Speechmatics Free Plan 2026: What's Included & What's Not
Honest breakdown of the free tier limits and features
Speechmatics uses custom pricing as of June 2026 with 3 plans available. Contact Speechmatics directly for a personalized quote. Plan: Free (free). Enterprise pricing is available on request. Pricing depends on your chosen tier, contract length, and negotiated discounts.
Use the interactive pricing calculator to estimate your exact cost based on team size and requirements.
- Free tier: Yes
Speechmatics offers 3 pricing tiers: Free, Pro, Enterprise. The Pro plan is growing companies needing higher concurrency, volume discounts, and bolt-on features (translation, summaries, sentiment) for production transcription workloads.
Yes, Speechmatics offers a freemium plan as of June 2026. The free tier includes 13 features with limits on real-time stt and batch stt. Pricing verified from 5 sources by CostBench.
Speechmatics offers a freemium model with limited features; upgrade to unlock more.
What's Included in the Free Plan
- 240 minutes/month free Real-time Speech-to-Text (resets monthly)
- 240 minutes/month free Batch Speech-to-Text (resets monthly)
- 1 million characters/month free Text-to-Speech (~20 hours, English only)
- 55+ languages including English, Spanish, French, German, Mandarin
- 2 concurrent real-time sessions
- 1 batch job per second
- 3 concurrent Voice Agent conversations
- Per-second billing precision (no rounding up)
- No credit card required to start
- Multi-region cloud (US, EU, or Australia)
- Standard and Enhanced accuracy models
- Speaker diarization, custom dictionary, language identification
- Community support via documentation
Free Plan Limits
| Limit | Free Plan | Paid Plans |
|---|---|---|
| Real-time STT | 240 minutes/month (resets monthly) | Unlimited/Higher |
| Batch STT | 240 minutes/month (resets monthly) | Unlimited/Higher |
| Text-to-Speech | 1 million characters/month (English only) | Unlimited/Higher |
| Concurrency | 2 real-time sessions | Unlimited/Higher |
| Batch rate | 1 job per second | Unlimited/Higher |
| Voice Agent | 3 concurrent conversations | Unlimited/Higher |
| Support | Documentation only (no email support) | Unlimited/Higher |
| SLA | None | Unlimited/Higher |
You'll Need to Upgrade When...
- You exceed the user limit
- You need features like advanced automation
- You require premium support or SLA guarantees
- You need to remove branding or watermarks
- You need advanced integrations or API access
Hidden Restrictions on Free Plan
- Speechmatics branding may appear on your content or communications
- Support is limited to community forums or email with longer response times
- Export options may be restricted or include watermarks
- API access is typically limited or not available
- Advanced reporting and analytics require paid plans
Free vs Paid: Which Do You Need?
Free Plan is Enough If...
- You're an individual or very small team
- You need only basic features
- You don't mind usage limits
- Branding on output is acceptable
- Community support is sufficient
You Need Paid If...
- Your team is growing beyond limits
- You need advanced features
- Professional branding is required
- You need priority support
- Integrations/API access is critical
Frequently Asked Questions
01 Is Speechmatics free?
Yes, Speechmatics offers a freemium plan with 13 core features included. However, there are limits on real-time stt, batch stt that may require upgrading.
02 What's included in Speechmatics's free plan?
Speechmatics's free plan includes: 240 minutes/month free Real-time Speech-to-Text (resets monthly), 240 minutes/month free Batch Speech-to-Text (resets monthly), 1 million characters/month free Text-to-Speech (~20 hours, English only), 55+ languages including English, Spanish, French, German, Mandarin, 2 concurrent real-time sessions, and 8 more features. Key limits include Real-time STT: 240 minutes/month (resets monthly), Batch STT: 240 minutes/month (resets monthly), Text-to-Speech: 1 million characters/month (English only).
03 What's NOT included in Speechmatics's free plan?
The free plan excludes: advanced features, premium support, and higher limits. You'll also have Speechmatics branding and limited support options.
04 When should I upgrade from Speechmatics's free plan?
Consider upgrading when: you hit user or storage limits, need features like advanced automation, require premium support, or want to remove branding. The cheapest paid plan starts at $0/minute.
05 Is Speechmatics's free plan really free forever?
Yes, Speechmatics's free plan is available indefinitely with no time limit. However, feature and usage limits may restrict what you can do without upgrading to a paid plan.