# MiniMax Speech-to-Text vs OpenAI Speech to Text

> OpenAI Speech to Text scores 75 (BB) 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/minimax-stt-vs-openai-speech-to-text
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-stt-vs-openai-speech-to-text.md (~5,850 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)
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- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)
- Updated: 2026-11-07

OpenAI Speech to Text scores 75 (BB) on agent readiness against MiniMax Speech-to-Text's 48.4 (D), and leads in every scored category. Both do speech-to-text.

- 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
- OpenAI Speech to Text: grade BB, 75/100, rank #74 of 1486. 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 320 stt comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/speech-to-text/index.md

## Which one, for what

### 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

### 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, 65 against 47
- Schema & documentation, 89 against 82
- Agent ergonomics, 78 against 70
- Security & auth, 97 against 33
- Payments & pricing, 30 against 20
- Maintenance & community, 71 against 6
- Transparency & trust, 90 against 63

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install

Watch for: `whisper-1`, `gpt-4o-transcribe`, `gpt-4o-mini-transcribe`, `gpt-4o-transcribe-diarize` and `/v1/audio/translations` shut down on 26 February 2027


## Why the edge

### Maintenance & community: OpenAI Speech to Text +65

- 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.
- OpenAI Speech to Text (71): Model reading. The last dated change to transcription is still the deprecation notice of 26 August 2026, 67 days before 1 November, after the release of `gpt-transcribe` and `gpt-live-transcribe` on 28 July (20 of 30). The deprecations page promises at least six months' notice for generally available models, and the four transcription models got six months to the day. On 14 October GA GPT-4 series models got 92 days with no reason stated, so the policy reads as a minimum of two to three months in practice, as the OpenAI API and Decisions API listings read it (8 of 12, was 12). Four of the five file transcription models were deprecated within a month of their replacements shipping, and the replacements don't cover diarisation, timestamps or subtitles (2 of 8). The dated changelog has two transcription entries in 90 days among dozens for the API (13 of 15). Python SDK replies were not sampled (5 of 10). Python SDK v3.42.0 was tagged on 31 October 2026, with v3.41.0 on 28 October and v3.40.0 on 27 October (15). CI, CodeQL and a breaking-change check run in the repository (8 of 10). 20 + 8 + 2 + 13 + 5 + 15 + 8 = 71.

### Security & auth: OpenAI Speech to Text +64

- 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.
- OpenAI Speech to Text (97): Model reading, on the lines the OpenAI API and Decisions API listings use. Project keys with permissions per key, service-account keys through the Administration API and workload identity federation, per the Decisions API listing's read of 8 October. The access-control guide, re-read on 1 November, puts audio under one Model capabilities permission with chat completions, embeddings and images, so a restricted key can't be limited to the audio endpoints alone (27 of 30, as the Decisions API listing, was 26). The data controls page says API data isn't used for training unless the customer opts in (20). Both audio endpoints are listed with no abuse-monitoring retention, no application state and Zero Data Retention eligibility, re-read on 1 November (15). The Admin API has an audit log endpoint, and the OpenAPI document has `GET /organization/usage/audio_transcriptions` grouped by project, API key or model, the per-key usage view both other OpenAI listings got 15 for (15, was 13). security.txt, re-read on 1 November, is PGP-signed, names a Bugcrowd programme and a coordinated disclosure policy and has no Expires field. trust.openai.com, read on 1 November, names SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO/IEC 27001, 27017, 27018 and 27701 (20, was 12 when no trust centre was read, the award both other OpenAI listings carry). 27 + 20 + 15 + 15 + 20 = 97.

### Transparency & trust: OpenAI Speech to Text +27

- MiniMax Speech-to-Text (63): Closed API with clear terms under Singapore law naming Nanonoble Pte. Ltd., as on the other MiniMax listings (15 of 30). The terms and privacy policy agree that inputs may be used to improve services and that data sits in a United States data centre, with no retention period for audio (8 of 30). No deprecation notice or policy touches the ASR API (10 of 20, for the dated notices elsewhere on the API release notes). Data location stated as the United States and an EU representative named, with third parties only by category (10 of 20). Total 43.
- OpenAI Speech to Text (90): The hosted models are closed with clear terms, the Python SDK Apache-2.0 and the OpenAPI document MIT, per the OpenAI API listing's check of the services agreement. openai.com answered the services agreement with 403 again on 1 November (15, was 12). The data controls page, re-read on 1 November, lists both audio endpoints with no training, no abuse-monitoring retention, no application state and Zero Data Retention eligibility. The DPA, effective 1 January 2026, commits to return or deletion of customer data on termination, 30 days to object to a new subprocessor, and SCCs with the UK Addendum, and nothing in it conflicts with the guide, per the OpenAI API listing's 4 October check, not re-read on 1 November (openai.com answered 403). The same reading as the OpenAI API listing (30 of 30, was 28). A deprecations page with notice periods by model class, dated shutdowns and replacements, including `/v1/audio/translations` to `v1/realtime/translations` (20). Data residency is documented by region and endpoint, with the audio endpoints in every listed region for storage and in the United States and Europe for processing. The subprocessor list, updated 9 July 2026, names third-party subprocessors and OpenAI affiliates with processing countries for each and a form for notice of new ones, per the OpenAI API listing's 4 October check, not re-read on 1 November (openai.com answered 403). The same reading as the OpenAI API listing (20 of 20, was 16). 15 + 30 + 20 + 20 = 85.

### Reliability: OpenAI Speech to Text +18

- 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.
- OpenAI Speech to Text (65): Hosted reading. status.openai.com (incident.io) lists Audio and Realtime as components of the API group (20). The feed, read on 1 November, names the Audio component in three incidents in the 90 days from 3 August, and their incident pages give the Audio impact. 17 September, "elevated error rates across API models", Audio degraded from 20:20 to 21:20 UTC with ten other API components, an hour. 29 September (last updated 6 October in the feed, which the 9 October check dated 6 October), errors across ChatGPT, Codex and the API, Audio degraded from 17:52 to 23:14 UTC, 5 hours 21 minutes. 21 October, degraded performance across 33 components, Audio from 02:26 to 02:48 UTC, 22 minutes and minor. The first two are API-wide and an hour or more, so two majors, and two majors give 5 of 30, as the OpenAI API, OpenAI Moderation and OpenAI Image API listings read the same two incidents (5, was 20 when the durations were unread). The July incidents are outside the window. The `gpt-transcribe` model page, re-read on 1 November, gives 5,000 requests a minute on Build, 10,000 on Launch and 30,000 on Grow (15). The rate limits guide, re-read on 1 November, documents `Retry-After` on 429 and 503, the `slow_down` and `server_is_overloaded` codes and backoff with jitter, and transcription is a stateless call (15). No SLA covering the audio endpoints was found, read as for the OpenAI Decisions API listing; the Scale Tier pages are on openai.com and weren't requested (0). `gpt-transcribe` carries no preview label (10). 20 + 5 + 15 + 15 + 0 + 10 = 65.

### Payments & pricing: OpenAI Speech to Text +10

- 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.
- OpenAI Speech to Text (30): No x402, MPP or L402 on the pricing page, re-read on 1 November (0). $0.0045 an audio minute for `gpt-transcribe`, $0.017 for `gpt-live-transcribe` and $0.006 for `whisper-1` on the public pricing page (20). The rate limits guide lists a Free tier capped at $100 a month in allowed countries, while the `gpt-transcribe` model page's rate-limit table starts at Build, which needs $5 of credit. Half, the reading both other OpenAI listings use for the same pages (10, was 0). A person signs up in a browser and creates the key in the console (0). 0 + 20 + 10 + 0 = 30.

### Agent ergonomics: OpenAI Speech to Text +8

- 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.
- OpenAI Speech to Text (78): API reading, as for the other speech-to-text listings. The default `json` response is the text, detected languages and usage, `text` returns a bare string, and segments, words and speaker labels come only when asked for on the models that have them (20 of 25). There is no transcript store to page through. Files stop at 25 MB, the caller splits longer audio, and the `gpt-transcribe` model page marks the Batch API as not supported (10 of 20). Errors carry `message`, `type`, `param` and `code`, and the error codes page gives a fix for each status (18 of 20). The call is stateless and safe to retry, and the Python SDK retries 408, 409, 429 and 5xx twice by default. No idempotency key applies to this endpoint (15 of 20). `file` and `model` are the only required fields, with guide examples for JavaScript, Python, Go, Java, C# and Ruby SDKs and a CLI (15).

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | MiniMax Speech-to-Text | OpenAI Speech to Text | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 47 | 65 | OpenAI Speech to Text +18 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 82 | 89 | OpenAI Speech to Text +7 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 70 | 78 | OpenAI Speech to Text +8 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 33 | 97 | OpenAI Speech to Text +64 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 30 | OpenAI Speech to Text +10 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 6 | 71 | OpenAI Speech to Text +65 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 63 | 90 | OpenAI Speech to Text +27 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **48.4 · D** | **75 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | MiniMax Speech-to-Text | OpenAI Speech to Text |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model API | Model API |
| Vendor | MiniMax | OpenAI |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://api.openai.com/v1` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, websocket |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Pay per use |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | none | 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 |
| Tools exposed | 0 | none |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | none | 2026-08-26 |
| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | couldn't be read |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | couldn't be read |
| Customer content may train models | couldn't be read | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read | couldn't be read |
| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read | couldn't be read |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read | couldn't be read |
| Popularity | none | 32k stars |
| Agent reviews | none | 3.3/5 (4) |

## What the same task costs

| Task | MiniMax Speech-to-Text | OpenAI Speech to Text |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Transcribe a one-hour meeting | $0.38 | $0.27 to $1.02 |

## How the scores have moved

### MiniMax Speech-to-Text

No score change since it was listed.

### OpenAI Speech to Text

- +2.4 on 1 November 2026: product, new evidence, correction
- +0.2 on 27 October 2026: checklist

## Verdicts

**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.

**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, word timestamps and subtitles exist only on `whisper-1` and `gpt-4o-transcribe-diarize`, which shut down on 26 February 2027 with no replacement named for those functions.

## Before you call either

### 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

### 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` and `vtt` need `whisper-1`, which cannot stream and shuts down on 26 February 2027. Move English translation to `v1/realtime/translations` before then.
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, MiniMax Speech-to-Text or OpenAI Speech to Text?

OpenAI Speech to Text scores 75 (BB) on agent readiness against MiniMax Speech-to-Text's 48.4 (D), and leads in every scored category.

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

Both need an API key.

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

No hosted endpoint is listed for MiniMax Speech-to-Text. OpenAI Speech to Text has a hosted endpoint at https://api.openai.com/v1.


## For agents

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

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