Arabic Speech-to-Text Comparison

Deepgram Nova-3vsGroq Whisper Large v3 Turbo

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

Overview

Deepgram Nova-3

Recommended

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

production testednova-3

Groq Whisper Large v3 Turbo

Not Recommended

Fast Whisper inference on Groq hardware — poor Arabic quality with inconsistent latency.

production testedwhisper-large-v3-turbo

Latency

Deepgram Nova-3

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

Groq Whisper Large v3 Turbo

Avg EOU Delay284ms–3388ms
Best Case284ms
Worst Case3388ms

Quality

Deepgram Nova-3

Excellent

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

Gulf ArabicMSASaudi Arabic

Groq Whisper Large v3 Turbo

Poor

Described as 'horrible' transcription quality for Arabic in production testing.

MSA

Features

FeatureDeepgram Nova-3Groq Whisper Large v3 Turbo
Real-time streaming transcription✓✗
Automatic language detection✓✗
Endpointing / end-of-utterance detection✓✗
Punctuation and formatting✓✗
Word-level timestamps✓✗
Custom vocabulary✓✗
Multichannel support✓✗
Hardware-accelerated inference✗✓
Whisper model compatibility✗✓
Batch and real-time modes✗✓

Pricing

Deepgram Nova-3

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

Groq Whisper Large v3 Turbo

Free tier
FreeRate-limited free tier
$0per minute

Streaming & Integration

CapabilityDeepgram Nova-3Groq Whisper Large v3 Turbo
Streaming support✓✗
LiveKit plugin✓✗
Self-hostable✗✗
API styleWebSocket streaming + RESTREST (OpenAI-compatible)
SDKsPython, Node.js, Go, .NET, RustPython, Node.js

Verdict

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
Not Recommended

Groq Whisper Large v3 Turbo

Groq's fast hardware can't compensate for Whisper's poor Arabic handling. Quality is unacceptable and latency is too inconsistent for voice agents.

Choose Groq Whisper Large v3 Turbo if you need:

    Pros
    • +Free tier available
    • +OpenAI-compatible API
    • +Fast hardware acceleration
    Cons
    • -Horrible Arabic transcription quality
    • -Wildly inconsistent latency (0.3s–3.4s)
    • -Not suitable for real-time streaming

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Which is faster for Arabic speech-to-text, Deepgram Nova-3 or Groq Whisper Large v3 Turbo?

    Groq Whisper Large v3 Turbo is faster with an average end-of-utterance delay of 284ms–3388ms, which is 140ms faster than Deepgram Nova-3.

    Which has better Arabic transcription quality, Deepgram Nova-3 or Groq Whisper Large v3 Turbo?

    Deepgram Nova-3 has a quality rating of 5/5 (Excellent). Accurately captures Gulf Arabic phrases. No user repetitions needed in production calls.

    Is Deepgram Nova-3 or Groq Whisper Large v3 Turbo 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 Deepgram Nova-3 pricing compare to Groq Whisper Large v3 Turbo?

    Deepgram Nova-3 starts at $0.0043 per minute (Nova-3 streaming). Groq Whisper Large v3 Turbo starts at $0 per minute (Rate-limited free tier).