# Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP vs MiniMax Speech-to-Text

> Gladia Speech-to-Text scores 69.8 (B) 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/gladia-stt-vs-minimax-stt
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gladia-stt-vs-minimax-stt.md (~5,300 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

Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP scores 69.8 (B) on agent readiness against MiniMax Speech-to-Text's 48.4 (D), and leads in every scored category. Both do speech-to-text.

- Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP: grade B, 69.8/100, rank #225 of 1486. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gladia-stt.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/gladia-stt.json
- MiniMax Speech-to-Text: grade D, 48.4/100, rank #1114 of 1486. 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

### Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP (B)

Good for: Multilingual meetings and calls where live and async transcription in 100+ languages is needed, and for teams who want an MCP server.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 70 against 47
- Schema & documentation, 95 against 82
- Agent ergonomics, 75 against 70
- Security & auth, 65 against 33
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 20
- Maintenance & community, 70 against 6

Also in its favour:
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install
- Runs on your own machine
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: Self-serve audio is used for model training by default unless the account opts out

### 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: Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP +64

- Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP (70): Read as a model, for deprecation notice and model churn rather than release counts, on the lines deepgram-stt was settled on in this run. SDK 2.2.0 on 13 October 2026, three fixes among them limiting list pagination to the configured API, 19 days before 1 November (30). 2.2.1 on 23 October only raises the Python `certifi` floor to distrust a compromised certificate authority and is a version bump with no code changes for JavaScript, so as a dependency-only release it counts half and doesn't set this line, as azure-translator's was read. In the 90 days from 3 August, changelog entries on 8, 9 and 14 September, SDK 2.1.0 (18 and 21 September), 2.2.0 and 2.2.1 (at half), and the MCP server 0.1.0 and 0.1.1 on 24 September (10). The `/v2/transcription` endpoints are marked deprecated in favour of `/v2/pre-recorded` with no removal date, structured data extraction has gone from the OpenAPI file without a changelog entry, and no deprecation policy was found (0 of 10). Public changelog, help centre and Discord (10 of 15). SDK and MCP repository issues couldn't be read, since github.com refuses our reader, so absent (0 of 10). Official JavaScript and Python SDKs current at 2.2.1 (15). The SDK repository has CI, release and OpenAPI type-update workflows, results not seen (5 of 10). 30 + 10 + 0 + 10 + 0 + 15 + 5 = 70.
- 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: Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP +32

- Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP (65): Model reading of the checklist, with training and retention in place of least-privilege and injection lines. Plain revocable API keys in the `x-gladia-key` header. Live sessions connect to a WebSocket URL minted per session by `POST /v2/live`, which we don't deduct for (20). The pricing page, read on 1 November, says Self-serve, the paid pay-as-you-go plan, is opted in to model training by default with a free opt-out in the profile, and Enterprise is opted out by default. The security page still says only Free plan data is used for training. We score the pricing page's default, as for AWS's default use with an opt-out (10 of 20). Retention is documented and jobs can be deleted, but zero retention needs Enterprise per the retention page (10). Job history through the list endpoint and dashboard, no audit log of key actions found (10). SOC 2 Type 1 and Type 2, a bug bounty programme that doubles as the disclosure route, no security.txt (404 on 1 November) and no public advisories found. The SDKs fixed an API key leak on cross-origin redirects in 2.1.0 (September) and limited list pagination to the configured API in 2.2.0 (13 October), both released. ISO 27001 is in progress, not held (15). 20 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 15 = 65.
- 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: Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP +23

- Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP (70): incident.io status page with per-component uptime bars and incident pages, and an RSS feed read on 1 November (20). One major incident in the 90 days from 3 August, a global Pre-Recorded and Real-Time incident on 23 September 2026 from 07:05 to 08:10 caused by a provider network fault, as read on 1 October. The rest are partial and read as minor, a 20-minute full outage and a timeouts incident on 22 September, slower processing on the afternoon of 23 September, and Europe-only degradations on 2, 10, 14 to 15 (elevated errors and timeouts in Europe from 09:07 on 14 September to 13:58 on 15 September), 21, 22 and 28 September and on 3, 4 and 7 October (Pre-Recorded v2 in Europe) (10). Concurrency limits published with numbers, 25 parallel async jobs plus 300 queued and 30 live sessions on paid plans, 3 and 1 on free (15). The docs say a 429 means the concurrency limit, but we found no backoff guidance or Retry-After (5). The pricing page's plan comparison, read on 1 November, lists a 99.9% uptime SLA for Enterprise (10). `solaria-1` and `solaria-3` are GA (10). 20 + 10 + 15 + 5 + 10 + 10 = 70.
- 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: Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP +20

- Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP (40): No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Per-hour prices in euros published without a login, re-read on 1 November, async from 0.27€ an hour on `solaria-1` and 0.16€ on `solaria-3`, real-time 0.68€, add-ons per hour (20). A one-time €50 credit, with no card per the 1 October check (20). A person signs up in a browser (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.

### Schema & documentation: Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP +13

- Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP (95): OpenAPI file at api.gladia.io/openapi.json (25). llms.txt (10). Reference pages state purpose per endpoint and the model page says to use `solaria-3` only for async English, French, German, Spanish or Italian (15). Typed bodies with enums and required fields, `audio_url` the only required input for pre-recorded (15). Examples per endpoint and documented error codes (15). Versioned `/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.

### Agent ergonomics: Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP +5

- Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP (75): API reading of the checklist. Add-ons such as summaries, NER and translation are opt-in, so a plain request stays small, but there's no field selection (15). Pre-recorded jobs list with offset, limit and filters (20). Documented error codes, with a 429 for concurrency (15). No idempotency key. The docs warn that a job is already queued once the 200 or `transcription.created` webhook arrives, which is safe-retry guidance of a sort (10). One required parameter and official SDKs in JavaScript and Python (15). The official MCP server adds 8 tools for async jobs, which this API reading doesn't score.
- MiniMax Speech-to-Text (70): API reading of the checklist. The default `json` returns only text, duration and a trace ID, with segments and subtitles opt-in (22 of 25). No lists to page. `response_format` and `language` are the output controls (12 of 20). Typed error envelopes with the real HTTP status, an error type and `request_id`, and 402 for an empty balance (18 of 20). Calls are synchronous with no idempotency key (10 of 20). Two fields, a model and a file. No official SDK, and MiniMax's MCP servers don't cover transcription (8 of 15). Total 70.

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP | MiniMax Speech-to-Text | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 70 | 47 | Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP +23 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 95 | 82 | Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP +13 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 75 | 70 | Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP +5 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 65 | 33 | Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP +32 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 20 | Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP +20 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 70 | 6 | Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP +64 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 65 | 63 | Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP +2 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **69.8 · B** | **48.4 · D** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP | MiniMax Speech-to-Text |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model API | Model API |
| Vendor | Gladia | MiniMax |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.gladia.io/v2` | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP, stdio | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Pay per use |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT (SDKs and MCP server) | none |
| Tools exposed | 8 | 0 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-23 | none |
| Terms last updated | no date given | couldn't be read |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | couldn't be read |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | 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 | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Popularity | 4 stars, 4.8k npm/wk, 126k PyPI/wk | none |
| Agent reviews | 3/5 (2) | none |

## How the scores have moved

### Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP

- +0.2 on 1 November 2026: terms, correction
- +0.1 on 27 October 2026: checklist
- -0.2 on 8 October 2026: checklist

### MiniMax Speech-to-Text

No score change since it was listed.

## Verdicts

**Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP.** The `solaria-1` model transcribes live and recorded audio in over 100 languages with code switching, behind an OpenAPI file and SDKs in two languages. Self-serve audio is used for model training unless the account opts out, and Gladia's pages disagree on retention and training defaults.

**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

### Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP

1. Don't resubmit a pre-recorded job after a 200 or a `transcription.created` webhook. It's already queued
2. Pick `solaria-3` only for async EN, FR, DE, ES or IT audio. Anything live or multilingual needs `solaria-1`
3. A 429 means the concurrency limit, 3 async and 1 live on the free plan. Wait for a running job to finish
4. Opt the account out of model training in its profile before sending sensitive audio on Self-serve
5. Split files over 135 minutes or 1,000 MB

### 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, Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP or MiniMax Speech-to-Text?

Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP scores 69.8 (B) on agent readiness against MiniMax Speech-to-Text's 48.4 (D), and leads in every scored category.

### Do Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP and MiniMax Speech-to-Text need an API key?

Both need an API key.

### Can an agent call Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP and MiniMax Speech-to-Text without installing anything?

Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://api.gladia.io/v2. No hosted endpoint is listed for MiniMax Speech-to-Text.


## For agents

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

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- [Gladia Speech-to-Text API + MCP vs Soniox Speech-to-Text](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gladia-stt-vs-soniox-stt.md)
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- [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)
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- [MiniMax Speech-to-Text vs Smallest.ai Pulse STT](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-stt-vs-smallest-pulse-stt.md)
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