia-mcp", "version": "0.29.0", "released": "2026-11-05", "seenAt": "2026-11-06T23:13:20.32693699Z" } ], "githubStars": 139, "npmWeekly": 105860, "pypiWeekly": 241069, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://cartesia.ai/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "valid", "expires": "2027-10-03T00:00:00.000Z", "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T16:01:22.207018558Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://docs.cartesia.ai/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T15:31:46.51486748Z" }, "domain": { "domain": "cartesia.ai", "registered": "2023-05-10", "source": "https://rdap.identitydigital.services/rdap/domain/cartesia.ai", "checkedAt": "2026-11-01T14:10:04.149838535Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://docs.cartesia.ai/changelog/2026", "kind": "changelog", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T14:05:23.843746019Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-26T03:13:50.40257074Z", "fingerprint": "fd5cc0bf0fcf" }, { "url": "https://docs.cartesia.ai/pricing", "kind": "pricing", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T14:05:26.379517521Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-31T06:09:15.21798849Z", "fingerprint": "7a19359f90b8" }, { "url": "https://www.cartesia.ai/pricing", "kind": "pricing", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T14:26:28.63211243Z", "changedAt": "2026-11-07T14:26:28.63211243Z", "fingerprint": "3a338414361a" }, { "url": "https://www.cartesia.ai/legal/privacy", "kind": "privacy", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T14:26:23.916606258Z", "changedAt": "2026-11-07T14:26:23.916606258Z", "fingerprint": "8fbb87fa0f90" }, { "url": "https://www.cartesia.ai/legal/terms", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T14:26:26.19166268Z", "changedAt": "2026-11-07T14:26:26.19166268Z", "fingerprint": "413be09c5dc8" } ], "github": { "repo": "cartesia-ai/cartesia-python", "checkedAt": "2026-11-02T08:37:37.378374658Z", "stars": 138, "archived": false, "issuesEnabled": true, "pushedAt": "2026-10-30T18:24:19Z", "openIssues": 1, "openPRs": 8, "issuesOpened90d": 1, "issuesClosed90d": 1, "prsMerged90d": 4, "ci": { "branch": "main", "runs": 50, "success": 33, "failure": 0, "other": 17, "latest": "skipped", "latestAt": "2026-10-23T17:43:01Z" }, "replies": { "sampled": 14, "unanswered": 1, "medianDays": 54.7 } }, "updatedAt": "2026-11-07T18:20:16.156024384Z" } }, "answer": "Cartesia Ink scores 67 (B) on agent readiness against IBM Watson Speech to Text's 54.5 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. IBM Watson Speech to Text leads on security \u0026 auth, payments \u0026 pricing and transparency \u0026 trust.", "b": { "slug": "ibm-watson-stt", "name": "IBM Watson Speech to Text", "vendor": "IBM", "vendorUrl": "https://www.ibm.com/products/speech-to-text", "kind": "model", "category": "speech-to-text", "summary": "IBM Watson Speech to Text transcribes audio over synchronous and asynchronous HTTP and a WebSocket interface on IBM Cloud, with large speech models, next-generation models, custom language and acoustic models, speaker labels and language identification.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ibm-watson-stt", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ibm-watson-stt.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ibm-watson-stt.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/ibm-watson-stt.json", "dns": "ibm-watson-stt.grade.anchorterminal.com", "transports": [ "http", "websocket" ], "packages": [ { "registry": "pypi", "name": "ibm-watson" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "ibm-watson" } ], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "An IBM Cloud IAM API key per service instance, exchanged for a bearer token or sent with Basic auth as `apikey:\u003ckey\u003e`. Service credentials carry IAM roles. The WebSocket interface takes the IAM token as an `access_token` query parameter.", "pricing": "freemium", "pricingNotes": "Lite plan free for 500 minutes a month, deleted after 30 days of inactivity. Plus plan $0.02 a minute up to 999,999 minutes a month and $0.01 above, with up to 100 concurrent requests. Premium by quote.", "priceSummary": "Freemium", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the docs or API reference (checked 2026-11-06). Billing runs through an IBM Cloud account.", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": 0, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-11-06" }, "docsUrl": "https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/speech-to-text", "capabilities": [ "speech.stt", "speech.streaming", "speech.batch", "speech.diarisation", "speech.languages" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "freemium", "closed-source", "python", "typescript", "enterprise", "streaming", "batch", "async-jobs", "webhooks" ], "lastRelease": "2026-06-29", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 54.5, "grade": "C", "agentReady": false, "rank": 904, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 1486, "categoryRank": 18, "methodology": "0.7", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 66, "maintenance": 33, "payments": 40, "reliability": 40, "schema": 55, "security": 68, "transparency": 80 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-11-06" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "Watson STT covers sync, async and WebSocket transcription in ten locations, with custom models, $0.02 a minute on Plus and 500 free minutes. There is no machine-readable spec or readable status history, requests are logged for improvement unless opted out, the WebSocket token goes in the URL, and the last release note is from June 2026.", "bestFor": "Enterprises on IBM Cloud needing custom acoustic models, HIPAA on Premium and many locations.", "strengths": [ "Sync, async with callbacks and WebSocket streaming on one service", "500 free minutes a month on Lite and $0.02 a minute on Plus", "Custom language and acoustic models on paid plans", "Dated deprecation of previous-generation models with over a year of notice", "`DELETE /v1/user_data` removes data by customer ID" ], "weaknesses": [ "No public OpenAPI file or llms.txt", "The WebSocket interface takes the IAM token as a URL query parameter", "Requests are logged by default to improve the service unless the account or request opts out", "The status page is drawn by script and no SLA was read", "No release note since 29 June 2026" ], "agentNotes": [ "Send `X-Watson-Learning-Opt-Out: true` or opt out at account level before sending sensitive audio", "Use the async `/v1/recognitions` interface with a callback for files over 100 MB, up to 1 GB", "Pass a large speech or next-generation model name in `model`, since previous-generation models were removed", "Tag requests with `X-Watson-Metadata: customer_id=...` so the data can be deleted later", "Keep within 100 concurrent requests on Plus across HTTP and WebSocket" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "C", "methodology": "0.7", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 54.5 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 66, "maintenance": 33, "payments": 40, "reliability": 40, "schema": 55, "security": 68, "transparency": 65 }, "provenanceScore": 94, "checked": { "categories": { "ergonomics": "2026-11-06", "maintenance": "2026-11-06", "payments": "2026-11-06", "reliability": "2026-11-06", "schema": "2026-11-06", "security": "2026-11-06", "transparency": "2026-11-06" }, "last": "2026-11-06", "oldest": "2026-11-06", "stale": false, "staleAfterDays": 90 } }, "connect": { "install": "pip install ibm-watson" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/speech.stt", "tool": "https://letme.dev/ibm-watson-stt" }, "sameCompany": [ "granite-embedding-small-english-r2", "granite-guardian", "granite-switch", "granite-4-2-3b" ], "area": "voice", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Plus plan, first 999,999 minutes a month", "unit": "audio-minute", "usd": 0.02 }, { "item": "Plus plan, from 1,000,000 minutes a month", "unit": "audio-minute", "usd": 0.01 } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "International Business Machines Corporation", "domain": "ibm.com", "domainRegistered": "1986-03-19", "domainNote": "The endpoints are on watson.cloud.ibm.com, under ibm.com.", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/overview?topic=overview-terms", "privacy": "https://www.ibm.com/privacy", "statusPage": "https://cloud.ibm.com/status", "changelog": "https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/speech-to-text?topic=speech-to-text-release-notes", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-11-06", "notes": [ "cloud.ibm.com/robots.txt disallows only /docs/search?q= and sets Content-Signal ai-train=yes, search=yes, ai-input=yes.", "www.ibm.com/.well-known/security.txt names IBM PSIRT, HackerOne and psirt@us.ibm.com and expires on 6 December 2026.", "cloud.ibm.com/status returns a page drawn by script, so its incident history wasn't read.", "The IBM Cloud terms page was found but its text wasn't read, so no clause is quoted.", "RDAP gives ibm.com a registration date of 19 March 1986." ], "score": 94 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ibm-watson-stt.json", "live": { "slug": "ibm-watson-stt", "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://cloud.ibm.com/status", "indicator": "unknown", "summary": "no machine-readable status found", "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T04:47:55.897466786Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "ibm-watson", "version": "12.2.0", "seenAt": "2026-11-06T23:34:06.712780272Z" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "ibm-watson", "version": "11.2.0", "released": "2026-01-26", "seenAt": "2026-11-06T23:34:06.544738844Z" } ], "npmWeekly": 12367, "pypiWeekly": 10209, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://ibm.com/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "valid", "expires": "2026-12-07T00:00:00+00:00", "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T16:00:08.596796331Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/speech-to-text?topic=speech-to-text-release-notes", "kind": "changelog", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T14:01:17.694727718Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "8dcf87213e78" }, { "url": "https://www.ibm.com/privacy", "kind": "privacy", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T14:30:01.132495816Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "cf480cd7bcca" }, { "url": "https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/overview?topic=overview-terms", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T14:01:13.338724324Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "a0514cb0ed80" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-11-07T16:00:08.596796331Z" } }, "edges": [ { "by": 51, "category": "maintenance", "leads": "cartesia-ink-stt", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "reasons": { "a": "Read as a model, on the lines deepgram-stt, gladia-stt and cartesia-tts use for hosted speech models (recency 30, dated releases 10, deprecation notice 10, support 15, issues 10, SDKs 15, health 10). The `cartesia-mcp` server, which has a `speech_to_text` tool, released 0.28.1 on 30 October 2026 with a bug fix, after 0.27.0 (20 October) and 0.28.0 (27 October). The model page still dates `ink-2` and `ink-preview` 17 September 2026 (30). In the 90 days from 3 August the SDKs released 4.0.0, 4.0.1, 4.1.0 and 4.2.0 (14 August to 2 September) and the MCP server several releases, with changelog entries for August and September (10). The deprecations page gives dated sunsets, and Sonic-2, Sonic Turbo and `sonic-3-2025-10-27` were sunset after 20 October 2026, announced in the July changelog. No minimum notice period is stated and no Ink model has been retired, read as cartesia-tts is on the same page (5 of 10). The changelog has speech-to-text entries in May, June, July and September 2026, dated by month only, and no October entry (11 of 15). The Python SDK repository had 4 open issues on 9 October, per that check, not re-read on 1 November since GitHub's pages answered 403 (5 of 10). Official `cartesia` and `@cartesia/cartesia-js` SDKs at 4.2.0 (2 September 2026), generated for API version 2026-08-14 (15). CI workflows, release automation and lock files in both SDK repositories, with dependency updates merged on 23 October (8 of 10). 30 + 10 + 5 + 11 + 5 + 15 + 8 = 84.", "b": "Read as a model. The newest release note is 29 June 2026 (`parameter_set` for large speech models), 130 days ago (10). No dated entries in the 90 days from 8 August (0). Release notes, IBM support and a public docs repository last changed 30 June 2026 (8 of 15). Official SDKs, `ibm-watson` 11.2.0 on PyPI (26 January 2026) and 12.2.0 on npm (January 2026) (10 of 15). CI not read (5 of 10). Total 33." }, "scores": { "a": 84, "b": 33 } }, { "by": 34, "category": "schema", "leads": "cartesia-ink-stt", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "reasons": { "a": "Model reading. The docs index links an OpenAPI file (`latest.yml`) and AsyncAPI files for the WebSocket endpoints, and each reference page embeds its part of them (25). llms.txt with a Markdown twin of every page (10). The comparison page says which of the three endpoints to use and when, and the turn detection guide explains each event and threshold (18 of 20). The AsyncAPI definition has enums for `encoding` and `cartesia_version`, minimum and maximum values on the four turn settings and required fields marked. `model` is a plain string on the auto endpoint (13 of 15). Example scripts for each endpoint in Python and TypeScript and an errors page with nine codes. `model_sunsetted` appears on the deprecations page and not in that table, and the docs say a wrong `encoding` or `sample_rate` might not return an error (11 of 15). Dated API versions through the `Cartesia-Version` header and a changelog grouped by month with no day dates (12 of 15).", "b": "No public OpenAPI or other machine-readable definition was found (0). No llms.txt (0). The reference says which parameters each model family supports and the docs cover each feature (15 of 20). Typed parameters with defaults, ranges and enums (13 of 15). curl and SDK examples on every method, and errors with `error`, `code`, `code_description` and `warnings`, with invalid arguments reported as warnings (12 of 15). Versioned `/v1` paths and dated release notes back to 2015 (15). Total 55." }, "scores": { "a": 89, "b": 55 } }, { "by": 33, "category": "reliability", "leads": "cartesia-ink-stt", "name": "Reliability", "reasons": { "a": "Hosted reading. The status page at status.cartesia.ai (incident.io) lists Speech to Text as its own component in four regions (20). Its RSS feed, re-read on 1 November, now names each incident's components. In the 90 days from 3 August two incidents touch speech-to-text, both partial and read as minor, as this run reads one region or some requests. On 2 September some clients in the US regions saw connection errors that cleared on retry (Text to Speech and Speech to Text, US), and on 7 October customers in the US regions saw higher latency for some API requests, from 12:29 to about 18:23 (partial outage, Text to Speech, Speech to Text and Voice Cloning, US). The 3 September throttling named only Text to Speech in APAC, the 8 October errors only the Playground and Voice Agents, and the 15 October Playground outage says API services were unaffected. The 1 August API-wide incident has left the window. Minor only (20). Concurrency limits are published per plan, 8, 12, 20 and 60 concurrent STT requests, with a 3-minute idle timeout on sockets (15). Exceeding the limit returns 429 with the `concurrency_limited` code, and the SDKs retry 429 and 5xx twice with backoff on HTTP calls. No `Retry-After` header, backoff guidance or reconnection advice for a dropped socket was found (8 of 15). No SLA was found for any plan (0). `ink-2` is marked Stable on the model page re-read on 1 November, with `ink-preview` as the preview line (10). 20 + 20 + 15 + 8 + 0 + 10 = 73.", "b": "IBM Cloud has a status page at cloud.ibm.com/status, but it is drawn by script and showed no components or history to our reader, read as gemini-live's script-shell page was (10 of 20, and 5 for no readable history). Plus allows up to 100 concurrent transcription requests across WebSocket and HTTP (15). No 429 or backoff guidance was found in the API reference or the docs repository (0). No SLA was read for the service (0, unchecked). Next-generation and large speech models are GA, language by language (10). 10 + 5 + 15 + 0 + 0 + 10 = 40." }, "scores": { "a": 73, "b": 40 } }, { "by": 21, "category": "security", "leads": "ibm-watson-stt", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "reasons": { "a": "Model reading. Standard keys (`sk_car_...`) and admin keys are separate types that are not interchangeable, and a server can mint an access token with an `stt` grant that lasts at most one hour. That token travels in the `access_token` query parameter on WebSockets, the API key itself goes in a header, and no key limited to speech-to-text was found. The STT WebSocket definition, re-read on 1 November, lists `access_token` in the query as a security scheme. The checklist takes 10 off for a secret that can travel in a URL query string as a documented option, and this run takes the full 10 for short-lived OAuth tokens in `?access_token=` on every Google API listing, so the earlier 5 is brought into line (26, less 10, 16 of 30). The terms, last revised 14 June 2024, say inputs, outputs and interactions may be used to train models unless otherwise agreed, with an opt-out form in the Playground's data controls (5 of 20). Zero data retention covers STT audio and transcripts and is limited to the Enterprise plan. No retention period for other plans was found, and the DPA gives 180 days for deletion after termination (5 of 15). Credit usage and key metadata are readable through admin endpoints. No audit log was found (7 of 15). security.txt is valid until 3 October 2027 with a contact and a policy link to the trust centre. The docs and pricing page state SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA and PCI-DSS. The trust centre is drawn by script and was not read, and no bug bounty was found (14 of 20). 16 + 5 + 5 + 7 + 14 = 47.", "b": "Model reading of the checklist, with training and retention in place of the least-privilege and injection lines. IAM API keys per instance with Reader, Writer and Manager roles and short-lived bearer tokens (30). The WebSocket interface takes the token as an `access_token` query parameter, so 10 off (20 of 30). Request and response data are logged by default to improve the service, and any account can opt out per account or per request (10 of 20). Async results expire after a week by default (`results_ttl` shortens it), a delete method exists, and `DELETE /v1/user_data` removes data by customer ID (10 of 15). Activity Tracker events record changes to the service's state (10 of 15). Valid security.txt to 6 December 2026, PSIRT and HackerOne, HIPAA readiness on Premium. Certifications weren't read (18 of 20). Total 68." }, "scores": { "a": 47, "b": 68 } }, { "by": 12, "category": "transparency", "leads": "ibm-watson-stt", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "reasons": { "a": "The service is closed and the SDKs are Apache-2.0. The Terms of Service cover the website, its subdomains and APIs, were last revised on 14 June 2024, describe a platform for synthesised sound and never mention transcription (12 of 30). The terms and privacy policy agree that content may be used for training with an opt-out. The DPA says Cartesia will not retain or use customer personal data beyond performing the services, which sits uneasily with the training licence. No retention period is given outside zero data retention, and the privacy policy says the services are designed for users in the United States only while regional endpoints are sold in four other regions (12 of 30). A deprecations page with dated sunsets and a stated promise to preserve fields for a pinned `Cartesia-Version` (15 of 20). The DPA promises 30 days' notice of sub-processor changes to subscribers and points to a list in the trust centre, which we could not read. Regional deployments are named for Enterprise only (10 of 20).", "b": "Closed service under the IBM Cloud terms (15). The data security page states default logging for improvement with an opt-out, async retention, GDPR deletion by customer ID and plan-level separation, and they agree with each other. The DPA wasn't read (20 of 30). Previous-generation models carried a dated deprecation of 15 March 2022 and removal on 31 July 2023, and release notes say changes are compatible unless noted (18 of 20). Ten locations are named, with sub-processors not read (12 of 20). Total 65." }, "scores": { "a": 68, "b": 80 } }, { "by": 8, "category": "ergonomics", "leads": "cartesia-ink-stt", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "reasons": { "a": "API reading, as for the other speech-to-text listings. Turn events carry a cumulative transcript that is never revised, so an agent reads one `turn.end` a turn, and word timestamps are opt-in on the manual and batch endpoints (20 of 25). There is nothing to page through. Batch takes a file of any length without client chunking, keyterms steer vocabulary, and there is no diarisation or subtitle output (12 of 20). Errors are structured JSON with `error_code`, `title`, `message`, `request_id` and an optional `doc_url` on API version 2026-03-01 and later (17 of 20). Transcription holds no state to duplicate and the SDKs retry failed HTTP calls. A realtime session cannot be resumed, and nothing on reconnecting was found (12 of 20). Realtime needs `model`, `encoding`, `sample_rate` and the version, turn settings have documented defaults, and there are official Python and TypeScript SDKs. Realtime accepts raw PCM only (13 of 15).", "b": "API reading of the checklist. Timestamps, word confidence, alternatives and speaker labels are opt-in (15 of 25). Async jobs and custom models list, and async results can go to a callback URL (12 of 20). Structured errors and warnings an agent can act on (15 of 20). Async jobs take a `user_token`, results have a TTL, and jobs can be deleted, with no idempotency key (12 of 20). Most parameters are optional. Official SDKs including Python, Node and Swift, though the Python and Node SDKs last released in January 2026 (12 of 15). Total 66." }, "scores": { "a": 74, "b": 66 } } ], "facts": [ { "a": "Model API", "b": "Model API", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Cartesia", "b": "IBM", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "https://api.cartesia.ai", "b": "no (local only)", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "HTTP, websocket, Streamable HTTP", "b": "HTTP, websocket", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "API key", "b": "API key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Freemium", "b": "Freemium", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "Proprietary hosted service under the Cartesia Terms of Service. The Python and JavaScript SDKs are Apache-2.0", "b": "none", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "none", "b": "0", "name": "Tools exposed" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "no", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "2026-09-17", "b": "2026-06-29", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "2024-06-14", "b": "no date given", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "2024-06-14", "b": "2026-08-25", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "yes, with an opt-out", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "134 stars", "b": "none", "name": "Popularity" }, { "a": "3.3/5 (4)", "b": "none", "name": "Agent reviews" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "Cartesia Ink scores 67 (B) on agent readiness against IBM Watson Speech to Text's 54.5 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. IBM Watson Speech to Text leads on security \u0026 auth, payments \u0026 pricing and transparency \u0026 trust.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Cartesia Ink or IBM Watson Speech to Text?" }, { "answer": "Both need an API key.", "question": "Do Cartesia Ink and IBM Watson Speech to Text need an API key?" }, { "answer": "Cartesia Ink has a hosted endpoint at https://api.cartesia.ai. No hosted endpoint is listed for IBM Watson Speech to Text.", "question": "Can an agent call Cartesia Ink and IBM Watson Speech to Text without installing anything?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 73 against 40", "Schema \u0026 documentation, 89 against 55", "Agent ergonomics, 74 against 66", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 84 against 33" ], "also": [ "A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install" ], "goodFor": "Suited to voice agents that need turn detection and transcription from one model in English, French, Hindi, Japanese or Spanish, and to teams already using Cartesia text-to-speech.", "slug": "cartesia-ink-stt", "watchFor": "The terms let Cartesia train models on inputs and outputs unless otherwise agreed. Opting out is a form in the Playground's data controls" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Security \u0026 auth, 68 against 47", "Payments \u0026 pricing, 40 against 35", "Transparency \u0026 trust, 80 against 68" ], "also": null, "goodFor": "Enterprises on IBM Cloud needing custom acoustic models, HIPAA on Premium and many locations.", "slug": "ibm-watson-stt", "watchFor": "No public OpenAPI file or llms.txt" } ], "history": { "cartesia-ink-stt": [ { "causes": [ "correction" ], "date": "2026-11-01", "delta": -1, "from": 68, "fromGrade": "B", "to": 67, "toGrade": "B" }, { "causes": [ "method" ], "date": "2026-10-27", "delta": 0.1, "from": 67.9, "fromGrade": "B", "to": 68, "toGrade": "B" } ], "ibm-watson-stt": null }, "job": { "capability": "speech.stt", "name": "Speech-to-text" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-transcribe-vs-cartesia-ink-stt.json", "title": "Amazon Transcribe vs Cartesia Ink", "url": 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"https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-speech-to-text-vs-ibm-watson-stt.json", "title": "Groq Speech-to-Text vs IBM Watson Speech to Text", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-speech-to-text-vs-ibm-watson-stt" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ibm-watson-stt-vs-inworld-stt.json", "title": "IBM Watson Speech to Text vs Inworld STT", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ibm-watson-stt-vs-inworld-stt" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ibm-watson-stt-vs-minimax-stt.json", "title": "IBM Watson Speech to Text vs MiniMax Speech-to-Text", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ibm-watson-stt-vs-minimax-stt" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ibm-watson-stt-vs-mistral-voxtral-transcribe.json", "title": "IBM Watson Speech to Text vs Mistral Voxtral Transcribe", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ibm-watson-stt-vs-mistral-voxtral-transcribe" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ibm-watson-stt-vs-openai-speech-to-text.json", "title": "IBM Watson Speech to Text vs OpenAI Speech to Text", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ibm-watson-stt-vs-openai-speech-to-text" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ibm-watson-stt-vs-rev-ai-stt.json", "title": "IBM Watson Speech to Text vs Rev AI Speech-to-Text API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ibm-watson-stt-vs-rev-ai-stt" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ibm-watson-stt-vs-smallest-pulse-stt.json", "title": "IBM Watson Speech to Text vs Smallest.ai Pulse STT", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ibm-watson-stt-vs-smallest-pulse-stt" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ibm-watson-stt-vs-soniox-stt.json", "title": "IBM Watson Speech to Text vs Soniox Speech-to-Text", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ibm-watson-stt-vs-soniox-stt" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ibm-watson-stt-vs-speechmatics-stt.json", "title": "IBM Watson Speech to Text vs Speechmatics Speech-to-Text", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ibm-watson-stt-vs-speechmatics-stt" } ], "panel": null, "scores": [ { "by": 33, "cartesia-ink-stt": 73, "edge": "cartesia-ink-stt", "ibm-watson-stt": 40, "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 34, "cartesia-ink-stt": 89, "edge": "cartesia-ink-stt", "ibm-watson-stt": 55, "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "weight": 13 }, { "by": 8, "cartesia-ink-stt": 74, "edge": "cartesia-ink-stt", "ibm-watson-stt": 66, "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "weight": 13 }, { "by": 21, "cartesia-ink-stt": 47, "edge": "ibm-watson-stt", "ibm-watson-stt": 68, "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "weight": 14 }, { "by": 5, "cartesia-ink-stt": 35, "edge": "ibm-watson-stt", "ibm-watson-stt": 40, "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 51, "cartesia-ink-stt": 84, "edge": "cartesia-ink-stt", "ibm-watson-stt": 33, "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "weight": 7 }, { "by": 12, "cartesia-ink-stt": 68, "edge": "ibm-watson-stt", "ibm-watson-stt": 80, "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "Cartesia Ink scores 67 (B) on agent readiness against IBM Watson Speech to Text's 54.5 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. IBM Watson Speech to Text leads on security \u0026 auth, payments \u0026 pricing and transparency \u0026 trust. Both do speech-to-text.", "tasks": [ { "a": "$0.07 to $0.54", "b": "$0.60 to $1.20", "cheaper": "cartesia-ink-stt", "task": "Transcribe a one-hour meeting", "what": "60 minutes of recorded audio" } ], "tutorials": [], "verdicts": { "cartesia-ink-stt": "Ink 2 streams transcripts with turn detection built into the model, documented by an AsyncAPI file with typed ranges and structured errors. The terms, last revised 14 June 2024, let Cartesia train on inputs and outputs unless the customer opts out, and zero data retention is an Enterprise setting. Ink 2 has no batch endpoint and no diarisation.", "ibm-watson-stt": "Watson STT covers sync, async and WebSocket transcription in ten locations, with custom models, $0.02 a minute on Plus and 500 free minutes. There is no machine-readable spec or readable status history, requests are logged for improvement unless opted out, the WebSocket token goes in the URL, and the last release note is from June 2026." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-ink-stt-vs-ibm-watson-stt", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-ink-stt-vs-ibm-watson-stt.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-ink-stt-vs-ibm-watson-stt.md", "mcp": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-ink-stt-vs-ibm-watson-stt.min.md" }, "markdown": "Cartesia Ink scores 67 (B) on agent readiness against IBM Watson Speech to Text's 54.5 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. IBM Watson Speech to Text leads on security \u0026 auth, payments \u0026 pricing and transparency \u0026 trust. Both do speech-to-text.\n\n- Cartesia Ink: grade B, 67/100, rank #340 of 1486. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cartesia-ink-stt.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cartesia-ink-stt.json\n- IBM Watson Speech to Text: grade C, 54.5/100, rank #904 of 1486. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ibm-watson-stt.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/ibm-watson-stt.json\n- Best speech-to-text APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/speech-to-text/index.md\n- All 320 stt comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/speech-to-text/index.md\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### Cartesia Ink (B)\n\nGood for: Suited to voice agents that need turn detection and transcription from one model in English, French, Hindi, Japanese or Spanish, and to teams already using Cartesia text-to-speech.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 73 against 40\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 89 against 55\n- Agent ergonomics, 74 against 66\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 84 against 33\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install\n\nWatch for: The terms let Cartesia train models on inputs and outputs unless otherwise agreed. Opting out is a form in the Playground's data controls\n\n### IBM Watson Speech to Text (C)\n\nGood for: Enterprises on IBM Cloud needing custom acoustic models, HIPAA on Premium and many locations.\n\nAhead on:\n- Security \u0026 auth, 68 against 47\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 40 against 35\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 80 against 68\n\nWatch for: No public OpenAPI file or llms.txt\n\n\n## Why the edge\n\n### Maintenance \u0026 community: Cartesia Ink +51\n\n- Cartesia Ink (84): Read as a model, on the lines deepgram-stt, gladia-stt and cartesia-tts use for hosted speech models (recency 30, dated releases 10, deprecation notice 10, support 15, issues 10, SDKs 15, health 10). The `cartesia-mcp` server, which has a `speech_to_text` tool, released 0.28.1 on 30 October 2026 with a bug fix, after 0.27.0 (20 October) and 0.28.0 (27 October). The model page still dates `ink-2` and `ink-preview` 17 September 2026 (30). In the 90 days from 3 August the SDKs released 4.0.0, 4.0.1, 4.1.0 and 4.2.0 (14 August to 2 September) and the MCP server several releases, with changelog entries for August and September (10). The deprecations page gives dated sunsets, and Sonic-2, Sonic Turbo and `sonic-3-2025-10-27` were sunset after 20 October 2026, announced in the July changelog. No minimum notice period is stated and no Ink model has been retired, read as cartesia-tts is on the same page (5 of 10). The changelog has speech-to-text entries in May, June, July and September 2026, dated by month only, and no October entry (11 of 15). The Python SDK repository had 4 open issues on 9 October, per that check, not re-read on 1 November since GitHub's pages answered 403 (5 of 10). Official `cartesia` and `@cartesia/cartesia-js` SDKs at 4.2.0 (2 September 2026), generated for API version 2026-08-14 (15). CI workflows, release automation and lock files in both SDK repositories, with dependency updates merged on 23 October (8 of 10). 30 + 10 + 5 + 11 + 5 + 15 + 8 = 84.\n- IBM Watson Speech to Text (33): Read as a model. The newest release note is 29 June 2026 (`parameter_set` for large speech models), 130 days ago (10). No dated entries in the 90 days from 8 August (0). Release notes, IBM support and a public docs repository last changed 30 June 2026 (8 of 15). Official SDKs, `ibm-watson` 11.2.0 on PyPI (26 January 2026) and 12.2.0 on npm (January 2026) (10 of 15). CI not read (5 of 10). Total 33.\n\n### Schema \u0026 documentation: Cartesia Ink +34\n\n- Cartesia Ink (89): Model reading. The docs index links an OpenAPI file (`latest.yml`) and AsyncAPI files for the WebSocket endpoints, and each reference page embeds its part of them (25). llms.txt with a Markdown twin of every page (10). The comparison page says which of the three endpoints to use and when, and the turn detection guide explains each event and threshold (18 of 20). The AsyncAPI definition has enums for `encoding` and `cartesia_version`, minimum and maximum values on the four turn settings and required fields marked. `model` is a plain string on the auto endpoint (13 of 15). Example scripts for each endpoint in Python and TypeScript and an errors page with nine codes. `model_sunsetted` appears on the deprecations page and not in that table, and the docs say a wrong `encoding` or `sample_rate` might not return an error (11 of 15). Dated API versions through the `Cartesia-Version` header and a changelog grouped by month with no day dates (12 of 15).\n- IBM Watson Speech to Text (55): No public OpenAPI or other machine-readable definition was found (0). No llms.txt (0). The reference says which parameters each model family supports and the docs cover each feature (15 of 20). Typed parameters with defaults, ranges and enums (13 of 15). curl and SDK examples on every method, and errors with `error`, `code`, `code_description` and `warnings`, with invalid arguments reported as warnings (12 of 15). Versioned `/v1` paths and dated release notes back to 2015 (15). Total 55.\n\n### Reliability: Cartesia Ink +33\n\n- Cartesia Ink (73): Hosted reading. The status page at status.cartesia.ai (incident.io) lists Speech to Text as its own component in four regions (20). Its RSS feed, re-read on 1 November, now names each incident's components. In the 90 days from 3 August two incidents touch speech-to-text, both partial and read as minor, as this run reads one region or some requests. On 2 September some clients in the US regions saw connection errors that cleared on retry (Text to Speech and Speech to Text, US), and on 7 October customers in the US regions saw higher latency for some API requests, from 12:29 to about 18:23 (partial outage, Text to Speech, Speech to Text and Voice Cloning, US). The 3 September throttling named only Text to Speech in APAC, the 8 October errors only the Playground and Voice Agents, and the 15 October Playground outage says API services were unaffected. The 1 August API-wide incident has left the window. Minor only (20). Concurrency limits are published per plan, 8, 12, 20 and 60 concurrent STT requests, with a 3-minute idle timeout on sockets (15). Exceeding the limit returns 429 with the `concurrency_limited` code, and the SDKs retry 429 and 5xx twice with backoff on HTTP calls. No `Retry-After` header, backoff guidance or reconnection advice for a dropped socket was found (8 of 15). No SLA was found for any plan (0). `ink-2` is marked Stable on the model page re-read on 1 November, with `ink-preview` as the preview line (10). 20 + 20 + 15 + 8 + 0 + 10 = 73.\n- IBM Watson Speech to Text (40): IBM Cloud has a status page at cloud.ibm.com/status, but it is drawn by script and showed no components or history to our reader, read as gemini-live's script-shell page was (10 of 20, and 5 for no readable history). Plus allows up to 100 concurrent transcription requests across WebSocket and HTTP (15). No 429 or backoff guidance was found in the API reference or the docs repository (0). No SLA was read for the service (0, unchecked). Next-generation and large speech models are GA, language by language (10). 10 + 5 + 15 + 0 + 0 + 10 = 40.\n\n### Security \u0026 auth: IBM Watson Speech to Text +21\n\n- Cartesia Ink (47): Model reading. Standard keys (`sk_car_...`) and admin keys are separate types that are not interchangeable, and a server can mint an access token with an `stt` grant that lasts at most one hour. That token travels in the `access_token` query parameter on WebSockets, the API key itself goes in a header, and no key limited to speech-to-text was found. The STT WebSocket definition, re-read on 1 November, lists `access_token` in the query as a security scheme. The checklist takes 10 off for a secret that can travel in a URL query string as a documented option, and this run takes the full 10 for short-lived OAuth tokens in `?access_token=` on every Google API listing, so the earlier 5 is brought into line (26, less 10, 16 of 30). The terms, last revised 14 June 2024, say inputs, outputs and interactions may be used to train models unless otherwise agreed, with an opt-out form in the Playground's data controls (5 of 20). Zero data retention covers STT audio and transcripts and is limited to the Enterprise plan. No retention period for other plans was found, and the DPA gives 180 days for deletion after termination (5 of 15). Credit usage and key metadata are readable through admin endpoints. No audit log was found (7 of 15). security.txt is valid until 3 October 2027 with a contact and a policy link to the trust centre. The docs and pricing page state SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA and PCI-DSS. The trust centre is drawn by script and was not read, and no bug bounty was found (14 of 20). 16 + 5 + 5 + 7 + 14 = 47.\n- IBM Watson Speech to Text (68): Model reading of the checklist, with training and retention in place of the least-privilege and injection lines. IAM API keys per instance with Reader, Writer and Manager roles and short-lived bearer tokens (30). The WebSocket interface takes the token as an `access_token` query parameter, so 10 off (20 of 30). Request and response data are logged by default to improve the service, and any account can opt out per account or per request (10 of 20). Async results expire after a week by default (`results_ttl` shortens it), a delete method exists, and `DELETE /v1/user_data` removes data by customer ID (10 of 15). Activity Tracker events record changes to the service's state (10 of 15). Valid security.txt to 6 December 2026, PSIRT and HackerOne, HIPAA readiness on Premium. Certifications weren't read (18 of 20). Total 68.\n\n### Transparency \u0026 trust: IBM Watson Speech to Text +12\n\n- Cartesia Ink (68): The service is closed and the SDKs are Apache-2.0. The Terms of Service cover the website, its subdomains and APIs, were last revised on 14 June 2024, describe a platform for synthesised sound and never mention transcription (12 of 30). The terms and privacy policy agree that content may be used for training with an opt-out. The DPA says Cartesia will not retain or use customer personal data beyond performing the services, which sits uneasily with the training licence. No retention period is given outside zero data retention, and the privacy policy says the services are designed for users in the United States only while regional endpoints are sold in four other regions (12 of 30). A deprecations page with dated sunsets and a stated promise to preserve fields for a pinned `Cartesia-Version` (15 of 20). The DPA promises 30 days' notice of sub-processor changes to subscribers and points to a list in the trust centre, which we could not read. Regional deployments are named for Enterprise only (10 of 20).\n- IBM Watson Speech to Text (80): Closed service under the IBM Cloud terms (15). The data security page states default logging for improvement with an opt-out, async retention, GDPR deletion by customer ID and plan-level separation, and they agree with each other. The DPA wasn't read (20 of 30). Previous-generation models carried a dated deprecation of 15 March 2022 and removal on 31 July 2023, and release notes say changes are compatible unless noted (18 of 20). Ten locations are named, with sub-processors not read (12 of 20). Total 65.\n\n### Agent ergonomics: Cartesia Ink +8\n\n- Cartesia Ink (74): API reading, as for the other speech-to-text listings. Turn events carry a cumulative transcript that is never revised, so an agent reads one `turn.end` a turn, and word timestamps are opt-in on the manual and batch endpoints (20 of 25). There is nothing to page through. Batch takes a file of any length without client chunking, keyterms steer vocabulary, and there is no diarisation or subtitle output (12 of 20). Errors are structured JSON with `error_code`, `title`, `message`, `request_id` and an optional `doc_url` on API version 2026-03-01 and later (17 of 20). Transcription holds no state to duplicate and the SDKs retry failed HTTP calls. A realtime session cannot be resumed, and nothing on reconnecting was found (12 of 20). Realtime needs `model`, `encoding`, `sample_rate` and the version, turn settings have documented defaults, and there are official Python and TypeScript SDKs. Realtime accepts raw PCM only (13 of 15).\n- IBM Watson Speech to Text (66): API reading of the checklist. Timestamps, word confidence, alternatives and speaker labels are opt-in (15 of 25). Async jobs and custom models list, and async results can go to a callback URL (12 of 20). Structured errors and warnings an agent can act on (15 of 20). Async jobs take a `user_token`, results have a TTL, and jobs can be deleted, with no idempotency key (12 of 20). Most parameters are optional. Official SDKs including Python, Node and Swift, though the Python and Node SDKs last released in January 2026 (12 of 15). Total 66.\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Cartesia Ink | IBM Watson Speech to Text | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 73 | 40 | Cartesia Ink +33 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 89 | 55 | Cartesia Ink +34 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 74 | 66 | Cartesia Ink +8 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 47 | 68 | IBM Watson Speech to Text +21 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 35 | 40 | IBM Watson Speech to Text +5 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 84 | 33 | Cartesia Ink +51 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 68 | 80 | IBM Watson Speech to Text +12 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **67 · B** | **54.5 · C** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Cartesia Ink | IBM Watson Speech to Text |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | Model API | Model API |\n| Vendor | Cartesia | IBM |\n| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.cartesia.ai` | no (local only) |\n| Transports | HTTP, websocket, Streamable HTTP | HTTP, websocket |\n| Auth | API key | API key |\n| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | Proprietary hosted service under the Cartesia Terms of Service. The Python and JavaScript SDKs are Apache-2.0 | none |\n| Tools exposed | none | 0 |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | no |\n| Last release | 2026-09-17 | 2026-06-29 |\n| Terms last updated | 2024-06-14 | no date given |\n| Privacy policy last updated | 2024-06-14 | 2026-08-25 |\n| Customer content may train models | yes, with an opt-out | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict automated access | yes | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | not found in the text |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | not found in the text |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | not found in the text |\n| Popularity | 134 stars | none |\n| Agent reviews | 3.3/5 (4) | none |\n\n## What the same task costs\n\n| Task | Cartesia Ink | IBM Watson Speech to Text |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Transcribe a one-hour meeting | $0.07 to $0.54 | $0.60 to $1.20 |\n\n## How the scores have moved\n\n### Cartesia Ink\n\n- -1.0 on 1 November 2026: correction\n- +0.1 on 27 October 2026: checklist\n\n### IBM Watson Speech to Text\n\nNo score change since it was listed.\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**Cartesia Ink.** Ink 2 streams transcripts with turn detection built into the model, documented by an AsyncAPI file with typed ranges and structured errors. The terms, last revised 14 June 2024, let Cartesia train on inputs and outputs unless the customer opts out, and zero data retention is an Enterprise setting. Ink 2 has no batch endpoint and no diarisation.\n\n**IBM Watson Speech to Text.** Watson STT covers sync, async and WebSocket transcription in ten locations, with custom models, $0.02 a minute on Plus and 500 free minutes. There is no machine-readable spec or readable status history, requests are logged for improvement unless opted out, the WebSocket token goes in the URL, and the last release note is from June 2026.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Cartesia Ink\n\n1. Use `wss://api.cartesia.ai/stt/turns/websocket` with `model=ink-2`, `encoding`, `sample_rate` and `cartesia_version=2026-08-14`. All four are required.\n2. Send raw mono audio in chunks of about 100 ms at the speed it was spoken. Pushing a whole file into the socket can return an internal server error.\n3. Read the final text from `turn.end` only. `transcript` is cumulative within a turn, so joining `turn.update` events duplicates text.\n4. Send `{\"type\": \"close\"}` after the last audio and keep reading until the server closes the socket, or the buffered tail is lost.\n5. Check `encoding` and `sample_rate` against the source before sending. The docs say the server might not return an error when they are wrong.\n\n### IBM Watson Speech to Text\n\n1. Send `X-Watson-Learning-Opt-Out: true` or opt out at account level before sending sensitive audio\n2. Use the async `/v1/recognitions` interface with a callback for files over 100 MB, up to 1 GB\n3. Pass a large speech or next-generation model name in `model`, since previous-generation models were removed\n4. Tag requests with `X-Watson-Metadata: customer_id=...` so the data can be deleted later\n5. Keep within 100 concurrent requests on Plus across HTTP and WebSocket\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Cartesia Ink or IBM Watson Speech to Text?\n\nCartesia Ink scores 67 (B) on agent readiness against IBM Watson Speech to Text's 54.5 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. IBM Watson Speech to Text leads on security \u0026 auth, payments \u0026 pricing and transparency \u0026 trust.\n\n### Do Cartesia Ink and IBM Watson Speech to Text need an API key?\n\nBoth need an API key.\n\n### Can an agent call Cartesia Ink and IBM Watson Speech to Text without installing anything?\n\nCartesia Ink has a hosted endpoint at https://api.cartesia.ai. No hosted endpoint is listed for IBM Watson Speech to Text.\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-ink-stt-vs-ibm-watson-stt.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-ink-stt-vs-ibm-watson-stt.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"cartesia-ink-stt\", \"b\": \"ibm-watson-stt\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare cartesia-ink-stt ibm-watson-stt`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cartesia-ink-stt.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/ibm-watson-stt.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Cartesia Ink or IBM Watson Speech to Text\n\n- [Amazon Transcribe vs Cartesia Ink](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-transcribe-vs-cartesia-ink-stt.md)\n- [Amazon Transcribe vs IBM Watson Speech to Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-transcribe-vs-ibm-watson-stt.md)\n- [AssemblyAI Speech-to-Text (Universal) vs Cartesia Ink](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/assemblyai-stt-vs-cartesia-ink-stt.md)\n- [AssemblyAI Speech-to-Text (Universal) vs IBM Watson Speech to Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/assemblyai-stt-vs-ibm-watson-stt.md)\n- [Azure AI Speech speech-to-text vs Cartesia Ink](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-speech-to-text-vs-cartesia-ink-stt.md)\n- [Azure AI Speech speech-to-text vs IBM Watson Speech to Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-speech-to-text-vs-ibm-watson-stt.md)\n- [Cartesia Ink vs Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-ink-stt-vs-deepgram-stt.md)\n- [Cartesia Ink vs ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-ink-stt-vs-elevenlabs-scribe.md)\n- [Cartesia Ink vs Giggy Speech to Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-ink-stt-vs-giggy-stt.md)\n- [Cartesia Ink vs Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-ink-stt-vs-gladia-stt.md)\n- [Cartesia Ink vs Google Cloud Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-ink-stt-vs-google-speech-to-text.md)\n- [Cartesia Ink vs Groq Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-ink-stt-vs-groq-speech-to-text.md)\n- [Cartesia Ink vs Inworld STT](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-ink-stt-vs-inworld-stt.md)\n- [Cartesia Ink vs MiniMax Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-ink-stt-vs-minimax-stt.md)\n- [Cartesia Ink vs Mistral Voxtral Transcribe](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-ink-stt-vs-mistral-voxtral-transcribe.md)\n- [Cartesia Ink vs OpenAI Speech to Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-ink-stt-vs-openai-speech-to-text.md)\n- [Cartesia Ink vs Rev AI Speech-to-Text API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-ink-stt-vs-rev-ai-stt.md)\n- [Cartesia Ink vs Smallest.ai Pulse STT](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-ink-stt-vs-smallest-pulse-stt.md)\n- [Cartesia Ink vs Soniox Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-ink-stt-vs-soniox-stt.md)\n- [Cartesia Ink vs Speechmatics Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-ink-stt-vs-speechmatics-stt.md)\n- [Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) 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Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ibm-watson-stt-vs-minimax-stt.md)\n- [IBM Watson Speech to Text vs Mistral Voxtral Transcribe](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ibm-watson-stt-vs-mistral-voxtral-transcribe.md)\n- [IBM Watson Speech to Text vs OpenAI Speech to Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ibm-watson-stt-vs-openai-speech-to-text.md)\n- [IBM Watson Speech to Text vs Rev AI Speech-to-Text API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ibm-watson-stt-vs-rev-ai-stt.md)\n- [IBM Watson Speech to Text vs Smallest.ai Pulse STT](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ibm-watson-stt-vs-smallest-pulse-stt.md)\n- [IBM Watson Speech to Text vs Soniox Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ibm-watson-stt-vs-soniox-stt.md)\n- [IBM Watson Speech to Text vs Speechmatics Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ibm-watson-stt-vs-speechmatics-stt.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", 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