Speech-to-text APIs · Comparison
Amazon Transcribe vs Google Cloud Speech-to-Text
2 products compared side by side: what you pay for with each one first, then the five access facts, entry prices, recorded plan limits and the bottom line of each review. The evidence note under the table says how each product was checked.
Side by side
| Metric | Amazon Transcribe | Google Cloud Speech-to-Text |
|---|---|---|
| What you're paying for | Built-in reachTranscription inside your AWS account at $0.006 a minute for batch, with speaker labels, custom vocabulary and language identification in the rate. | Built-in reachSpeech recognition inside your Google Cloud account, with IAM, audit logs, a BAA and EU processing, and dynamic batch at $0.003 a minute. |
| Overall score | 7.0 | 7.8Best |
| Free option | Free trial | Free plan |
| Card to start | –Not measured | Card required |
| Getting access | Self-serve | Self-serve |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $0.006/min | $0.003/min |
| Pricing model | Usage-based | Usage-based |
| Pricing page | Public prices | Public prices |
| Billing unit | Per second, no minimum; two channels at no extra charge | Per second of audio, no minimum; each channel billed |
| Free credit | 60 minutes a month for 12 months | 60 minutes a month on the V1 API; none on V2 |
| Streaming rate | $0.01/min ($0.60/h) | $0.016/min ($0.96/h), the same as batch |
| Diarization | Included in batch and streaming, up to 30 speakers | No separate price; Chirp 3 diarization in batch only |
| Languages | About 90 languages across 113 language rows (our count) | Over 125 (product page) |
| Training on your audio | By default; opt out with an AWS Organizations policy | Not without your permission; V1 data logging opt-in gives a lower rate |
| Retention | Job records 90 days; output in your S3 bucket | Sync and streaming not stored; async transcripts about 5 days (V1) |
| HIPAA BAA | Accepted in AWS Artifact | Covered; accepted in the console per the docs |
| EU processing | Six EU regions for batch, four for streaming | Chirp 3 GA in the eu multi-region |
| Self-hosted | Not offered | Speech-to-Text On-Prem on GKE, through sales |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | SOC 1, 2 and 3 and ISO 27001 (AWS Artifact) | SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 (Compliance Reports Manager) |
| Console SSO | IAM Identity Center, no extra charge | SAML through Cloud Identity Free, no listed cost |
| Bottom line | From its public pages, Amazon Transcribe is the simple choice inside AWS: flat per-minute rates with the main features included and self-serve compliance paperwork. Voice inputs are used to improve the service unless your organization opts out. | From its public pages, Google Cloud Speech-to-Text suits teams inside Google Cloud: no training without permission, a BAA, EU processing and dynamic batch at $0.003 a minute. Features need checking per model, and there is no PII redaction. |
Evidence: Amazon Transcribe: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Google Cloud Speech-to-Text: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run. Prices in USD as listed, excluding tax. "–" means not recorded.
When to pick each
In the words of each review, with the date its facts were checked.
From our Amazon Transcribe review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick Amazon Transcribe when
- You want PII redaction, a documented delete API and transcription inside AWS.
- Pick Google Cloud Speech-to-Text when
- You want audio kept out of training by default and dynamic batch at $0.003 a minute.
From our Google Cloud Speech-to-Text review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick Google Cloud Speech-to-Text when
- You want audio kept out of training by default and dynamic batch at $0.003 a minute.
- Pick Amazon Transcribe when
- You run on AWS and want PII redaction as a priced add-on and a documented delete API.
Entry price
Baseline: each product's cheapest paid plan, per month. Included usage differs, so read the line under each price.
- Amazon TranscribeStandard batch$0.006/minFlat, US East; billed per second
- Diarization, custom vocabulary and language identification included
- Up to two channels included
- SRT and WebVTT subtitles
- Google Cloud Speech-to-TextV2 standard recognition$0.016/minFirst 500,000 min a month; then $0.01, $0.008 and $0.004
- Batch, sync and streaming at one price
- Chirp 3 priced at $0.016 on the product page
- Diarization and speech adaptation with no separate price
Prices as listed on each pricing page, in USD per month, excluding tax. Observed: Amazon Transcribe 2026-10-16, Google Cloud Speech-to-Text 2026-10-16.
Which one fits
- If you need to start today without a sales call
- Google Cloud Speech-to-TextSelf-serve sign-up, card required; the highest score of the 2 self-serve products here (7.8/10).
- Highest overall score
- Google Cloud Speech-to-Text7.8/10 (Good). The review shows the score breakdown and the run behind it.
Picked by fixed rules from the table above, not by hand. How we score
Full reviews
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