12 Best ElevenLabs Scribe Alternatives (2026)
ElevenLabs Scribe is speech-to-text api from elevenlabs: scribe v2 for batch transcription and scribe v2 realtime for live captions in 90+ languages.. Teams that switch usually cite price at production volume, streaming latency for live agents, self-hosting and license control. The alternatives below are ranked by published head-to-head verdicts, not sponsorship.
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Reviewed by vsref Editorialfacts verified Sep 23, 2026Methodology →
Where to switch, by reason
All 46 speech-to-text apis alternatives
How the top ElevenLabs Scribe alternatives compare
The top 6 in depth: where each alternative ranks across the Speech-to-text APIs field we track, which use cases it takes from ElevenLabs Scribe, and what switching gives up.
1. Deepgram
Among the 43 speech-to-text tools we track, Deepgram has the 26th-widest language coverage.
In our published verdicts, Deepgram beats ElevenLabs Scribe for developers and self-hosted and matches it for dictation.
The reverse angle matters too - ElevenLabs Scribe vs Deepgram: ~2× the languages.
Published pricing starts at $0.0043 per audio-minute (batch), verified July 2026.
Why teams switch: For self-hosted deployment, Deepgram is the clear winner. Deepgram offers a self-host and on-prem option, while no such capability is documented for ElevenLabs Scribe. This is the single heaviest attribute in this use case, weighted 5 out of 5. Neither tool has published information covering open weights license, hardware requirements, maintenance status, or model parameters, so those attributes cannot differentiate the two. Because Deepgram explicitly supports on-prem deployment and ElevenLabs Scribe does not, Deepgram wins decisively on the criteria that matter most here.
Self-Hosted verdict →
Overall verdict: Deepgram wins two of the three use cases and ties the third, giving it a clear overall edge. For developers, Deepgram offers a much broader SDK ecosystem covering JS/TS, Python, .NET, Go, Java, and Rust, versus ElevenLabs Scribe's two-language offering. Its free tier delivers $200 in no-expiry credits with no credit card required, making experimentation frictionless. It also supports 100-plus audio formats and offers up to 150 concurrent websocket connections on a pay-as-you-go plan. For self-hosting, Deepgram is the only option, as ElevenLabs Scribe offers no on-premises deployment path. Deepgram also provides a HIPAA BAA without enterprise gating, which matters for regulated workloads. Streaming costs about $0.29/hr versus ElevenLabs Scribe's $0.39/hr, adding further advantage at scale.
| Monthly volume | Batch bill | Streaming bill |
|---|---|---|
| 1K min/moSide project | $4.30 | $4.80 |
| 10K min/moProduction app | $43 | $48 |
| 100K min/moCall-center scale | $430 | $480 |
Published rates: batch $0.0043/min · streaming $0.0048/min, verified Jul 20, 2026. Sticker rates only; diarization and PII redaction add-ons price in the stack builder. How we compute costs →
Full Deepgram vs ElevenLabs Scribe comparison → · Deepgram review →
2. AssemblyAI
Among the 43 speech-to-text tools we track, AssemblyAI has the 12th-widest language coverage - a fit for multilingual and localization projects.
Our use-case verdicts have AssemblyAI ahead of ElevenLabs Scribe for call centers, medical and self-hosted and matches it for dictation.
AssemblyAI lists $0.0035 per audio-minute (batch), verified July 2026.
Why teams switch: For high-volume call center transcription, the three heaviest attributes all favor AssemblyAI. On batch price, AssemblyAI charges $0.0035 per audio minute versus ElevenLabs Scribe at $0.003667, a meaningful difference at scale. Speaker diarization is a paid add-on for AssemblyAI at about $0.02 per hour, but it is included in ElevenLabs Scribe's base price, which partially offsets the batch rate gap. AssemblyAI supports 200+ concurrent async jobs versus ElevenLabs Scribe's 8 concurrent STT requests on base plans, a critical advantage for high call volumes. AssemblyAI also includes sentiment analysis natively, which ElevenLabs Scribe does not list as available, directly supporting QA and analytics workflows. The concurrency gap alone would create serious bottlenecks at scale for ElevenLabs Scribe.
Call Centers verdict →
Overall verdict: AssemblyAI wins three use cases to ElevenLabs Scribe's two. In Call Centers, it offers 200+ concurrent async jobs versus ElevenLabs Scribe's 8 concurrent requests, a massive throughput advantage. In Medical, AssemblyAI includes a HIPAA BAA as standard while ElevenLabs Scribe restricts it to enterprise plans. In Self-Hosted, AssemblyAI offers an on-premises deployment option that ElevenLabs Scribe does not publish. ElevenLabs Scribe holds a narrower third-party WER of 2.18% versus AssemblyAI's 3.02%, and wins Developers and Voice Agents, but those two wins cannot overcome AssemblyAI's advantages in compliance, scale, and deployment flexibility.
| Monthly volume | Batch bill | Streaming bill |
|---|---|---|
| 1K min/moSide project | $3.50 | $7.50 |
| 10K min/moProduction app | $35 | $75 |
| 100K min/moCall-center scale | $350 | $750 |
Published rates: batch $0.0035/min · streaming $0.0075/min, verified Jul 20, 2026. Sticker rates only; diarization and PII redaction add-ons price in the stack builder. How we compute costs →
Full AssemblyAI vs ElevenLabs Scribe comparison → · AssemblyAI review →
3. OpenAI Whisper (API)
Among the 43 speech-to-text tools we track, OpenAI Whisper (API) has the 21st-widest language coverage.
Head-to-head, OpenAI Whisper (API) takes medical and self-hosted from ElevenLabs Scribe and matches it for dictation.
Before switching, weigh what stays behind - ElevenLabs Scribe vs OpenAI Whisper (API): ~60% more languages.
Its published rate is $0.006 per audio-minute (batch), verified July 2026.
Why teams switch: For self-hosted deployment, the two heaviest attributes are whether a tool can be self-hosted and whether it ships with an open-weights license. OpenAI Whisper wins both decisively. ElevenLabs Scribe has no self-host option, making it a cloud-only service. Whisper publishes its model weights under the MIT license, so teams can run it on their own hardware with no per-minute costs. ElevenLabs Scribe charges $0.004 per audio minute at batch rates, a cost that accumulates indefinitely, whereas a self-hosted Whisper deployment pays only hardware costs. On the two attributes that carry the most weight here, Scribe scores zero and Whisper scores the maximum possible.
Self-Hosted verdict →
Overall verdict: ElevenLabs Scribe wins four of seven use cases by combining superior accuracy, richer features, and competitive pricing. Its third-party word error rate of 2.18% beats Whisper's 4.06%, a meaningful gap that drives its wins in call centers, meetings, and voice agents. Speaker diarization is included at no extra charge, while Whisper offers none at all, which is decisive for meetings and call-center transcription. Scribe also supports 90 languages versus 57, adds a websocket streaming API that Whisper lacks, and accepts files up to 3 GB compared to Whisper's 25 MB cap. Batch pricing is actually lower at $0.004 per minute versus $0.006. Whisper takes medical thanks to a broadly available HIPAA BAA and wins self-hosted scenarios via its MIT-licensed open weights.
| Monthly volume | Monthly bill (batch) |
|---|---|
| 1K min/moSide project | $6 |
| 10K min/moProduction app | $60 |
| 100K min/moCall-center scale | $600 |
Published rates: batch $0.006/min, verified Jul 20, 2026. Sticker rates only; diarization and PII redaction add-ons price in the stack builder. How we compute costs →
Full OpenAI Whisper (API) vs ElevenLabs Scribe comparison → · OpenAI Whisper (API) review →
4. Mistral Voxtral Transcribe
Among the 43 speech-to-text tools we track, Mistral Voxtral Transcribe has the 37th-widest language coverage.
Head-to-head, Mistral Voxtral Transcribe takes developers, medical and self-hosted from ElevenLabs Scribe and matches it for dictation.
Before switching, weigh what stays behind - ElevenLabs Scribe vs Mistral Voxtral Transcribe: ~7× the languages.
Its published rate is $0.003 per audio-minute (batch), verified July 2026.
Why teams switch: For self-hosted deployment, the two most critical factors are whether self-hosting is possible and the model weights license. Mistral Voxtral Transcribe explicitly supports self-hosting and on-premises deployment, while ElevenLabs Scribe offers no such option. Mistral Voxtral Transcribe also ships under an Apache-2.0 license, giving users full freedom to run, modify, and distribute the model on their own hardware without restrictions. ElevenLabs Scribe has no published open weights or permissive license. Both top-weighted factors point decisively to Mistral Voxtral Transcribe, making it the clear winner for any team wanting to run speech transcription on their own infrastructure.
Self-Hosted verdict →
Full Mistral Voxtral Transcribe vs ElevenLabs Scribe comparison → · Mistral Voxtral Transcribe review →
5. Amazon Transcribe
Among the 43 speech-to-text tools we track, Amazon Transcribe has the 3rd-widest language coverage - a fit for multilingual and localization projects.
Before switching, weigh what stays behind - ElevenLabs Scribe vs Amazon Transcribe: ~20% fewer languages.
Its published rate is $0.006 per audio-minute (batch), verified July 2026.
6. Aqua Voice
Among the 43 speech-to-text tools we track, Aqua Voice has the 28th-widest language coverage.
Before switching, weigh what stays behind - ElevenLabs Scribe vs Aqua Voice: ~2× the languages.
Its published rate is $0.0065 per audio-minute (batch), verified July 2026.