Head-to-head · facts checked 21 Sept 2026
AssemblyAI vs Sonix
AssemblyAI uniquely has 5 features · Sonix uniquely has 3 features.
From
$0.15/hr (pay as you go)
Free plan
No
From
$10/hr pay as you go, or $25/mo (Core)
Free plan
No
The verdict
AssemblyAI or Sonix?
Section 01
Pricing, plan by plan
Every plan each vendor publishes, monthly and yearly where both are offered.
AssemblyAI
Free Tier
Free
Up to 185 hours pre-recorded transcription and 333 hours streaming transcription, no credit card required
Universal-3.5 Pro
$0.15/hr
Highly accurate STT model, 99 languages, 12.5M+ hours training data, no minimum commitment
Universal-3.5 Pro
$0.21/hr
Most accurate async STT model, 18 languages, native code-switching, best-in-class speaker diarization
Enterprise / Custom
Custom
Custom rate limits, enhanced concurrency, enterprise-grade flexibility, volume discounts, AWS Marketplace available
Sonix
Pay As You Go
$10/hr
No subscription; pay per audio hour; 5 GB storage; single-user; no AI workspace
Core
$25/mo · $275/yr
5 hrs/mo transcription & translation; 5 hrs/mo AI workspace; 25 GB storage; 1 user
Advanced
$50/mo · $550/yr
20 hrs/mo transcription & translation; 25 hrs/mo AI workspace; 50 GB storage; 1 user
Pro
$80/mo · $880/yr
40 hrs/mo transcription & translation; 100 hrs/mo AI workspace; 100 GB storage; 1 user
Enterprise
Custom
Everything in Pro plus SOC 2, HIPAA, SSO/SCIM, audit logs, 1 TB storage, unlimited members, dedicated account manager
For everything else about each tool, read the full AssemblyAI review and Sonix review.
Side by side
| Company | ||
| Founded | 2017 | 2017 |
| HQ | San Francisco, USA | San Francisco, USA |
| AI model | Universal-3.5 Pro (Proprietary) | Proprietary ASR + Neural MT |
| User base | Millions of developers | 6.2M+ |
| Platforms | Web | Web |
| Languages | 99 (Universal-2), 18 (Universal-3.5 Pro) | 54+ |
| Pricing | ||
| Pricing model | Usage-based | Subscription |
| Free plan | No | No |
| Free trial | No | Yes — 30 minutes, no credit card required |
| Starting price | $0.15/hr (pay as you go) | $10/hr pay as you go, or $25/mo (Core) |
| Enterprise | Custom pricing with custom rate limits, enhanced concurrency, and enterprise-grade flexibility | Custom pricing |
| All plans | Free Tier — Free Universal-3.5 Pro — $0.15/hr Universal-3.5 Pro — $0.21/hr Enterprise / Custom — Custom | Pay As You Go — $10/hr Core — $25/mo Advanced — $50/mo Pro — $80/mo Enterprise — Custom |
| Positioning | ||
| Best for | Developers who want low per-hour transcription with redaction, word timestamps and a self-hosted option | Research, legal and media teams who want an editor synced to the audio and exports into NVivo or Premiere Pro |
| Differentiator | Native code switching and highly accurate speaker diarization; async speech-to-text trained on 12.5M+ hours of audio | SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA-compliant transcription with 99% accuracy across 54+ languages, purpose-built for regulated industries like healthcare and legal |
| Competitors | Deepgram, OpenAI Whisper, Google Speech-to-Text, Amazon Transcribe, Rev.ai | Otter.ai, Rev.com, Descript, Trint, Happy Scribe |
| Features | ||
| Async Speech to Text | ✓ | — |
| Async Transcription | ✓ | — |
| Code Switching | ✓ | — |
| Multi Language Support | ✓ | — |
| Speaker Diarization | ✓ | — |
| API Access | ✓ | ✓ |
| Audio Enhancement | ✕ | ✕ |
| Batch Processing | ✓ | ✓ |
| Commercial Rights | ✓ | ✓ |
| Languages Supported | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mobile App | ✕ | ✓ |
| Music Generation | ✕ | ✕ |
| Noise Removal | ✕ | ✕ |
| Podcast Editing | ✕ | ✓ |
| Text to Speech | ✕ | ✕ |
| Transcription | ✓ | ✓ |
| Voice Cloning | ✕ | ✕ |
| Voice Styles | ✕ | ✕ |
| Integrations | ||
| Adobe Audition | ✕ | ✕ |
| API Access | ✓ | ✓ |
| Garageband | ✕ | ✕ |
| Key Integrations | AWS Marketplace, GPT (LLM Gateway), Claude (LLM Gateway), Gemini (LLM Gateway), Community LLM Models, Python SDK, REST API, WebSocket Streaming API | Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Webex, Zapier, Adobe Premiere |
| Zapier | — | ✓ |
Section 02
AssemblyAI vs Sonix: common questions
Is AssemblyAI or Sonix cheaper?
AssemblyAI's cheapest paid plan is $0.15/hr (pay as you go) and Sonix's is $10/hr pay as you go, or $25/mo (Core). Compare what each plan includes below before going on price alone.
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