Key takeaways
- Enterprise-focused TTS with domain-tuned pronunciation for healthcare, finance, and legal terminology
- Sub-200ms latency optimized for realtime voice AI agent integration
- Flexible deployment options including cloud, private cloud, and on-premise for data sovereignty
FAQ
What is Deepgram Aura?
Deepgram Aura is an enterprise text-to-speech API designed for voice AI applications, offering fast latency, domain-specific pronunciation, and flexible deployment options.
How much does Deepgram Aura cost?
Aura-2 costs $0.030 per 1,000 characters ($0.027 at Growth tier). Deepgram offers $200 free credit to start.
Is Deepgram Aura a full voice agent platform?
No, Aura is a TTS building block. Deepgram also offers Voice Agent API for end-to-end voice agents, but Aura itself is focused on text-to-speech.
Executive Summary
Deepgram Aura is an enterprise-grade text-to-speech API designed for voice AI applications. Unlike consumer-focused TTS, Aura-2 is optimized for professional contexts with domain-tuned pronunciation, sub-200ms latency, and flexible deployment including on-premise. Deepgram recently raised $130M at a $1.3B valuation, validating their position in enterprise speech AI.
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Company | Deepgram |
| Founded | 2015 |
| Valuation | $1.3B (January 2026) |
| Total Funding | $230M+ |
| Model | Aura-2 |
| Focus | Enterprise TTS for voice AI |
Product Overview
Deepgram built its reputation on speech-to-text and expanded into TTS with Aura. The Aura-2 model (April 2025) represents a significant upgrade, focusing on enterprise requirements: accurate pronunciation of industry terminology, low latency for realtime applications, and deployment flexibility.
Important distinction: Aura is a TTS building block, not a complete voice agent platform. Deepgram also offers Voice Agent API for end-to-end solutions, but this profile focuses on Aura as the TTS component commonly used in voice AI stacks.
Key Capabilities
| Capability | Description |
|---|---|
| Sub-200ms Latency | Optimized for realtime voice AI |
| Domain Pronunciation | Healthcare, finance, legal terminology |
| 40+ Voices | English voices with localized accents |
| Streaming | Real-time audio streaming |
| On-Premise | Self-hosted deployment option |
| Prompting | Context-aware delivery adjustment |
Voices
| Voice | Accent | Gender |
|---|---|---|
| Thalia | US English | Feminine |
| Odysseus | US English | Masculine |
| Harmonia | US English | Feminine |
| Theia | Australian English | Feminine |
| Apollo | US English | Masculine |
| Luna | US English | Feminine |
| 40+ more | Various | Various |
Technical Architecture
Deepgram Aura runs on the Deepgram Enterprise Runtime (DER), the same infrastructure powering their STT. This unified architecture means improvements in speech recognition automatically enhance TTS through shared learning.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Deepgram Enterprise Runtime │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ ┌───────────────────┐ ┌───────────────────────┐│
│ │ Speech-to-Text │ │ Aura TTS ││
│ │ (Nova-2) │ │ (Aura-2) ││
│ └─────────┬─────────┘ └───────────┬───────────┘│
│ │ Cross-model │ │
│ │ Learning │ │
│ └───────────────────────┘ │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Deployment Options │
│ Cloud | Private Cloud | On-Premise │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Integration Points
| Integration | Description |
|---|---|
| REST API | Standard HTTP requests |
| WebSocket | Real-time streaming |
| SDKs | Python, Node.js, Go |
| Voice Platforms | LiveKit, Vapi, Retell plugins |
Strengths
- Enterprise focus — Domain-tuned pronunciation for professional contexts
- Low latency — Sub-200ms for realtime voice AI applications
- On-premise option — Deploy in your own infrastructure for data sovereignty
- Unified platform — STT + TTS from same vendor simplifies integration
- Cost effective — $0.030/1K characters competitive with alternatives
- Well funded — $1.3B valuation, $230M+ raised
- Cross-model learning — STT improvements enhance TTS pronunciation
Cautions
- TTS only — Not a complete voice agent platform; requires additional components
- Limited voices — 40+ voices vs ElevenLabs' 10,000+
- No voice cloning — Cannot create custom voices from samples
- English-focused — 7 languages vs competitors' 30+
- Less emotional range — Professional focus may limit expressive applications
- Enterprise pricing — May be expensive for consumer applications
Pricing & Licensing
Deepgram Aura uses character-based pricing:
| Tier | Price per 1K Characters |
|---|---|
| Pay-as-you-go | $0.030 |
| Growth | $0.027 |
| Enterprise | Custom |
Free credits: $200 to start.
Comparison to alternatives:
- ElevenLabs: ~$0.18-0.30/1K characters
- OpenAI TTS: ~$0.015/1K characters
- Google TTS: ~$0.016/1K characters
Voice Agent API (separate product): $0.04-0.16/minute for end-to-end agents.
Competitive Positioning
Direct Competitors (TTS)
| Competitor | Differentiation |
|---|---|
| ElevenLabs | ElevenLabs has more voices and voice cloning; Aura has better enterprise features and on-premise |
| OpenAI TTS | OpenAI is cheaper; Aura has domain pronunciation and on-premise |
| Google Cloud TTS | Google has more languages; Aura has voice AI optimization |
| Amazon Polly | Polly integrates with AWS; Aura has better latency for realtime |
When to Choose Deepgram Aura
- Choose Aura when: You need enterprise TTS with domain pronunciation, on-premise deployment, or are already using Deepgram STT
- Choose ElevenLabs when: Voice variety and quality are paramount
- Choose OpenAI TTS when: Cost is primary concern for simple use cases
- Choose full platforms when: You want end-to-end voice agents
Ideal Customer Profile
Best fit:
- Enterprise voice AI applications needing domain pronunciation
- Organizations requiring on-premise TTS deployment
- Teams already using Deepgram STT wanting unified stack
- Healthcare, finance, legal applications with terminology requirements
- High-volume applications needing cost-effective TTS
Poor fit:
- Applications requiring extensive voice variety
- Consumer entertainment applications
- Teams needing voice cloning
- Non-English-primary applications
Viability Assessment
| Factor | Assessment |
|---|---|
| Financial Health | Strong — $1.3B valuation, $230M+ raised |
| Market Position | Leader in enterprise speech AI |
| Innovation Pace | Good — Aura-2 major upgrade in 2025 |
| Ecosystem | Strong — Integrations with major voice platforms |
| Long-term Outlook | Positive — Clear enterprise niche |
Deepgram's $130M raise at $1.3B valuation in January 2026 validates their enterprise speech AI strategy. The acquisition of a YC startup shows commitment to continued expansion.
Bottom Line
Deepgram Aura is the best TTS choice for enterprise voice AI applications requiring domain-specific pronunciation, low latency, and flexible deployment including on-premise. The unified STT+TTS platform simplifies integration for teams building voice AI stacks.
The trade-off is that Aura is a building block, not a complete platform. You'll need to integrate it with STT and LLM components (though Deepgram offers those too). For applications requiring voice variety or cloning, ElevenLabs is better. For complete voice agent platforms, consider Vapi or Retell that use Aura under the hood.
Recommended for: Enterprise voice AI applications needing domain pronunciation, on-premise deployment, or unified STT+TTS from one vendor.
Not recommended for: Applications requiring extensive voice variety, voice cloning, or teams wanting complete managed voice agent platforms.
Research by Ry Walker Research