Complete pricing breakdown for speech-to-text (STT) and text-to-speech (TTS) APIs. Compare Deepgram, Google, AWS, Azure, ElevenLabs, and more. Special focus on Indian language support.
Lowest STT
Lowest TTS
Indian Languages
Save with Edesy
Speech recognition API costs (as of Jan 2025)
| Provider | Pricing | Free Tier | Indian Languages | Real-time | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Deepgram | $0.0059/min Nova-2 model | 200 min/mo | Hindi, Bengali, Tamil (beta) | Real-time transcription, voice AI | |
Google Speech-to-Text | $0.006-0.024/min Varies by model | 60 min/mo | Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam | Wide Indian language support | |
AWS Transcribe | $0.024/min Standard rate | 60 min/mo (12 months) | Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Gujarati | AWS ecosystem integration | |
Azure Speech | $0.016/min Pay-as-you-go | 5 hrs/mo | Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam | Enterprise + Azure stack | |
OpenAI Whisper API | $0.006/min whisper-1 | None | Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu (varied quality) | Batch transcription, multilingual | |
AssemblyAI | $0.0054/min Best model | 100 hrs (trial) | Limited Indian language support | English transcription + features |
Voice synthesis API costs (as of Jan 2025)
| Provider | Pricing | Free Tier | Indian Languages | Quality | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ElevenLabs | $0.18-0.30/1K chars Varies by plan | 10K chars/mo | Hindi (good), Tamil, Telugu (improving) | Most Natural | Highest quality voice cloning |
Google Cloud TTS | $0.004-0.016/1K chars Standard to WaveNet | 1M chars/mo (Standard) | Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Malayalam, Kannada, Gujarati | High (WaveNet) | Best Indian language coverage |
Amazon Polly | $0.004-0.016/1K chars Standard to Neural | 5M chars/mo (12 months) | Hindi (Aditi voice) | Good to High | AWS integration, low cost |
Azure Speech TTS | $0.004-0.016/1K chars Standard to Neural | 500K chars/mo | Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam | High (Neural) | Wide language support + Azure |
PlayHT | $0.10-0.20/1K chars Varies by plan | 5K chars/mo | Hindi, limited others | Very High | Voice cloning alternative |
Murf.ai | $0.08-0.15/1K chars Subscription based | 10 min audio/mo | Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali | High | Voiceover production |
Which provider supports your language?
| Language | Azure | AWS | Deepgram | ElevenLabs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hindi | |||||
| Tamil | beta | ||||
| Telugu | beta | ||||
| Bengali | beta | ||||
| Marathi | |||||
| Gujarati | |||||
| Kannada | |||||
| Malayalam | |||||
| Punjabi | |||||
| Urdu |
Google and Azure have the widest Indian language support for both STT and TTS
Real-world cost comparison for a voice AI implementation
| Stack | STT Cost | TTS Cost | Total | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Deepgram + ElevenLabs | $59 | $180-300 | $239-359 | Premium quality |
Google Speech + Google TTS | $60-240 | $40-160 | $100-400 | Best Indian languages |
AWS Transcribe + Polly | $240 | $40-160 | $280-400 | AWS ecosystem |
Azure Speech (both) | $160 | $40-160 | $200-320 | Single provider |
Edesy (All-Inclusive) | - | - | From $199 | STT + TTS + AI + Telephony |
* Does not include LLM/AI costs, telephony, or development time. Edesy includes all components.
Skip the complexity of managing multiple STT/TTS vendors
STT, TTS, LLM, and telephony bundled. No surprise bills from 5 different vendors.
Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, and more - optimized for Indian accents.
We use the best STT/TTS for each language. You get one simple API.
No need to set up accounts with Deepgram, ElevenLabs, and OpenAI separately.
All analytics, billing, and management in one place. Not scattered across vendors.
Bulk rates across providers + no integration overhead = significant savings.
Common questions about speech-to-text and text-to-speech pricing
AssemblyAI ($0.0054/min) and Deepgram ($0.0059/min) offer the lowest per-minute rates for high-quality STT. OpenAI Whisper API is also competitive at $0.006/min but doesn't support real-time transcription. For Indian languages specifically, Google Speech-to-Text offers the best balance of cost and language coverage.
Google Speech-to-Text and Azure Speech have the widest Indian language support with Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi, and Urdu. Deepgram has Hindi, Bengali, and Tamil in beta. AWS Transcribe supports Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, and Gujarati.
Google Cloud TTS and Amazon Polly offer the lowest rates at $0.004/1K characters for standard voices, and $0.016/1K for neural/WaveNet voices. However, ElevenLabs ($0.18-0.30/1K chars) offers significantly more natural-sounding voices if quality is the priority.
ElevenLabs produces the most natural-sounding speech and offers voice cloning, which no other provider matches in quality. For customer-facing voice AI where natural conversation matters, the premium is often justified. For IVR or notification use cases, Google/AWS Neural voices work well at lower cost.
For 10,000 minutes of voice AI per month, expect: $100-400 using Google/Azure (STT + TTS), $240-360 with Deepgram + ElevenLabs for premium quality, or $280-400 with AWS. Edesy's all-inclusive plans start at $199/month including STT, TTS, AI processing, and telephony.
Watch for: 1) Per-request fees in addition to per-minute/character costs, 2) Data transfer fees (especially AWS), 3) Different rates for real-time vs batch processing, 4) Premium rates for specific languages or voices, 5) Minimum monthly commitments, 6) Costs for model training/customization.
For real-time applications, Deepgram leads with ~300ms STT latency. Amazon Polly offers ~150ms first-byte TTS latency. ElevenLabs streaming API has improved to ~500ms. Google and Azure both offer good real-time performance around 200-400ms for both STT and TTS.
Yes! Many voice AI implementations use different providers for STT and TTS based on their strengths. A common combination is Deepgram for fast STT + ElevenLabs for natural TTS. However, managing multiple vendors adds complexity. Platforms like Edesy abstract this by providing a unified interface to multiple providers.
Explore more voice AI pricing and comparisons
Skip the complexity. Edesy includes STT, TTS, AI, and telephony in one simple price.
Real demo calls showcasing low latency and natural conversations in multiple Indian languages
AI voice agent qualifying B2B leads for corporate gifting. Ultra-low latency with 1-2 second response time. Bilingual conversation in Hindi and English.
Audio player powered by Google Drive
Open in DriveAI voice agent handling admission inquiries and appointment booking for educational institutes in Malayalam language.
Audio player powered by Google Drive
Open in DriveAI voice agent handling admission inquiries and appointment booking for educational institutes in Tamil language.
Audio player powered by Google Drive
Open in DriveAI voice agent qualifying leads for solar installation company in Assamese language. Natural conversation flow with product inquiry handling.
Audio player powered by Google Drive
Open in DriveAI voice bot helping patients book hospital appointments in Bengali. Natural conversation with availability checking and confirmation.
Audio player powered by Google Drive
Open in DriveAI voice bot helping patients book hospital appointments in Hindi. Handles doctor selection, time slot booking, and confirmation.
Audio player powered by Google Drive
Open in DriveAI voice bot helping patients book hospital appointments in Telugu. Natural conversation flow for healthcare scheduling.
Audio player powered by Google Drive
Open in DriveBest AI voice agent pricing worldwide - from ₹4/min ($0.04) | 40% more affordable than US alternatives