Arabic Speech-to-Text Comparison

Soniox STT RT v3vsDeepgram Nova-3

Head-to-head comparison based on real production benchmarks with Gulf Arabic callers.

Overview

Soniox STT RT v3

Good

High-quality Arabic STT with 44% lower WER than Google Chirp 3.

production testedstt-rt-v3

Deepgram Nova-3

Recommended

Best-in-class Arabic STT with ultra-low latency. Production-tested winner.

production testednova-3

Latency

Soniox STT RT v3

Avg EOU Delay1678ms
Best Case773ms
Worst Case2718ms
Full turn time: 6000ms–8000ms

Deepgram Nova-3

Avg EOU Delay424ms
Best Case0ms
Worst Case815ms
Full turn time: 787ms–3821ms

Quality

Soniox STT RT v3

Excellent
WER: 16.2%

Great quality transcription confirmed by user feedback. No repetitions needed. 44% more accurate than Google Chirp 3.

Gulf ArabicMSA

Deepgram Nova-3

Excellent

Accurately captures Gulf Arabic phrases. No user repetitions needed in production calls.

Gulf ArabicMSASaudi Arabic

Features

FeatureSoniox STT RT v3Deepgram Nova-3
Real-time streaming transcription✓✓
Language hints✓✗
Low word error rate✓✗
End-of-utterance detection✓✗
Automatic language detection✗✓
Endpointing / end-of-utterance detection✗✓
Punctuation and formatting✗✓
Word-level timestamps✗✓
Custom vocabulary✗✓
Multichannel support✗✓

Pricing

Soniox STT RT v3

Free tier
StandardReal-time streaming
$0.005per minute

Deepgram Nova-3

Free tier
Pay As You GoNova-3 streaming
$0.0043per minute
GrowthVolume discount
$0.0036per minute

Streaming & Integration

CapabilitySoniox STT RT v3Deepgram Nova-3
Streaming support✓✓
LiveKit plugin✗✓
Self-hostable✗✗
API styleWebSocket streamingWebSocket streaming + REST
SDKsPython, Node.jsPython, Node.js, Go, .NET, Rust

Verdict

Good

Soniox STT RT v3

Previously the best option for Arabic STT. Excellent quality with 16.2% WER, but superseded by Deepgram Nova-3 which is 75% faster with comparable quality.

Choose Soniox STT RT v3 if you need:

  • Accuracy-critical applications
  • Arabic transcription quality
Pros
  • +Lowest WER for Arabic (16.2%)
  • +No user repetitions needed
  • +30% faster than Google Chirp 3
Cons
  • -Higher latency than Deepgram Nova-3 (1.7s vs 0.4s)
  • -No LiveKit plugin
  • -Limited SDK support
Recommended

Deepgram Nova-3

The clear winner for Arabic STT. Deepgram Nova-3 delivers excellent quality at 424ms average EOU delay — fast enough for real-time voice agents.

Choose Deepgram Nova-3 if you need:

  • Production Arabic voice agents
  • Low-latency real-time transcription
  • Gulf Arabic dialects
Pros
  • +Best latency-to-quality ratio for Arabic
  • +75% faster than nearest competitor (Soniox)
  • +LiveKit plugin available
  • +Generous free tier ($200 credit)
  • +Excellent Gulf Arabic accuracy
Cons
  • -Cloud-only (no self-hosting)
  • -Pricing can scale with high volume

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is faster for Arabic speech-to-text, Soniox STT RT v3 or Deepgram Nova-3?

Deepgram Nova-3 is faster with an average end-of-utterance delay of 424ms, which is 1254ms faster than Soniox STT RT v3.

Which has better Arabic transcription quality, Soniox STT RT v3 or Deepgram Nova-3?

Soniox STT RT v3 has a quality rating of 5/5 (Excellent). Great quality transcription confirmed by user feedback. No repetitions needed. 44% more accurate than Google Chirp 3.

Is Soniox STT RT v3 or Deepgram Nova-3 better for production voice agents?

Deepgram Nova-3 is recommended for production use. The clear winner for Arabic STT. Deepgram Nova-3 delivers excellent quality at 424ms average EOU delay — fast enough for real-time voice agents.

How does Soniox STT RT v3 pricing compare to Deepgram Nova-3?

Soniox STT RT v3 starts at $0.005 per minute (Real-time streaming). Deepgram Nova-3 starts at $0.0043 per minute (Nova-3 streaming).