{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "hume-evi", "name": "Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface)", "vendor": "Hume AI", "vendorUrl": "https://www.hume.ai", "kind": "http-api", "category": "voice-agents", "summary": "Hume's hosted voice-agent service, accessed through a WebSocket API.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/hume-evi", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/hume-evi.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/hume-evi.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/hume-evi.json", "repo": "https://github.com/HumeAI/hume-python-sdk", "license": "MIT (SDKs)", "transports": [ "http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://api.hume.ai/v0/evi", "packages": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "hume" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "hume" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@humeai/voice-react" } ], "auth": "mixed", "authNotes": "`X-Hume-Api-Key` header for REST. The chat WebSocket takes `api_key` or a short-lived `access_token` in the query string. The Twilio webhook URL carries the API key as a query parameter.", "pricing": "freemium", "pricingNotes": "Free includes 5 EVI minutes a month and 1 concurrent connection. Starter $3 40 minutes, Creator $14 ($7 first month) 200 minutes, Pro $70 1,200 minutes then $0.06 a minute, Scale $200 5,000 then $0.05, Business $500 12,500 then $0.04. External LLM usage is billed on top. Free and Starter are non-commercial (https://www.hume.ai/pricing).", "priceSummary": "$14 / mo", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402 or machine payment in the docs or pricing (checked 2026-09-30).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 180, "npmWeekly": 79177, "pypiWeekly": 23750, "asOf": "2026-09-30" }, "docsUrl": "https://dev.hume.ai/docs/speech-to-speech-evi/overview", "llmsTxt": "https://dev.hume.ai/llms.txt", "openapi": "https://dev.hume.ai/openapi/speech-to-speech-evi.json", "capabilities": [ "voice.agent", "voice.speech-to-speech", "voice.pipeline", "voice.tools", "voice.telephony" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "freemium", "free-tier", "closed-source", "python", "typescript", "llms-txt", "speech-to-speech", "pipeline", "streaming", "websocket", "webhooks", "enterprise", "status-page" ], "lastRelease": "2026-08-18", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 56.7, "grade": "C", "agentReady": false, "rank": 626, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 950, "categoryRank": 10, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 66, "maintenance": 65, "payments": 37, "reliability": 55, "schema": 90, "security": 27, "transparency": 61 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-01" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "Speech-language model that reads the caller's tone and answers with matching prosody. One account-wide key, sent in the WebSocket and Twilio webhook URLs. Hume ends API access on 13 November 2026.", "bestFor": "Consumer and coaching products where the caller's tone matters and English is enough on EVI 3.", "strengths": [ "Speech-language model that reads the caller's tone and answers with matching prosody", "4 to 7 cents a minute including Hume's own model", "External LLMs or a custom endpoint for tool calling", "AsyncAPI 2.6.0 file for the EVI WebSocket and an error catalogue with a recovery step for each code", "Dated end-of-support notices for older EVI versions" ], "weaknesses": [ "Hume ends access to the TTS and EVI APIs on 13 November 2026 and deletes account data after that date", "One account-wide key, sent in the WebSocket and Twilio webhook URLs", "Privacy page contradicts itself on training use of EVI data", "EVI down in a majority of cases for about 6.5 hours on 11 July 2026, posted to the status page three days later", "Public changelog ends at 15 May 2026", "No HTTP 429, Retry-After or backoff guidance, only 'retry later' error codes" ], "agentNotes": [ "Create a config with a voice first, EVI 3 has no default", "Pick a Claude, GPT, Gemini or Moonshot supplemental LLM if the agent needs tools, since Hume's own model can't call them", "Mint 30-minute access tokens server-side so the API key never reaches a client URL", "Turn on 'Do not retain data' and 'Do not use for training' at app.hume.ai before sensitive calls", "Reconnect with the chat group ID before the 30-minute session cap, and on E0700 close an open chat before starting another" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 2, "avgRating": 2, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "C", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 56.7 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 66, "maintenance": 65, "payments": 37, "reliability": 55, "schema": 90, "security": 27, "transparency": 48 }, "provenanceScore": 73 }, "connect": { "http": "curl https://api.hume.ai/v0/evi/configs -H \"X-Hume-Api-Key: $HUME_API_KEY\"" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/voice.agent", "tool": "https://letme.dev/hume-evi" }, "sameCompany": [ "hume-voice-cloning" ], "area": "voice", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "EVI on Pro", "unit": "call-minute", "usd": 0.06, "note": "overage after 1,200 included minutes, Hume model included, external LLM extra" }, { "item": "EVI on Scale", "unit": "call-minute", "usd": 0.05, "note": "overage after 5,000 included minutes" }, { "item": "EVI on Business", "unit": "call-minute", "usd": 0.04, "note": "overage after 12,500 included minutes" }, { "item": "Creator plan", "unit": "month", "usd": 14, "note": "200 EVI minutes, 5 concurrent, $7 first month" }, { "item": "Pro plan", "unit": "month", "usd": 70, "note": "1,200 EVI minutes, 10 concurrent" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Hume AI, Inc.", "domain": "hume.ai", "domainRegistered": "2020-04-06", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://www.hume.ai/terms-of-use", "privacy": "https://www.hume.ai/privacy-policy", "statusPage": "https://status.hume.ai", "changelog": "https://dev.hume.ai/changelog", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-09-30", "score": 73 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/hume-evi.json", "live": { "slug": "hume-evi", "probe": { "target": "https://api.hume.ai/v0/evi", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-10T02:54:57.985522754Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 404, "lastMs": 185, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 182, "p95ms24h": 269, "samples24h": 249, "samples30d": 2466, "days": [ { "date": "2026-09-30", "probes": 35, "ok": 35 }, { "date": "2026-10-01", "probes": 276, "ok": 276 }, { "date": "2026-10-02", "probes": 248, "ok": 248 }, { "date": "2026-10-03", "probes": 271, "ok": 271 }, { "date": "2026-10-04", "probes": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-05", "probes": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-06", "probes": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-07", "probes": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-08", "probes": 268, "ok": 268 }, { "date": "2026-10-09", "probes": 250, "ok": 250 }, { "date": "2026-10-10", "probes": 30, "ok": 30 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.hume.ai", "indicator": "none", "summary": "All Systems Operational", "checkedAt": "2026-10-10T02:50:23.561350826Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "HumeAI/hume-python-sdk", "version": "v0.14.0", "released": "2026-06-17", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T16:58:20.321724421Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@humeai/voice-react", "version": "0.3.0-beta.6", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T16:58:18.773030749Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "hume", "version": "0.16.1", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T16:58:18.106717858Z" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "hume", "version": "0.14.1", "released": "2026-08-17", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T16:58:18.582890776Z" } ], "githubStars": 181, "npmWeekly": 70274, "pypiWeekly": 20548, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://hume.ai/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "none", "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T15:40:27.041303911Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://dev.hume.ai/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T14:02:09.233275813Z" }, "domain": { "domain": "hume.ai", "registered": "2020-04-06", "source": "https://rdap.identitydigital.services/rdap/domain/hume.ai", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T13:04:35.90510371Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://dev.hume.ai/changelog", "kind": "changelog", "status": 304, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:34:52.149791737Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-07T18:03:50.996699372Z", "fingerprint": "835f41512f87" }, { "url": "https://dev.hume.ai/docs/speech-to-speech-evi/configuration/evi-version", "kind": "deprecations", "status": 304, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:34:55.26260797Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-08T18:17:01.36706317Z", "fingerprint": "4e0a06676652" }, { "url": "https://dev.hume.ai/voice/changelog", "kind": "deprecations", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:34:57.497894395Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "835f41512f87" }, { "url": "https://www.hume.ai/pricing", "kind": "pricing", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:51:01.457297965Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-07T18:12:20.387954598Z", "fingerprint": "4cb5d5bdce6c" }, { "url": "https://www.hume.ai/privacy-policy", "kind": "privacy", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:51:03.711028751Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-07T18:12:22.545753584Z", "fingerprint": "2ea7655d6bc1" }, { "url": "https://www.hume.ai/terms-of-use", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:51:05.647304686Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-07T18:12:24.556500594Z", "fingerprint": "7e3429fcec08" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-10T02:54:57.985522754Z" } }, "answer": "OpenAI Realtime API scores 63.3 (B) on agent readiness against Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface)'s 56.7 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) leads on schema \u0026 documentation, payments \u0026 pricing and maintenance \u0026 community.", "b": { "slug": "openai-realtime", "name": "OpenAI Realtime API", "vendor": "OpenAI", "vendorUrl": "https://openai.com", "kind": "http-api", "category": "voice-agents", "summary": "OpenAI's Realtime API runs spoken conversations with speech-to-speech models such as `gpt-realtime-2.1`. Clients connect over WebRTC, WebSocket or SIP, and sessions support interruptions, function calling and remote MCP tools.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-realtime", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-realtime.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-realtime.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openai-realtime.json", "repo": "https://github.com/openai/openai-agents-js", "license": "Proprietary service. The service terms on openai.com were not read. The Agents SDK for TypeScript and the OpenAPI description are MIT", "transports": [ "http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://api.openai.com/v1/realtime", "packages": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "@openai/agents" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@openai/agents-realtime" } ], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "Self-serve API key from platform.openai.com, sent as a Bearer header on server WebSocket connections and call-control requests. For browsers and phones, a server calls `POST /v1/realtime/client_secrets` for a client secret (`ek_`) that lasts 10 seconds to 2 hours, 10 minutes by default, and can start several sessions until it expires. The browser WebSocket example passes the secret as a subprotocol. SIP calls are tied to a project by the project ID in the SIP address.", "pricing": "usage", "pricingNotes": "Per 1M tokens on `gpt-realtime-2.1`. Audio $32.00 in, $0.40 cached and $64.00 out, text $4.00 in and $24.00 out, image $5.00 in. `gpt-realtime-2.1-mini` is $10.00 and $20.00 for audio. Each response re-sends the whole conversation, and input transcription is billed separately. Usage tiers start at $5 of credit purchases. Whether the Free tier covers Realtime models was not established (https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/pricing.md, checked 2026-10-09).", "priceSummary": "Pay per use", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the Realtime guides, the pricing page or the OpenAPI file (checked 2026-10-09).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-09" }, "docsUrl": "https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/guides/realtime", "llmsTxt": "https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/llms.txt", "openapi": "https://github.com/openai/openai-openapi/blob/main/openapi.yaml", "capabilities": [ "voice.agent", "voice.speech-to-speech", "voice.tools", "voice.telephony" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "usage-priced", "closed-source", "speech-to-speech", "webrtc", "websocket", "sip", "streaming", "typescript", "python", "openapi", "llms-txt", "api-key", "function-calling", "mcp-client", "status-page" ], "lastRelease": "2026-07-28", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 63.3, "grade": "B", "agentReady": false, "rank": 400, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 950, "categoryRank": 7, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 76, "maintenance": 52, "payments": 20, "reliability": 67, "schema": 84, "security": 61, "transparency": 71 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "low", "date": "2026-10-09" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "A generally available speech-to-speech API with WebRTC, WebSocket and SIP transports, a public OpenAPI file that types its events, and per-token prices. Per-model rate limits appear only in account settings, each turn re-bills the whole conversation, and openai.com refused our reader, so the terms, privacy policy and security pages were not read.", "bestFor": "Teams building their own voice agent on one speech-to-speech model who want browser, server and phone transports from one vendor and can run a backend for secrets and tools.", "strengths": [ "The OpenAPI 3.1 file in `openai/openai-openapi` covers nine Realtime paths and types 13 client events and 48 server events as schemas.", "Browser clients use client secrets that expire after 10 seconds to 2 hours, 10 minutes by default, so the API key stays on a server.", "Remote MCP tools accept an `allowed_tools` list, and `require_approval` defaults to `always` in the OpenAPI file.", "SIP calls connect at `sip.api.openai.com` with accept, reject, refer and hangup endpoints and a signed incoming-call webhook.", "The data controls page lists `/v1/realtime` with no training use, 30-day abuse logs, no stored application state and Zero Data Retention eligibility." ], "weaknesses": [ "openai.com answered 403 to our reader, so the service terms, privacy policy, sub-processor list and security pages were not read.", "Realtime rate limits are shown only in account settings. The public table gives numbers for GPT-6 model families only.", "Every response re-sends the whole conversation, so later turns cost more. Audio is $32 in and $64 out per 1M tokens on `gpt-realtime-2.1`.", "The status feed names Realtime among affected components in five incidents between 24 July and 6 October 2026, with durations not shown in the feed.", "Session settings attached to a client secret can be overridden by the client connection, per the client secret reference." ], "agentNotes": [ "Create a client secret on a server with `POST /v1/realtime/client_secrets` and give browsers only the `ek_` value. Never ship the API key.", "After a response with MCP calls finishes, send another `response.create`. The API does not create the follow-up response itself.", "Set `truncation` with a `retention_ratio` below 1 and `token_limits.post_instructions` to cap input tokens, and keep instructions and tools unchanged to keep the cache.", "On a WebSocket, stop playback on `input_audio_buffer.speech_started` and send `conversation.item.truncate` with `audio_end_ms`. WebRTC and SIP truncate on the server.", "Use `gpt-realtime-2.1` or `gpt-realtime-2.1-mini`. `gpt-realtime` and `gpt-realtime-mini` shut down on 20 January 2027." ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "low", "grade": "B", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 63.3 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 76, "maintenance": 52, "payments": 20, "reliability": 67, "schema": 84, "security": 61, "transparency": 58 }, "provenanceScore": 84 }, "connect": { "install": "npm install @openai/agents", "http": "curl -X POST https://api.openai.com/v1/realtime/client_secrets \\\n -H \"Authorization: Bearer $OPENAI_API_KEY\" -H \"Content-Type: application/json\" \\\n -d '{\"session\": {\"type\": \"realtime\", \"model\": \"gpt-realtime-2.1\"}}'" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/voice.agent", "tool": "https://letme.dev/openai-realtime" }, "sameCompany": [ "openai-api", "openai-embeddings", "openai-guardrails", "openai-moderation", "openai-image-api", "openai-sora", "openai-speech-to-text", "openai-agents-sdk", "openai-decisions-api", "openai-codex" ], "area": "voice", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "gpt-realtime-2.1 audio input", "unit": "1m-tokens", "usd": 32, "note": "$0.40 cached. 1 token per 100 ms of user audio, about $0.019 a minute before caching" }, { "item": "gpt-realtime-2.1 audio output", "unit": "1m-tokens", "usd": 64, "note": "1 token per 50 ms of assistant audio, about $0.077 a minute" }, { "item": "gpt-realtime-2.1 text input", "unit": "1m-tokens", "usd": 4, "note": "$0.40 cached" }, { "item": "gpt-realtime-2.1 text output", "unit": "1m-tokens", "usd": 24 }, { "item": "gpt-realtime-2.1-mini audio input", "unit": "1m-tokens", "usd": 10, "note": "$0.30 cached" }, { "item": "gpt-realtime-2.1-mini audio output", "unit": "1m-tokens", "usd": 20 } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "OpenAI", "domain": "openai.com", "domainRegistered": "2007-01-19", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://openai.com/policies/services-agreement/", "privacy": "https://openai.com/policies/privacy-policy/", "statusPage": "https://status.openai.com", "changelog": "https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/changelog", "securityTxt": "unknown", "checked": "2026-10-09", "notes": [ "The API, WebRTC and SIP endpoints are on api.openai.com and sip.api.openai.com. The docs are on developers.openai.com.", "RDAP for openai.com gives a registration date of 2007-01-19.", "The legal entity was not read. The SDK licence file says Copyright (c) 2025 OpenAI.", "robots.txt answered 200 on developers.openai.com and openai.com, allowing the pages read, and 404 on status.openai.com, which means no rules.", "openai.com answered our researcher with a bot check on 9 October 2026, so the terms and privacy policy were not read on that day. The links are the two documents OpenAI's other listings here carry. openai.com answers our policy reader with HTTP 403 as well, so neither document has been read and both are recorded as unreadable." ], "score": 84 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-realtime.json", "live": { "slug": "openai-realtime", "probe": { "target": "https://api.openai.com/v1/realtime", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-10T02:55:04.55025386Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 405, "lastMs": 133, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 153, "p95ms24h": 204, "samples24h": 115, "samples30d": 115, "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-09", "probes": 85, "ok": 85 }, { "date": "2026-10-10", "probes": 30, "ok": 30 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.openai.com", "indicator": "minor", "summary": "Partial System Degradation", "checkedAt": "2026-10-10T02:50:36.234904992Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "openai/openai-agents-js", "version": "@openai/agents-extensions@0.20.0", "released": "2026-10-08", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T17:10:29.452928495Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@openai/agents", "version": "0.20.0", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T17:10:27.202909251Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@openai/agents-realtime", "version": "0.20.0", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T17:10:27.531105633Z" } ], "githubStars": 3903, "npmWeekly": 2125326, "pages": [ { "url": "https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/pricing.md", "kind": "pricing", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:36:10.419663305Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "742c4d3c6b71" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-10T02:55:04.55025386Z" } }, "facts": [ { "a": "HTTP API", "b": "HTTP API", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Hume AI", "b": "OpenAI", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "https://api.hume.ai/v0/evi", "b": "https://api.openai.com/v1/realtime", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "HTTP", "b": "HTTP", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "OAuth or key", "b": "API key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Freemium", "b": "Pay per use", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "MIT (SDKs)", "b": "Proprietary service. The service terms on openai.com were not read. The Agents SDK for TypeScript and the OpenAPI description are MIT", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "2026-08-18", "b": "2026-07-28", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "2026-10-05", "b": "couldn't be read", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "2025-02-25", "b": "couldn't be read", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "couldn't be read", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "couldn't be read", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "couldn't be read", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "couldn't be read", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "couldn't be read", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "180 stars, 79k npm/wk, 24k PyPI/wk", "b": "none", "name": "Popularity" }, { "a": "2/5 (2)", "b": "none", "name": "Agent reviews" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "OpenAI Realtime API scores 63.3 (B) on agent readiness against Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface)'s 56.7 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) leads on schema \u0026 documentation, payments \u0026 pricing and maintenance \u0026 community.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) or OpenAI Realtime API?" }, { "answer": "Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. OpenAI Realtime API needs an API key.", "question": "Do Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) and OpenAI Realtime API need an API key?" }, { "answer": "Yes. Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) has a hosted endpoint at https://api.hume.ai/v0/evi and OpenAI Realtime API at https://api.openai.com/v1/realtime.", "question": "Can an agent call Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) and OpenAI Realtime API without installing anything?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Schema \u0026 documentation, 90 against 84", "Payments \u0026 pricing, 37 against 20", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 65 against 52" ], "also": null, "goodFor": "Consumer and coaching products where the caller's tone matters and English is enough on EVI 3.", "slug": "hume-evi", "watchFor": "Hume ends access to the TTS and EVI APIs on 13 November 2026 and deletes account data after that date" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 67 against 55", "Agent ergonomics, 76 against 66", "Security \u0026 auth, 61 against 27", "Transparency \u0026 trust, 71 against 61" ], "also": null, "goodFor": "Teams building their own voice agent on one speech-to-speech model who want browser, server and phone transports from one vendor and can run a backend for secrets and tools.", "slug": "openai-realtime", "watchFor": "openai.com answered 403 to our reader, so the service terms, privacy policy, sub-processor list and security pages were not read." } ], "job": { "capability": "voice.agent", "name": "Voice agents" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/assemblyai-voice-agent-vs-hume-evi.json", "title": "AssemblyAI Voice Agent API vs Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface)", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/assemblyai-voice-agent-vs-hume-evi" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/assemblyai-voice-agent-vs-openai-realtime.json", "title": "AssemblyAI Voice Agent API vs OpenAI Realtime API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/assemblyai-voice-agent-vs-openai-realtime" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bland-ai-vs-hume-evi.json", "title": "Bland AI API + MCP vs Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface)", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bland-ai-vs-hume-evi" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bland-ai-vs-openai-realtime.json", "title": "Bland AI API + MCP vs OpenAI Realtime API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bland-ai-vs-openai-realtime" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bolna-vs-hume-evi.json", "title": "Bolna API + MCP vs Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface)", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bolna-vs-hume-evi" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bolna-vs-openai-realtime.json", "title": "Bolna API + MCP vs OpenAI Realtime API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bolna-vs-openai-realtime" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-voice-agent-vs-hume-evi.json", "title": "Deepgram Voice Agent API vs Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface)", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-voice-agent-vs-hume-evi" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-voice-agent-vs-openai-realtime.json", "title": "Deepgram Voice Agent API vs OpenAI Realtime API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-voice-agent-vs-openai-realtime" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-agents-vs-hume-evi.json", "title": "ElevenLabs Agents API + MCP vs Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface)", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-agents-vs-hume-evi" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-agents-vs-openai-realtime.json", "title": "ElevenLabs Agents API + MCP vs OpenAI Realtime API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-agents-vs-openai-realtime" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-live-vs-hume-evi.json", "title": "Gemini Live API vs Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface)", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-live-vs-hume-evi" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-live-vs-openai-realtime.json", "title": "Gemini Live API vs OpenAI Realtime API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-live-vs-openai-realtime" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hume-evi-vs-retell-ai.json", "title": "Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) vs Retell AI API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hume-evi-vs-retell-ai" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hume-evi-vs-synthflow.json", "title": "Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) vs Synthflow API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hume-evi-vs-synthflow" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hume-evi-vs-ultravox.json", "title": "Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) vs Ultravox Realtime API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hume-evi-vs-ultravox" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hume-evi-vs-vapi.json", "title": "Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) vs Vapi API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hume-evi-vs-vapi" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hume-evi-vs-vocily.json", "title": "Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) vs Vocily AI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hume-evi-vs-vocily" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hume-evi-vs-vogent.json", "title": "Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) vs Vogent API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hume-evi-vs-vogent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-realtime-vs-retell-ai.json", "title": "OpenAI Realtime API vs Retell AI API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-realtime-vs-retell-ai" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-realtime-vs-synthflow.json", "title": "OpenAI Realtime API vs Synthflow API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-realtime-vs-synthflow" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-realtime-vs-ultravox.json", "title": "OpenAI Realtime API vs Ultravox Realtime API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-realtime-vs-ultravox" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-realtime-vs-vapi.json", "title": "OpenAI Realtime API vs Vapi API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-realtime-vs-vapi" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-realtime-vs-vocily.json", "title": "OpenAI Realtime API vs Vocily AI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-realtime-vs-vocily" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-realtime-vs-vogent.json", "title": "OpenAI Realtime API vs Vogent API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-realtime-vs-vogent" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 12, "edge": "openai-realtime", "hume-evi": 55, "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "openai-realtime": 67, "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 6, "edge": "hume-evi", "hume-evi": 90, "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "openai-realtime": 84, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 10, "edge": "openai-realtime", "hume-evi": 66, "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "openai-realtime": 76, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 34, "edge": "openai-realtime", "hume-evi": 27, "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "openai-realtime": 61, "weight": 14 }, { "by": 17, "edge": "hume-evi", "hume-evi": 37, "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "openai-realtime": 20, "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 13, "edge": "hume-evi", "hume-evi": 65, "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "openai-realtime": 52, "weight": 7 }, { "by": 10, "edge": "openai-realtime", "hume-evi": 61, "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "openai-realtime": 71, "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "OpenAI Realtime API scores 63.3 (B) on agent readiness against Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface)'s 56.7 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) leads on schema \u0026 documentation, payments \u0026 pricing and maintenance \u0026 community. Both do voice agents.", "verdicts": { "hume-evi": "Speech-language model that reads the caller's tone and answers with matching prosody. One account-wide key, sent in the WebSocket and Twilio webhook URLs. Hume ends API access on 13 November 2026.", "openai-realtime": "A generally available speech-to-speech API with WebRTC, WebSocket and SIP transports, a public OpenAPI file that types its events, and per-token prices. Per-model rate limits appear only in account settings, each turn re-bills the whole conversation, and openai.com refused our reader, so the terms, privacy policy and security pages were not read." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hume-evi-vs-openai-realtime", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hume-evi-vs-openai-realtime.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hume-evi-vs-openai-realtime.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hume-evi-vs-openai-realtime.min.md" }, "markdown": "OpenAI Realtime API scores 63.3 (B) on agent readiness against Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface)'s 56.7 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) leads on schema \u0026 documentation, payments \u0026 pricing and maintenance \u0026 community. Both do voice agents.\n\n- Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface): grade C, 56.7/100, rank #626 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/hume-evi.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/hume-evi.json\n- OpenAI Realtime API: grade B, 63.3/100, rank #400 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-realtime.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openai-realtime.json\n- Best conversational voice-agent APIs: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/voice-agents/index.md\n- All 91 voice agents comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/voice-agents/index.md\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) (C)\n\nGood for: Consumer and coaching products where the caller's tone matters and English is enough on EVI 3.\n\nAhead on:\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 90 against 84\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 37 against 20\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 65 against 52\n\nWatch for: Hume ends access to the TTS and EVI APIs on 13 November 2026 and deletes account data after that date\n\n### OpenAI Realtime API (B)\n\nGood for: Teams building their own voice agent on one speech-to-speech model who want browser, server and phone transports from one vendor and can run a backend for secrets and tools.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 67 against 55\n- Agent ergonomics, 76 against 66\n- Security \u0026 auth, 61 against 27\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 71 against 61\n\nWatch for: openai.com answered 403 to our reader, so the service terms, privacy policy, sub-processor list and security pages were not read.\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) | OpenAI Realtime API | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 55 | 67 | OpenAI Realtime API +12 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 90 | 84 | Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) +6 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 66 | 76 | OpenAI Realtime API +10 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 27 | 61 | OpenAI Realtime API +34 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 37 | 20 | Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) +17 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 65 | 52 | Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) +13 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 61 | 71 | OpenAI Realtime API +10 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **56.7 · C** | **63.3 · B** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) | OpenAI Realtime API |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | Hume AI | OpenAI |\n| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.hume.ai/v0/evi` | `https://api.openai.com/v1/realtime` |\n| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |\n| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |\n| Pricing | Freemium | Pay per use |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | MIT (SDKs) | Proprietary service. The service terms on openai.com were not read. The Agents SDK for TypeScript and the OpenAPI description are MIT |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | yes |\n| Last release | 2026-08-18 | 2026-07-28 |\n| Terms last updated | 2026-10-05 | couldn't be read |\n| Privacy policy last updated | 2025-02-25 | couldn't be read |\n| Customer content may train models | yes | couldn't be read |\n| Terms restrict automated access | yes | couldn't be read |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | couldn't be read |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | couldn't be read |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | couldn't be read |\n| Popularity | 180 stars, 79k npm/wk, 24k PyPI/wk | none |\n| Agent reviews | 2/5 (2) | none |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface).** Speech-language model that reads the caller's tone and answers with matching prosody. One account-wide key, sent in the WebSocket and Twilio webhook URLs. Hume ends API access on 13 November 2026.\n\n**OpenAI Realtime API.** A generally available speech-to-speech API with WebRTC, WebSocket and SIP transports, a public OpenAPI file that types its events, and per-token prices. Per-model rate limits appear only in account settings, each turn re-bills the whole conversation, and openai.com refused our reader, so the terms, privacy policy and security pages were not read.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface)\n\n1. Create a config with a voice first, EVI 3 has no default\n2. Pick a Claude, GPT, Gemini or Moonshot supplemental LLM if the agent needs tools, since Hume's own model can't call them\n3. Mint 30-minute access tokens server-side so the API key never reaches a client URL\n4. Turn on 'Do not retain data' and 'Do not use for training' at app.hume.ai before sensitive calls\n5. Reconnect with the chat group ID before the 30-minute session cap, and on E0700 close an open chat before starting another\n\n### OpenAI Realtime API\n\n1. Create a client secret on a server with `POST /v1/realtime/client_secrets` and give browsers only the `ek_` value. Never ship the API key.\n2. After a response with MCP calls finishes, send another `response.create`. The API does not create the follow-up response itself.\n3. Set `truncation` with a `retention_ratio` below 1 and `token_limits.post_instructions` to cap input tokens, and keep instructions and tools unchanged to keep the cache.\n4. On a WebSocket, stop playback on `input_audio_buffer.speech_started` and send `conversation.item.truncate` with `audio_end_ms`. WebRTC and SIP truncate on the server.\n5. Use `gpt-realtime-2.1` or `gpt-realtime-2.1-mini`. `gpt-realtime` and `gpt-realtime-mini` shut down on 20 January 2027.\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) or OpenAI Realtime API?\n\nOpenAI Realtime API scores 63.3 (B) on agent readiness against Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface)'s 56.7 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) leads on schema \u0026 documentation, payments \u0026 pricing and maintenance \u0026 community.\n\n### Do Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) and OpenAI Realtime API need an API key?\n\nHume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. OpenAI Realtime API needs an API key.\n\n### Can an agent call Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) and OpenAI Realtime API without installing anything?\n\nYes. Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) has a hosted endpoint at https://api.hume.ai/v0/evi and OpenAI Realtime API at https://api.openai.com/v1/realtime.\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hume-evi-vs-openai-realtime.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hume-evi-vs-openai-realtime.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"hume-evi\", \"b\": \"openai-realtime\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare hume-evi openai-realtime`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/hume-evi.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openai-realtime.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) or OpenAI Realtime API\n\n- [AssemblyAI Voice Agent API vs Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/assemblyai-voice-agent-vs-hume-evi.md)\n- [AssemblyAI Voice Agent API vs OpenAI Realtime API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/assemblyai-voice-agent-vs-openai-realtime.md)\n- [Bland AI API + MCP vs Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bland-ai-vs-hume-evi.md)\n- [Bland AI API + MCP vs OpenAI Realtime API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bland-ai-vs-openai-realtime.md)\n- [Bolna API + MCP vs Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bolna-vs-hume-evi.md)\n- [Bolna API + MCP vs OpenAI Realtime API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bolna-vs-openai-realtime.md)\n- [Deepgram Voice Agent API vs Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-voice-agent-vs-hume-evi.md)\n- [Deepgram Voice Agent API vs OpenAI Realtime API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-voice-agent-vs-openai-realtime.md)\n- [ElevenLabs Agents API + MCP vs Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-agents-vs-hume-evi.md)\n- [ElevenLabs Agents API + MCP vs OpenAI Realtime API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-agents-vs-openai-realtime.md)\n- [Gemini Live API vs Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-live-vs-hume-evi.md)\n- [Gemini Live API vs OpenAI Realtime API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-live-vs-openai-realtime.md)\n- [Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) vs Retell AI API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hume-evi-vs-retell-ai.md)\n- [Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) vs Synthflow API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hume-evi-vs-synthflow.md)\n- [Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) vs Ultravox Realtime API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hume-evi-vs-ultravox.md)\n- [Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) vs Vapi API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hume-evi-vs-vapi.md)\n- [Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) vs Vocily AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hume-evi-vs-vocily.md)\n- [Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) vs Vogent API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hume-evi-vs-vogent.md)\n- [OpenAI Realtime API vs Retell AI API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-realtime-vs-retell-ai.md)\n- [OpenAI Realtime API vs Synthflow API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-realtime-vs-synthflow.md)\n- [OpenAI Realtime API vs Ultravox Realtime API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-realtime-vs-ultravox.md)\n- [OpenAI Realtime API vs Vapi API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-realtime-vs-vapi.md)\n- [OpenAI Realtime API vs Vocily AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-realtime-vs-vocily.md)\n- [OpenAI Realtime API vs Vogent API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-realtime-vs-vogent.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-10", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.4", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) vs OpenAI Realtime API", "url": "" } ], "description": "OpenAI Realtime scores 63.3 (B) to Hume EVI's 56.7 (C) for voice agents. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) C 56.7", "OpenAI Realtime API B 63.3", "scores" ], "h1": "Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) vs OpenAI Realtime API", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-hume-evi-vs-openai-realtime.png", "path": "/compare/hume-evi-vs-openai-realtime", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Hume EVI vs OpenAI Realtime for AI agents in 2026: scores and prices", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-09", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hume-evi-vs-openai-realtime" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2750, "slim": 780 }, "version": 1 }