Grok STT
Grok STT is xAI's speech-to-text model. It transcribes recorded audio into text across 25 languages, available through Vercel AI Gateway with the AI SDK.
import { experimental_transcribe as transcribe } from 'ai';import { gateway } from '@ai-sdk/gateway';import { readFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
const result = await transcribe({ model: gateway.transcriptionModel('xai/grok-stt'), audio: await readFile('audio.mp3'),});Playground
Try out Grok STT by xAI. Usage is billed to your team at API rates. Free users (those who haven't made a payment) get $5 of credits every 30 days.
Grok STTSpeech to text
Record a short clip from your microphone and the model transcribes it to text.
Record a clip to see the transcript here.
Providers
Route requests across multiple providers. Copy a provider slug to set your preference. Visit the docs for more info. Using a provider means you agree to their terms, listed under Legal.
More models by xAI
| Model |
|---|
| 500K | 1.2s | 135tps | $2/M | $6/M | Read: $0.5/M Write: — | $5/K + input costs | +3 | | 07/08/2026 | |||
| 256K | 0.4s | 130tps | $1/M | $2/M | Read: $0.2/M Write: — | $5/K + input costs | +2 | | 05/20/2026 | |||
| 1M | 1.5s | 133tps | $1.25/M | $2.50/M | Read: $0.2/M Write: — | $5/K + input costs | +3 |  | 04/30/2026 | |||
| 2M | 0.3s | 93tps | $1.25/M | $2.50/M | Read: $0.2/M Write: — | $5/K + input costs | +2 | | 03/10/2026 | |||
| 1M | 1.8s | 96tps | $0.20/M | $0.50/M | Read:$0.05/M Write:— | — | +1 | | 11/19/2025 | |||
| 1M | 0.9s | 187tps | $0.20/M | $0.50/M | Read:$0.05/M Write:— | — | +2 | | 11/19/2025 |
About Grok STT
Grok STT is xAI's speech-to-text model, released March 16, 2026 and available through AI Gateway. Grok STT transcribes audio into text across 25 languages, which covers voice notes, call recordings, podcasts, and other recorded audio. Speech to text through AI Gateway is in beta, so access is rolling out gradually.
Integration uses the AI SDK's experimental_transcribe function, available on the canary releases of the AI SDK. Pass audio as a Buffer, Uint8Array, base64 string, or URL. The result includes the transcript text, the detected language, the audio duration, and timestamped segments when available. A REST endpoint accepts base64-encoded audio directly if you're not using the AI SDK.
Billing is based on audio duration; see the pricing panel on this page for current rates. For live, two-way voice instead of recorded audio, reach for grok-voice-think-fast-1.0, and for the reverse direction, grok-tts turns text into speech.
What To Consider When Choosing a Provider
- Configuration: Transcription responses through AI Gateway aren't streamed. The full transcript returns in a single response, so plan batch-style processing rather than live captioning. Audio uploads are base64-encoded in a JSON body, and multipart file uploads aren't supported, so large files grow request payloads.
- Configuration: Speech to text is in beta, and AI SDK support ships on canary releases. Pin your dependency versions and watch for API changes before you rely on Grok STT in production.
- Zero Data Retention: AI Gateway does not currently support Zero Data Retention for this model. See the documentation for models that support ZDR.
- Authentication: AI Gateway authenticates requests using an API key or OIDC token. You do not need to manage provider credentials directly.
When to Use Grok STT
Best for
- Voice Notes and Dictation: Turn recorded memos into text with a single
transcribecall - Call and Meeting Records: Convert recorded conversations into searchable transcripts
- Multilingual Transcription: Audio in any of 25 languages comes back as text
- Podcast and Media Pipelines: Produce transcripts for captions, show notes, and search indexing
Consider alternatives when
- Live Voice Conversation:
grok-voice-think-fast-1.0handles real-time speech-to-speech sessions - Speech Generation:
grok-ttsconverts text into spoken audio instead - Streamed Partial Transcripts: AI Gateway returns the full transcript in one response, so incremental captioning needs a different design
Conclusion
Grok STT gives you xAI's transcription stack behind one AI Gateway key. Send recorded audio through the AI SDK's transcribe function and get back text, language, duration, and segments. Billing follows audio duration, with current rates on this page.