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Speechmatics

speechmatics.com

From $0.01/mo Free plan WebWindowsmacOSLinuxAPISelf-hosted
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Spec score 9.2 #2 of 28 in Transcription tools

What it is

Speechmatics provides APIs for speech-to-text, voice agents, and text-to-speech, processing recorded files or live audio. Speech-to-text supports more than 55 languages, including conversations that switch languages mid-sentence. The company says real-time transcription can return results in less than one second; speaker diarization and custom vocabulary support speaker identification and specialized terms. Listed uses include healthcare, voice agents, live captioning, contact center analytics, legal transcription, and meeting platforms. Deployment options include SaaS, multi-region cloud, on-premises containers and virtual appliances, on-device, and hybrid cloud with on-premises; availability varies by plan. The service is available through API and on Linux, macOS, Windows, web, and self-hosted platforms. The free plan provides $100 in credits, requires no credit card, and allows two concurrent real-time sessions. Usage-based options include text-to-speech at $0.01 per once and transcription plans priced per hour. Speechmatics states it is ISO/IEC 27001:2022 accredited, GDPR compliant, HIPAA compliant, and SOC 2 Type II certified. It says data is encrypted at rest with AES 256 and in transit using TLS 1.2 or higher.

Spec sheet

What it does
Speechmatics provides APIs for real-time and batch speech-to-text, text-to-speech and voice-agent applications.Read 15 Oct 2026 · docs.speechmatics.com
Deployment
The pricing page lists SaaS, multi-region cloud, on-premises containers and virtual appliances, on-device, and hybrid cloud plus on-premises deployment options, with availability varying by plan.Read 3 Oct 2026 · speechmatics.com
Integrations
Official integration documentation lists LiveKit, Pipecat, Vapi and Zapier.Read 15 Oct 2026 · docs.speechmatics.com
Security
Speechmatics states it is ISO/IEC 27001:2022 accredited, GDPR compliant, HIPAA compliant and SOC 2 Type II certified.Read 3 Oct 2026 · speechmatics.com
Support
Self-serve support includes community, portal chat and email; enterprise support includes a dedicated customer success manager and solutions engineer.Read 3 Oct 2026 · speechmatics.com
License
The hosted Speechmatics product is proprietary, while its public Python and JavaScript SDK repositories use the MIT license.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
Headquarters
Cambridge, United KingdomRead 28 Sep 2026 · speechmatics.com
Founded
2006Read 28 Sep 2026 · speechmatics.com
Company
Speechmatics identifies itself as a private B2B SaaS voice AI provider founded in 2006 and headquartered in Cambridge, United Kingdom.Read 3 Oct 2026 · speechmatics.com
API authentication
Every API request requires an API key and unauthenticated requests receive HTTP 401.Read 15 Oct 2026 · docs.speechmatics.com
Audio intelligence
The platform exposes sentiment, topic detection, summaries and automatic chapters for audio.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
Automatic language detection
Melia 1 detects languages automatically and supports code-switching within one conversation.Read 15 Oct 2026 · speechmatics.com
Company founded
Speechmatics was founded in 2006.Read 15 Oct 2026 · linkedin.com
Conversation features
Speaker diarization and custom vocabulary are included to identify speakers and capture specialized terminology.Read 3 Oct 2026 · speechmatics.com
Custom vocabulary
Custom dictionaries let customers add domain terms, names and acronyms to improve recognition.Read 15 Oct 2026 · speechmatics.com
Data logging
Pricing materials state that model-training data logging is disabled by default and that customers can choose US, EU or Australian processing locations.Read 15 Oct 2026 · speechmatics.com
Data protection
The security page says data is encrypted at rest with AES 256 and in transit using TLS 1.2 or higher.Read 3 Oct 2026 · speechmatics.com
Deployment choices
Speechmatics offers managed cloud, on-premises containers or virtual appliances, Kubernetes and on-device deployment.Read 15 Oct 2026 · docs.speechmatics.com
Documentation
The documentation site contains quickstarts, API references, model and language guides, deployment guides, billing, security and release notes.Read 15 Oct 2026 · docs.speechmatics.com
Encryption
The company says data is encrypted at rest with AES-256 and in transit with TLS 1.2 or higher.Read 15 Oct 2026 · speechmatics.com
Free credit
New accounts receive $100 in credit without requiring a payment card.Read 15 Oct 2026 · speechmatics.com
Funding news
Speechmatics announced a £6.35 million Series A round led by AlbionVC on October 21, 2019.Read 15 Oct 2026 · speechmatics.com
GPU requirements
The GPU inference container requires an NVIDIA GPU with at least 16 GB memory, 24 GB system RAM, CUDA support and Docker above 19.03.Read 15 Oct 2026 · docs.speechmatics.com
Headquarters and size
LinkedIn lists Cambridge, United Kingdom as headquarters and 51–200 employees.Read 15 Oct 2026 · linkedin.com
JavaScript SDK status
The JavaScript repository provides batch, real-time and Flow clients plus React hooks, but marks the older speechmatics NPM package deprecated.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
Languages
The service advertises speech recognition in more than 55 languages, including mixed-language conversations.Read 15 Oct 2026 · speechmatics.com
Limit: Capterra reviewers
Reviewers report errors with background noise or mumbling and say PDF output is difficult to edit and completion requires manual page refreshes.Read 15 Oct 2026 · capterra.com
Limit: Gartner reviewers
Gartner material notes that pricing becomes complex at scale, latency may be higher than alternatives and costs can be comparatively high.Read 15 Oct 2026 · gartner.com
Limit: independent developer review
An independent API review says usage-based pricing needs modelling and that Speechmatics has fewer community tutorials than larger providers.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aicoursereview.com
Limit: Trustpilot complaint
A 2026 reviewer alleges hidden limit changes, automatic switching to lower models and missing transcript sections without warnings.Read 15 Oct 2026 · trustpilot.com
Limits
Self-serve accounts have up to 50 concurrent real-time sessions, except Free accounts, which have 2; enterprise concurrency dynamically adjusts to demand.Read 3 Oct 2026 · speechmatics.com
Live transcription
The company says its real-time speech-to-text can return results in less than one second.Read 3 Oct 2026 · speechmatics.com
On-device support
The on-device product runs locally on Mac and Windows with sub-second latency and no network audio transfer.Read 15 Oct 2026 · speechmatics.com
Praise: Capterra reviewers
Capterra reviewers describe the service as fast and highly accurate and say it saves substantial manual transcription time.Read 15 Oct 2026 · capterra.com
Praise: G2 reviewers
G2 reviewers repeatedly praise transcription accuracy, smooth usability, clear integration documentation and responsive support.Read 15 Oct 2026 · g2.com
Praise: TechRadar
TechRadar reports very strong accuracy and fast turnaround but says the product lacks a sophisticated graphical interface.Read 15 Oct 2026 · techradar.com
Praise: Trustpilot reviewer
One Trustpilot reviewer calls Speechmatics highly accurate and recommends its real-time translation.Read 15 Oct 2026 · trustpilot.com
Rating on Capterra
4.5 out of 5 from 2 reviews.Read 15 Oct 2026 · capterra.com
Rating on G2
4.7 out of 5 from 74 reviews.Read 15 Oct 2026 · g2.com
Rating on Gartner Peer Insights
4.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings.Read 15 Oct 2026 · gartner.com
Rating on Trustpilot
3.0 out of 5 from 2 reviews.Read 15 Oct 2026 · trustpilot.com
Real-time latency
Speechmatics states that real-time transcription can run in about 350 milliseconds and under one second.Read 15 Oct 2026 · speechmatics.com
SDK languages
Documented SDKs include Python, JavaScript, .NET and Rust, plus Python text-to-speech and agent clients.Read 15 Oct 2026 · docs.speechmatics.com
Security certifications
Speechmatics states that it is ISO/IEC 27001:2022 accredited, SOC 2 Type II certified, GDPR compliant and HIPAA compliant.Read 15 Oct 2026 · speechmatics.com
Self-hosting requirements
The CPU container requires a license or token, Docker access, 1 vCPU, 2–5 GB RAM and about 100 MB disk per running container.Read 15 Oct 2026 · docs.speechmatics.com
Speaker diarization
The product identifies speakers and supports multi-speaker conversations through speaker diarization.Read 15 Oct 2026 · speechmatics.com
Use cases
Speechmatics lists healthcare, voice agents, live captioning, contact center analytics, legal transcription and meeting platforms as use cases.Read 3 Oct 2026 · speechmatics.com

Plans and prices

Free Free $100 in credits; no credit card required 2 concurrent real-time sessions · 10 pre-recorded files per second · community, portal chat and email support Read 3 Oct 2026 · speechmatics.com
Text to Speech $0.01 a month per 1,000 characters first 1 million characters free Read 15 Oct 2026 · speechmatics.com
Text to Speech $0.01, paid once Usage-based; first 1 million characters free Natural, low-latency speech synthesis for voice AI use cases Read 3 Oct 2026 · speechmatics.com
Melia 1 $0.12, paid once Usage-based, per hour of pre-recorded transcription 56 languages · mixed-language transcription · code-switching · speaker diarization Read 3 Oct 2026 · speechmatics.com
Melia 1 $0.12 a month per hour of audio 56 languages · multilingual code-switching Read 15 Oct 2026 · speechmatics.com
Oak 1 Medical $0.15, paid once Usage-based, per hour of pre-recorded transcription Clinical language · drug names, dosages, abbreviations and procedure terms · multilingual support Read 3 Oct 2026 · speechmatics.com
Oak 1 Medical $0.15 a month per hour of audio medical model · multilingual clinical transcription Read 15 Oct 2026 · speechmatics.com
Standard $0.23 a month per hour of audio lower-cost model · features of Enhanced · lower accuracy Read 15 Oct 2026 · speechmatics.com
Standard $0.23, paid once Usage-based, per hour of pre-recorded transcription Same features as Enhanced at a lower rate · lower accuracy · for high-volume, cost-sensitive workloads Read 3 Oct 2026 · speechmatics.com
Enhanced $0.38 a month per hour of audio highest accuracy · selected language · custom dictionary · advanced punctuation Read 15 Oct 2026 · speechmatics.com
Enhanced $0.38, paid once Usage-based, per hour of pre-recorded transcription Highest accuracy · choose a language per transcription · custom dictionary · advanced punctuation Read 3 Oct 2026 · speechmatics.com
Enterprise Priced on request custom pricing unlimited files per second · demand-adjusted concurrency · dedicated support · on-premises, on-device and hybrid deployment Read 15 Oct 2026 · speechmatics.com

Every Speechmatics plan and price →

Strong points and limits

Strong points

  • Speech-to-text supports more than 55 languages.
  • Real-time transcription is reported in less than one second.
  • Free plan includes $100 in credits.
  • Multiple deployment options are listed.

Limits

  • Free accounts allow two concurrent real-time sessions.
  • Deployment availability varies by plan.
  • Enterprise pricing is custom and not listed.

Who it suits

Speechmatics suits teams building transcription, voice-agent, or speech-synthesis workflows, including listed healthcare, legal, contact center, and meeting use cases. Its deployment choices include cloud, on-premises, on-device, and hybrid options, subject to plan availability.

Verdict

Speechmatics covers transcription, voice agents, and text-to-speech across several deployment models. Check the plan-specific limits and deployment availability for the intended workload.

Where Specifiction places it

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