Media Processing vs Deepgram
Deepgram is a speech API built for speed and voice agents, with real-time streaming and its Nova and Flux models. Media Processing is a media toolkit: transcription and subtitles next to video and image processing, in the browser and over one API. Here is where each one is the better pick.
Side by side
| Media Processing | Deepgram | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | From $9/month for 1,500 bonuses; at most 30 bonuses per file | $0.0043–$0.0052 per minute ($0.26–$0.31 per hour), Nova-3 batch |
| What you pay for | Processing time per file: 2 bonuses, +1 per extra minute, capped at 30 | Per minute of audio |
| Free to start | A daily free allowance, no card | $200 credit, no card |
| Transcript formats | TXT, SRT, VTT, ASS, JSON | JSON; SRT/VTT through a separate open-source library |
| Captions burned into the video | Yes | No |
| Real-time (streaming) transcription | No | Yes |
| Speaker labels | No | Yes, included in batch |
| Languages | About 100 (Whisper), with auto-detection | 50+ (Nova-3), plus a 10-language multilingual mode |
| Longest file | 3 hours of media on paid plans, 30 minutes free | 2 GB per file |
| Browser app for people who don't code | Yes | Developer playground only |
| Video and image tools in the same API | Yes | No |
Where Deepgram is the better pick
- Real-time streaming and models built for voice agents.
- Speaker labels included in batch transcription.
- $200 of free credit to test with.
Where Media Processing is the better pick
- Subtitle files straight from the API — SRT, VTT, ASS — and captions burned into the video.
- Video and image tools and a browser studio in the same product.
- One price per file with a hard cap: however long it runs, a file never costs more than 30 bonuses.
Prices and features checked on 2026-10-07 from each vendor's public pages. Prices change — check the sources before you decide.
Sources: deepgram.com · developers.deepgram.com · developers.deepgram.com · github.com
Same thing over the API
One header, one multipart request with the file, then poll the job or take a webhook. The same operation you just tried in the browser.
Questions
Is Media Processing cheaper than Deepgram?
Deepgram's Nova-3 batch costs $0.0043–$0.0052 per minute of audio, about $0.26–$0.31 an hour. Media Processing charges by processing time with a cap of 30 bonuses per file — about $0.12–$0.18 at most on the monthly plans for a file of up to three hours. For long files the cap is usually cheaper; Deepgram's $200 free credit goes a long way for testing.
Does Media Processing transcribe in real time?
No — files only. For voice agents and live captions, Deepgram's streaming models are built for exactly that.
Do I get subtitle files directly?
Yes — ask the transcription operation for SRT, VTT or ASS, or burn captions into the video. Deepgram returns JSON and offers a separate open-source library to build captions from it.
How hard is it to switch?
Both are REST APIs: send a file, poll the job or take a webhook, download the result. With Media Processing the same key also handles video and image processing.