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Deepgram vs AssemblyAI pricing (2026)

Short answer. AssemblyAI is cheaper for basic streaming speech to text: $0.15 an hour for Universal-Streaming, against $0.288 an hour for Deepgram Nova-3 streaming by our math. Deepgram bills by the minute and AssemblyAI bills by the hour, so compare in one unit. For full voice agents, both list $0.075 a minute. We read both pricing pages on October 26, 2026.

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Streaming speech to text

Model	Vendor rate	Per hour	Per minute
AssemblyAI Universal-Streaming (English)	$0.15 an hour	$0.15	$0.0025 (our math)
AssemblyAI Universal-Streaming Multilingual	$0.15 an hour	$0.15	$0.0025 (our math)
AssemblyAI Universal-3.6 Pro Realtime	$0.45 an hour	$0.45	$0.0075 (our math)
Deepgram Nova-3 Monolingual	$0.0048 a minute	$0.288 (our math)	$0.0048
Deepgram Flux English	$0.0065 a minute	$0.39 (our math)	$0.0065

Sources: Deepgram pricing, AssemblyAI pricing, checked October 26, 2026.

Deepgram labels its streaming rates as limited-time promotional rates. Its regular rate for Nova-3 and Flux English is $0.0077 a minute.

Recorded audio

Model	Vendor rate	Per hour
AssemblyAI Universal-2	$0.15 an hour	$0.15
AssemblyAI Universal-3.5 Pro	$0.21 an hour	$0.21
Deepgram Nova-3 Monolingual	$0.0043 a minute	$0.258 (our math)
Deepgram Whisper Large	$0.0048 a minute	See vendor page

Add-ons

Feature	AssemblyAI	Deepgram
Speaker labels	$0.02 an hour on recorded audio; $0.12 an hour streaming	Included on recorded audio; $0.0020 a minute streaming ($0.12 an hour, our math)
Keyterm prompting	$0.05 an hour on Universal-3.5 Pro, included on Universal-2; $0.04 an hour on Universal-Streaming, included on Universal-3.6 Pro Realtime	$0.0013 a minute streaming
PII redaction	$0.12 an hour streaming	$0.0020 a minute streaming

On streaming speaker labels, the two match at $0.12 an hour.

Voice agents

AssemblyAI's Voice Agent API costs $4.50 an hour ($0.075 a minute). Deepgram's Voice Agent API Standard tier costs $0.075 a minute on Pay As You Go, or $4.50 an hour by our math. Deepgram lists cheaper tiers when you bring your own LLM or voice. Neither vendor includes a phone line, so add a carrier such as Twilio or Telnyx.

100 hours of calls

Say you transcribe 100 hours of live calls a month for call notes. AssemblyAI Universal-Streaming costs $15. Deepgram Nova-3 streaming costs $28.80. Our math. Both are small next to the cost of an AI receptionist or a phone system, so accuracy on your calls matters more than the rate.

Free credit

Deepgram gives new accounts $200 in credit with no card. AssemblyAI says you can start free and pay as you go. We did not see the AssemblyAI credit amount on its pricing page, so we left it out.

Compare voice AI: Vapi pricing, Retell AI pricing, Twilio voice pricing, Telnyx voice AI pricing, Deepgram vs ElevenLabs.

FAQ

Is AssemblyAI cheaper than Deepgram? For basic streaming, yes. AssemblyAI Universal-Streaming is $0.15 an hour. Deepgram Nova-3 streaming is $0.0048 a minute, which is $0.288 an hour by our math.

How much does AssemblyAI cost per hour? Recorded audio costs $0.15 an hour on Universal-2 and $0.21 on Universal-3.5 Pro. Streaming costs $0.15 an hour on Universal-Streaming and $0.45 on Universal-3.6 Pro Realtime.

How much do Deepgram and AssemblyAI voice agents cost? Both list $0.075 a minute. AssemblyAI shows it as $4.50 an hour.

Do Deepgram or AssemblyAI include a phone number? No. Both sell speech and agent minutes. You add a carrier for the phone line.

Checked 2026-10-26. Prices and policies change. Confirm on the source before you buy.