Google Cloud Speech-to-Text
Google Cloud's Speech-to-Text V2 API with Chirp models, volume tiers and a cheaper dynamic batch mode; EU regions available.
Volume is what moves the price on the V2 API: standard recognition, Chirp included, starts at $0.96/hour, the highest modelled per-hour rate in this category, and steps down to $0.24/hour above 2M minutes a month. Dynamic batch at $0.18/hour is the cheap route for work that can wait. Each audio channel is billed separately and requests round up to the next second, so it suits GCP-based teams with large or delay-tolerant volumes.
- Headquarters
- 馃嚭馃嚫 United States
- Parent jurisdiction
- 馃嚭馃嚫 United States (parent: Alphabet)
- EU self-serve plan
- Available; check eligible plans and regions
- GDPR DPA
- Yes
- Billing
- payg
- Free tier
- New Google Cloud accounts get $300 in trial credit; V1 API includes 60 free minutes/month.
- Open source
- No
- Website
- cloud.google.com
- Source last checked
- 2026-10-06
- Pricing evidence
- Published rates
Pricing
Calculated from the listed vendor rates; exclusions still apply. How to read these estimates.
| Audio hour |
|---|
| $0.96 |
Allowances, plan limits & calculation details
Rates are shown at their recorded precision. A zero means no charge in this calculation; the vendor may charge for things we leave out. See the notes for usage assumptions and currency conversions.
- Base fee / month
- $0
- Included audio hours / month
- 0
- Audio hour
- $0.96
V2 standard recognition (all standard models including Chirp) is $0.016/min ($0.96/hour) for the first 500,000 minutes/month, then $0.01/min ($0.60/hour) to 1M minutes, $0.008 ($0.48/hour) to 2M and $0.004 ($0.24/hour) above 2M. Dynamic batch (lower-urgency processing, V2 only) is $0.003/min ($0.18/hour), the cheapest option if turnaround can wait. Gemini Enterprise Flexible Savings Plans cut 10% (1 year) or 20% (3 year). Billed per second, each request rounded up to the next second; each audio channel is billed separately. V1 API: $0.016/min with data logging, $0.024/min without, first 60 min/month free. Medical models $0.078/min. V2 can be pinned to EU locations (eu multi-region, europe-west). Cloud Data Processing Addendum applies.
Managed alternatives
At 1,000 audio hours / month. Adjust usage and requirements.
Google Cloud Speech-to-Text: $11,520/yr estimated.
- DeepInfra: $324/yr estimated 路 $11,196/yr bill differencePublished rates
- Groq: $1,332/yr estimated 路 $10,188/yr bill differencePublished rates
- Azure AI Speech: $2,160/yr estimated 路 $9,360/yr bill differencePublished rates
- Mistral AI (Voxtral): $2,160/yr estimated 路 $9,360/yr bill differencePublished rates
- Rev.ai: $2,400/yr estimated 路 $9,120/yr bill differencePublished rates
No cheaper managed estimate matches your filters. Adjust your usage or compare with your actual contract bill.
The price difference leaves out migration costs, operating costs and any features you鈥檇 need to replace.
Self-hosted options
Operating cost is not estimated. These options are not counted as savings against managed services.
Want a European-owned provider? See European alternatives to Google Cloud Speech-to-Text among european speech-to-text providers.
Other speech-to-text comparisons
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