Speechmatics swaps its recurring free tier for a one-time $100 signup credit
Speechmatics replaced the recurring 3,000-minute (50-hour) plus 1M-character monthly free allowance with a one-time $100 usage credit for new accounts, effective around 31 July 2026.
Free and Pro accounts renewed 3,000 free STT minutes (50 hrs) + 1M free TTS characters every month, no credit card required
New accounts get a one-time $100 usage credit (1 credit = $1, no card required); adding a card after it's spent switches the account to standard pay-as-you-go rates
Speechmatics’ pricing page “Last updated” badge moved from 29 July to 31 July 2026, and the change is a structural one rather than a rate change: every per-hour Speech-to-Text SKU ($0.129–$0.43/hr), the Text-to-Speech rate ($0.011/1k characters), the bolt-on prices, and the 20%/33% discounts are all unchanged.
What changed is how new accounts get free usage. The Free and Pro plan cards no longer mention a recurring “3,000 minutes (50 hours) per month” speech-to-text allowance or “1 million characters per month” of text-to-speech. Instead, both plans now list “$100 in credit to get started” (Free) or “$100 in credit to get started, add a card when you’re ready” (Pro). A new FAQ, “How do credits work?”, explains the mechanic: usage is now priced “under our new model” where 1 credit equals $1, and new accounts start with $100 in credit before a card is required.
The practical effect is a shift from a perpetual monthly free allowance — which a low-volume developer could use indefinitely without ever paying — to a one-time evaluation credit that eventually runs out regardless of usage pace. At the cheapest per-hour rate ($0.129/hr for the multilingual Batch Melia 1 model), $100 buys roughly 775 hours of transcription, but unlike the old allowance it does not renew.
Pricing page 'Last updated' badge moved from 29 to 31 July 2026. Free and Pro plan cards dropped the recurring '3,000 minutes (50 hrs) + 1M TTS characters per month' free allowance and now grant new accounts a one-time $100 usage credit (no card required; 1 credit = $1) that applies to any Speech-to-Text or Text-to-Speech usage. A new 'How do credits work?' FAQ frames this as pricing 'under our new model.' Per-hour STT rates ($0.129–$0.43/hr), bolt-on rates, TTS ($0.011/1k chars), and the 20%/33% discounts are unchanged.