Why we said Use
What it is
Speech-to-text with a published hourly rate, plus text to speech. See the official page. This profile describes public documentation, not a Loaded Tokens hands-on test.
Who it is for
Developers who will close the websocket when the call ends. The recommendation is scoped to that job.
The evidence behind Use
The pricing page is explicit that idle streaming time counts. That is the catch. The source page is the receipt. No speed ranking or reliability score is implied.
Pricing and the catch
$50 in free credits. Universal-3.5 Pro pre-recorded is $0.21 an hour. Streaming bills the open socket, not just the audio. Text to speech is $15 per million characters. Public pricing or license checked November 7, 2026. Amounts are as stated on that page. Tax, region, annual billing, and extra usage can change the bill.
A sensible first workflow
Time one pre-recorded file, then one short stream you close yourself. This is a suggested evaluation, not a test we ran.
Bottom line: Use it if you will meter the socket. Watch it if the connection stays open all day.