Arabic Speech-to-Text Comparison

Google Cloud STT — Chirp 3vsElevenLabs Scribe v2

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

Overview

Google Cloud STT — Chirp 3

Acceptable

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

production testedchirp-3

ElevenLabs Scribe v2

Not Recommended

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

production testedscribe_v2_realtime

Latency

Google Cloud STT — Chirp 3

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

ElevenLabs Scribe v2

Avg EOU Delay2000ms–2500ms
Best Case2000ms
Worst Case2500ms

Quality

Google Cloud STT — Chirp 3

Excellent
WER: 28.8%

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

Gulf ArabicMSAEgyptianLevantine

ElevenLabs Scribe v2

Poor

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

Saudi Arabic

Features

FeatureGoogle Cloud STT — Chirp 3ElevenLabs Scribe v2
Real-time streaming transcription✓✓
120+ language support✓✗
Automatic punctuation✓✗
Word-level timestamps✓✗
Speaker diarization✓✗
Custom vocabulary✓✗
Medical and telephony models✓✗
Multiple language support✗✓
LiveKit inference integration✗✓

Pricing

Google Cloud STT — Chirp 3

Free tier
StandardChirp 3 model
$0.016per 15 seconds

ElevenLabs Scribe v2

Free tier
StarterIncludes STT credits
$5per month

Streaming & Integration

CapabilityGoogle Cloud STT — Chirp 3ElevenLabs Scribe v2
Streaming support✓✓
LiveKit plugin✓✓
Self-hostable✗✗
API stylegRPC streaming + RESTWebSocket streaming
SDKsPython, Node.js, Go, Java, C#, Ruby, PHPPython, Node.js

Verdict

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
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

    Frequently Asked Questions

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

    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, Google Cloud STT — Chirp 3 or ElevenLabs Scribe v2?

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

    Both providers are viable options. 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. ElevenLabs Scribe v2: Poor quality and poor latency for Arabic. Not recommended for any Arabic STT use case.

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

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