Arabic Speech-to-Text Comparison

Groq Whisper Large v3 TurbovsDeepgram Nova-3

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

Overview

Groq Whisper Large v3 Turbo

Not Recommended

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

production testedwhisper-large-v3-turbo

Deepgram Nova-3

Recommended

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

production testednova-3

Latency

Groq Whisper Large v3 Turbo

Avg EOU Delay284ms–3388ms
Best Case284ms
Worst Case3388ms

Deepgram Nova-3

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

Quality

Groq Whisper Large v3 Turbo

Poor

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

MSA

Deepgram Nova-3

Excellent

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

Gulf ArabicMSASaudi Arabic

Features

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

Pricing

Groq Whisper Large v3 Turbo

Free tier
FreeRate-limited free tier
$0per minute

Deepgram Nova-3

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

Streaming & Integration

CapabilityGroq Whisper Large v3 TurboDeepgram Nova-3
Streaming support✗✓
LiveKit plugin✗✓
Self-hostable✗✗
API styleREST (OpenAI-compatible)WebSocket streaming + REST
SDKsPython, Node.jsPython, Node.js, Go, .NET, Rust

Verdict

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
    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, Groq Whisper Large v3 Turbo or Deepgram Nova-3?

    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, Groq Whisper Large v3 Turbo or Deepgram Nova-3?

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

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

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