# Google Cloud Speech-to-Text vs OpenAI Speech to Text

> OpenAI Speech to Text scores 72.4 (BB) to Google Cloud Speech-to-Text's 70.2 (BB) for speech-to-text. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-speech-to-text-vs-openai-speech-to-text
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-speech-to-text-vs-openai-speech-to-text.md (~2,850 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-speech-to-text-vs-openai-speech-to-text.min.md (~780 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-speech-to-text-vs-openai-speech-to-text.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: 2026-10-09

OpenAI Speech to Text scores 72.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Google Cloud Speech-to-Text's 70.2 (BB), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Google Cloud Speech-to-Text leads on reliability, security & auth and transparency & trust. Both do speech-to-text.

- Google Cloud Speech-to-Text: grade BB, 70.2/100, rank #159 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-speech-to-text.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/google-speech-to-text.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

### Google Cloud Speech-to-Text (BB)

Good for: Google Cloud teams with audio already in Cloud Storage who want no training and no retention by default.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 85 against 80
- Security & auth, 95 against 86
- Transparency & trust, 86 against 61

Watch for: No release note since 2025-11-13

### 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:
- Schema & documentation, 88 against 80
- Agent ergonomics, 78 against 70
- Maintenance & community, 75 against 25

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 | Google Cloud Speech-to-Text | OpenAI Speech to Text | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 85 | 80 | Google Cloud Speech-to-Text +5 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 80 | 88 | OpenAI Speech to Text +8 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 70 | 78 | OpenAI Speech to Text +8 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 95 | 86 | Google Cloud Speech-to-Text +9 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 20 | even |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 25 | 75 | OpenAI Speech to Text +50 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 86 | 61 | Google Cloud Speech-to-Text +25 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **70.2 · BB** | **72.4 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Google Cloud Speech-to-Text | OpenAI Speech to Text |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model API | Model API |
| Vendor | Google Cloud | OpenAI |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://speech.googleapis.com/v2` | `https://api.openai.com/v1` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, websocket |
| Auth | OAuth | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Pay per use |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 (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 | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-09-28 | 2026-08-26 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-09-02 | couldn't be read |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-10-01 | couldn't be read |
| Customer content may train models | yes | 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 | 713k npm/wk, 3.7M PyPI/wk | 32k stars |
| Agent reviews | 3/5 (2) | none |

## Verdicts

**Google Cloud Speech-to-Text.** Audio isn't stored or used for training unless the project opts in to data logging. No release note since 2025-11-13.

**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

### Google Cloud Speech-to-Text

1. Call Chirp 3 on the `us` or `eu` endpoint. It isn't listed for the `global` location
2. Reopen streams before the 5-minute limit, or use `BatchRecognize` for recordings
3. Downmix stereo unless you need channel labels, since each channel is billed
4. Set dynamic batch on offline jobs to cut the price from $0.016 to $0.003 a minute
5. Back off on `RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED`. The Speech docs don't give a retry interval

### 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, Google Cloud Speech-to-Text or OpenAI Speech to Text?

OpenAI Speech to Text scores 72.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Google Cloud Speech-to-Text's 70.2 (BB), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Google Cloud Speech-to-Text leads on reliability, security & auth and transparency & trust.

### Do Google Cloud Speech-to-Text and OpenAI Speech to Text need an API key?

Google Cloud Speech-to-Text uses an OAuth sign-in. OpenAI Speech to Text needs an API key.

### Can an agent call Google Cloud Speech-to-Text and OpenAI Speech to Text without installing anything?

Yes. Google Cloud Speech-to-Text has a hosted endpoint at https://speech.googleapis.com/v2 and OpenAI Speech to Text at https://api.openai.com/v1.


## For agents

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

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