Arabic Speech-to-Text Comparison

Groq Whisper Large v3vsSpeechmatics

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

Overview

Groq Whisper Large v3

Not Recommended

Full Whisper v3 on Groq — same poor Arabic quality as the turbo variant.

production testedwhisper-large-v3

Speechmatics

Not Recommended

Ultra-fast Arabic STT with poor transcription quality.

production testedstandard

Latency

Groq Whisper Large v3

Avg EOU Delay32ms–3494ms
Best Case32ms
Worst Case3494ms

Speechmatics

Avg EOU Delay460ms
Best Case0ms
Worst Case806ms

Quality

Groq Whisper Large v3

Poor

Described as 'still shit' in production testing. Non-turbo version did not improve quality.

MSA

Speechmatics

Poor

Users had to repeat themselves frequently. Quality unacceptable for production use.

MSA

Features

FeatureGroq Whisper Large v3Speechmatics
Hardware-accelerated inference✓✗
Full Whisper Large v3 model✓✗
Batch and real-time modes✓✗
Real-time streaming transcription✗✓
Configurable endpointing✗✓
Standard and enhanced operating points✗✓
Custom dictionary✗✓

Pricing

Groq Whisper Large v3

Free tier
FreeRate-limited free tier
$0per minute

Speechmatics

Free tier
StandardReal-time streaming
$0.0042per minute

Streaming & Integration

CapabilityGroq Whisper Large v3Speechmatics
Streaming support✗✓
LiveKit plugin✗✗
Self-hostable✗✓
API styleREST (OpenAI-compatible)WebSocket streaming + REST
SDKsPython, Node.jsPython, Node.js

Verdict

Not Recommended

Groq Whisper Large v3

Same poor Arabic quality as the turbo variant. Whisper models on Groq are not viable for Arabic speech recognition.

Choose Groq Whisper Large v3 if you need:

    Pros
    • +Free tier available
    • +OpenAI-compatible API
    Cons
    • -Poor Arabic transcription quality
    • -Extreme latency variance (32ms–3.5s)
    • -No improvement over turbo variant for Arabic
    Not Recommended

    Speechmatics

    Amazingly fast but Arabic quality is too poor for production. The speed advantage is meaningless when users have to repeat themselves.

    Choose Speechmatics if you need:

    • Speed-only use cases where quality doesn't matter
    Pros
    • +Lightning-fast endpointing (0-460ms)
    • +Self-hosting option available
    • +Configurable latency/quality tradeoff
    Cons
    • -Poor Arabic transcription quality
    • -Users had to repeat themselves
    • -Quality issues negate speed advantage

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Which is faster for Arabic speech-to-text, Groq Whisper Large v3 or Speechmatics?

    Groq Whisper Large v3 is faster with an average end-of-utterance delay of 32ms–3494ms, which is 428ms faster than Speechmatics.

    Which has better Arabic transcription quality, Groq Whisper Large v3 or Speechmatics?

    Groq Whisper Large v3 has a quality rating of 1/5 (Poor). Described as 'still shit' in production testing. Non-turbo version did not improve quality.

    Is Groq Whisper Large v3 or Speechmatics better for production voice agents?

    Both providers are viable options. Groq Whisper Large v3: Same poor Arabic quality as the turbo variant. Whisper models on Groq are not viable for Arabic speech recognition. Speechmatics: Amazingly fast but Arabic quality is too poor for production. The speed advantage is meaningless when users have to repeat themselves.

    How does Groq Whisper Large v3 pricing compare to Speechmatics?

    Groq Whisper Large v3 starts at $0 per minute (Rate-limited free tier). Speechmatics starts at $0.0042 per minute (Real-time streaming).