PolyAI alternatives: 12 tools compared (October 2026)

Speechmatics is a British speech recognition API that turns live or recorded speech into text in more than 55 languages. Product and data teams build it into meeting tools, contact center analytics, captioning and voice agents.

Key functions

• Realtime and batch transcription in more than 55 languages, including code-switching within a sentence
• Speaker diarization and custom vocabulary included
• Dedicated model for medical terminology

Compared with PolyAI

• Publishes a price (from $0.13 usage-based); PolyAI quotes on request.
• Can store data in the EU; PolyAI states no EU option.
• Targets companies under 50 employees, which PolyAI does not.

Check before buying: Choose the regional endpoint deliberately: batch jobs stay in the region of the endpoint you call, and besides the EU, US and Australian realtime endpoints there is a global one. The vendor states that data is not logged as standard, that realtime audio is not stored and that batch data is deleted after seven days unless you opt in to its training discount programme. It lists ISO/IEC 27001, SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA. Costs grow with audio hours, so estimate volume and concurrency limits. Medical transcripts are health data under GDPR Article 9.

Deepgram is a developer platform for speech to text, text to speech and voice agents. Product and engineering teams use it to add transcription or spoken conversations to apps, contact centers and meeting tools, paying per minute or per character.

Key functions

• Nova-3 transcribes streams and files, multilingual including English, German, Spanish and Hindi
• Aura and Flux generate speech with latency from 80 ms according to the vendor
• Voice Agent API combines speech recognition, a language model and speech output in one call

Compared with PolyAI

• Publishes a price (from $0.00 usage-based); PolyAI quotes on request.
• Offers a free trial; we found none for PolyAI.
• Can store data in the EU; PolyAI states no EU option.
• Targets companies under 50 employees, which PolyAI does not.

Check before buying: Deepgram processes data in the US by default. A dedicated EU endpoint keeps processing within the EU, and self-hosting is a further option, so review the DPA and transfer terms for the setup you choose. Recording and transcribing calls requires notice or consent under state wiretap laws such as California's two-party consent rule. Costs scale with minutes and characters; model concurrency and volume before committing to Growth.

Fin is an AI customer agent from the company formerly known as Intercom, owned by Salesforce since September 2026; it resolves customer requests across chat, email and voice and can run on Intercom's own helpdesk or on third-party systems.

Key functions

• Fin resolves customer requests across chat, email, voice, Slack and social media
• Voice channel using the Apex Flash model for low-latency replies
• Fin Operator automates back-office customer operations tasks

Compared with PolyAI

• Publishes a price (from $19 per user/month); PolyAI quotes on request.
• Offers a free trial; we found none for PolyAI.
• Can store data in the EU; PolyAI states no EU option.
• Targets companies under 50 employees, which PolyAI does not.

Check before buying: Outcome pricing makes costs rise with volume, so model expected resolutions and the monthly minimum for standalone use. Choose EU data residency if you serve European customers, and review the DPA and sub-processors in the trust center. SSO requires the Expert plan.

Forethought provides AI agents for customer support that resolve requests on chat, email, voice and Slack, sort and route tickets and score service quality. They run on top of existing helpdesks such as Zendesk, Salesforce or Intercom.

Key functions

• Solve AI agent resolves requests on chat, email, voice and Slack
• Triage classifies, prioritizes and routes tickets
• Assist copilot gives reps insights and suggested responses

Compared with PolyAI

• Strongest elsewhere: United States.

Check before buying: Ask how the outcome-based part of the price is counted and what happens above plan limits. The subprocessor list names AWS, Google and Microsoft hosting and OpenAI, Groq and Mistral models, all in the US, and Forethought may also use Zendesk subprocessors. Clarify the product roadmap after the Zendesk acquisition. AI QA scores individual reps, which touches employee monitoring rules in some US states and the EU.

Gladia is a speech-to-text API for meeting assistants, contact center software and voice agents. It transcribes recorded and live audio in more than 100 languages and enriches the transcript for downstream systems.

Key functions

• Transcription of recordings and live audio in 100+ languages with automatic language detection
• Speaker diarization and word-level timestamps
• Transcript enrichment pushed to a CRM or database via webhooks

Compared with PolyAI

• Publishes a price (from $0.61 usage-based); PolyAI quotes on request.
• Offers a free trial; we found none for PolyAI.
• Can store data in the EU; PolyAI states no EU option.
• Targets companies under 50 employees, which PolyAI does not.

Check before buying: Check the training setting for your plan: on Starter, model training is not switched off by default, while Growth and Enterprise opt out. Ask where your data will be hosted if you need a region outside France, and request the data processing terms. The security page lists SOC 2 Type II and says ISO 27001 is in progress.

Observe.AI is a platform for contact centers in banking, healthcare, insurance and other regulated industries that scores every customer conversation, plans agent coaching and handles calls and chats with AI agents.

Key functions

• Auto QA scores every conversation against evaluation forms and rules
• Performance Agent builds coaching plans from conversation data
• Companion Agent assists live agents during calls

Compared with PolyAI

• Can store data in the EU; PolyAI states no EU option.
• Names 4 security certificates, PolyAI 1.
• Strongest elsewhere: United States.

Check before buying: Auto QA and the Performance Agent evaluate individual agents, so check employee monitoring and call recording consent rules in the US states where you operate. In the EU, performance evaluation of workers is high-risk under the EU AI Act from December 2, 2027. Pricing is only available after a demo. Ask for the DPA and subprocessor list, which were not public at our check in September 2026.

Yellow.ai is a platform for building AI agents that automate customer service on chat, voice and email. It offers a free entry plan and an enterprise tier, plus agent assist tools for human teams and an employee experience offering.

Key functions

• AI agents for chat, voice, email and messaging built with AI Agent Builder 2.0
• Conversational knowledge base with agentic retrieval and scheduled syncs
• Nexus VOX voice agents answer inbound calls

Compared with PolyAI

• Publishes a price (from $0.99 usage-based); PolyAI quotes on request.
• Can store data in the EU; PolyAI states no EU option.
• Targets companies under 50 employees, which PolyAI does not.
• Names 4 security certificates, PolyAI 1.

Check before buying: Choose the hosting region at registration, since the terms let the customer designate where data is stored. The free plan limits channels and features, so check which channels you need before testing. The terms apply different governing law by region, with Delaware law for US customers. Ask which of the language models process your data, and review the published data processing addendum.

Ada is a Canadian customer service automation platform for midsize and large companies that deploys AI agents across messaging, voice and email and lets them take actions in business systems.

Key functions

• AI agents resolve requests across messaging, voice and email
• Ada Computer gives agents API, code and MCP tools to complete tasks
• Playbooks automate complex standard operating procedures

Compared with PolyAI

• Strongest elsewhere: Canada.

Check before buying: Ask where data is hosted, since the public trust center names no hosting regions and detailed documents are available only on request. Clarify which language models are orchestrated and how actions in your systems are authorized and logged.