Last verified October 10, 2026.
Details about Deepgram Aura come from its public pages as they were on October 10, 2026. Deepgram Aura may have changed them since, and a page that was unclear to us may be clear to you. Corrections: support@readaloudai.org. We make ReadAloud, so read this page with that in mind and check anything important with Deepgram Aura directly.
About Deepgram Aura
How Deepgram Aura positions itself: Deepgram's text-to-speech line (Aura, Aura-2 and the newer Flux TTS) sits alongside its speech-to-text and Voice Agent APIs on one developer platform.
Price per 1 million characters
USD per one million characters, by tier. Other units are shown as the vendor writes them, not converted.
| Option | Listed price | What it covers | Against ReadAloud Live |
|---|---|---|---|
| ReadAloud Live | $4 per 1M characters | the low-latency tier, built for live calls and voice agents | Reference point |
| ReadAloud Studio | $10 per 1M characters | the higher-priced tier for read-aloud and narration, with several English voices | $6 above ReadAloud Live |
| Deepgram Aura: Flux TTS (Pay As You Go) | $45 per 1M characters (source: deepgram.com) | English-only today, served on /v2/speak; $45 also confirmed on the Flux product page. | $41 higher than ReadAloud Live |
| Deepgram Aura: Aura-2 (Pay As You Go) | $30 per 1M characters (source: deepgram.com) | Seven languages; $30 also confirmed on the Aura-2 launch article. Aura-2 is the widest-language model; Deepgram recommends Flux TTS (English-only) for new builds, listed at $45. | $26 higher than ReadAloud Live |
| Deepgram Aura: Aura (Pay As You Go) | $15 per 1M characters (source: deepgram.com) | First-generation, English-only voices. Single-source (pricing page). | $11 higher than ReadAloud Live |
| Deepgram Aura: Flux TTS (Growth) | $40.50 per 1M characters (source: deepgram.com) | Growth plan: $4K+/year prepaid credits. Single-source. | $36.50 higher than ReadAloud Live |
| Deepgram Aura: Aura-2 (Growth) | $27 per 1M characters (source: deepgram.com) | Growth plan. Single-source. | $23 higher than ReadAloud Live |
| Deepgram Aura: Aura (Growth) | $13.50 per 1M characters (source: deepgram.com) | Growth plan. Single-source. | $9.50 higher than ReadAloud Live |
Every per-character list price we found for Deepgram Aura, Flux TTS (Pay As You Go) at $45, Aura-2 (Pay As You Go) at $30, Aura (Pay As You Go) at $15, Flux TTS (Growth) at $40.50, Aura-2 (Growth) at $27 and Aura (Growth) at $13.50, is higher than both ReadAloud Live ($4) and ReadAloud Studio ($10) per 1M characters.
Deepgram Aura's own headline, as of October 10, 2026: Aura-2 is $0.030 per 1K characters ($30 per 1M) pay-as-you-go; Flux TTS $45 per 1M; Aura (first generation) $15 per 1M.
Free tier at Deepgram Aura: $200 free credit on sign-up, no credit card required, then pay-as-you-go (credit applies to all products, not specific to TTS). ReadAloud: A one-time grant of free credits worth $0.10 (about 10,000 characters of speech), shared by all keys on the account.
Tiers cover different things, so compare on your own monthly volume, and check Deepgram Aura's pricing page before you decide. Current ReadAloud prices: /developers.
Side by side
"Not stated on the pages we reviewed" marks what Deepgram Aura's pages did not say. We print no head-to-head latency number.
| Topic | ReadAloud | Deepgram Aura |
|---|---|---|
| Voices | Live: one American English voice. Studio: several English voices. | Roughly 36 Flux TTS English voices, about 90 Aura-2 voices across 7 languages and 12 first-generation Aura English voices (counted by us from the docs voice catalog page text, so approximate) (source: developers.deepgram.com) |
| Languages | English today | Flux TTS: English only (several accents). Aura-2: English, Spanish, German, French, Dutch, Italian, Japanese. Aura: English. (source: developers.deepgram.com) |
| Custom voices or cloning | API, with a consent step and a payment method | Not stated on the pages we reviewed |
| Streaming | WebSocket and HTTP streaming | WebSocket: yes; HTTP streaming: yes (source: deepgram.com) |
| Time to first audio | ReadAloud Live: about 250 ms (our measurement, median to first audio byte, warm connection, San Jose; October 10, 2026; /developers#vs-elevenlabs) | Vendor-stated: Flux TTS output starts 'in as low as 80 ms'. Not independently measured. (source: deepgram.com) |
| Output formats | mp3, opus, wav, pcm; 8 kHz mu-law and A-law over WebSocket | linear16, mulaw, alaw, mp3 (REST), opus (REST), flac (REST), aac (REST) |
| SSML | No SSML and no audio tags. | Not stated on the pages we reviewed |
| OpenAI-compatible speech endpoint | Yes, /v1/audio/speech | Not stated on the pages we reviewed |
| Limit per request | 5,000 characters | Not stated on the pages we reviewed |
| Concurrency | Up to 12 Live streams per server; more start under load | Pay As You Go, North America: Aura and Aura-2 up to 15 concurrent REST and 45 concurrent streaming requests; Flux TTS 15 REST / 45 streaming in North America and 5 in other listed regions. (source: developers.deepgram.com) |
| SDKs and plugins | Python and JavaScript libraries (readaloud), Pipecat and LiveKit plugins, any OpenAI SDK | JavaScript (@deepgram/sdk), Python (deepgram-sdk), Go, C# (.NET) and Java |
| HIPAA | Not claimed | Mentioned on their pages; see the note below the table for what it covers (source: deepgram.com) |
| SOC 2 | Not claimed | Mentioned on their pages; see the note below the table for what it covers (source: deepgram.com) |
| GDPR | Not claimed | Mentioned on their pages; see the note below the table for what it covers (source: deepgram.com) |
About Deepgram Aura's compliance wording: Self-attested on the pricing page: SOC 2 Type 1 and Type 2, HIPAA compliant, GDPR with an EU endpoint (api.eu.deepgram.com). Flux TTS page also mentions cloud, private cloud or on-prem deployment.
What Deepgram Aura lists as strengths
- Aura-2 supports seven languages; Flux TTS is a newer English model built for streaming voice agents with interruption reporting. (source: developers.deepgram.com)
- Vendor states Flux TTS output starts in as low as 80 ms (vendor-stated). (source: deepgram.com)
- Offers speech-to-text, TTS and a Voice Agent API on one platform with a single account and API key. (source: deepgram.com)
- Publishes SOC 2, HIPAA and GDPR statements and a dedicated EU endpoint. (source: deepgram.com)
- Entry prices: Aura (first generation) is $15 per 1M characters and Aura-2 is $30 per 1M, with a $200 free credit. (source: deepgram.com)
Conditions to check with Deepgram Aura
Limits or conditions from the pages we reviewed.
- Flux TTS (the recommended newer model) is English-only today; other languages require Aura-2. (source: developers.deepgram.com)
Deepgram Aura usage terms
From the vendor pages we reviewed; not legal advice.
- Attribution or conditions: Model Improvement Program opt-out parameter (mip_opt_out) exists; docs note pricing impacts of opting out. (source: developers.deepgram.com)
Where ReadAloud is different
- Voices: Deepgram Aura lists Roughly 36 Flux TTS English voices, about 90 Aura-2 voices across 7 languages and 12 first-generation Aura English voices (counted by us from the docs voice catalog page text, so approximate). ReadAloud: Live: one American English voice. Studio: several English voices. (source: developers.deepgram.com)
- Compliance: Deepgram Aura's pages mention HIPAA, SOC 2 and GDPR; ReadAloud claims none. (source: deepgram.com)
Which one fits
Deepgram Aura may suit you if this describes you: teams already using Deepgram for transcription or its Voice Agent API who want TTS on the same platform, plus developers who price on the Aura tier ($15 per 1M characters) or want multiple European languages and Japanese (Aura-2).
ReadAloud may suit you for streaming English speech at a low price per character.
What we could not confirm about Deepgram Aura
- Maximum characters per request
- Custom voice or cloning availability
- Commercial-use terms for TTS output (not stated on pages read)
- SSML support (not documented in pages read; Flux page says no SSML needed)
- Aura (first-gen) and Growth-plan prices are single-source (pricing page)
- Whether an OpenAI-compatible speech route exists
- Voice counts are approximate, counted from the docs catalog text
- Time-limited offers (a credit match and a free build period for Flux TTS) were shown on the pricing page; they are left out, so the prices on this page are list prices.
Sources
- Deepgram pricing page (retrieved October 10, 2026)
- Deepgram Flux TTS product page (retrieved October 10, 2026)
- Deepgram: Introducing Aura-2 (retrieved October 10, 2026)
- Deepgram docs: TTS models and languages overview (retrieved October 10, 2026)
- Deepgram docs: TTS media output settings (retrieved October 10, 2026)
- Deepgram docs: API rate limits (retrieved October 10, 2026)
- Deepgram API reference: Single text request (retrieved October 10, 2026)
- Deepgram docs: Migrating from Aura to Flux TTS (retrieved October 10, 2026)
- Deepgram docs: TTS getting started (SDK list) (retrieved October 10, 2026)