# Gladia vs Speechmatics

> Gladia vs Speechmatics: Gladia is our pick, leading for medical and meetings. They split on priced audio-intelligence add-ons and official sdks. Verified July.

![Gladia logo](https://www.versusref.com/logos/gladia.png) ![Speechmatics logo](https://www.versusref.com/logos/speechmatics.png)

Gladia (EU-based real-time and batch STT API built on the Solaria models) and Speechmatics (Accuracy-first enterprise STT with flexible deployment (SaaS, container, on-prem)) are Speech-to-text APIs platforms, priced from $0.0102/min and $0.0022/min respectively. Below: the bottom line, verified head-to-head facts, and real production costs.

Speech-to-text APIs platforms · 28 facts compared · all sourced · pricing verified Jul 20, 2026

## Bottom line

Gladia edges out Speechmatics across the use-case record, winning Medical, Meetings, and Voice Agents while Speechmatics takes Call Centers and Developers. In Medical and Meetings, Gladia's included PII redaction stands out because Speechmatics offers no PII redaction at all, a meaningful compliance gap for sensitive audio. Gladia also posts a stronger third-party accuracy benchmark, 3.23% WER versus Speechmatics at 4.05%, which matters for high-stakes transcription in medical and meeting contexts. For Voice Agents, Gladia's 300 ms vendor-claimed streaming latency and support for 101 languages versus Speechmatics's 56 give it a clear breadth and responsiveness edge. Speechmatics counters with lower batch pricing at $0.00215 per audio minute and a broader SDK lineup, earning its wins in developer and call-center scenarios. Overall, Gladia's accuracy lead, broader language coverage, and built-in PII redaction carry more use cases.

## Verdict summary

| Use case | Winner | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Call Centers | Speechmatics | Per-minute batch cost is the deciding factor for high-volume call centers. |
| Developers | Speechmatics | For developers building transcription into products, per-minute batch pricing is the single most consequential cost factor. |
| Dictation | Tie | For personal voice dictation on a computer, the deciding factors are platform support, whether audio stays on-device, AI formatting features, pricing structure, and app integrations. |
| Medical | Gladia | For clinical transcription under US healthcare privacy law, the HIPAA BAA is the non-negotiable entry point, and both Gladia and Speechmatics clear that bar. |
| Meetings | Gladia | For recorded meetings and interviews, speaker diarization and summaries are table stakes, and both tools deliver them. |
| Self-Hosted | Tie | For a buyer who wants to run speech recognition on their own hardware, the deciding factors are whether self-hosting is possible, what license governs the model weights, what hardware is required, and whether the project is actively maintained. |
| Voice Agents | Gladia | For voice agents, streaming latency is the deciding factor: Gladia publishes a 300 ms latency figure, while Speechmatics publishes none. |

## Gladia vs Speechmatics: head-to-head facts

| Fact | Gladia | Speechmatics | Verified |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Batch price per audio minute | 0.01 $/audio-min ([source](https://www.gladia.io/pricing)) | 0.002 $/audio-min ([source](https://www.speechmatics.com/pricing)) | Jul 20 |
| Streaming price per audio minute | 0.013 $/audio-min ([source](https://www.gladia.io/pricing)) | n/a | Jul 20 |
| Free tier quota | 10h free monthly ([source](https://www.gladia.io/pricing)) | 3,000 min/mo (50 hours) ([source](https://www.speechmatics.com/pricing)) | Jul 20 |
| WER (third-party benchmark) | 3.23 % WER ([source](https://artificialanalysis.ai/speech-to-text)) | 4.05 % WER ([source](https://artificialanalysis.ai/speech-to-text)) | Jul 20 |
| Streaming latency (vendor-claimed) | ~300 ms ([source](https://www.gladia.io/solaria-3)) | n/a | Jul 20 |
| Languages supported | 101 languages ([source](https://docs.gladia.io/chapters/language/supported-languages.md)) | 56 languages ([source](https://www.speechmatics.com/pricing)) | Jul 20 |
| Speaker diarization | ✓  Included ([source](https://www.gladia.io/pricing)) | ✓  Included ([source](https://www.speechmatics.com/pricing)) | Jul 20 |

## Gladia vs Speechmatics pricing: true cost at 3 usage tiers

Monthly bill from published per-minute rates, batch and streaming separately. Sticker rates only; diarization and PII redaction add-ons price in the stack builder.

| Volume | Buyer | Gladia | Speechmatics | Note |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1K min/mo (batch) | Side project | $10.17 | $2.15 | About 17 hours of audio. Free tiers may cover part of this. |
| 10K min/mo (batch) | Production app | $101.67 | $21.50 | About 167 hours of audio a month. |
| 100K min/mo (batch) | Call-center scale | $1,016.70 | $215 | About 1,667 hours. Most vendors negotiate volume rates here. |
| 1K min/mo (streaming) | Side project | $12.50 | n/a | About 17 hours of audio. Free tiers may cover part of this. |
| 10K min/mo (streaming) | Production app | $125 | n/a | About 167 hours of audio a month. |
| 100K min/mo (streaming) | Call-center scale | $1,250 | n/a | About 1,667 hours. Most vendors negotiate volume rates here. |

## Gladia vs Speechmatics: verdicts by use case

### Call Centers → Speechmatics

Per-minute batch cost is the deciding factor for high-volume call centers. Speechmatics charges $0.00215/audio-min versus Gladia's $0.0167/audio-min, making Speechmatics roughly 4-5x cheaper at scale. Both include speaker diarization at no extra charge, so that is a wash. On PII redaction, Gladia includes it while Speechmatics does not, giving Gladia an edge there. However, the enormous per-minute cost difference dwarfs the PII advantage, especially since call centers processing hundreds of hours monthly would face dramatically higher bills with Gladia. Speechmatics also offers 50 real-time concurrent sessions on its Pro plan versus Gladia's 30.

### Developers → Speechmatics

For developers building transcription into products, per-minute batch pricing is the single most consequential cost factor. Speechmatics charges $0.00215/audio-min versus Gladia's $0.010167/audio-min, making Speechmatics roughly 4.7x cheaper at scale. That difference compounds dramatically once a product is live. On SDK breadth, Speechmatics ships Python, JavaScript, .NET, and Rust clients, while Gladia covers Python and JS/TS only, giving Speechmatics a clear edge for polyglot teams. Both tools provide WebSocket streaming APIs and word-level timestamps, so those attributes are matched. On audio format flexibility, Speechmatics explicitly lists wav, mp3, aac, ogg, mpeg, amr, m4a, mp4, and flac, compared with only aac documented for Gladia, which matters when ingesting varied user uploads. The pricing gap alone is decisive for metered usage products, and Speechmatics also leads on SDK coverage and format support.

### Dictation → Tie

For personal voice dictation on a computer, the deciding factors are platform support, whether audio stays on-device, AI formatting features, pricing structure, and app integrations. Neither Gladia nor Speechmatics covers dictation-specific platform clients, local on-device processing, AI text formatting for dictation, one-time versus subscription pricing, or app-level integrations like word processors. Both are cloud API services with usage-based pricing, and neither provides a native dictation application with the attributes that matter most for this use case. Gladia supports 101 languages versus Speechmatics at 56, and Gladia includes PII redaction while Speechmatics does not, but these differences are secondary when the core dictation platform and local processing questions go unanswered for both tools.

### Medical → Gladia

For clinical transcription under US healthcare privacy law, the HIPAA BAA is the non-negotiable entry point, and both Gladia and Speechmatics clear that bar. The deciding factor then becomes PII redaction, which is built into Gladia at no extra step, while Speechmatics does not offer it at all. In a medical workflow, automatically scrubbing patient identifiers from transcripts is a core compliance requirement, not a nice-to-have, and Gladia's included PII redaction is a meaningful practical advantage. Both tools offer custom vocabulary boosting for medical terminology, SOC 2 Type II certification, and self-hosting options, so those attributes do not separate them. Gladia also supports 101 languages versus Speechmatics' 56, giving it broader reach for diverse patient populations.

### Meetings → Gladia

For recorded meetings and interviews, speaker diarization and summaries are table stakes, and both tools deliver them. The tiebreakers favor Gladia. It supports 101 languages versus Speechmatics' 56, meaningfully broader coverage for multilingual meeting content. On file duration, Gladia handles up to 135 minutes per request (with extended limits at Enterprise tier), and Speechmatics supports larger files via URL, so both handle long recordings adequately. Both provide word-level timestamps. PII redaction is included with Gladia but unavailable on Speechmatics, a meaningful bonus for enterprise meeting use.

### Self-Hosted → Tie

For a buyer who wants to run speech recognition on their own hardware, the deciding factors are whether self-hosting is possible, what license governs the model weights, what hardware is required, and whether the project is actively maintained. Both Gladia and Speechmatics confirm that a self-host or on-prem option is available. However, neither tool has published information covering the model weights license, hardware requirements, project maintenance status, or model parameter count. Without those details, the attributes that matter most here simply cannot be compared. Self-host availability is a draw, and everything else needed to choose a winner is absent from the record.

### Voice Agents → Gladia

For voice agents, streaming latency is the deciding factor: Gladia publishes a 300 ms latency figure, while Speechmatics publishes none. Both offer WebSocket streaming APIs, so that is a wash. On streaming price, Gladia charges $0.0125/audio-min versus Speechmatics at $0.00215/audio-min plus a small add-on, giving Speechmatics a cost edge. Concurrency slightly favors Speechmatics (50 real-time sessions vs. Gladia's 30). Custom vocabulary is available on both. The absence of any published streaming latency number from Speechmatics leaves buyers with no guarantee, while Gladia's 300 ms claim directly addresses the interrupt-or-lag question that defines this use case.

## Gladia vs Speechmatics: common questions

### Is Gladia cheaper than Speechmatics?

It depends on the use case. For batch transcription, Speechmatics is significantly cheaper at about $0.00215 per audio minute versus Gladia at $0.010167 per audio minute. For streaming, Gladia charges $0.0125 per audio minute, while Speechmatics pricing varies by plan. Gladia offers a Growth tier with batch rates as low as $0.0033 per audio minute ($0.20 per hour), and Speechmatics offers 20% off usage above 500 hours per month. At standard rates, Speechmatics is the lower-cost option for batch workloads.

### Gladia vs Speechmatics: which is better for call centers?

Call centers should weigh a few key differences. Gladia includes PII redaction at no extra tier, supports 101 languages, and offers vendor-claimed 300 ms streaming latency, making it strong for multilingual, privacy-sensitive queues. Speechmatics supports up to 50 real-time concurrent sessions on its Pro plan, offers four official SDKs including .NET and Rust, and provides a 20% volume discount above 500 hours per month. Both include speaker diarization, sentiment analysis, HIPAA BAA, and SOC 2 Type II.

### Does Gladia or Speechmatics offer a larger free tier?

Speechmatics offers 3,000 minutes (50 hours) of free usage per month, while Gladia provides 10 hours free monthly. If your evaluation workload exceeds 10 hours, Speechmatics gives you significantly more room to test before any payment is required.

### Is Gladia or Speechmatics better for multilingual transcription projects?

Gladia supports 101 languages versus Speechmatics at 56 languages. Both offer automatic language detection. If broad language coverage is critical, Gladia has a meaningful advantage in the number of supported languages.

### Does Gladia or Speechmatics include PII redaction out of the box?

Gladia includes PII redaction as part of its platform, while Speechmatics does not offer this feature. For anyone handling sensitive personal data, this is a significant functional difference between the two services.

### Which service has better accuracy based on third-party benchmarks, Gladia or Speechmatics?

Based on third-party benchmark results, Gladia records a 3.23% word error rate while Speechmatics records a 4.05% word error rate. Lower is better, so Gladia has an edge in third-party accuracy testing, though real-world results vary by audio type.

### What volume discounts are available if I process large amounts of audio each month?

Gladia offers a Growth plan with async transcription as low as $0.20/hr and streaming at $0.25/hr. Speechmatics applies a 20% discount on usage over 500 hours per month per type, with deeper discounts at 24,000 hours per year. Both providers reward high-volume customers.

### Can I run either service on my own infrastructure for data privacy reasons?

Both Gladia and Speechmatics support self-hosted or on-premises deployment. Either option lets you keep audio data within your own environment, which is useful for regulated industries or strict data residency requirements.

### Are Gladia and Speechmatics HIPAA compliant?

Both Gladia and Speechmatics offer HIPAA Business Associate Agreements and are SOC 2 Type II certified. Both also support GDPR and EU data residency. Healthcare buyers can pursue compliance on either platform.

### Which service supports more programming languages in its official SDK?

Speechmatics provides official SDKs for Python, JavaScript, .NET, and Rust, while Gladia offers SDKs for Python and JavaScript/TypeScript. Developers working in .NET or Rust will find native SDK support only with Speechmatics.

Source: https://www.versusref.com/stt/gladia-vs-speechmatics/