# OpenAI Speech to Text vs Rev AI Speech-to-Text API

> OpenAI Speech to Text scores 72.4 (BB) to Rev AI Speech-to-Text's 57.8 (C) for speech-to-text. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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- Updated: 2026-10-09

OpenAI Speech to Text scores 72.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Rev AI Speech-to-Text API's 57.8 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Rev AI Speech-to-Text API leads on transparency & trust. Both do speech-to-text.

- 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
- Rev AI Speech-to-Text API: grade C, 57.8/100, rank #595 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/rev-ai-stt.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/rev-ai-stt.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

### 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, 80 against 75
- Schema & documentation, 88 against 80
- Agent ergonomics, 78 against 72
- Security & auth, 86 against 40
- Maintenance & community, 75 against 30

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better

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

### Rev AI Speech-to-Text API (C)

Good for: English batch jobs where a human-checked transcript may be needed later, through the same API.

Ahead on:
- Transparency & trust, 68 against 61

Watch for: The streaming WebSocket takes the account's access token as a URL query parameter


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | OpenAI Speech to Text | Rev AI Speech-to-Text API | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 80 | 75 | OpenAI Speech to Text +5 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 88 | 80 | OpenAI Speech to Text +8 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 78 | 72 | OpenAI Speech to Text +6 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 86 | 40 | OpenAI Speech to Text +46 |
| 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) | 75 | 30 | OpenAI Speech to Text +45 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 61 | 68 | Rev AI Speech-to-Text API +7 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **72.4 · BB** | **57.8 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | OpenAI Speech to Text | Rev AI Speech-to-Text API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model API | Model API |
| Vendor | OpenAI | Rev |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.openai.com/v1` | `https://api.rev.ai/speechtotext/v1` |
| Transports | HTTP, websocket | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | 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 | MIT (SDKs) |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-08-26 | 2024-11-27 |
| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | 2026-05-15 |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | 2026-02-03 |
| Customer content may train models | couldn't be read | yes |
| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 32k stars | 36 stars, 16k npm/wk, 130k PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | none | 2.5/5 (2) |

## Verdicts

**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.

**Rev AI Speech-to-Text API.** Reverb English at $0.20 an hour, foreign languages at $0.30. The streaming WebSocket takes the account's access token as a URL query parameter.

## Before you call either

### 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.

### Rev AI Speech-to-Text API

1. Keep streaming URLs out of logs. They carry `access_token`
2. Send `source_config: {"url": ...}`, not `media_url`, even though the published SDKs still use `media_url`
3. Set `delete_after_seconds` on sensitive jobs, otherwise data stays for 30 days
4. Use `notification_config` webhooks rather than polling job status
5. Don't build on `low_cost` or `fusion`. Both are deprecated

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, OpenAI Speech to Text or Rev AI Speech-to-Text API?

OpenAI Speech to Text scores 72.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Rev AI Speech-to-Text API's 57.8 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Rev AI Speech-to-Text API leads on transparency & trust.

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

Both need an API key.

### Can an agent call OpenAI Speech to Text and Rev AI Speech-to-Text API without installing anything?

Yes. OpenAI Speech to Text has a hosted endpoint at https://api.openai.com/v1 and Rev AI Speech-to-Text API at https://api.rev.ai/speechtotext/v1.


## For agents

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

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