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Compare real-time speech translation APIs on your own audio

Test Soniox real-time translation against other providers on the same audio. Hear the difference, then compare pricing, language coverage, and translation modes, before you commit to an API.

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Estimate your speech translation cost

Soniox bills per token across one model that handles transcription and translation together. Pick a provider and your monthly audio volume to compare pay-as-you-go speech translation pricing side by side.

Pricing calculator

Stop overpaying for speech AI

Sonioxvs

1,000 hours of audio / month

1025501002505001k2.5k5k10k100k

Pricing assumptions

Based on public pay-as-you-go pricing. Enterprise discounts and committed-use contracts may differ. Some providers charge separately for certain features. The calculator uses the public price for the provider configuration that most closely matches Soniox. For TTS 1000 characters / minute is used as a reference.

At 1,000 hours per month, Soniox runs around $180 for real-time speech translation or $160 for async speech translation.

Why compare speech translation APIs

Not all speech translation systems handle real-world audio the same way. The differences become clear when you test the conditions production systems face daily.

Conversations switch languages mid-sentence. Two people need to speak and hear each other in their own languages. Speakers talk over one another, use accents, or spell names and codes out loud. Many providers translate into one fixed target language, drop speaker labels, or bill a second model just to return the original transcript, so the headline rate hides the real bill.

These tools let you compare on both axes that decide the choice. The live demo lets you hear exactly how each provider translates the same audio, side by side. The price calculator above shows what each provider actually costs at your volume.

Soniox runs a single streaming pipeline that returns the source transcript and the translation together, with speaker separation included and any-to-any coverage across 60+ languages.

Speech translation APIs at a glance

Each row lists the same real-time translation capability across providers, sourced from public docs and pricing pages.

Capability
Soniox
OpenAI
Gemini
Translation modes
One-way and two-way
One-way only
One-way only
Target output languages
60+ (3,600 pairs)
13 fixed targets
70+
Speaker separation
Included
No
No
Source transcript in same stream
Yes
Add Realtime Whisper
Yes (final only)
Billing
Per token, one API
Per audio minute
Per audio minute
Speech-to-text translation ($/hour)
~$0.18
$2.04
~$2.21
Speech-to-speech translation ($/hour)
~$0.88
$2.04
~$2.21
Soniox vs OpenAI | Soniox vs Google

FAQ

What is the cheapest real-time speech translation API?
Soniox bills per token, which works out to ~$0.18/hour for real-time speech-to-text translation. OpenAI GPT Realtime Translate is billed by audio duration at $2.04/hour, and Gemini 3.5 Live Translate at ~$2.21/hour. Use the calculator above to see the difference at your monthly volume.
Which providers support two-way bilingual conversation?
Soniox supports two-way translation natively, with each side speaking and hearing in their own language on the same WebSocket. OpenAI and Gemini translate in one direction into a single configured target per session.
How many languages can each provider translate into?
Soniox supports 60+ source and 60+ target languages, yielding 3,600 any-to-any pairs. OpenAI GPT Realtime Translate outputs 13 fixed targets, and Gemini 3.5 Live Translate covers 70+ languages. See the dedicated Soniox vs OpenAI and Soniox vs Google pages for details.
Which providers separate speakers when translating?
Soniox includes speaker separation, returning speaker labels alongside transcript and translation tokens so a translated meeting or call still attributes each line to the right person. OpenAI and Gemini do not return speaker labels in their real-time translation streams.
Do these APIs return the source-language transcript too?
Soniox returns the source-language transcript and the translation in the same stream, with no extra model or cost. OpenAI requires running Realtime Whisper as a second paid model for the source transcript, and Gemini returns the source transcript in the same stream but only as a single final message rather than streamed incrementally.

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