audio model comparison
Scribe v2 vs Scribe v3 Live
Scribe v2 and Scribe v3 Live are both current audio models, from ElevenLabs. Scribe v2 is 9% cheaper per audio minute than Scribe v3 Live, $0.003333 vs $0.003667.
- Lower price per audio minute
- Scribe v2$0.003333 against $0.003667
- Newer release
- Scribe v3 LiveNov 2026 against Jan 2026
Data verified November 15, 2026 · Dataset 2026-11-15
Side by side
Scribe v2 and Scribe v3 Live, line by line
Prices in effect today, compared at the same tier wherever both list one. The better value in each row is highlighted.
| Fact | Scribe v2 | Scribe v3 Live |
|---|---|---|
| Price | ||
| Price per audio minute | $0.003333 (better) | $0.003667 |
| Independent benchmarks | ||
| Artificial Analysis AA-WER v2 | 2.18 % WER (#4 of 8) | Not measured |
| Artificial Analysis AA-WER Streaming | Not measured | 2.86 % WER (#3 of 4) |
| Specs | ||
| Provider | ElevenLabs | ElevenLabs |
| Release date | January 9, 2026 | November 10, 2026 |
| Access | API only | API only |
| Context window | Not reported | Not reported |
| Max output | Not reported | Not reported |
| Input | audio | audio |
| Output | text | text |
No independent benchmark has scored both models yet. Each rank counts the current models scored on that benchmark.
Scores:Artificial Analysis · 2026-11-15Artificial Analysis · 2026-11-15
Charts
Against every current audio model
Where Scribe v2 and Scribe v3 Live land among the current models of their task, on every independent benchmark, on price and on context.
Where each stands
Only Scribe v2 has a current Artificial Analysis AA-WER v2 score: #4 of 8. Each bar is the share of current models it beats.
Independent benchmarks
Artificial Analysis AA-WER v2
Scribe v2:#4of 8
2.18% WER · ahead of 57%
Scribe v3 Live: Not scored
Artificial Analysis AA-WER Streaming
Scribe v2: Not scored
Scribe v3 Live:#3of 4
2.86% WER · ahead of 33%
Price and context
Price per audio minute
Scribe v2:#3of 16
$0.003333 · cheaper than 80%
Scribe v3 Live:#5of 16
$0.003667 · cheaper than 67%
Cost
What each costs
Example workloads at each provider's listed rates, then every other rate either one lists. The cheaper figure in each row is highlighted.
The same work, priced
For 100 hours of audio, Scribe v3 Live costs 1.1 times as much as Scribe v2, at each provider's listed rates.
100 hours of audio
Scribe v3 Live costs 1.1× as much
- Scribe v2
- $20
- Scribe v3 Live
- $22
| Workload or rate | Scribe v2 | Scribe v3 Live |
|---|---|---|
| Example workloads | ||
| 100 hours of audio | $20 (better) | $22 |
Your own bill will differ. These figures use list prices and example workloads. The AI Model Cost Audit reviews your real usage, shortlists models that score as well for each task for less, and estimates the savings.
Launch price $100, regular price $150
Verdict
When to choose each
Scribe v2
Where it leads
- Lower price per audio minute, $0.003333 vs $0.003667
Best for
- Batch transcription and diarization
Watch out for
- $0.20 per hour of audio; keyterm prompting and transcript editing add $0.05 and $0.07 per hour
- ElevenLabs followed it with Scribe v3 on November 10, 2026, at the same price; Artificial Analysis measures 1.95% for v3 against 2.18% for v2 on AA-WER
Scribe v3 Live
Where it leads
- Supports realtime voice
Best for
- Voice agents and live captions that need speaker labels
- Calls that switch languages or read out long numbers
Watch out for
- On AA-WER Streaming, MAI-Transcribe-2-Streaming (2.51%) and Grok Voice Transcribe 2.0 (2.73%) make fewer errors
- $0.22 per hour of audio; keyterm prompting, the keyterm library and transcript editing add $0.08, $0.08 and $0.12 per hour
- ElevenLabs' diarization and accuracy comparisons use its own datasets, which are not public yet
From benchmark to production
Building on Scribe v2 or Scribe v3 Live?
Public scores rarely hold on your own data. We test both models on your real tasks, then build the agent or pipeline around the one that wins.
AI Model Cost AuditLaunch price $100, regular price $150
FAQ
Scribe v2 vs Scribe v3 Live FAQ
Which is cheaper, Scribe v2 or Scribe v3 Live?
Scribe v2 is 9% cheaper per audio minute than Scribe v3 Live, $0.003333 vs $0.003667.
How much would 100 hours of audio cost with Scribe v2 or Scribe v3 Live?
100 hours of audio comes to $20 with Scribe v2 and $22 with Scribe v3 Live at their listed rates.
How do Scribe v2 and Scribe v3 Live differ in features?
Only Scribe v3 Live supports realtime voice.
AI Model Brief
The AI models worth knowing, once a week
What shipped, how it scores on independent benchmarks, what it costs per million tokens and what was deprecated, from the data behind our AI model benchmarks.
We use your address only to send the brief. See our privacy policy.
See this week’s briefFurther reading
More on Scribe v2 and Scribe v3 Live
Related comparisons
- Scribe v2 vs Scribe v3
- Scribe v2 Realtime vs Scribe v3 Live
- Scribe v2 vs Voxtral Small Transcribe 3
- Scribe v3 vs Scribe v3 Live
- Grok Voice Transcribe 2.0 vs Scribe v2
- MAI-Transcribe-2 vs Scribe v2
- Gemini 3.5 Transcribe vs Scribe v2
- GPT Transcribe vs Scribe v2
- GPT-4o Transcribe vs Scribe v2
- Scribe v2 vs Scribe v2 Realtime
Production evaluation
Choosing between Scribe v2 and Scribe v3 Live?
Public benchmarks narrow the shortlist. We run both on your own tasks, data and cost limits, then build the routing and review controls to run the winner in production.
- A head-to-head evaluation on your real workload
- Routing between models by cost and difficulty