Arabic Speech-to-Text Comparison

SpeechmaticsvsMistral Voxtral Mini

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

Overview

Speechmatics

Not Recommended

Ultra-fast Arabic STT with poor transcription quality.

production testedstandard

Mistral Voxtral Mini

Non-functional

Mistral's speech model — completely non-functional for Arabic.

production testedvoxtral-mini-latest

Latency

Speechmatics

Avg EOU Delay460ms
Best Case0ms
Worst Case806ms

Mistral Voxtral Mini

Avg EOU Delay
N/A
Best Case
N/A
Worst Case
N/A

Quality

Speechmatics

Poor

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

MSA

Mistral Voxtral Mini

Non-functional

Produced zero transcriptions for Arabic audio. Tested with and without explicit language parameter.

Features

FeatureSpeechmaticsMistral Voxtral Mini
Real-time streaming transcription✓✗
Configurable endpointing✓✗
Standard and enhanced operating points✓✗
Custom dictionary✓✗
Multilingual speech recognition (claimed)✗✓
Audio understanding✗✓

Pricing

Speechmatics

Free tier
StandardReal-time streaming
$0.0042per minute

Mistral Voxtral Mini

Free tier
APIMistral API pricing
Usage-basedper request

Streaming & Integration

CapabilitySpeechmaticsMistral Voxtral Mini
Streaming support✓✗
LiveKit plugin✗✗
Self-hostable✓✗
API styleWebSocket streaming + RESTREST
SDKsPython, Node.jsPython, Node.js

Verdict

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
Non-functional

Mistral Voxtral Mini

Does not work for Arabic at all. Zero transcriptions produced in testing despite claiming multilingual support.

Choose Mistral Voxtral Mini if you need:

    Pros
    • +Part of Mistral ecosystem
    Cons
    • -Completely non-functional for Arabic
    • -Zero output despite audio processing
    • -Misleading multilingual claims

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Which has better Arabic transcription quality, Speechmatics or Mistral Voxtral Mini?

    Speechmatics has a quality rating of 1/5 (Poor). Users had to repeat themselves frequently. Quality unacceptable for production use.

    Is Speechmatics or Mistral Voxtral Mini better for production voice agents?

    Both providers are viable options. Speechmatics: Amazingly fast but Arabic quality is too poor for production. The speed advantage is meaningless when users have to repeat themselves. Mistral Voxtral Mini: Does not work for Arabic at all. Zero transcriptions produced in testing despite claiming multilingual support.

    How does Speechmatics pricing compare to Mistral Voxtral Mini?

    Speechmatics starts at $0.0042 per minute (Real-time streaming). Mistral Voxtral Mini starts at Usage-based per request (Mistral API pricing).