Arabic Speech-to-Text Comparison

Google Cloud STT — Chirp 3vsGroq Whisper Large v3

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

Groq Whisper Large v3

Not Recommended

Full Whisper v3 on Groq — same poor Arabic quality as the turbo variant.

production testedwhisper-large-v3

Latency

Google Cloud STT — Chirp 3

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

Groq Whisper Large v3

Avg EOU Delay32ms–3494ms
Best Case32ms
Worst Case3494ms

Quality

Google Cloud STT — Chirp 3

Excellent
WER: 28.8%

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

Gulf ArabicMSAEgyptianLevantine

Groq Whisper Large v3

Poor

Described as 'still shit' in production testing. Non-turbo version did not improve quality.

MSA

Features

FeatureGoogle Cloud STT — Chirp 3Groq Whisper Large v3
Real-time streaming transcription✓✗
120+ language support✓✗
Automatic punctuation✓✗
Word-level timestamps✓✗
Speaker diarization✓✗
Custom vocabulary✓✗
Medical and telephony models✓✗
Hardware-accelerated inference✗✓
Full Whisper Large v3 model✗✓
Batch and real-time modes✗✓

Pricing

Google Cloud STT — Chirp 3

Free tier
StandardChirp 3 model
$0.016per 15 seconds

Groq Whisper Large v3

Free tier
FreeRate-limited free tier
$0per minute

Streaming & Integration

CapabilityGoogle Cloud STT — Chirp 3Groq Whisper Large v3
Streaming support✓✗
LiveKit plugin✓✗
Self-hostable✗✗
API stylegRPC streaming + RESTREST (OpenAI-compatible)
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

Groq Whisper Large v3

Same poor Arabic quality as the turbo variant. Whisper models on Groq are not viable for Arabic speech recognition.

Choose Groq Whisper Large v3 if you need:

    Pros
    • +Free tier available
    • +OpenAI-compatible API
    Cons
    • -Poor Arabic transcription quality
    • -Extreme latency variance (32ms–3.5s)
    • -No improvement over turbo variant for Arabic

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Which is faster for Arabic speech-to-text, Google Cloud STT — Chirp 3 or Groq Whisper Large v3?

    Groq Whisper Large v3 is faster with an average end-of-utterance delay of 32ms–3494ms, which is 2344ms faster than Google Cloud STT — Chirp 3.

    Which has better Arabic transcription quality, Google Cloud STT — Chirp 3 or Groq Whisper Large v3?

    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 Groq Whisper Large v3 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. Groq Whisper Large v3: Same poor Arabic quality as the turbo variant. Whisper models on Groq are not viable for Arabic speech recognition.

    How does Google Cloud STT — Chirp 3 pricing compare to Groq Whisper Large v3?

    Google Cloud STT — Chirp 3 starts at $0.016 per 15 seconds (Chirp 3 model). Groq Whisper Large v3 starts at $0 per minute (Rate-limited free tier).