hyprvoice/docs/providers.md

Provider Comparison Guide

This guide helps you choose the right transcription provider for your use case.

Transcription Providers

Provider	Type	Models	Languages	Streaming	Speed	Quality	Cost
OpenAI	Cloud	4	57	Yes	Fast	Excellent	$0.006/min
Groq	Cloud	3	57 (1 EN-only)	No	Very Fast	Excellent	Free tier
Mistral	Cloud	2	57	No	Fast	Good	Pay per use
ElevenLabs	Cloud	4	57+	Yes	Fast	Excellent	Pay per use
Deepgram	Cloud	4	33-42	Yes	Very Fast	Excellent	Pay per use
whisper-cpp	Local	9	57 (4 EN-only)	No	Varies	Excellent	Free

OpenAI

The original Whisper provider. Reliable and well-documented.

Models:

• whisper-1 - Production speech-to-text (batch)
• gpt-4o-transcribe - High quality with GPT-4o (batch)
• gpt-4o-mini-transcribe - Faster with GPT-4o Mini (batch)
• gpt-4o-realtime-preview - Real-time streaming

Best for: General use, high accuracy requirements, streaming needs

Groq

Extremely fast inference using specialized hardware. OpenAI-compatible API.

Models:

• whisper-large-v3 - Full Whisper v3, best accuracy
• whisper-large-v3-turbo - Faster with slightly lower accuracy
• distil-whisper-large-v3-en - English only, fastest option

Best for: Speed-critical applications, English-only use cases, budget-conscious users

Mistral

European provider with Voxtral transcription models.

Models:

• voxtral-mini-latest - Latest Voxtral, recommended
• voxtral-mini-2507 - Stable version from July 2025

Best for: European data residency requirements, Mistral ecosystem users

ElevenLabs

Known for voice synthesis, also offers excellent transcription via Scribe.

Models:

• scribe_v1 - 90+ languages, best accuracy (batch)
• scribe_v2 - Lower latency, real-time optimized (batch)
• scribe_v1-streaming - Real-time transcription
• scribe_v2-streaming - Real-time with <150ms latency

Best for: Applications needing both TTS and STT, ultra-low latency streaming

Deepgram

Streaming-first provider with Nova models. Excellent for real-time applications.

Models:

• nova-3 - Best accuracy, 42 languages
• nova-3-general - Same as nova-3
• nova-2 - Fast, 33 languages, filler word detection
• nova-2-general - Same as nova-2

Language Support: Nova-3 supports 42 languages, Nova-2 supports 33 languages. Not all 57 languages from the master list are available.

Best for: Real-time transcription, live captions, meeting transcription

whisper-cpp (Local)

Run Whisper models locally on your machine. No API keys, no network latency, complete privacy.

Requires: whisper-cli binary installed on your system.

English-only models (faster):

Model	Size	Speed	Quality
tiny.en	75MB	Fastest	Basic
base.en	142MB	Fast	Good
small.en	466MB	Medium	Better
medium.en	1.5GB	Slow	Best EN

Multilingual models:

Model	Size	Speed	Quality
tiny	75MB	Fastest	Basic
base	142MB	Fast	Good
small	466MB	Medium	Better
medium	1.5GB	Slow	Great
large-v3	3GB	Slowest	Best

Best for: Privacy-sensitive applications, offline use, avoiding API costs

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LLM Providers

Used for post-processing transcriptions (formatting, summarization, etc.)

Provider	Models	Quality	Cost
OpenAI	gpt-4o, gpt-4o-mini	Excellent	Pay per token
Groq	llama-3.3-70b, llama-3.1-8b, mixtral-8x7b	Good-Excellent	Free tier

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Choosing a Provider

Decision Flowchart

Need complete privacy?
├─ Yes → whisper-cpp (local)
└─ No
   └─ Need real-time streaming?
      ├─ Yes
      │  └─ Latency critical (<150ms)?
      │     ├─ Yes → ElevenLabs scribe_v2-streaming
      │     └─ No → Deepgram nova-3 or OpenAI realtime
      └─ No (batch)
         └─ Need fastest response?
            ├─ Yes
            │  └─ English only?
            │     ├─ Yes → Groq distil-whisper-large-v3-en
            │     └─ No → Groq whisper-large-v3-turbo
            └─ No
               └─ Need highest accuracy?
                  ├─ Yes → OpenAI gpt-4o-transcribe or Groq whisper-large-v3
                  └─ No → OpenAI whisper-1 (reliable default)

Quick Recommendations

Use Case	Recommended Provider	Model
General dictation	OpenAI	whisper-1
Fast English	Groq	distil-whisper-large-v3-en
Fast multilingual	Groq	whisper-large-v3-turbo
Live captions	Deepgram	nova-3
Ultra-low latency	ElevenLabs	scribe_v2-streaming
Offline/privacy	whisper-cpp	base.en or base
High accuracy	OpenAI	gpt-4o-transcribe

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Language Support

All providers support auto-detect mode (recommended for most users) which automatically identifies the spoken language.

Full Language Support (57 languages)

OpenAI, Groq (except distil model), Mistral, ElevenLabs, and whisper-cpp multilingual models support all 57 languages:

Afrikaans, Arabic, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Belarusian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, Galician, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Kannada, Kazakh, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Malay, Marathi, Maori, Nepali, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog, Tamil, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese, Welsh

English-Only Models

These models only support English but are faster:

Provider	Model
Groq	distil-whisper-large-v3-en
whisper-cpp	tiny.en, base.en, small.en, medium.en

If you select an English-only model with a non-English language, hyprvoice will:

1. At config time: Show an error and prevent saving
2. At runtime: Fall back to auto-detect with a warning notification

Deepgram Language Support

Deepgram Nova models support a subset of languages:

Nova-3 (42 languages): Arabic, Belarusian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Kannada, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Malay, Marathi, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Tagalog, Tamil, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese

Nova-2 (33 languages): Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Malay, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese

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Streaming vs Batch

Batch Transcription

• Send complete audio file
• Wait for full transcription
• Higher accuracy
• Better for: recordings, file processing, dictation

Streaming Transcription

• Send audio chunks in real-time
• Get partial results immediately
• Lower latency
• Better for: live captions, voice commands, interactive apps

Streaming providers: OpenAI (realtime model), ElevenLabs, Deepgram

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Local vs Cloud

Cloud Providers

Pros:

• No setup required
• Always up-to-date models
• Scales automatically
• Professional support

Cons:

• Requires internet connection
• API costs
• Data leaves your machine
• Potential latency

Local (whisper-cpp)

Pros:

• Complete privacy
• No API costs
• Works offline
• No network latency
• Your data stays on your machine

Cons:

• Requires setup (install whisper-cli)
• Need to download models (75MB-3GB)
• Uses local CPU/GPU resources
• Slower on modest hardware

When to Choose Local

• Sensitive data (medical, legal, personal)
• Offline environments
• High-volume use (avoiding API costs)
• Privacy-first applications
• Air-gapped systems

When to Choose Cloud

• Quick setup needed
• Best accuracy required
• Real-time streaming
• Light/occasional use
• Mobile or low-power devices