Soniox vs Speechmatics
for Urdu speech-to-text

Accurate, real-time transcription and translation for Urdu.

Developers choose Soniox for real-time fluency in Urdu and beyond

Urdu is spoken by 230 million people worldwide — across Pakistan, India, and beyond. Developers building for Urdu need accuracy, speed, and global scalability. Soniox provides one API that works across 60+ languages – including Urdu – with real-time transcription and any-to-any translation built in.

Speechmatics supports many languages, but accuracy in real-world Urdu use cases often lags. With Soniox, you get production-ready results from day one.

Higher accuracy in Urdu

Soniox provides reliable Urdu transcripts, making it easier to work with your audio data.

Zero delay

Transcribe Urdu conversations instantly, not seconds later. Speechmatics streams in larger chunks, which makes apps feel delayed.

Unified API

Soniox handles both transcription and two-way translation across 60+ languages, so you can build for Urdu and scale worldwide. Speechmatics only covers transcription.

Helping startups and enterprises ship real world voice apps

See the difference for yourself

Don't just take our word for it. Run the same Urdu audio through Soniox and Speechmatics in real-time and compare live results, side by side.

This demo isn't pre-recorded. It makes real API calls to Speechmatics and Soniox in real-time, with each service tuned for its best performance. The framework is open source, so you can inspect or run it yourself.

SONIOX VS SPEECHMATICS AT A GLANCE

The benchmarks back it up

In a 2025 study across 60 languages and real-world YouTube audio, Soniox reached 6.3% WER in Urdu vs 33.9% for Speechmatics.

View the full benchmark report

Feature	Sonioxstt-rt-v3	Speechmaticsrealtime-enhanced
open_in_newSingle Multilingual Model	check	close
open_in_newLanguage Hints	check	close
open_in_newLanguage Identification	check	close
open_in_newSpeaker Diarization	check	check
open_in_newCustomization	check	check
open_in_newTimestamps	check	check
open_in_newConfidence Scores	check	check
open_in_newTranslation One Way	check	check
open_in_newTranslation Two Way	check	close
open_in_newEndpoint Detection	check	close
open_in_newManual Finalization	check	close

Pay 2-3x less than Speechmatics

With Soniox, transcription, translation, diarization, timestamps, and confidence are all included in one price. Speechmatics charges more per hour and only covers transcription. Translation (including Urdu) requires another service.

Effective hourly cost

(typical speech)

Soniox

~$0.10/hour (async)
~$0.12/hour (streaming)

Speechmatics

~$0.25–0.35/hour depending on model and volume

100 hours

1,000 hours

10,000 hours

Soniox (async)

~$10

~$100

~$1,000

Soniox (streaming)

~$12

~$120

~$1,200

Speechmatics (typical)

~$25-35

~$250-350

~$2,500-3,500

Takeaway

Soniox costs 2–3x less than Speechmatics, while also including translation, diarization, and other features by default.

Soniox bills per token, which works out to the effective hourly rates above for typical conversational speech.
Speechmatics pricing varies by model and volume tier, but charges per minute/hour for transcription only.
All comparisons use publicly listed rates as of 2025.

Why teams choose Soniox over Speechmatics for Urdu

Get every word right in Urdu and every other language.

Soniox delivers native-speaker accuracy across Urdu and 60+ languages, with proven performance on noisy audio, overlapping speakers, dialects, and mid-sentence language switches. No model tuning required; it just works in the real world.

"It just gets the words right — any language, any accent, any context. That’s what accuracy is supposed to look like."

Tony Wang,
Cofounder & Chief Revenue Officer at Agora

Speechmatics supports ~50 languages, but accuracy varies widely including in Urdu, especially outside of English or clean audio. It struggles with speaker overlap, accents, and code-switching in real conversation.

Fast. Precise. Always in sync.

Soniox transcribes and translates Urdu speech as it’s spoken, with token-level updates and near-zero latency. Transcripts stay in sync. Assistants respond naturally. Nothing gets lost in the stream.

"It’s so fast, captions appear before people even finish talking. Zero lag. No buffering. Nothing."

Dag-Inge Aas,
Head of AI at Tana

Speechmatics supports streaming but lags behind. No token-level control or early finalization, so transcripts jump or fall out of sync, especially with fast Urdu speakers or frequent interruptions.

Understand Urdu conversations, not just words.

Real Urdu conversations aren’t clean or scripted. Soniox handles rapid speaker turns, overlaps, pauses, and mixed-language exchanges, all in real time. With built-in diarization and smart endpoint detection, it keeps up with natural Urdu dialogue as it happens.

"Soniox knows who’s speaking and when each thought ends. The real-time transcripts read like true dialogue, not data dumps."

Adam Strom,
Co-Founder & President at Mobius MD

Speechmatics supports speaker labels after the fact, but lacks real-time diarization and nuanced understanding of Urdu conversational flow.

Built-in domain intelligence.

Soniox adapts to your domain in real time, recognizing technical terms, product names, acronyms, and industry phrasing. You can even steer Urdu translations and enforce the vocabulary that matters most.

"Soniox's ability to accurately transcribe complex medical terminology means our physician-customers spend significantly less time editing. This allows them to finalize their notes faster and focus on what matters most: patient care."

Max Malyk,
Vice President at DeliverHealth

Speechmatics offers no domain awareness or dynamic vocabulary control. Accuracy depends on pretraining, with no ability to guide how key terms are rendered.

All features. One API. Global by default.

Soniox includes Urdu transcription, any-to-any translation, speaker separation, language detection, and domain control. All in one stream, one call, and no stitching required.

Speechmatics lacks built-in translation, speaker separation, or context control. These must be added with external tools or post-processing, creating more complexity and latency.

Fluent at any speed

Watch Soniox keep up with fast speech in any language

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Frequently asked questions about Soniox vs Speechmatics

1.Does Soniox support Urdu?arrow_downward

Yes. Soniox fully supports transcription and translation for Urdu, with production-ready accuracy and real-time performance.

2.Can Soniox handle code-switching between Urdu and English?arrow_downward

Yes. Soniox automatically detects and transcribes mixed speech, switching between Urdu and English mid-conversation. Speechmatics requires preselecting one language per request.

3.Is Soniox cheaper than Speechmatics?arrow_downward

Yes. Soniox costs ~$0.10–0.12/hr, while Speechmatics typically charges ~$0.25–0.35/hr depending on model and volume. That makes Soniox about 2–3x less expensive.

4.Does Speechmatics support translation?arrow_downward

No. Speechmatics provides transcription only. Soniox includes two-way, in-stream translation across 60+ languages in the same API call.

5.How does Soniox streaming compare to Speechmatics?arrow_downward

Soniox streams token by token in milliseconds, with refinements, manual finalization, and endpoint detection. Speechmatics streams in larger segments, which can feel slower for live use cases.

6.Does Speechmatics support diarization and timestamps?arrow_downward

Yes, but Soniox provides them in real-time with more structured outputs.

7.Can Soniox handle multiple languages in one stream?arrow_downward

Yes. Soniox auto-detects and supports mid-conversation shifts. Speechmatics requires you to pre-select a single language per request.

Soniox surpasses Speechmatics in any language

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Soniox vs Speechmatics for Urdu speech-to-text