Amazon Transcribe vs AssemblyAI

Amazon Transcribe9.3Visit AssemblyAI8.4Visit

Higher score Amazon Transcribe #1 in Transcription Software 9.3/10 Paid ✓ 3 of 3 features Visit Transcribe

vs

AssemblyAI #7 in Transcription Software 8.4/10 Paid ✓ 3 of 3 features Visit AssemblyAI

• Amazon Transcribe fits best

  AWS teams needing enterprise transcription

• AssemblyAI fits best

  Developers building speech products

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Side by side

Feature	Amazon Transcribe 9.3/10 Visit ↗	AssemblyAI 8.4/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.3	8.4
Ranking	#1 in Transcription Software	#7 in Transcription Software
Best for	AWS teams needing enterprise transcription	Developers building speech products
Pricing model	Paid	Paid
Starting price	$0.006/unit usage-based	$0.15/unit usage-based
Free plan	—	—
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud	Cloud, Self-hosted
Platforms	Web	Web
Support	Docs	Email, Live chat, Community, Docs
Integrations	4 integrations	20 integrations
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Amazon Transcribe 3/3 · AssemblyAI 3/3
Speaker identification	✓	✓
Timestamp support	✓	✓
API access	✓	✓
Specs
Languages supported	113 languages (best)	99 languages
Included minutes	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Export formats	JSON, WebVTT, SRT	SRT, VTT
Our review
Pros	$0.006 per minute for Standard Batch transcription Batch, real-time, diarization, redaction, and subtitle support Integrates with S3, AWS SDKs, CLI, HTTP, and WebSockets	Free plan includes up to 185 prerecorded hours and 333 streaming hours Supports 99 prerecorded transcription languages with Universal-2 Offers diarization, timestamps, subtitles, and speech-understanding models
Cons	No permanent free plan Rates vary by AWS Region Developer-focused API and web access may require implementation work	API-only access may not suit teams seeking a ready-made transcription app Pay-as-you-go costs scale with audio usage at $0.15 per hour Self-hosted deployment options are limited to eligible workloads
Our verdict	Amazon Transcribe is a managed automatic speech recognition service for developers and organizations that need to convert recorded or streaming speech into text. It supports applications involving customer calls, meetings, video,… Read the review →	AssemblyAI provides APIs for turning prerecorded and streaming audio into text and structured speech data. It is aimed at developers and organizations building voice applications, including meeting transcription, call analytics, AI… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Amazon Transcribe — where it wins

  • $0.006 per minute for Standard Batch transcription
  • Batch, real-time, diarization, redaction, and subtitle support
  • Integrates with S3, AWS SDKs, CLI, HTTP, and WebSockets

  Where it doesn't

  • No permanent free plan
  • Rates vary by AWS Region
  • Developer-focused API and web access may require implementation work

• AssemblyAI — where it wins

  • Free plan includes up to 185 prerecorded hours and 333 streaming hours
  • Supports 99 prerecorded transcription languages with Universal-2
  • Offers diarization, timestamps, subtitles, and speech-understanding models

  Where it doesn't

  • API-only access may not suit teams seeking a ready-made transcription app
  • Pay-as-you-go costs scale with audio usage at $0.15 per hour
  • Self-hosted deployment options are limited to eligible workloads

• Amazon Transcribe9.3/10 · Paid

  A low-cost AWS transcription service with broad workflow and analytics features.

  Visit TranscribeFull verdict →
• AssemblyAI8.4/10 · Paid

  A developer-focused transcription API with multilingual coverage, realtime audio, and usage-based pricing.

  Visit AssemblyAIFull verdict →