Arabic Speech-to-Text Comparison

ElevenLabs Scribe v2vsGoogle Cloud STT — Chirp 3

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

Overview

ElevenLabs Scribe v2

Not Recommended

ElevenLabs' realtime STT offering — poor quality and slow for Arabic.

production testedscribe_v2_realtime

Google Cloud STT — Chirp 3

Acceptable

High-quality Arabic STT from Google Cloud, but with significant latency.

production testedchirp-3

Latency

ElevenLabs Scribe v2

Avg EOU Delay2000ms–2500ms
Best Case2000ms
Worst Case2500ms

Google Cloud STT — Chirp 3

Avg EOU Delay2376ms
Best Case2000ms
Worst Case3000ms
Full turn time: 9000ms–10000ms

Quality

ElevenLabs Scribe v2

Poor

Described as 'shit quality' in production testing. Not viable for Arabic.

Saudi Arabic

Google Cloud STT — Chirp 3

Excellent
WER: 28.8%

High quality transcription. Broad Arabic dialect support through ar-XA language code.

Gulf ArabicMSAEgyptianLevantine

Features

FeatureElevenLabs Scribe v2Google Cloud STT — Chirp 3
Real-time streaming transcription✓✓
Multiple language support✓✗
LiveKit inference integration✓✗
120+ language support✗✓
Automatic punctuation✗✓
Word-level timestamps✗✓
Speaker diarization✗✓
Custom vocabulary✗✓
Medical and telephony models✗✓

Pricing

ElevenLabs Scribe v2

Free tier
StarterIncludes STT credits
$5per month

Google Cloud STT — Chirp 3

Free tier
StandardChirp 3 model
$0.016per 15 seconds

Streaming & Integration

CapabilityElevenLabs Scribe v2Google Cloud STT — Chirp 3
Streaming support✓✓
LiveKit plugin✓✓
Self-hostable✗✗
API styleWebSocket streaminggRPC streaming + REST
SDKsPython, Node.jsPython, Node.js, Go, Java, C#, Ruby, PHP

Verdict

Not Recommended

ElevenLabs Scribe v2

Poor quality and poor latency for Arabic. Not recommended for any Arabic STT use case.

Choose ElevenLabs Scribe v2 if you need:

    Pros
    • +LiveKit plugin available
    • +Part of ElevenLabs ecosystem (TTS bundle)
    Cons
    • -Poor Arabic transcription quality
    • -High latency (2-2.5s EOU)
    • -No advantage over better alternatives
    Acceptable

    Google Cloud STT — Chirp 3

    Excellent quality but too slow for real-time voice agents. Best suited for batch transcription or applications where latency isn't critical.

    Choose Google Cloud STT — Chirp 3 if you need:

    • Batch transcription
    • Multi-dialect Arabic support
    • Enterprise compliance
    Pros
    • +Excellent transcription quality
    • +Broadest Arabic dialect support
    • +Enterprise-grade reliability
    • +Extensive SDK ecosystem
    Cons
    • -2.4s average EOU delay — too slow for voice agents
    • -Higher pricing than competitors
    • -Complex GCP setup required

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Which is faster for Arabic speech-to-text, ElevenLabs Scribe v2 or Google Cloud STT — Chirp 3?

    ElevenLabs Scribe v2 is faster with an average end-of-utterance delay of 2000ms–2500ms, which is 376ms faster than Google Cloud STT — Chirp 3.

    Which has better Arabic transcription quality, ElevenLabs Scribe v2 or Google Cloud STT — Chirp 3?

    Google Cloud STT — Chirp 3 has a quality rating of 5/5 (Excellent). High quality transcription. Broad Arabic dialect support through ar-XA language code.

    Is ElevenLabs Scribe v2 or Google Cloud STT — Chirp 3 better for production voice agents?

    Both providers are viable options. ElevenLabs Scribe v2: Poor quality and poor latency for Arabic. Not recommended for any Arabic STT use case. Google Cloud STT — Chirp 3: Excellent quality but too slow for real-time voice agents. Best suited for batch transcription or applications where latency isn't critical.

    How does ElevenLabs Scribe v2 pricing compare to Google Cloud STT — Chirp 3?

    ElevenLabs Scribe v2 starts at $5 per month (Includes STT credits). Google Cloud STT — Chirp 3 starts at $0.016 per 15 seconds (Chirp 3 model).