Voxtral Mini 3B vs OpenAI Whisper (whisper-1)
Voxtral Mini 3B is an open-weight speech-to-text model you can call on this endpoint; OpenAI Whisper (whisper-1) is a closed model from OpenAI. Below: what each costs for three realistic workloads, the limits that apply, and when to choose which.
OpenAI figures are public list prices and documented limits, checked 2026-09-16 against the provider page. Inference APIs prices are read live from the price list.
- Cost: Voxtral Mini 3B is cheaper in all three workloads, by 78%.
- Limits: OpenAI: 25 MB per file. Rate limits scale with usage tier. Here: no per-minute or per-day caps.
Side by side
| Voxtral Mini 3B | OpenAI Whisper (whisper-1) | |
|---|---|---|
| Served by | Inference APIs | OpenAI |
| Model author | Mistral AI | OpenAI |
| Model id | mistralai/Voxtral-Mini-3B-2507 | whisper-1 |
| Price | $0.0013 / audio minute | $0.006 / audio minute |
| Capabilities | Speech to text, 8 languages, Auto language, Lowest price | Speech to text, 99 languages, Timestamps, SRT / VTT |
| Weights | Open | Closed |
| Status | Available | Available |
| Limits | No per-minute or per-day request or token caps; usage draws on a prepaid balance | 25 MB per file. Rate limits scale with usage tier. |
| Speed | 0.058× real time (23.1 s clip in 1.35 s) | not measured by us |
What three workloads cost
List prices applied to the same work. The cheaper side of each row is in bold.
| Workload | Voxtral Mini 3B | OpenAI Whisper (whisper-1) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 hour of audio | $0.08 | $0.36 | 78% |
| 100 hours of audio | $7.80 | $36.00 | 78% |
| 1,000 hours of audio | $78.00 | $360 | 78% |
Voxtral Mini 3B is cheaper in all three workloads, by 78%.
When to choose which
- Cost is the deciding factor; it is cheaper in every workload above
- You want open weights: the same model can be moved to another host or self-hosted later
- Cheap, fast multilingual transcription in Voxtral's eight languages
- Batch jobs where cost per minute matters most
- Your recordings exceed 25 MB and you do not want to chunk them
- You are already on OpenAI and your files are under 25 MB
Measured speed
Median of three runs on 2026-09-16: a 23.1-second mp3 clip, timed from upload to response. Expect ±30% with time of day. We did not measure OpenAI and do not quote other people's numbers; read "not measured" as unknown, not slow. Method and raw numbers: speed measurements.
Switching from OpenAI
Both speak the OpenAI wire format. The edit is the base URL, the key and the model id; then re-run your own prompts, because it is a different model.
import os
from openai import OpenAI
# before: OpenAI
# client = OpenAI(base_url="https://api.openai.com/v1", api_key=os.environ["OPENAI_API_KEY"])
# MODEL = "whisper-1"
# after: Inference APIs
client = OpenAI(base_url="https://api.inferenceapis.com/v1", api_key=os.environ["INFERENCE_API_KEY"])
MODEL = "mistralai/Voxtral-Mini-3B-2507"
resp = client.audio.transcriptions.create(model=MODEL, file=open("meeting.mp3", "rb"))More detail, including Node, LangChain and LiteLLM: switching OpenAI-compatible providers.
FAQ
Which is cheaper, Voxtral Mini 3B or OpenAI Whisper (whisper-1)?
Voxtral Mini 3B is cheaper in all three workloads, by 78%. The table above uses list prices: Voxtral Mini 3B $0.0013 / audio minute; OpenAI Whisper (whisper-1) $0.006 / audio minute.
Can I switch from OpenAI Whisper (whisper-1) to Voxtral Mini 3B without rewriting code?
Yes, if you call it through an OpenAI-compatible client. Change the base URL to https://api.inferenceapis.com/v1, swap the API key, and set the model to mistralai/Voxtral-Mini-3B-2507. Because it is a different model, re-run your prompts and evaluations before moving production traffic.
What limits apply to OpenAI Whisper (whisper-1)?
25 MB per file. Rate limits scale with usage tier. On Inference APIs there are no per-minute or per-day request or token caps; usage draws on a prepaid balance.
Spotted a price or limit that has changed? Tell us and we will re-check the provider page.