Speech is Cheap is a Gladia alternative for products that transcribe a growing library of recordings. Its $20 subscription includes 21,600 base minutes and accepts compatible files up to 1,440 minutes long. Use Gladia when your product needs live multilingual transcription, its audio-intelligence features or the detailed subtitle formatting controls in its API.
21,600 Audio Minutes per Month
$20
Speech is Cheap subscription, base transcription
Gladia uses its published recorded Starter rate with word timestamps and speaker diarization included. Committed Growth pricing is available separately and is not assumed in this estimate.
Gladia Pricing ; Gladia Transcription Pricing ExplainedChoose the cost and workflow that fit your product.
At 100,000 base minutes, Speech is Cheap Subscription costs $92.60, compared with $1,016.67 at Gladia’s recorded Starter rate. Add words and speakers to compare the full output your application consumes.
Speech is Cheap Pricing ; Gladia PricingSpeech is Cheap supports recordings up to 1,440 minutes. Gladia currently documents a 135-minute standard limit and 255 minutes for enterprise. A single long job avoids adding split-and-stitch logic to your application.
Speech is Cheap Product Facts ; Gladia File Formats and LimitsEnable Label Audio to classify each segment, including music and silence. Use those labels in JSON or add non-speech cues to SRT and VTT captions from the same job.
Speech is Cheap Job Requests ; Speech is Cheap Job Responses ; Speech is Cheap PricingGive users progress updates while their recorded file is processed. Progress SSE returns chronological transcript segments from the job, so your app can show useful output before the final result.
Speech is Cheap Job RequestsGladia offers live transcription as well as recorded jobs, with automatic language handling. Use its live path when your product needs to ingest speech as a conversation happens.
Gladia Pricing ; Gladia Language ConfigurationGladia offers translation, summarization, chapterization, entity extraction and other content-analysis options. Those are useful when your product needs those results alongside transcription; check their separate prices.
Gladia Audio Intelligence ; Gladia PricingGladia’s subtitle settings include caption duration, characters per row and row limits. Both services offer SRT and VTT; Gladia’s extra layout controls can reduce downstream caption-formatting work.
Gladia Subtitle Generation ; Speech is Cheap Job RequestsCompare base transcription and the add-ons your product needs.
| Audio Volume | Speech is Cheap PAYG | Speech is Cheap Subscription | Gladia Recorded Starter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12,500 minutes | $25.00 | $20.00 | $127.08 |
| 25,000 minutes | $50.00 | $23.15 | $254.17 |
| 50,000 minutes | $100.00 | $46.30 | $508.33 |
| 100,000 minutes | $200.00 | $92.60 | $1,016.67 |
| Audio and Features | Speech is Cheap PAYG | Speech is Cheap Subscription | Gladia Recorded Starter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12,500 minutes + words | $37.50 | $26.25 | $127.08 |
| 12,500 minutes + speakers | $50.00 | $32.50 | $127.08 |
| 12,500 minutes + both | $62.50 | $38.75 | $127.08 |
| 25,000 minutes + words | $75.00 | $35.65 | $254.17 |
| 25,000 minutes + speakers | $100.00 | $48.15 | $254.17 |
| 25,000 minutes + both | $125.00 | $60.65 | $254.17 |
| 50,000 minutes + words | $150.00 | $71.30 | $508.33 |
| 50,000 minutes + speakers | $200.00 | $96.30 | $508.33 |
| 50,000 minutes + both | $250.00 | $121.30 | $508.33 |
| 100,000 minutes + words | $300.00 | $142.60 | $1,016.67 |
| 100,000 minutes + speakers | $400.00 | $192.60 | $1,016.67 |
| 100,000 minutes + both | $500.00 | $242.60 | $1,016.67 |
Choose your volume and add-ons. Each step doubles the audio minutes.
$92.60
per month
$200.00
per month
$1,016.67
per month
-- means no verified price for the selected feature combination in the tables and calculator.
Put long recordings, sound labels and progress updates to work in your app.
| Compare | Speech is Cheap | Gladia |
|---|---|---|
| Audio Input | Recorded audio and video. Progress SSE returns results for an existing recording. Speech is Cheap Job Requests | Recorded transcription jobs plus a separate live streaming API. Gladia Pricing ; Gladia Recorded Transcription Requests |
| File Limits | 0.1 to 1,440 minutes per recording. Direct uploads: under 2 GiB. Speech is Cheap Product Facts | Standard recordings up to 135 minutes; enterprise up to 255 minutes. Listed file-size maximum is approximately 0.93 GiB. Gladia File Formats and Limits |
| Languages | 100 supported languages; optional detection per speech segment. Speech is Cheap Product Facts ; Speech is Cheap Job Requests | 100+ languages with automatic identification and code switching. Configure language behavior for the recording you submit. Gladia Pricing ; Gladia Language Configuration |
| Outputs | JSON, SRT and VTT. Word timestamps and voice-based speaker labels are paid add-ons. Speech is Cheap Job Responses ; Speech is Cheap Pricing | JSON utterances and timed words with speaker labels. Native SRT and VTT include configurable caption-formatting options. Gladia Recorded Transcription Results ; Gladia Subtitle Generation |
| Integration | URL or multipart upload, REST, polling, completion webhooks and progress SSE. Speech is Cheap Job Requests ; Speech is Cheap Job Responses | Submit an audio URL or upload audio first. Use an API key, poll the job or configure a completion callback. Gladia Recorded Transcription Requests ; Gladia Recorded Transcription Results |
| Audio Labels | Label Audio adds a structured label to each segment, including music and silence. Non-speech sounds appear as caption cues in SRT and VTT. Speech is Cheap Job Requests ; Speech is Cheap Pricing | Audio intelligence includes summaries, translation, entities and other speech-content analysis. A matching segment-level sound-classification output is not verified. Gladia Audio Intelligence ; Gladia Recorded Transcription Requests |
| Progress While Processing | Progress updates and chronological transcript segments over SSE from the same recorded job. Speech is Cheap Job Requests | Recorded jobs expose status and completed results through polling or callbacks. Live streaming is a separate API. Gladia Recorded Transcription Requests ; Gladia Recorded Transcription Results ; Gladia Pricing |
| Support | Initial email response within one business day for subscribers, three for pay as you go. Resolution time is not guaranteed. Speech is Cheap Service Commitments | Support and concurrency depend on the plan. Recorded Starter lists 25 concurrent requests; committed and enterprise arrangements can differ. Gladia Pricing ; Gladia Concurrency Limits |
Use public timing data to plan your recording workflow.
Speech is Cheap's public Benchmarks lets you inspect processing times by recording length and selected add-ons, with sample counts. Use those cohorts to evaluate the kind of audio your product processes.
Keep the URL-to-job pattern while adapting authentication, output nesting and callback configuration. Choose chronological progress SSE when your app benefits from early transcript segments.
| Compare | Gladia | Speech is Cheap |
|---|---|---|
| Submit | POST /v2/pre-recorded audio_url x-gladia-key: KEYGladia Recorded Transcription Requests | POST <api|upload>/v2/jobs/ api: JSON input_url upload: multipart input_file Authorization: Bearer KEYSpeech is Cheap Job Requests |
| Speaker Labels | diarization: true transcription.utterances[].speakerGladia Recorded Transcription Requests ; Gladia Recorded Transcription Results | can_parse_speakers: true output.segments[].speaker_idSpeech is Cheap Job Requests ; Speech is Cheap Job Responses |
| Word Timing | utterances[].words[] word / start / end Times in secondsGladia Recorded Transcription Results | can_parse_words: true output.segments[].words[] start / end in secondsSpeech is Cheap Job Requests ; Speech is Cheap Job Responses |
| Status and Text | queued / processing / done / error result.transcription.full_transcriptGladia Recorded Transcription Results | PENDING / COMPLETED / FAILED CANCELED / UNKNOWN output.segments[].textSpeech is Cheap Job Responses |
| Completion | callback: true callback_config.url Or poll the result URLGladia Recorded Transcription Requests ; Gladia Recorded Transcription Results | Webhook: job output Poll GET /v2/jobs/:id Or monitor progress SSE: can_stream_output: trueSpeech is Cheap Job Requests ; Speech is Cheap Job Responses |
api means https://api.speechischeap.com with JSON input_url. upload means https://upload.speechischeap.com with multipart input_file.
A successful upload always returns an SSE stream with text/event-stream, even with can_stream_output: false. In that mode, the final event contains the asynchronous job response.
curl --request POST \
--url https://api.speechischeap.com/v2/jobs/ \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer KEY' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data '{
"input_url": "https://example.com/recording.mp3",
"webhook_url": "https://your-domain.com/transcription-webhook",
"can_parse_speakers": true,
"can_parse_words": true
}'Example request. Replace the URLs and API key. Both add-ons are billed.
Map x-gladia-key to bearer authentication and audio_url to input_url. Speech is Cheap also accepts a multipart file directly at the job endpoint.
Gladia Recorded Transcription Requests ; Speech is Cheap Job RequestsRead output.segments instead of result.transcription.utterances. Segment and word start/end values remain seconds; enable Parse Words and Parse Speakers explicitly and adapt the text and speaker field names.
Gladia Recorded Transcription Results ; Speech is Cheap Job Responses ; Speech is Cheap Job RequestsRequest SRT or VTT when you need captions, and check line breaks in your player. Gladia’s detailed caption-formatting options do not map one-for-one to Speech is Cheap request fields.
Gladia Subtitle Generation ; Speech is Cheap Job RequestsReview retention and private mode when saving transcripts. Speech is Cheap results are retrievable by job ID, so treat those IDs as sensitive.
A Production Migration
Metacast
Metacast's result versus its previous, unnamed provider
Podcast Transcription
When Metacast's previous provider stopped completing transcription jobs, its team moved production to Speech is Cheap over a weekend. The new API became its primary transcription engine.
Read the Case Study"It's now our primary transcription engine."
At 100,000 base minutes, Speech is Cheap Subscription costs $92.60 and Gladia recorded Starter costs $1,016.67. Gladia includes words and speakers; use the calculator to include those Speech is Cheap add-ons. Committed Gladia Growth pricing may lower its bill.
Yes. Speech is Cheap accepts compatible recordings up to 1,440 minutes, with direct uploads under 2 GiB. Gladia documents 135 minutes for standard recordings and 255 minutes for enterprise.
Yes. Both services produce SRT and VTT. Request the appropriate Speech is Cheap output format and verify caption layout in your player. Label Audio can also add non-speech cues to those captions.
Speech is Cheap Label Audio classifies transcript segments, including music and silence. Gladia audio intelligence offers speech-content features such as summaries and sentiment. Choose the output your product actually needs; the calculator does not treat those as interchangeable.
The linked sources support the prices, product boundaries and migration details on this page.
Gladia’s recorded API exposes job status and completion results. Measure from submission through usable output when comparing your workflow. File conversion limits, live latency claims and Speech is Cheap’s production cohorts measure different things; none supplies a controlled same-audio speed ranking here.
Speech is Cheap Benchmarks ; Gladia Recorded Transcription Requests ; Gladia Recorded Transcription Results ; Gladia File Formats and LimitsChecked
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Select Subscription or PAYG on the pricing page. Check included minutes, overage and add-ons for the workload you compared above.
All prices are in USD. Examples use single-channel, whole-minute files no longer than 10 minutes, with selected features on every file. Audio must meet each model's format and size requirements. These are calculated prices, not a claim of equal accuracy or throughput. Totals are rounded to cents.
Speech is Cheap PAYG costs $0.002 per billed minute. Subscription costs $20 per month for 21,600 base minutes, then $0.000926 per extra minute. Unused included minutes expire each month.
Speech is Cheap rounds every file up to a whole minute for base transcription and all enabled add-ons. Subscription totals include the monthly fee, base overage and add-ons on all enabled-job minutes. Partial-minute files increase its billed minutes.
Parse Speakers adds $0.002 per PAYG minute or $0.001 on subscription. Word-Level Timestamps adds $0.001 per PAYG minute or $0.0005 on subscription. Label Audio adds $0.0002 per PAYG minute or $0.0001 on subscription.
Speech is Cheap PricingGladia recorded Starter lists $0.61 per hour, approximately $0.010167 per minute, with word timing and speaker diarization included. Calculations divide the exact hourly rate by 60. Growth advertises prices as low as $0.20 per hour with an upfront commitment; the required commitment is unpublished, so Growth is excluded.
Gladia Pricing ; Gladia Transcription Pricing ExplainedThe documented 1,000 MB limit converts to approximately 0.93 GiB. Duration limits of 2 hours 15 minutes and 4 hours 15 minutes convert to 135 and 255 minutes.
Gladia File Formats and LimitsGladia summaries, entities and sentiment analysis do not establish support for equivalent structured sound labels.
Estimates exclude tax, trial credits, negotiated discounts, multichannel charges, storage and network charges, and unselected features. Published automatic volume discounts and explicitly labeled promotions are included where stated. Paid Speech is Cheap API access requires a payment method; the free browser demo requires neither an account nor a card.
Speech is Cheap Pricing See All Speech is Cheap Prices