Deepgram (Voice Agent API) pricing & cost
Developers wanting the cheapest reliable STT plus an integrated agent layer.
Entry price
$0 PAYG ($200 free credit)
AI usage rate
$0.075/min (std); $0.065 BYO-TTS; $0.163 advanced
Free tier
Yes — $200 credit (most generous), no card
Billing model
per-minute
Our verdict
The cost-sensitive, high-volume builder's pick — best free credit in the category, but mind the websocket-time billing.
Strengths
- Cheapest reliable STT (Nova-3)
- $200 free credit
- BYO-TTS path is cheapest
Watch-outs
- Billed on websocket connection time (idle may accrue)
- 'Advanced' tier doubles the rate
- LLM still your cost unless bundled
Who it's for
Developers wanting the cheapest reliable STT plus an integrated agent layer. Typically a fit for small, mid teams.
Sources
Deepgram (Voice Agent API) alternatives
Free ($0.14/min); Build $299/mo ($0.12/min); Scale $499/mo ($0.11/min)
The 'no surprises' option — its headline rate is roughly the real rate, which is rare; you pay a monthly fee for that predictability.
Cartesia (Line)Free; Pro $5/mo; Startup $49/mo
A strong low-latency voice layer for builders — but the $0.06/min Line figure is before LLM and STT, so model the full stack.
Dialpad (AI Agents)Phone from $15/user/mo; AI Agents = contact sales
Buy it for the phone system with AI baked in — the autonomous voice-agent product, though, is a contact-sales black box.
ElevenLabs (Agents)Free (15 agent min/mo); Creator $22/mo
Pick it when voice quality is the priority — just remember the bundled minutes don't include the LLM passthrough, and dead air bills.