Avencera

OpenAI alternative: Avencera vs OpenAI

At 100 hours a month with speaker labels, OpenAI gpt-4o-transcribe-diarize costs 4.5× as much as Avencera. Across 4 published results, Avencera is ahead on 1, level on 1 and behind on 2.

By Praveen Perera. Prices and features checked .

At a glance

OpenAI’s transcription API is the format many apps already speak. gpt-transcribe returns plain transcripts; speaker labels need the separate gpt-4o-transcribe-diarize model, which OpenAI has deprecated and will shut down on February 26, 2027.

FeatureAvenceraOpenAI
Transcript, at 100 hours a month$0.06 an hourgpt-transcribe: $0.27 an hour (4.5×)gpt-4o-transcribe-diarize: $0.36 an hour (6.0×)
With speaker labels, at 100 hours a month$0.08 an hourgpt-4o-transcribe-diarize: $0.36 an hour (4.5×)
Speaker labelsIncluded in the speaker transcript pricegpt-transcribe: not offeredgpt-4o-transcribe-diarize: included
BillingPrepaid credit, no subscriptiongpt-transcribe: pay as you gogpt-4o-transcribe-diarize: pay as you go
Real-time streamingNo, recorded audio onlyYes
Longest file24 hours of audio per request25 MB per file
APIOpenAI-compatibleOpenAI’s own

Multiples in brackets compare with Avencera’s cheapest offer at the same volume.

Price with speaker labels

Audio a monthAvenceraOpenAI gpt-4o-transcribe-diarize
10 hours$0.80$3.60 4.5×
100 hours$8.00$36.00 4.5×
1,000 hours$80.00$360.00 4.5×
10,000 hours$800.00$3,600.00 4.5×

Monthly list prices for recorded audio with speaker labels, before free credit, discounts or contracts. Each plan uses whichever of its options costs least at that volume. See every provider at any volume on the pricing page.

Accuracy

Across 4 published results, Avencera is ahead on 1, level on 1 and behind on 2.

BenchmarkAvenceraOpenAILower error
Open ASR Leaderboard, English Average word error rate over 11 English test sets6.02% Parakeet v25.96% gpt-transcribeLevel
Open ASR Leaderboard, earnings calls Word error rate on the Earnings-22 set5.85% Parakeet v36.61% gpt-transcribeAvencera
Artificial Analysis Word error rate, measured on each provider’s own API4.5% Parakeet v33.3% gpt-transcribeOpenAI
Artificial Analysis Word error rate, measured on each provider’s own API4.5% Parakeet v34.0% gpt-4o-transcribeOpenAI

Lower is better, and results within 0.1 points count as level. The Open ASR Leaderboard tests the open Parakeet weights that Avencera runs. Artificial Analysis tests Parakeet v3 as hosted by Together AI. These results don’t test the Avencera API itself, which opens soon.

Which to choose

Choose OpenAI if

  • Accuracy matters most. gpt-transcribe scores 3.3% on the Artificial Analysis, against 4.5% for Parakeet v3; gpt-4o-transcribe scores 4.0% on the Artificial Analysis, against 4.5% for Parakeet v3.
  • You need real-time streaming. OpenAI offers it; Avencera transcribes recorded audio only.
  • You already use other OpenAI models and want one bill and one vendor.
  • You need an API today. Avencera opens soon.

Choose Avencera if

  • You want the lower bill. OpenAI gpt-4o-transcribe-diarize costs 4.5× as much at 100 hours a month with speaker labels.
  • You want accuracy for less. gpt-transcribe scores 6.61% on the Open ASR Leaderboard, earnings calls, against 5.85% for Parakeet v3.
  • You want prepaid credit with no subscription, no minimum and no expiry.
  • You already call OpenAI’s transcription API. Avencera accepts the same requests, so switching is a change of base URL and model name.
  • You need speaker labels after February 2027, when OpenAI shuts down gpt-4o-transcribe-diarize.
  • Your files are bigger than 25 MB. OpenAI rejects them; Avencera takes up to 24 hours of audio in one request.
  • Your audio stays yours. Avencera deletes it once the transcript is ready and never trains on it.

Switching to Avencera

Avencera serves OpenAI’s transcription API, so the official OpenAI SDKs work with a new base URL and model name.

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(base_url="https://api.avencera.com/v1", api_key="YOUR_AVENCERA_KEY")

with open("meeting.mp3", "rb") as audio:
    transcript = client.audio.transcriptions.create(
        model="avencera/speaker-transcript-v2",
        file=audio,
    )

Questions

Is Avencera cheaper than OpenAI?
Yes. Avencera transcribes from $0.06 an hour, or $0.08 with speaker labels. At 100 hours a month with speaker labels, OpenAI gpt-4o-transcribe-diarize costs $36.00 against $8.00 at Avencera, 4.5× as much.
Is Avencera more accurate than OpenAI?
Across 4 published results, Avencera is ahead on 1, level on 1 and behind on 2. gpt-transcribe scores 5.96% on the Open ASR Leaderboard, English, against 6.02% for Parakeet v2. gpt-transcribe scores 6.61% on the Open ASR Leaderboard, earnings calls, against 5.85% for Parakeet v3. gpt-transcribe scores 3.3% on the Artificial Analysis, against 4.5% for Parakeet v3. gpt-4o-transcribe scores 4.0% on the Artificial Analysis, against 4.5% for Parakeet v3.
Is Avencera compatible with the OpenAI SDK?
Yes. Avencera serves the same /v1/audio/transcriptions endpoint, so the official OpenAI SDKs work once you point their base URL at Avencera and pick an Avencera model.
How do I switch from OpenAI to Avencera?
Point your OpenAI SDK’s base URL at Avencera, use your Avencera API key, and change the model name. The request and response stay the same.

Sources

Vendor prices and features from each vendor’s own pages, checked October 23, 2026. Benchmark results as of October 21, 2026 for the Hugging Face Open ASR Leaderboard and October 23, 2026 for the Artificial Analysis speech-to-text.