Gladia

by Gladia

Whisper-based API with diarization, 99-language coverage, pay-per-minute.

TL;DR

Whisper-based API with diarization, 99-language coverage, pay-per-minute.

Best for teams who like the Whisper model family but don't want to run GPUs. Pricing: from $0.0102/min.

Category
Transcription APIs
License
—
Stars
—
Last push
—
Pricing
from $0.0102/min
Platforms
API

What it is

Gladia wraps Whisper-class models in a developer-friendly API with diarization, 99 languages, and competitive per-minute pricing. A reasonable alternative to self-hosting faster-whisper when you want someone else to operate the GPUs. Last price check: 2026-04-20.

Best for: Teams who like the Whisper model family but don't want to run GPUs.
Watch out for: Smaller ecosystem than AssemblyAI/Deepgram; HIPAA on enterprise tiers only.

Install / use

POST https://api.gladia.io/v2/transcription

View Gladia API docs ↗

Features

Speaker diarizationYes
Word-level timestampsYes
Streaming / real-timeYes
Languages supported99
HIPAA eligibleNo

Gladia vs Whipscribe

FeatureGladiaWhipscribe
CategoryTranscription APIsTranscription APIs
Pricingfrom $0.0102/minfree beta
Speaker diarizationYesYes
Word timestampsYesYes
StreamingYesNo
Languages9999
PlatformsAPIWeb, API, MCP
Sources & dates for the comparison above
  1. diarization: “Gladia's diarization feature labels each utterance with a speaker identifier.” — source (checked 2026-04-23)
  2. word timestamps: “Per-word timestamps are included with start and end seconds.” — source (checked 2026-04-23)
  3. streaming: “Gladia provides a WebSocket streaming endpoint for live audio.” — source (checked 2026-04-23)
  4. pricing: “Pay-as-you-go pricing from $0.612 per hour (~$0.0102/min).” — source (checked 2026-04-23)

Alternatives to Gladia

OpenAI Whisper API
OpenAI

Hosted Whisper large-v3 from OpenAI — $0.006 per minute.

$0.006/min
AssemblyAI
AssemblyAI

Universal-2 model + diarization, PII redaction, topic detection, summarization.

from $0.37/hr
Deepgram
Deepgram

Nova-2 model, excellent streaming, strong at conversational audio.

from $0.0043/min

Whipscribe is a managed faster-whisper + whisperX service. If you want transcripts without running infrastructure, paste a URL or drop a file in the form below — you'll have a transcript in seconds.