Speech-to-Text API · decision tool
Cartesia (STT) vs Deepgram — for your app, not in general
Cartesia (STT) or Deepgram? Set your usage, budget and constraints; the verdict, monthly cost and risks update live from verified pricing.
Prices verified 2026-07-17 against official pricing pages · fit weights are our estimates (see methodology) · share the URL to share your configuration
As of Jul 2026, with 100 hours of audio transcribed/month, a $50 budget for this slot, Deepgram ranks first for these inputs at 74% fit and a StackSays-estimated $46.20/month (Cartesia (STT): 70% fit, $49.00/month). Fit weights are our estimates; prices trace to official pages. Change any input below and the verdict recomputes.
Your situation
The verdict updates as you move these.
Narrow pick — the runner-up is close
The default dedicated STT vendor — cheap streaming, prepaid credits, no subscription
vs Cartesia (STT): fit 74% against 70%, est $46.20 against $49.00 per month
Comparing 2 tools head-to-head. Open the full field (6 options) →
The decision, in plain words
For a solo builder at 100 hours of audio transcribed/month and a $50.00/mo budget for the speech-to-text API slot, Deepgram leads at 74% fit and $46.20/mo. The two rules doing the work: budget fit (~$46.2/mo is 92% of your $50/mo budget); batteries included (Bundles realtime streaming, speaker diarization, TTS from the same vendor — fewer services to glue at team size 1).
Cartesia (STT) runs close (70% fit, $49.00/mo). It takes the lead if ~$49/mo is 98% of your $50/mo budget matters more to you than the current weights assume.
Honest weak spot of the pick: no free tier — paying from day one.
Generated from the calculation above — every number traces to the sourced data; nothing here is written by an AI making things up.
Why Deepgram scores 74%
How the $46.20/mo estimate is calculated
What could change this verdict
Cost risk
Official prices verified 2026-07-17; calculation is deterministic code over those prices.
At a glance
| Tool | Free tier | Paid entry | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deepgram | No free tier | Pay-as-you-go — Nova-3 monolingual prerecorded at $0.0077/min = $0.462/hour; streaming is promo-priced lower ($0.0048/min) but flagged limited-time; $200 one-time signup credit | 2026-07-17 |
| Cartesia (STT) | 20K credits/month ≈ 1h51m STT (vendor's own approximation) | Pro $5/mo | 2026-07-17 |
Data sources
| Tool | Source | Verified |
|---|---|---|
| Deepgram | Deepgram pricing | 2026-07-17 |
| Cartesia (STT) | Cartesia pricing | 2026-07-17 |
A monitor re-checks these pages for changes; when a vendor moves a price, the date updates and every verdict recomputes.