AssemblyAI vs Deepgram
Cheapest paid tier each vendor publishes. Free plans are listed above; tiers priced on request are not plotted because there is no figure to plot.
Where they differ
From the pricing tiers and capability tags we track. A capability missing on one side means we have not recorded it there, not that the tool cannot do it.
At a glance
AssemblyAI and Deepgram both appear in this directory's audio listings. Prices below were read from the vendors' own pages, most recently on October 19, 2026. Paid plans start at $0.02 usage-based on AssemblyAI and $200 usage-based on Deepgram. We track transcription on AssemblyAI and text to speech on Deepgram; both cover speech to text and speaker identification. No score and no winner: the facts do the picking.
Capability tags are factual labels we assign when a tool is added; they describe what a tool does, not how well it does it.
Checked against the vendors. Written from each vendor's own site and last re-checked there: AssemblyAI (under review since October 19, 2026) · Deepgram on October 12, 2026. Vendors change pricing and features without notice, so confirm anything that decides your purchase on the vendor's page.
AssemblyAI
Voice AI infrastructure for builders
AssemblyAI delivers production-ready Voice AI models, including pre-recorded and real-time streaming speech-to-text, speaker diarization, and voice agent APIs. It provides advanced models like Universal-3.5 Pro, supporting multiple languages and specialized medical transcription modes.
Deepgram
Real-time APIs for speech-to-text, text-to-speech, and voice agents
Deepgram provides real-time and batch APIs for speech-to-text, text-to-speech, and voice agents. It offers Nova transcription models supporting over 45 languages and features like speaker diarization.
Also in audio
A tool we have an affiliate relationship with. It is not part of the comparison above and we are not calling it the better pick.
- Repurposing podcast and video recordings into social posts, newsletters, and blogs
- Content teams and agencies managing multi-brand client media pipelines
- Transcribing and summarizing meetings, webinars, and sales calls
Key features
AssemblyAI
- Pre-recorded and real-time streaming speech-to-text transcription
- Speaker diarization to segment utterances by speaker
- LLM-powered Speech Understanding and LLM Gateway
- Custom keyterms prompting and Medical Mode for specialized terminology
Deepgram
- Speech-to-text transcription
- Text-to-speech generation
- Voice agent API
- Audio intelligence and PII redaction
- Speaker diarization and language detection
What each one does well
AssemblyAI
- ✓ Building real-time voice agents
- ✓ Transcribing pre-recorded audio files with high accuracy
- ✓ Performing call analytics and medical transcription
Deepgram
- ✓ Building real-time voice agents
- ✓ Transcribing multilingual audio with background noise
- ✓ Generating low-latency text-to-speech responses
People also ask
Which is cheaper, AssemblyAI or Deepgram?
AssemblyAI is cheaper: paid plans start at $0.02 usage-based for AssemblyAI and $200 usage-based for Deepgram.
Does AssemblyAI or Deepgram have a free plan?
Both AssemblyAI and Deepgram publish a free plan.
What is the difference between AssemblyAI and Deepgram?
AssemblyAI and Deepgram are both tracked for speech-to-text, speaker-identification. Of the capabilities they do not share, only AssemblyAI is tracked for transcription, developer-api, and only Deepgram is tracked for text-to-speech, ai-agents.
How much do AssemblyAI and Deepgram cost?
AssemblyAI: free plan, then $0.02 usage-based. Deepgram: free plan, then $200 usage-based.
Answers are generated from the tracked plans and capability tags shown above, so they move when the vendors' pages do.
Full fact sheets, FAQs, and discussion links: AssemblyAI · Deepgram · all audio tools