AssemblyAICartesiaAudio matchupSpeech to text
Universal-3.6 Pro Realtimevs.Cartesia Ink-2
Which model is better?
Universal-3.6 Pro Realtime is slightly ahead in independent tests, but the lead is not certain.
Independent testsCoval
Universal-3.6 Pro Realtime0 of 1
Cartesia Ink-20 of 1
Popularityout of 100
Universal-3.6 Pro Realtime0
Cartesia Ink-20
Weights and access
Universal-3.6 Pro Realtimeproprietary
Cartesia Ink-2proprietary
Priceverbatim from the provider
Universal-3.6 Pro Realtime$0.45 per hour of audio; volume discounts available
Cartesia Ink-23 credits per second of audio; the dollar price and overage charges depend on the plan
Pick Universal-3.6 Pro Realtime for
leaning Coval
Pick Cartesia Ink-2 for
No clear edge
Shared tests
Independent evaluators and leaderboards only, the newest shared snapshot per evaluator. With 95 % ranges a lead counts when they do not overlap; for hit rates, when it holds in a 95 % test. Without any uncertainty figure at most “slightly ahead”.
Coval
Universal-3.6 Pro Realtime slightly aheadCoval Word Error Rate (WER) per-sample mean
Universal-3.6 Pro Realtime2.5 %
Cartesia Ink-23.9 %
lower is better, as of November 2, 2026
Source · latest November 2, 2026
All data side by side
Prices are verbatim from the provider, because audio models bill per minute, character or token.
| Universal-3.6 Pro Realtime | Cartesia Ink-2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Task | Speech to text | Speech to text |
| Developer | AssemblyAI | Cartesia |
| Status | Active | Active |
| Released | September 29, 2026 | July 9, 2026 |
| Weights | proprietary | proprietary |
| Runs locally | no | no |
| Price | $0.45 per hour of audio; volume discounts available | 3 credits per second of audio; the dollar price and overage charges depend on the plan |
| Popularity (out of 100) | 0 | 0 |
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