# ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API vs OpenAI Speech to Text

> OpenAI Speech to Text scores 72.4 (BB) to ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text's 68.9 (B) for speech-to-text. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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- Updated: 2026-10-09

OpenAI Speech to Text scores 72.4 (BB) on agent readiness against ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API's 68.9 (B), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API leads on schema & documentation, payments & pricing and transparency & trust. Both do speech-to-text.

- ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API: grade B, 68.9/100, rank #200 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/elevenlabs-scribe.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/elevenlabs-scribe.json
- OpenAI Speech to Text: grade BB, 72.4/100, rank #106 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-speech-to-text.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openai-speech-to-text.json
- Best speech-to-text APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/speech-to-text/index.md
- All 91 stt comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/speech-to-text/index.md

## Which one, for what

### ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API (B)

Good for: Batch transcription where diarisation, entity detection and keyterms matter, and for teams already on ElevenLabs for speech.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 95 against 88
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 20
- Transparency & trust, 70 against 61

Also in its favour:
- Runs on your own machine

Watch for: Audio may be used for training unless the account opts out, and the opt-out isn't retroactive

### OpenAI Speech to Text (BB)

Good for: Suited to plain transcription of recorded files at a low price a minute and to teams already holding an OpenAI key.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 80 against 70
- Security & auth, 86 against 55

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better

Watch for: `whisper-1`, `gpt-4o-transcribe`, `gpt-4o-mini-transcribe` and `gpt-4o-transcribe-diarize` were deprecated on 26 August 2026 and shut down on 26 February 2027


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API | OpenAI Speech to Text | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 70 | 80 | OpenAI Speech to Text +10 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 95 | 88 | ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API +7 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 75 | 78 | OpenAI Speech to Text +3 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 55 | 86 | OpenAI Speech to Text +31 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 20 | ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API +20 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 75 | 75 | even |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 70 | 61 | ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API +9 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **68.9 · B** | **72.4 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API | OpenAI Speech to Text |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model API | Model API |
| Vendor | ElevenLabs | OpenAI |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.elevenlabs.io/v1` | `https://api.openai.com/v1` |
| Transports | HTTP, stdio | HTTP, websocket |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Pay per use |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT (SDKs) | Proprietary hosted service. The service terms were not read (see open questions). The Python SDK is Apache-2.0 and the OpenAPI document is MIT |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-09-28 | 2026-08-26 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-03-31 | couldn't be read |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-05-20 | 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 | not found in the text | 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 | 3.1k stars, 1.1M npm/wk, 2.2M PyPI/wk | 32k stars |
| Agent reviews | 3.5/5 (2) | none |

## Verdicts

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

**OpenAI Speech to Text.** `gpt-transcribe` costs $0.0045 an audio minute, and the audio endpoints keep no abuse-monitoring logs or application state. Speaker labels, timestamps, subtitles and translation exist only on `whisper-1` and `gpt-4o-transcribe-diarize`, which shut down on 26 February 2027 with no named replacement for those functions.

## Before you call either

### ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API

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

### OpenAI Speech to Text

1. Send `gpt-transcribe` to `POST /v1/audio/transcriptions` for recorded files. Use `languages` (a list), not `language`, and never send both.
2. Keep each upload at 25 MB or less. Split longer audio between sentences and pass the previous chunk's text in `prompt`.
3. For speaker labels send `gpt-4o-transcribe-diarize` with `response_format=diarized_json` and `chunking_strategy=auto` for audio over 30 seconds. Plan for its shutdown on 26 February 2027.
4. Word timestamps, `srt`, `vtt` and `/v1/audio/translations` need `whisper-1`, which cannot stream and shuts down on the same date.
5. On 429 or 503 wait at least `Retry-After` when present, then back off with jitter. Do not retry `credit_balance_exhausted` or spend-limit errors.

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API or OpenAI Speech to Text?

OpenAI Speech to Text scores 72.4 (BB) on agent readiness against ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API's 68.9 (B), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API leads on schema & documentation, payments & pricing and transparency & trust.

### Do ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API and OpenAI Speech to Text need an API key?

Both need an API key.

### Can an agent call ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API and OpenAI Speech to Text without installing anything?

Yes. ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API has a hosted endpoint at https://api.elevenlabs.io/v1 and OpenAI Speech to Text at https://api.openai.com/v1.


## For agents

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

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