Question 1

How much does Whisper transcription cost?

Accepted Answer

Whisper API costs $0.006 per minute of audio transcribed. For example, a 60-minute podcast costs $0.36 to transcribe. This is much cheaper than manual transcription services which typically cost $1-3 per minute. Our calculator helps you estimate costs for any audio duration.

Question 2

What's the difference between STT and TTS?

Accepted Answer

STT (Speech-to-Text) converts audio to text - like transcribing podcasts or meetings. TTS (Text-to-Speech) converts text to audio - like generating voiceovers or audiobooks. STT is charged per minute of audio, while TTS is charged per 1,000 characters of text.

Question 3

How much does text-to-speech cost?

Accepted Answer

TTS pricing: TTS-1 costs $15.00 per 1M characters, TTS-1-HD costs $30.00 per 1M characters. HD is 2x more expensive but provides higher quality voice synthesis. For example, a 100,000-character book costs $1.50 (TTS-1) or $3.00 (TTS-1-HD).

Question 4

Is AI transcription cheaper than manual transcription?

Accepted Answer

Yes, significantly! Whisper API costs $0.006 per minute ($0.36 for 60 minutes), while manual transcription services cost $1-3 per minute ($60-180 for 60 minutes). AI transcription is 100-500x cheaper, though it may require some editing for accuracy.

Question 5

How do I estimate TTS costs for an audiobook?

Accepted Answer

Estimate TTS costs by counting characters in your book text. Average book: 100,000-150,000 words = 500,000-750,000 characters. At TTS-1 pricing ($15 per 1M characters), a 500K character book costs $7.50. Use our calculator to enter character count and see exact costs.

Speech Cost Calculator - STT/TTS Pricing for Whisper, Google Cloud & Voice AI

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