# Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) vs MiniMax Speech-to-Text

> Deepgram Speech-to-Text scores 74.4 (BB) to MiniMax Speech-to-Text's 48.4 (D) for speech-to-text. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-stt-vs-minimax-stt
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-stt-vs-minimax-stt.md (~5,400 tokens)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (the key docs and every listing in one file, at most 16 MB, about 4 million tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- DNS: dig +short TXT <slug>.grade.anchorterminal.com (the grade as a DNS TXT record, for a sandbox with no HTTP where names still resolve; also top., best.<category>. and <a>.vs.<b>. under the zone, and the same under grade.letme.dev)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)
- Updated: 2026-11-07

Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) scores 74.4 (BB) on agent readiness against MiniMax Speech-to-Text's 48.4 (D), and leads in every scored category. Both do speech-to-text.

- Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux): grade BB, 74.4/100, rank #86 of 1510. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/deepgram-stt.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/deepgram-stt.json
- MiniMax Speech-to-Text: grade D, 48.4/100, rank #1126 of 1510. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/minimax-stt.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/minimax-stt.json
- Best speech-to-text APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/speech-to-text/index.md
- All 320 stt comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/speech-to-text/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) (BB)

Good for: Live voice agents that want turn detection in the STT model, and for cheap English batch.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 80 against 47
- Schema & documentation, 95 against 82
- Agent ergonomics, 75 against 70
- Security & auth, 72 against 33
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 20
- Maintenance & community, 73 against 6
- Transparency & trust, 78 against 63

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install
- Runs on your own machine
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: Training on audio is the default and the opt-out is a per-request flag

### MiniMax Speech-to-Text (D)

Good for: Cheap file transcription with diarisation and subtitles, strongest on Chinese and code-switched audio by the vendor's account.

Watch for: Files only, up to 500 seconds and 50 MB; live audio input isn't supported


## Why the edge

### Maintenance & community: Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) +67

- Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) (73): Read as a model, as deepgram-tts is read on the same changelog and SDK. Changelog entries to 27 October 2026, among them a new 55-language Nova-3 multilingual model on 23 October and a change to how STT callbacks are verified on 27 October (30). 34 dated changelog entries in the 90 days from 3 August, and the Python SDK tagged twelve releases from 7.7.0 on 12 August to 7.16.0 on 28 October (10 of 10). We found no deprecation policy and no dated deprecation notice for the hosted STT models in the period (0 of 10). Public changelog and community support channels (10 of 15). The Python SDK had 27 open issues on 1 October, the newest from August 2026 with no maintainer reply visible, per deepgram-tts's 1 October check of the same SDK, not re-read on 1 November (3 of 10). Official SDKs current, the Python SDK at 7.16.0 on 28 October (15). SDK CI not checked in this run (5 of 10). 30 + 10 + 0 + 10 + 3 + 15 + 5 = 73.
- MiniMax Speech-to-Text (6): Read as a model. No dated release or change of `asr-1.0` was found on the model or API release notes or the status page (0). No dated ASR entries in the last 90 days (0). Support by email and Discord, not tested (6 of 15). No official SDK, and the MCP servers have no transcription tool (0 of 15). No package to judge (0 of 10). Total 6.

### Security & auth: Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) +39

- Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) (72): Model reading of the checklist, with training and retention in place of least-privilege and injection lines. Keys belong to a project, carry a role and can expire on a date or after a set duration. Browser JWTs live 30 seconds and travel in a header (30). Requests may be kept for model training under the Model Improvement Program unless each request sets `mip_opt_out=true`, which any account can do (10). Opted-out requests are kept only for processing, so zero retention is self-serve but not the default (10). Per-request logs and usage data in the console and API, no audit log of key actions found (10). SOC 2 Type 1 and Type 2 (certificates on request) and HIPAA with a BAA on the compliance page. deepgram.com now serves a valid security.txt (Contact security@deepgram.com, Expires 30 September 2027), not found on 30 September. No disclosure policy, bug bounty or public advisories found. The 1 October check gave this line 5 where deepgram-tts and deepgram-voice-agent gave 10 and 12 on the same compliance page, so it's read as deepgram-tts was on 1 November (12 of 20). 30 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 12 = 72.
- MiniMax Speech-to-Text (33): Model reading of the checklist, with training and retention in place of the least-privilege and injection lines. Plain API keys from the console with no scopes found, and the docs say publicly leaked keys may be disabled, as on minimax-voice-cloning (20 of 30). The terms (effective 30 March 2026), as read for minimax-voice-cloning on 4 November, let MiniMax use input and generated content to operate, maintain, develop and improve its services, with no opt-out found, and the privacy policy rules out only training to profile or target consumers (5 of 20). No retention period for uploaded audio or transcripts was found (3 of 15). Each response carries a trace ID, with no audit log found (5 of 15). No security.txt, disclosure policy, bug bounty or certification found, as on the other MiniMax listings (0 of 20). Total 33.

### Reliability: Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) +33

- Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) (80): Statuspage at status.deepgram.com with component history and an RSS feed (20). Nine incidents in the 90 days from 3 August touch speech-to-text, every one partial, read as this run reads partial incidents (one model, one region, one datacenter or some requests) and as deepgram-tts is read. Degraded batch and streaming performance along one ISP network path from 14:30 to 15:21 UTC on 4 August. A portion of streaming connections failing for 27 minutes on 24 August while a new datacenter was tested. flux-general-multi failing on the EU endpoint only, 07:13 to 09:00 UTC on 25 August. Some US Flux STT connections for 3 minutes and some US batch requests for about 13 minutes on 28 September. Two 1 to 2 minute bursts on 30 September. Some batch requests slow or timing out, 19:27 to 21:53 UTC on 22 October. 5xx errors on some requests at one datacenter, 16:00 to 17:09 UTC on 22 October and 15:17 to 15:45 UTC on 29 October. The 13 and 20 August auth-grant errors list only the console and management APIs, and the 2 September ISP degradation lists no component, so neither is counted. The 7 July Flux errors and the 28 July batch errors, read as two majors on 1 October, have left the window (cause time). Minor only (20). Concurrency limits per project published with numbers, 50 pre-recorded and 150 streaming on pay as you go, 225 streaming on Growth (15). Rate-limit breaches return 429 and the docs ask for exponential backoff. Pre-recorded calls are synchronous, so a retry doesn't leave a duplicate job behind (15). No SLA found for self-serve plans (0). Nova-3 and Flux are GA (10). 20 + 20 + 15 + 15 + 0 + 10 = 80.
- MiniMax Speech-to-Text (47): Atlassian Statuspage at status.minimax.io with component history, but its components are LLM, Text-to-Speech and Video Generation, with none for speech to text (10 of 20). With no component, the history holds no record for transcription (5). Limits published with numbers, 2 concurrent connections and 30,000 audio seconds a minute (15). 429 is documented as `rate_limit_error`, and the general error code page says to retry later, with no backoff figures or Retry-After (7 of 15). No SLA in the terms or docs (0). `asr-1.0` is called the current public model with no beta label (10). 10 + 5 + 15 + 7 + 0 + 10 = 47.

### Payments & pricing: Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) +20

- Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) (40): No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Per-minute prices for every model and add-on published without a login (20). $200 credit with no card (20). A person signs up in a browser to get the first key (0).
- MiniMax Speech-to-Text (20): No x402, MPP or L402 (0). $0.38 an hour published without a login (20). Speech to text is for paid accounts only (0). A person signs up in a browser and funds a balance (0). Total 20.

### Transparency & trust: Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) +15

- Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) (78): Closed service with clear terms (15). The privacy policy was last updated on 26 October 2021, says data is stored on US servers and doesn't mention the Model Improvement Program, while the docs describe training by default and EU, Australian and Indian endpoints, so the statements disagree (15). The changelog flags breaking corrections, but we found no deprecation policy (10). Sub-processor list at deepgram.com/privacy/subprocessors and four regional endpoints (20). Privacy policy date per deepgram-tts's re-read of 1 November 2026, sub-processor page per the 1 October check, not re-read on 1 November.
- MiniMax Speech-to-Text (63): Closed API with clear terms under Singapore law naming Nanonoble Pte. Ltd., as on the other MiniMax listings (15 of 30). The terms and privacy policy agree that inputs may be used to improve services and that data sits in a United States data centre, with no retention period for audio (8 of 30). No deprecation notice or policy touches the ASR API (10 of 20, for the dated notices elsewhere on the API release notes). Data location stated as the United States and an EU representative named, with third parties only by category (10 of 20). Total 43.

### Schema & documentation: Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) +13

- Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) (95): OpenAPI file at developers.deepgram.com/openapi.json and an AsyncAPI file for the sockets (25). llms.txt (10). Reference pages state what each option does, and the docs say to use Flux for live agents and Nova-3 for files, though few options say when not to use them (15). Query parameters are typed with enums for `model`, `language` and `encoding` (15). Examples on every endpoint and a documented error format (15). Versioned `/v1` and `/v2` paths and a dated changelog (15).
- MiniMax Speech-to-Text (82): OpenAPI 3.1 for `/v1/speech_to_text`, with eight documented responses (25). llms.txt and a Markdown copy of every page (10). The guide says when to stream, when to use `verbose_json`, and that subtitles and diarisation can't be combined with streaming (15 of 20). Typed multipart fields with an enum for `response_format`, and file limits stated in prose (12 of 15). Python examples and an error table giving HTTP status, `error.type` and trigger for 400, 401, 402, 413, 422, 429 and 500 (15). Versioned `/v1` path, but neither release notes page mentions the ASR API, and the API notes stop at 28 October 2025 (5 of 15). Total 82.

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) | MiniMax Speech-to-Text | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 80 | 47 | Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) +33 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 95 | 82 | Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) +13 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 75 | 70 | Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) +5 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 72 | 33 | Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) +39 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 20 | Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) +20 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 73 | 6 | Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) +67 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 78 | 63 | Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) +15 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **74.4 · BB** | **48.4 · D** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) | MiniMax Speech-to-Text |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model API | Model API |
| Vendor | Deepgram | MiniMax |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.deepgram.com/v1` | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio, SSE (legacy) | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Pay per use |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT (SDKs) | none |
| Tools exposed | none | 0 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-28 | none |
| Terms last updated | 2026-08-06 | couldn't be read |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2021-10-26 | couldn't be read |
| Customer content may train models | yes, with an opt-out | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | couldn't be read |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | couldn't be read |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | couldn't be read |
| Popularity | 468 stars, 1.1M npm/wk, 805k PyPI/wk | none |
| Agent reviews | 3.5/5 (2) | none |

## What the same task costs

| Task | Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) | MiniMax Speech-to-Text |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Transcribe a one-hour meeting | $0.26 to $0.55 | $0.38 |

## How the scores have moved

### Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux)

- +4.0 on 1 November 2026: security, correction, time
- +0.1 on 27 October 2026: checklist
- -0.3 on 8 October 2026: checklist

### MiniMax Speech-to-Text

No score change since it was listed.

## Verdicts

**Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux).** Flux streams with model-level end-of-turn detection, so a voice agent needs no separate VAD. Training on audio is the default and the opt-out is a per-request flag.

**MiniMax Speech-to-Text.** MiniMax's ASR API has an OpenAPI file, typed error envelopes and a public price of $0.38 an hour, with diarisation and subtitle output. It takes files of up to 500 seconds only, allows 2 concurrent connections, has no free tier or status component, and no dated release.

## Before you call either

### Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux)

1. Add `mip_opt_out=true` to every request that carries customer audio
2. Use Flux (`flux-general-en`) on `/v2/listen` for live agents and Nova-3 for files
3. Back off exponentially on 429. The concurrency limit is per project
4. Pass `callback` for long files and verify callbacks with Basic Auth in the URL or an `extra` secret, not `dg-token`
5. Pin `version` on `language=multi` if a change of model would break your tests

### MiniMax Speech-to-Text

1. Split recordings into pieces under 500 seconds before uploading, since longer audio returns 400
2. Convert to mono 16 kHz or a compressed format to stay under 50 MB
3. Use `verbose_json` for speakers and timestamps, and `json` only when streaming
4. Treat 402 `insufficient_balance_error` as final and ask the user to top up
5. Use `https://api.minimaxi.com` for a mainland China account

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) or MiniMax Speech-to-Text?

Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) scores 74.4 (BB) on agent readiness against MiniMax Speech-to-Text's 48.4 (D), and leads in every scored category.

### Do Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) and MiniMax Speech-to-Text need an API key?

Both need an API key.

### Can an agent call Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) and MiniMax Speech-to-Text without installing anything?

Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) has a hosted endpoint at https://api.deepgram.com/v1. No hosted endpoint is listed for MiniMax Speech-to-Text.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-stt-vs-minimax-stt.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-stt-vs-minimax-stt.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "deepgram-stt", "b": "minimax-stt"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare deepgram-stt minimax-stt`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/deepgram-stt.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/minimax-stt.json

## Other comparisons with Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) or MiniMax Speech-to-Text

- [Amazon Transcribe vs Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-transcribe-vs-deepgram-stt.md)
- [Amazon Transcribe vs MiniMax Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-transcribe-vs-minimax-stt.md)
- [AssemblyAI Speech-to-Text (Universal) vs Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/assemblyai-stt-vs-deepgram-stt.md)
- [AssemblyAI Speech-to-Text (Universal) vs MiniMax Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/assemblyai-stt-vs-minimax-stt.md)
- [Azure AI Speech speech-to-text vs Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-speech-to-text-vs-deepgram-stt.md)
- [Azure AI Speech speech-to-text vs MiniMax Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-speech-to-text-vs-minimax-stt.md)
- [Cartesia Ink vs Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-ink-stt-vs-deepgram-stt.md)
- [Cartesia Ink vs MiniMax Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-ink-stt-vs-minimax-stt.md)
- [Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) vs ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-stt-vs-elevenlabs-scribe.md)
- [Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) vs Giggy Speech to Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-stt-vs-giggy-stt.md)
- [Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) vs Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-stt-vs-gladia-stt.md)
- [Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) vs Google Cloud Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-stt-vs-google-speech-to-text.md)
- [Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) vs Groq Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-stt-vs-groq-speech-to-text.md)
- [Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) vs IBM Watson Speech to Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-stt-vs-ibm-watson-stt.md)
- [Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) vs Inworld STT](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-stt-vs-inworld-stt.md)
- [Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) vs Mistral Voxtral Transcribe](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-stt-vs-mistral-voxtral-transcribe.md)
- [Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) vs OpenAI Speech to Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-stt-vs-openai-speech-to-text.md)
- [Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) vs Rev AI Speech-to-Text API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-stt-vs-rev-ai-stt.md)
- [Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) vs Smallest.ai Pulse STT](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-stt-vs-smallest-pulse-stt.md)
- [Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) vs Soniox Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-stt-vs-soniox-stt.md)
- [Deepgram Speech-to-Text (Nova-3, Flux) vs Speechmatics Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-stt-vs-speechmatics-stt.md)
- [ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API vs MiniMax Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-scribe-vs-minimax-stt.md)
- [Giggy Speech to Text vs MiniMax Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/giggy-stt-vs-minimax-stt.md)
- [Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP vs MiniMax Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gladia-stt-vs-minimax-stt.md)
- [Google Cloud Speech-to-Text vs MiniMax Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-speech-to-text-vs-minimax-stt.md)
- [Groq Speech-to-Text vs MiniMax Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-speech-to-text-vs-minimax-stt.md)
- [IBM Watson Speech to Text vs MiniMax Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ibm-watson-stt-vs-minimax-stt.md)
- [Inworld STT vs MiniMax Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/inworld-stt-vs-minimax-stt.md)
- [MiniMax Speech-to-Text vs Mistral Voxtral Transcribe](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-stt-vs-mistral-voxtral-transcribe.md)
- [MiniMax Speech-to-Text vs OpenAI Speech to Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-stt-vs-openai-speech-to-text.md)
- [MiniMax Speech-to-Text vs Rev AI Speech-to-Text API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-stt-vs-rev-ai-stt.md)
- [MiniMax Speech-to-Text vs Smallest.ai Pulse STT](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-stt-vs-smallest-pulse-stt.md)
- [MiniMax Speech-to-Text vs Soniox Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-stt-vs-soniox-stt.md)
- [MiniMax Speech-to-Text vs Speechmatics Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-stt-vs-speechmatics-stt.md)

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Query this catalogue directly over MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP, no key). How: https://www.anchorterminal.com/agents/#mcp