AssemblyAI

Freemium

Transcribe and understand audio with a single AI-powered API

AssemblyAI provides a developer-focused API for transcribing and understanding speech through AI models. The platform features speech-to-text for pre-recorded and streaming audio, an LLM Gateway for audio analysis, and specialized tools for medical transcription and voice agents. It serves developers and enterprises building meeting notetakers, contact center intelligence, and ambient AI scribes. (verified: 2026-01-29)

Jan 29, 2026
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Pricing: Freemium
Last verified: Jan 29, 2026
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Key facts

Pricing

Freemium

Use cases

Software developers building voice agents who require real-time speech-to-text and speech-to-speech capabilities for interactive applications (verified: 2026-01-29), Healthcare technology providers creating medical scribes to automate the documentation of patient encounters using specialized transcription models (verified: 2026-01-29), Contact center managers implementing conversation intelligence to analyze customer interactions and reduce support ticket volumes (verified: 2026-01-29)

Strengths

The platform provides a developer-first API that supports both pre-recorded audio file transcription and real-time streaming speech-to-text (verified: 2026-01-29), Users can deploy models through multiple methods including cloud-based services, self-hosted environments, and VPC setups for data residency (verified: 2026-01-29), The LLM Gateway allows developers to apply large language models to spoken data for advanced audio intelligence and understanding (verified: 2026-01-29)

Limitations

The free tier limits pre-recorded audio transcription to 185 hours and streaming audio to 333 hours (verified: 2026-01-29), Access to dedicated technical support and customized SLAs requires moving beyond the free tier to a paid plan (verified: 2026-01-29)

Last verified

Jan 29, 2026

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Strengths

  • The platform provides a developer-first API that supports both pre-recorded audio file transcription and real-time streaming speech-to-text (verified: 2026-01-29)
  • Users can deploy models through multiple methods including cloud-based services, self-hosted environments, and VPC setups for data residency (verified: 2026-01-29)
  • The LLM Gateway allows developers to apply large language models to spoken data for advanced audio intelligence and understanding (verified: 2026-01-29)

Limitations

  • The free tier limits pre-recorded audio transcription to 185 hours and streaming audio to 333 hours (verified: 2026-01-29)
  • Access to dedicated technical support and customized SLAs requires moving beyond the free tier to a paid plan (verified: 2026-01-29)

FAQ

What deployment options are available for organizations with strict data residency or security requirements?

Organizations can choose from several deployment models including the standard Voice AI Cloud or self-hosted options such as On-prem, EU-based hosting, and Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) environments. These options allow for compliance with EU Data Residency standards and HIPAA requirements through a BAA (verified: 2026-01-29).

How does the platform handle the application of large language models to audio data?

The platform includes an LLM Gateway, which is a framework specifically designed for applying Large Language Models to spoken data. This allows developers to analyze audio content, implement guardrails, and extract intelligence from transcriptions using models like Gemini 3 Pro (verified: 2026-01-29).

What are the specific limitations for developers using the free access tier of the API?

The free tier provides access to Speech-to-Text and Audio Intelligence models with a limit of 185 hours for pre-recorded audio and 333 hours for streaming. It also restricts streaming to 5 new streams per minute and provides community-based support rather than dedicated technical assistance (verified: 2026-01-29).