Compare ยท Saidwire vs Soniox
Saidwire vs Soniox for voice agents
On Coval's public benchmark, Wire-1 by Saidwire returns the final transcript 35 ms on average after the end of speech (Coval, last measured Nov 10, 2026), and Soniox's quickest listed model, STT RT v5, takes 49 ms (Coval, last measured Nov 10, 2026). The two are close on error rate, with Soniox slightly ahead: STT RT v6 measures 3.6% against 3.7% for Wire-1 (Coval, last measured Nov 10, 2026). Choose Soniox if price per hour is your main concern, or you need translation or more than English; choose Saidwire if the wait before your agent can answer matters most and your callers speak English.
Speed and accuracy
Every Soniox speech-to-text model Coval lists, next to Wire-1. Lower is better in both columns.
| Model | Mean time to final segment | Word error rate | Source and date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wire-1 (Saidwire) | 35 ms | 3.7% | Coval, last measured Nov 10, 2026 |
| STT RT v5 (Soniox) | 49 ms | 4.7% | Coval, last measured Nov 10, 2026 |
| STT RT v6 (Soniox) | 58 ms | 3.6% | Coval, last measured Nov 10, 2026 |
Listed price
| List price | Source and date | |
|---|---|---|
| Saidwire Wire-1 | $0.25 per audio hour, billed per second; $0.15 for voice platforms and founding customers; 120 free hours, no card | Saidwire pricing |
| Soniox: Real-time (streaming) speech-to-text | about $0.12 per hour | Soniox pricing page, read Nov 10, 2026 |
Where Soniox is the better choice
- Price: its pricing page gives about $0.12 per hour for real-time, below Saidwire's $0.25 list price. (Soniox pricing page, read Nov 10, 2026)
- STT RT v6 is slightly more accurate on Coval's page: 3.6% against 3.7% for Wire-1. (Coval, last measured Nov 10, 2026)
- Its pricing page also covers translation and text-to-speech. Saidwire sells English speech-to-text only. (Soniox pricing page, read Nov 10, 2026)
Where Saidwire is the better choice
- Time to final transcript: 35 ms on average and 50 ms at the 95th percentile, 1st of 29 (Coval, last measured Nov 10, 2026). STT RT v5 from Soniox measures 49 ms on average (Coval, last measured Nov 10, 2026).
- A long free trial: 120 audio hours with no card and no deadline, on up to 4 streams at once.
- Audio is processed in memory and never stored, and transcripts are not logged (security and data).
Switching
If your agent runs on Pipecat, LiveKit Agents or Vapi, switching is a one-line change: see the Pipecat, LiveKit and Vapi guides. With your own client, connect to wss://api.saidwire.com/v1/listen.
Test both on your own audio
Stream the same call through each API and time the gap between the end of speech and the final result. The Saidwire side: Get a free Saidwire key at saidwire.com/dev.
# pip install websockets (Python 3.10+)
import asyncio, json, os
from websockets.asyncio.client import connect
URL = ("wss://api.saidwire.com/v1/listen?encoding=linear16&sample_rate=16000"
"&interim_results=true&punctuate=true&endpointing=false")
async def run(frames): # frames: 20-100 ms chunks of 16-bit PCM
headers = {"Authorization": f"Token {os.environ['SAIDWIRE_API_KEY']}"}
async with connect(URL, additional_headers=headers) as ws:
async def read():
async for raw in ws:
m = json.loads(raw)
if m.get("type") == "Results":
text = m["channel"]["alternatives"][0]["transcript"]
print("final " if m["is_final"] else "interim", text)
reader = asyncio.create_task(read())
async for chunk in frames:
await ws.send(chunk)
# your turn detector says the user stopped: ask for the final now
await ws.send(json.dumps({"type": "Finalize"}))
await ws.send(json.dumps({"type": "CloseStream"}))
await readerTest Soniox with your own Soniox account and its SDK, under its terms. We do not run or publish tests of other vendors.
How to read these numbers
- Who measured. Speed and error-rate figures are Coval's, from its public benchmark pages. Coval runs every model daily on the same audio and starts every timer from one shared end-of-speech point. Saidwire ran none of these tests and does not test other vendors.
- Time to final segment is the wait between the end of speech and the final transcript: the wait a voice agent has before it can answer. It leaves out your network round trip and each vendor's own turn-detection delay.
- Word error rate is the share of words a transcript gets wrong on Coval's test audio. Your audio will differ.
- Prices are list prices read from each vendor's public pricing page on Nov 10, 2026. Plans, discounts and add-ons change them; the vendor's page is the authority.
- What Coval leaves out. Coval does not score every model, language, add-on or setting a vendor offers, and it says so on each provider page. Features such as speaker labels, translation and language coverage are not part of these two numbers.
- Figures roll daily. Each row links to the page it came from, with that page's date.
Questions
Which returns the final transcript sooner, Saidwire or Soniox?
On Coval's public benchmark, Saidwire: Wire-1 measures 35 ms mean time to final segment (Coval, last measured Nov 10, 2026) and Soniox's STT RT v5 measures 49 ms (Coval, last measured Nov 10, 2026).
Which is more accurate, Saidwire or Soniox?
On Coval's public benchmark, Soniox (STT RT v6, 3.6%; Wire-1 measures 3.7%). Sources: Coval, last measured Nov 10, 2026 for Soniox; Coval, last measured Nov 10, 2026 for Saidwire.
How do the prices compare?
Saidwire lists $0.25 per audio hour. Soniox lists Real-time (streaming) speech-to-text at about $0.12 per hour (Soniox pricing page, read Nov 10, 2026).
When should I pick Soniox instead?
When price per hour is your main concern, or you need translation or more than English.
Questions or stuck? Email support@saidwire.com. Saidwire LLC, 215 W Pershing Rd Ste 403 PMB 1093, Kansas City MO 64108.
Soniox and the other names on this page belong to their respective owners. They are named only to describe compatibility or to compare public figures; no partnership or endorsement is implied. Coval benchmark figures are from Coval's public pages; Coval does not endorse Saidwire.