Azure AI Speech
azure.microsoft.com
Microsoft speech-to-text and text-to-speech services.
Quick Information
- Category:
- Speech & Transcription
- Pricing:
- Contact Sales
- Platforms:
- API, Azure
- Free Plan:
- Yes
- API Available:
- Yes
- Last Verified:
- October 2026
What Is Azure AI Speech?
Azure AI Speech is Microsoft's service for speech-to-text, text-to-speech, speech translation and custom voices. Microsoft's pricing page, titled Azure Speech in Foundry Tools, loaded, but the verbatim part contained no dollar amounts and a model summary of the rest said every price renders as a placeholder, so I could not verify prices and treat it as contact sales for this listing. The page shows billing units: speech to text per hour, neural and HD text to speech per 1 million characters, custom voice synthesis per 1 million characters with training per compute hour and endpoint hosting per model per hour, avatar per minute, and add-ons per hour. Per the summary, the free tier gives 5 audio hours of standard speech to text a month, 0.5 million neural characters a month and one custom endpoint model, and commitment tiers exist for 2,000, 10,000 and 50,000 hours of speech to text and 80 million to 2,000 million characters of neural speech.
Third-party guides give numbers that are not from Microsoft: real-time speech to text at $1 per audio hour, batch at $0.18 an hour, prebuilt neural voices at $15 or $16 per million characters, Neural HD at $22 after a March 2026 reduction, custom neural voice at $24 and HD custom voice at $48 per million. Those figures are consistent enough to plan with but must be confirmed in the Azure calculator. Costs for a production build also include custom model hosting and the surrounding Azure services, which can exceed the per-unit rates.
Azure AI Speech suits enterprises on Azure that need compliant speech recognition and synthesis at scale. Compare Amazon Polly, Google Cloud Text-to-Speech and Speechmatics. Browse the Speech & Transcription tools directory for more.
What Can You Use Azure AI Speech For?
Speech-to-text for apps and call analytics
Real-time and batch.
Neural and custom voices
TTS.
Azure AI Speech Features
- Commitment tiers — Volume discounts.
- Custom neural voice — Separate pricing.
- Avatar add-on — Per minute.
Who Is Azure AI Speech For?
- Azure enterprises — Compliance.
- Developers — Broad speech APIs.
Azure AI Speech Pros & Limitations
What We Like
- Broad speech features
- Free tier
- Enterprise compliance
Limitations
- Prices not readable here
- Third-party rates conflict ($15 vs $16)
- Custom voice costs extra
Azure AI Speech Pricing
| Plan | Price | Main Features |
|---|---|---|
| Pay as you go, commitment tiers | Not shown on the page when read; third parties: STT $1/hr real-time, $0.18/hr batch; neural TTS $15-$16 per 1M characters | Use the Azure pricing calculator |
| Free tier (per page summary) | $0 | 5 audio hours STT, 0.5M neural TTS characters a month |
Pricing was last verified October 2026. Check the official website for the latest pricing.
AI Listing Jungle Ranking
- Global Rank:
- #1877
- Overall Score:
- 0.0/100
- Monthly Users:
- –
- Rank Change:
- ▼ 118
This ranking reflects AI Listing Jungle's own independent scoring methodology and is not an endorsement by Azure AI Speech or its company. How Our Rankings Work
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a free tier?
Yes, per the page summary.
Speech-to-text price?
About $1 an hour real-time per third parties.
Neural TTS price?
About $15-$16 per 1M characters per third parties.
Where to confirm?
The Azure pricing calculator.
Our Take
A comprehensive speech platform.
Use the calculator for real costs.
Azure AI Speech Alternatives
Azure AI Speech Comparisons
Ready to try Azure AI Speech?
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