Gladia vs IBM Watson Speech to Text
Gladia
gladia.io
IBM Watson Speech to Text
ibm.comSide by side
| Figure | Gladia | IBM Watson Speech to Text |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $0.20/mo | $0.02/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 7 | 5 |
| Spec score · Speech Recognition Software | 8.9 (#4) | 8.7 (#11) |
| Spec score · Transcription Software | 8.9 (#6) | 8.7 (#11) |
| Spec score · Audio Transcription Software | 8.9 (#7) | 8.6 (#17) |
| Spec score · AI transcription tools | 8.8 (#11) | 9.0 (#6) |
| API access | Yes | Yes |
| Export formats | SRT,VTT | JSON |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Headquarters | Rennes, France | Armonk, New York, United States |
| Integrations | The site names Pipecat, LiveKit, Twilio, and Retell integrations, plus Zapier, Make, and n8n connectors. | IBM documents a pre-built phone assistant integration combining watsonx Assistant, Speech to Text, and Watson Text to Speech. |
| Languages supported | 100 | 14 |
| Security | The Compliance Hub says customer data is not used for model training by default and describes encryption at rest and in transit. | Premium offers data isolation and features including Key Protect, service endpoints, mutual authentication, and HIPAA readiness. |
| Speaker identification | Yes | Yes |
| Timestamp support | Yes | Yes |
Plans
Gladia
- Starter - asynchronous$0.61 a month
- Starter - real-time$0.75 a month
- Growth - asynchronous$0.20 a month
- Growth - real-time$0.25 a month
- StarterFree
- EnterprisePrice not published
- GrowthPriced on request
IBM Watson Speech to Text
- LitePriced on request
- Plus$0.02 a month
- PlusPriced on request
- LiteFree
- PremiumPriced on request
In their own words
Gladia
Gladia provides audio infrastructure through an API for recording, transcribing, and enriching audio. It offers asynchronous and real-time transcription, including live streaming, with Starter supporting 100+ languages and automatic language detection and switching. Listed audio tools include speaker diarization, sentiment analysis, PII redaction, entity detection, and audio-to-LLM processing. Developers can use Python or Node.js SDKs, WebSocket streaming, or REST uploads; named integrations include Pipecat, LiveKit, Twilio, Retell, Zapier, Make, and n8n. Transcripts can include speaker labels and timestamps, and SRT and VTT are listed export formats. Starter is listed at free and includes 50€ in one-time credits that do not expire. Flexible pay-as-you-go Starter rates are $0.61 a month for asynchronous transcription and $0.75 a month for real-time transcription. Hourly call and total audio limits vary by tier. Gladia also offers GladiaFlow, a desktop voice dictation app for Mac and Windows; its code is available under the MIT license.
IBM Watson Speech to Text
IBM Watson Speech to Text has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.