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> Signup credits, free tiers and startup programs for speech-to-text, text-to-speech and voice-agent APIs.

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# Speech and voice AI credits: Deepgram vs AssemblyAI vs ElevenLabs vs Cartesia and more

Signup credits, free tiers and startup programs for speech-to-text, text-to-speech and voice-agent APIs. This table covers 13 offers from 8 vendors; 8 of the 13 live offers need no application, and the largest stated one-time USD credit is $100,000 ([Deepgram](https://perq.sh/offers/deepgram-startups)).

13 offers · built only from our verified dataset · latest verification Oct 25, 2026, 6:05 AM ET. We don’t rank or score offers; the quotes speak for themselves. Published Oct 25, 2026 by [Avatar 8](https://perq.sh/about).

## Side by side

| Vendor / offer | Type | Credit value | Application needed? | Eligibility | How to claim | Source quote | Verified |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [AssemblyAI](https://perq.sh/offers/assemblyai-free) | free tier | **Free tier: up to 185 hours pre-recorded + 333 hours streaming, no card** | No | New accounts | Sign up | “The free tier includes up to 185 hours of pre-recorded transcription” [source ↗](https://www.assemblyai.com/pricing) | Oct 25, 2026, 6:05 AM ET |
| [AssemblyAI](https://perq.sh/offers/assemblyai-startups) | startup program | **12 months of recurring free credits + discounted startup pricing** | Yes | Startups building with voice/audio, launching within 6 months | Apply to AssemblyAI startup program | “12 months of recurring free credits and discounted startup pricing” [source ↗](https://www.assemblyai.com/contact/startup-program) | Oct 25, 2026, 6:05 AM ET |
| [Cartesia](https://perq.sh/offers/cartesia-free) | free tier | **Free plan: 20K credits/month** | No | Anyone | Start free | “Free $0 /mo Start free 20K credits / month” [source ↗](https://www.cartesia.ai/pricing) | Oct 25, 2026, 6:05 AM ET |
| [Cartesia](https://perq.sh/offers/cartesia-startup-grant) | startup program | **12 months on Scale: 8M Sonic/Ink credits/month + $299/month Managed Agents credits** | Yes | Accepted startups | Apply for Startups Grant | “Accepted startups receive 12 months on Scale, with 8 million shared Sonic and Ink credits each month” [source ↗](https://www.cartesia.ai/startups) | Oct 25, 2026, 6:05 AM ET |
| [Deepgram](https://perq.sh/offers/deepgram-200-credit) | signup credit | **$200 free credit, then pay-as-you-go** | No | New Deepgram accounts | Sign up | “Free $200 Credit then pay-as-you-go” [source ↗](https://deepgram.com/pricing) | Oct 25, 2026, 6:05 AM ET |
| [Deepgram](https://perq.sh/offers/deepgram-startups) | startup program | **Up to $100,000 in credits over 12 months** | Yes | AI builders / early-stage startups in or near production | Apply to Deepgram for Startups | “get up to $100,000 in credits over 12 months” [source ↗](https://deepgram.com/startup-program) | Oct 25, 2026, 6:05 AM ET |
| [ElevenLabs](https://perq.sh/offers/elevenlabs-startup-grants) | startup program | **12 months free access: 33,000,000 characters (>$5,500 value)** | Yes | Startups building with ElevenLabs | Apply for startup grant | “33,000,000 characters” [source ↗](https://elevenlabs.io/startup-grants) | Oct 25, 2026, 6:05 AM ET |
| [ElevenLabs](https://perq.sh/offers/elevenlabs-free) | free tier | **Free plan $0/month** | No | Anyone | Sign up | “Free $0 per month Build for free” [source ↗](https://elevenlabs.io/pricing) | Oct 25, 2026, 6:05 AM ET |
| [Gladia](https://perq.sh/offers/gladia-50eur) | signup credit | **50€ in free credits valid one year** | No | New accounts | Sign up | “New accounts get 50€ in free credits, valid for one year” [source ↗](https://www.gladia.io/pricing) | Oct 25, 2026, 6:05 AM ET |
| [Gladia](https://perq.sh/offers/gladia-startup-studio) | startup program | **$3,000 in credits for 12 months + a dedicated Field Developer Engineer ($3,500 if referred by a Gladia VC Partner)** | Yes | Early-stage startups: fewer than 10 people, under 2 years since incorporation, voice AI at the core of the product, monetised or clear path to it; no minimum funding; agencies/consultancies not eligible | Apply via the Startup Studio form (decision within 7 business days) | “Gladia Startup Studio backs early-stage startups with 12 months of credits and a dedicated Field Developer Engineer” [source ↗](https://www.gladia.io/start-up-studio) | Oct 25, 2026, 6:05 AM ET |
| [Retell AI](https://perq.sh/offers/retell-free-credits) | signup credit | **$10 in free credits** | No | New accounts (pay-as-you-go) | Sign up for free | “Go live in minutes with $10 in free credits” [source ↗](https://www.retellai.com/pricing) | Oct 25, 2026, 6:05 AM ET |
| [Speechmatics](https://perq.sh/offers/speechmatics-100) | signup credit | **$100 in credits, no card; first 1M TTS characters free** | No | New accounts | Start free | “Start free • $100 in credits No card required” [source ↗](https://www.speechmatics.com/pricing) | Oct 25, 2026, 6:05 AM ET |
| [Vapi](https://perq.sh/offers/vapi-free-credits) | signup credit | **$5 free credits to get started** | No | New accounts (pay-as-you-go, no Success Package) | Start building on Vapi | “$5 free credits to get you started” [source ↗](https://vapi.ai/pricing) | Oct 25, 2026, 6:05 AM ET |

## Other comparisons

-   [Cloud startup credits compared: AWS vs Google Cloud vs Microsoft vs Cloudflare](https://perq.sh/compare/cloud-startup-credits)
-   [LLM API free tiers and signup credits compared](https://perq.sh/compare/llm-api-free-tiers)
-   [GPU & inference cloud credits compared: Modal, RunPod, Lambda, Baseten and more](https://perq.sh/compare/gpu-inference-cloud-credits)
-   [AWS Activate vs Google for Startups Cloud Program vs Microsoft for Startups](https://perq.sh/compare/aws-activate-vs-google-for-startups-vs-microsoft-for-startups)
-   [OpenAI vs Anthropic vs Google Gemini: free API credits compared](https://perq.sh/compare/openai-vs-anthropic-vs-gemini-api-credits)
-   [Vector database free tiers and startup credits: Pinecone vs Weaviate vs Qdrant vs Zilliz vs Chroma vs Upstash](https://perq.sh/compare/vector-database-free-tiers)
-   [Observability and LLM monitoring credits: Datadog vs New Relic vs Grafana vs PostHog vs LangSmith and more](https://perq.sh/compare/observability-free-tiers-and-startup-credits)
-   [AI agent infrastructure credits: E2B vs Daytona vs Temporal vs Trigger.dev and more](https://perq.sh/compare/agent-sandbox-credits-e2b-vs-daytona)

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