SpeechWeave vs AssemblyAI: recorded-audio transcription without the premium
Stop paying for features you don't use. Get accurate transcription of recorded audio at a lower hourly rate, with OpenAI SDK compatibility and audio deleted after every job.
Rates and limits verified October 2026.
| SpeechWeave | AssemblyAI | SpeechWeave advantage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price per hour | Core standard: $0.09/hr Max standard: $0.24/hr Core deferred: $0.045/hr Max deferred: $0.12/hr | Universal-3.5 Pro: $0.21/hr Universal-2: $0.15/hr | Up to 57% lower than Universal-3.5 Pro, and deferred mode cuts it further |
| Max file size | 512 MB per job, higher limits available on request | Up to 5 GB and 10 hours per file (local uploads up to 2.2 GB) | |
| Integration | OpenAI SDK, SpeechWeave SDKs, or REST | AssemblyAI SDKs and API | No vendor-specific client required |
The SpeechWeave edge over AssemblyAI
- Lower rates: Core $0.09/hr, deferred $0.045/hr, against $0.21/hr for Universal-3.5 Pro.
- No vendor lock-in: Use the standard OpenAI SDK, our Node and Python SDKs, or plain REST.
- Work that can wait: Deferred service mode runs background jobs at half the standard rate.
- Predictable spend: A prepaid wallet with spending caps and auto-recharge, so a spike in uploads never becomes a surprise bill.
- Audio privacy: Audio is deleted after every job and never used to train models.
SpeechWeave is purpose-built for transcribing recorded audio at scale, where throughput and unit cost decide profitability. We focus on doing that better and cheaper.