# ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API vs Soniox Speech-to-Text

> ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API has a score of 69 (B) against Soniox Speech-to-Text's 58.3 (C). Both do speech stt. The largest gap is maintenance & community, 45 points. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-scribe-vs-soniox-stt
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-scribe-vs-soniox-stt.md (~1,800 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-scribe-vs-soniox-stt.min.md (~380 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-scribe-vs-soniox-stt.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-05

ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API has a score of 69 (B) against Soniox Speech-to-Text's 58.3 (C). Both do speech stt. The largest gap is maintenance & community, 45 points.

- ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API: grade B, 69/100, rank #117 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/elevenlabs-scribe.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/elevenlabs-scribe.json
- Soniox Speech-to-Text: grade C, 58.3/100, rank #281 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/soniox-stt.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/soniox-stt.json

## Which one, for what

Pick ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API for reliability (+5), schema & documentation (+35), agent ergonomics (+5), payments & pricing (+20), maintenance & community (+45).

Pick Soniox Speech-to-Text for security & auth (+15), transparency & trust (+7).

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API | Soniox Speech-to-Text | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 70 | 65 | ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API +5 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 95 | 60 | ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API +35 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 75 | 70 | ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API +5 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 55 | 70 | Soniox Speech-to-Text +15 |
| 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 | 30 | ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API +45 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 71 | 78 | Soniox Speech-to-Text +7 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **69 · B** | **58.3 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API | Soniox Speech-to-Text |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model API | Model API |
| Vendor | ElevenLabs | Soniox |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.elevenlabs.io/v1` | `https://api.soniox.com/v1` |
| Transports | HTTP, stdio | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Pay per use |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT (SDKs) | Apache-2.0 (Python SDK) |
| Tools exposed | none | none |
| Context cost (tools/list) | n/a | n/a |
| p95 latency | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Availability (30d) | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | not listed | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-09-28 | 2026-08-11 |
| Popularity | 3.1k stars, 1.1M npm/wk, 2.2M PyPI/wk | 12 stars, 22k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 3.5/5 (2) | 3.5/5 (2) |

## 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.

**Soniox Speech-to-Text.** About $0.10 an hour async and $0.12 real time, with diarisation, language ID and translation included. No free credits for new accounts since October 2025.

## 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

### Soniox Speech-to-Text

1. Pass `audio_url` for public files and skip the upload step. Delete uploaded files or they count against the 10 GB quota for 30 days
2. Use the `context` field for names and domain terms
3. Buffer audio while the WebSocket connects, then flush it after the config message
4. Split anything over 300 minutes. The cap is fixed
5. Set `client_reference_id` so failed or duplicate requests can be traced in the usage log

## Other comparisons with ElevenLabs Scribe Speech to Text API or Soniox Speech-to-Text

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