Grok Speech (STT + TTS APIs)
No free tier
- Speech to Text (batch)$0.10/per hour
- Speech to Text (streaming)$0.20/per hour
- Text to Speech$4.20/per 1M characters

Grok Speech (STT + TTS APIs)
Our pickGPT-Live (ChatGPT Voice)
GPT-Live-1 / GPT-Live-1 mini (delegating to GPT-5.5 Instant/Thinking)
Tier-list head-to-head. GPT-Live (ChatGPT Voice) takes the A-tier slot — here's the breakdown.
Spec sheet
| Tier | A-tier | A-tierwin |
| Overall score | 8.1 / 10 | 8.6 / 10win |
| Powered by | — | GPT-Live-1 / GPT-Live-1 mini (delegating to GPT-5.5 Instant/Thinking) |
| Free tier | No | Yeswin |
| Starting price | $0.10 | $0 extra |
| Best for | Developers building voice agents, real-time transcription tools, accessibility features, or high-volume TTS… | Anyone who talks to ChatGPT -- commute Q&A, language practice, hands-free help, kids' stories. |
| Last reviewed | 2026-07-07 | 2026-07-09 |
Head-to-head
Rated 1-10 on the same rubric across all 130 tools we cover.
What you'll pay
Look past the headline number -- entry-tier limits drive most cost surprises.
No free tier
Free tier available
The decision
Use-case anchors and category strengths, side by side.
Developers building voice agents, real-time transcription tools, accessibility features, or high-volume TTS workloads where the cost per hour of audio actually matters at scale. Strong fit for phone-call and meeting transcription use cases where xAI's published WER advantage (5.0% on phone-call entities vs. ElevenLabs 12.0%) compounds quickly.
Visit Grok Speech (STT + TTS APIs)Anyone who talks to ChatGPT -- commute Q&A, language practice, hands-free help, kids' stories. It's the new default, free with every tier, and the conversational feel is the best shipping voice AI experience right now.
Visit GPT-Live (ChatGPT Voice)Bottom line
GPT-Live (ChatGPT Voice) edges out Grok Speech (STT + TTS APIs) by 0.5 points (8.6 vs 8.1) -- a A-tier vs A-tier split that's narrow but real. Not a blowout; both belong on a shortlist. The score gap shows up most clearly in the categories that matter for GPT-Live (ChatGPT Voice)'s strengths, so if those categories are your priority, the lead translates.
On pricing, GPT-Live (ChatGPT Voice) starts free while Grok Speech (STT + TTS APIs) requires a paid plan from day one ($0.10+). If you're testing the waters or running an occasional workload, that gap matters more than the score differential. Grok Speech (STT + TTS APIs) starts at $0.10; GPT-Live (ChatGPT Voice) starts at $0 extra. Compare what each entry tier actually unlocks before you compare list prices -- the limits matter more than the headline number.
By use case: pick Grok Speech (STT + TTS APIs) when developers building voice agents, real-time transcription tools, accessibility features, or high-volume tts workloads where the cost per hour of audio actually matters at scale. Pick GPT-Live (ChatGPT Voice) when anyone who talks to chatgpt -- commute q&a, language practice, hands-free help, kids' stories. The two tools aren't fighting for the same person -- they're aiming at adjacent jobs that occasionally overlap. If you're squarely in GPT-Live (ChatGPT Voice)'s lane, the tier-list ranking and the use-case fit point the same direction; if you're in Grok Speech (STT + TTS APIs)'s lane, the score gap matters less than the fit.
Bottom line: GPT-Live (ChatGPT Voice) is the safer default for most readers, but Grok Speech (STT + TTS APIs) is competitive enough that the tie-breaker is your specific workload, not the spec sheet.
Keep digging
Full Grok Speech (STT + TTS APIs) review
Tier A · 8.1/10
Full GPT-Live (ChatGPT Voice) review
Tier A · 8.6/10
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Built from our daily AI-tool sweep, last touched July 9, 2026. Honest tier-list reviews — no affiliate-link pieces disguised as advice. See the rubric or how we review.