Arabic Speech-to-Text Comparison

Soniox STT RT v3vsGroq Whisper Large v3

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

Overview

Soniox STT RT v3

Good

High-quality Arabic STT with 44% lower WER than Google Chirp 3.

production testedstt-rt-v3

Groq Whisper Large v3

Not Recommended

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

production testedwhisper-large-v3

Latency

Soniox STT RT v3

Avg EOU Delay1678ms
Best Case773ms
Worst Case2718ms
Full turn time: 6000ms–8000ms

Groq Whisper Large v3

Avg EOU Delay32ms–3494ms
Best Case32ms
Worst Case3494ms

Quality

Soniox STT RT v3

Excellent
WER: 16.2%

Great quality transcription confirmed by user feedback. No repetitions needed. 44% more accurate than Google Chirp 3.

Gulf ArabicMSA

Groq Whisper Large v3

Poor

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

MSA

Features

FeatureSoniox STT RT v3Groq Whisper Large v3
Real-time streaming transcription✓✗
Language hints✓✗
Low word error rate✓✗
End-of-utterance detection✓✗
Hardware-accelerated inference✗✓
Full Whisper Large v3 model✗✓
Batch and real-time modes✗✓

Pricing

Soniox STT RT v3

Free tier
StandardReal-time streaming
$0.005per minute

Groq Whisper Large v3

Free tier
FreeRate-limited free tier
$0per minute

Streaming & Integration

CapabilitySoniox STT RT v3Groq Whisper Large v3
Streaming support✓✗
LiveKit plugin✗✗
Self-hostable✗✗
API styleWebSocket streamingREST (OpenAI-compatible)
SDKsPython, Node.jsPython, Node.js

Verdict

Good

Soniox STT RT v3

Previously the best option for Arabic STT. Excellent quality with 16.2% WER, but superseded by Deepgram Nova-3 which is 75% faster with comparable quality.

Choose Soniox STT RT v3 if you need:

  • Accuracy-critical applications
  • Arabic transcription quality
Pros
  • +Lowest WER for Arabic (16.2%)
  • +No user repetitions needed
  • +30% faster than Google Chirp 3
Cons
  • -Higher latency than Deepgram Nova-3 (1.7s vs 0.4s)
  • -No LiveKit plugin
  • -Limited SDK support
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

    Frequently Asked Questions

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

    Groq Whisper Large v3 is faster with an average end-of-utterance delay of 32ms–3494ms, which is 1646ms faster than Soniox STT RT v3.

    Which has better Arabic transcription quality, Soniox STT RT v3 or Groq Whisper Large v3?

    Soniox STT RT v3 has a quality rating of 5/5 (Excellent). Great quality transcription confirmed by user feedback. No repetitions needed. 44% more accurate than Google Chirp 3.

    Is Soniox STT RT v3 or Groq Whisper Large v3 better for production voice agents?

    Both providers are viable options. Soniox STT RT v3: Previously the best option for Arabic STT. Excellent quality with 16.2% WER, but superseded by Deepgram Nova-3 which is 75% faster with comparable quality. Groq Whisper Large v3: Same poor Arabic quality as the turbo variant. Whisper models on Groq are not viable for Arabic speech recognition.

    How does Soniox STT RT v3 pricing compare to Groq Whisper Large v3?

    Soniox STT RT v3 starts at $0.005 per minute (Real-time streaming). Groq Whisper Large v3 starts at $0 per minute (Rate-limited free tier).