Microsoft AI: MAI-Transcribe 2 vs Mistral: Voxtral Mini Transcribe 3
A side-by-side comparison of Microsoft AI: MAI-Transcribe 2 ($21.00 / minute) and Mistral: Voxtral Mini Transcribe 3 ($0.01 / minute) using current USD prices and capabilities from the api14 catalog. Both run through the same OpenAI-compatible API.
Specifications
| Microsoft AI: MAI-Transcribe 2 | Mistral: Voxtral Mini Transcribe 3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Microsoft | Mistral |
| Audio | $21.00 / minute | $0.01 / minute |
| Context window | - | 65,536 |
| Max output | - | 52,428 |
| Input | audio | audio |
| Output | transcription | transcription |
| Tool calling | ||
| Structured output | ||
| Reasoning control | ||
| Added | Sep 3, 2026 | Oct 20, 2026 |
Key differences
- Mistral: Voxtral Mini Transcribe 3 is 100% cheaper on input tokens.
In depth
Microsoft AI: MAI-Transcribe 2 is a transcription model from Microsoft, listed under the model id microsoft/mai-transcribe-2. Mistral: Voxtral Mini Transcribe 3 is a transcription model from Mistral, listed under the model id mistralai/voxtral-mini-transcribe-3-0. Both sit in the same category, so you are choosing between two speech to text options rather than between a transcriber and a general chat model. Microsoft released its model on 2026-09-03, and Mistral released its model on 2026-10-20.
On capabilities, the two are close in shape. Both accept audio as input and return transcription as output, and neither lists any supported parameters, so you will not find tool calling, structured output controls or reasoning options on either one. The clearest documented difference is context length: Voxtral Mini Transcribe 3 lists a context window of 65536 tokens, while MAI-Transcribe 2 does not list a context length at all. Treat that as a real difference in what is documented rather than a claim that one model handles longer audio in practice, since no benchmark or quality score is given for either. The other stated difference is price: Voxtral Mini Transcribe 3 is the cheaper model on input. Output pricing is not marked as different, so do not assume one is cheaper to run end to end based on that alone.
For picking between them, start with the practical constraints you can actually verify. If you want the model with a published context window and the lower input price, Voxtral Mini Transcribe 3 is the straightforward default, especially for high volume transcription where input audio dominates your usage. If you are already standardized on Microsoft models elsewhere in your stack, or you want to evaluate MAI-Transcribe 2 alongside other Microsoft offerings, there is nothing in the listed facts that rules it out; it simply has less published detail around context and cost. Because neither model exposes tunable parameters, your integration work is mostly about audio handling, chunking and how you store the returned transcript, not about prompt engineering or tool configuration.
Calling either model through api14 works the same way because the API is OpenAI compatible. You send your audio to the transcription endpoint with your api14 key, and the only thing that changes between the two is the model id string. Use microsoft/mai-transcribe-2 when you want the Microsoft model, and mistralai/voxtral-mini-transcribe-3-0 when you want the Mistral model. The request shape, authentication and response handling stay identical, so you can switch by editing one field, or route between them at runtime if you want to compare results on your own audio.
There is one case where the less obvious choice still makes sense. If your team has existing Microsoft tooling, billing or compliance arrangements, MAI-Transcribe 2 may be the better fit even though Voxtral Mini Transcribe 3 is cheaper on input, because the surrounding integration cost can outweigh a per call difference. Check the live price table on this page for current rates before you commit, since the qualitative notes here only tell you which side is cheaper, not by how much.
Switch with one string
Both models use the same endpoint and request shape. Change the model value from "microsoft/mai-transcribe-2" to "mistralai/voxtral-mini-transcribe-3-0" and prompts, streaming and tools keep working.
import fs from "node:fs";
import OpenAI from "openai";
const client = new OpenAI({
baseURL: "https://api14.com/api/v1",
apiKey: process.env.API14_API_KEY,
});
const result = await client.audio.transcriptions.create({
model: "mistralai/voxtral-mini-transcribe-3-0",
file: fs.createReadStream("audio.mp3"),
});
console.log(result.text);
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