Arabic Speech-to-Text Comparison

Soniox STT RT v3vsGroq Whisper Large v3 Turbo

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 Turbo

Not Recommended

Fast Whisper inference on Groq hardware — poor Arabic quality with inconsistent latency.

production testedwhisper-large-v3-turbo

Latency

Soniox STT RT v3

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

Groq Whisper Large v3 Turbo

Avg EOU Delay284ms–3388ms
Best Case284ms
Worst Case3388ms

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 Turbo

Poor

Described as 'horrible' transcription quality for Arabic in production testing.

MSA

Features

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

Pricing

Soniox STT RT v3

Free tier
StandardReal-time streaming
$0.005per minute

Groq Whisper Large v3 Turbo

Free tier
FreeRate-limited free tier
$0per minute

Streaming & Integration

CapabilitySoniox STT RT v3Groq Whisper Large v3 Turbo
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 Excellent quality with 16.2% WER, but superseded by Deepgram Nova-3 which is 75% faster with comparable quality.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 Turbo

Groq's fast hardware can't compensate for Whisper's poor Arabic handling. Quality is unacceptable and latency is too inconsistent for voice agents.

Choose Groq Whisper Large v3 Turbo if you need:

    Pros
    • +Free tier available
    • +OpenAI-compatible API
    • +Fast hardware acceleration
    Cons
    • -Horrible Arabic transcription quality
    • -Wildly inconsistent latency (0.3s–3.4s)
    • -Not suitable for real-time streaming

    Frequently Asked Questions

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

    Groq Whisper Large v3 Turbo is faster with an average end-of-utterance delay of 284ms–3388ms, which is 1394ms faster than Soniox STT RT v3.

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

    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 Turbo 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 Turbo: Groq's fast hardware can't compensate for Whisper's poor Arabic handling. Quality is unacceptable and latency is too inconsistent for voice agents.

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

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