AssemblyAI vs Deepgram — Pricing, Plans, and Verified Costs (2026)
AssemblyAI starts at Free. Deepgram uses custom pricing — request a quote to compare.
See price history: AssemblyAI · Deepgram
How pricing works
These two tools don't price the same way, so the headline numbers below aren't directly comparable until you plug in your own volume.
- AssemblyAI (Per Usage) — AssemblyAI bills purely on usage. There is no fixed per-seat fee, so the monthly cost depends entirely on how much you consume.
- Deepgram (Per Usage) — Deepgram bills purely on usage. There is no fixed per-seat fee, so the monthly cost depends entirely on how much you consume.
Per-minute, per-credit and per-token rates exclude any downstream model, speech or telephony costs unless the vendor states otherwise.
Speech AI platform for developers — long-form audio transcription, speaker diarization, and Universal-2 speech understanding models. Usage-based pricing: Best model at $0.37/hr audio, Nano tier at $0.12/hr. Pay-as-you-go with $50 free credit. Popular with podcast platforms, meeting recorders, and companies building on top of long-form audio.
Voice AI infrastructure company — best-known for its speech-to-text and text-to-speech APIs used by voice agents and transcription tools. Usage-based pricing: STT starts at $0.0043/min (Nova-2), TTS starts at $0.015/1K characters. Pay-as-you-go with $200 free credit for new accounts. Enterprise custom for volume + private deployment. Powers voice agents at scale for customers like Vapi, Retell, and enterprise contact centers.
All plans compared
| Tier role | Plan | AssemblyAI monthly | AssemblyAI annual | Deepgram monthly | Deepgram annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free / starter | Pay-as-you-go: Universal-2 (async) / Pay-as-you-go | Free | Free | Free | Free |
| Enterprise | Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom | Custom |
Tier names differ across vendors. Rows are aligned by tier role, not name. Full tier structures on each tool's page.
What each is best for
AssemblyAI is worth it if… developers processing long-form audio at scale — podcasts, recorded meetings, call recordings. The per-hour pricing works out cheaper than Deepgram for batch transcription (as opposed to real-time streaming).
Deepgram is worth it if… developers building voice-first products that need low-latency speech APIs at scale. Nova-2 STT is the workhorse — best price/performance for real-time transcription.
Bottom line: Similar positioning, closer to a preference call than a strategic one.
Choose AssemblyAI over Deepgram if…
Choose AssemblyAI if…
- You want to pay only for actual usage (per usage, a free entry tier).
- You match the profile AssemblyAI is built for: developers processing long-form audio at scale — podcasts, recorded meetings, call recordings.
- You need a general-purpose voice agents & speech/audio option rather than a vertical-specific one.
Choose Deepgram if…
- You want to pay only for actual usage (per usage, custom pricing).
- You match the profile Deepgram is built for: developers building voice-first products that need low-latency speech APIs at scale.
- You're building for contact centers.
At a glance
| AssemblyAI | Deepgram | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Entry price | Free | Custom |
| Enterprise available | Yes | Yes |
| Pricing model | Per Usage | Per Usage |
| Last verified | September 20, 2026 | — |
| Full pricing | View full pricing | View full pricing |
Pricing last verified September 20, 2026. Tracked daily.