Arabic Speech-to-Text Comparison

ElevenLabs Scribe v2vsDeepgram Nova-3

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

Overview

ElevenLabs Scribe v2

Not Recommended

ElevenLabs' realtime STT offering — poor quality and slow for Arabic.

production testedscribe_v2_realtime

Deepgram Nova-3

Recommended

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

production testednova-3

Latency

ElevenLabs Scribe v2

Avg EOU Delay2000ms–2500ms
Best Case2000ms
Worst Case2500ms

Deepgram Nova-3

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

Quality

ElevenLabs Scribe v2

Poor

Described as 'shit quality' in production testing. Not viable for Arabic.

Saudi Arabic

Deepgram Nova-3

Excellent

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

Gulf ArabicMSASaudi Arabic

Features

FeatureElevenLabs Scribe v2Deepgram Nova-3
Real-time streaming transcription✓✓
Multiple language support✓✗
LiveKit inference integration✓✗
Automatic language detection✗✓
Endpointing / end-of-utterance detection✗✓
Punctuation and formatting✗✓
Word-level timestamps✗✓
Custom vocabulary✗✓
Multichannel support✗✓

Pricing

ElevenLabs Scribe v2

Free tier
StarterIncludes STT credits
$5per month

Deepgram Nova-3

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

Streaming & Integration

CapabilityElevenLabs Scribe v2Deepgram Nova-3
Streaming support✓✓
LiveKit plugin✓✓
Self-hostable✗✗
API styleWebSocket streamingWebSocket streaming + REST
SDKsPython, Node.jsPython, Node.js, Go, .NET, Rust

Verdict

Not Recommended

ElevenLabs Scribe v2

Poor quality and poor latency for Arabic. Not recommended for any Arabic STT use case.

Choose ElevenLabs Scribe v2 if you need:

    Pros
    • +LiveKit plugin available
    • +Part of ElevenLabs ecosystem (TTS bundle)
    Cons
    • -Poor Arabic transcription quality
    • -High latency (2-2.5s EOU)
    • -No advantage over better alternatives
    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, ElevenLabs Scribe v2 or Deepgram Nova-3?

    Deepgram Nova-3 is faster with an average end-of-utterance delay of 424ms, which is 1576ms faster than ElevenLabs Scribe v2.

    Which has better Arabic transcription quality, ElevenLabs Scribe v2 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 ElevenLabs Scribe v2 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 ElevenLabs Scribe v2 pricing compare to Deepgram Nova-3?

    ElevenLabs Scribe v2 starts at $5 per month (Includes STT credits). Deepgram Nova-3 starts at $0.0043 per minute (Nova-3 streaming).