Cartesia AI vs Deepgram
Pure TTS streaming specialist vs comprehensive STT+TTS platform: Which fits your voice AI needs?
Cartesia AI
Voice samples
Natural Conversation
"what is 6 7 anyway?"
Gen Z Slang
"low-key that's such a vibe though"
Educational Content
"the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell, and also the only thing i remember from biology"
Deepgram
Voice samples
Natural Conversation
"what is 6 7 anyway?"
Gen Z Slang
"low-key that's such a vibe though"
Educational Content
"the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell, and also the only thing i remember from biology"
About Cartesia AI
Cartesia focuses on ultra-low-latency voice models for real-time agents. Its Sonic 3 streaming TTS emphasizes fast time-to-first-audio, fine-grained prosody control, and developer-friendly WebSocket/SSE APIs.
Sonic 3 (Streaming TTS)
Latest streaming model with industry-leading latency and controls for volume, speed, and emotion.
WebSocket & SSE APIs
Real-time synthesis via WebSocket/SSE with input-streaming to preserve prosody during incremental generation.
Speech-to-Text
Streaming STT for conversational agents that pair with Sonic in low-latency pipelines.
About Deepgram
Deepgram is a voice-AI platform known for STT accuracy and now ships Aura-2 TTS for real-time use plus a unified Voice Agent API that combines STT, TTS, and orchestration into one workflow. Developers can use REST and WebSocket endpoints for batch and streaming synthesis.
Speech-to-Text API
Streaming and batch transcription with multiple model families and SDKs.
Aura-2 Text-to-Speech
Enterprise-grade TTS with sub-200 ms TTFB in streaming scenarios and REST/WebSocket support.
Voice Agent API
Unified API that stitches STT, TTS, and LLM orchestration for real-time agents.
Streaming TTS
WebSocket-based streaming synthesis for low-latency conversational apps.
Transparent Pricing Comparison
Compare pricing and value
Provider
Price per Character
Estimate per Minute*
Estimate per Hour*
Deepgram
$0.00003
$0.04
$2.24
Cartesia AI
$0.00004
$0.05
$2.93
*this is a best guess estimate
Pricing Summary
Deepgram offers approximately 25% lower TTS pricing than Cartesia AI as part of their comprehensive speech platform that excels at transcription. Cartesia specializes in ultra-low latency TTS with sub-90ms performance. Both platforms offer real-time streaming. For best results: use Deepgram's industry-leading STT for transcription alongside your choice of TTS; choose Deepgram's unified Voice Agent API for all-in-one simplicity at lower cost; choose Cartesia for fastest possible TTS latency.
All-in-One Platform or Specialized Speed?
Compare STT+TTS integration, latency, and pricing to choose your ideal voice platform.