Quick migration guide: realtime STT from Deepgram to Gladia

This step-by-step guide shows how to switch your realtime transcription from Deepgram to Gladia with minimal code changes. It highlights equivalences, subtle differences, and drop‑in replacements so you can migrate quickly and confidently, without any regressions.

Step-by-step guide

Install the SDK

Install the official SDKs to enable realtime streaming. That’s all you need to get started in Python or TypeScript. For Deepgram :

pip install deepgram-sdk

npm i @deepgram/sdk

For Gladia:

pip install gladiaio-sdk

npm i @gladiaio/sdk

Initialize the client

Create and authenticate the client that manages your live connection. The shape is the same idea across providers—just swap the client and key. For Deepgram :

from deepgram import DeepgramClient

deepgram_client = DeepgramClient(api_key="<YOUR_DEEPGRAM_API_KEY>")

import { createClient } from "@deepgram/sdk";

const deepgramClient = createClient(process.env.DEEPGRAM_API_KEY);

For Gladia :

from gladiaio_sdk import GladiaClient

gladia_client = GladiaClient(api_key="<YOUR_GLADIA_API_KEY>")

import { GladiaClient } from "@gladiaio/sdk";

const gladiaClient = new GladiaClient({
  apiKey: process.env.GLADIA_API_KEY,
});

Configure the session

Choose the model, audio format, and language options your app needs. Most parameters map one‑to‑one, so your existing settings carry over naturally.

Deepgram to Gladia parameter mapping

Deepgram	Gladia	Notes / Example
`model`	`model`	Choose the latest Gladia model (“solaria-1”).
`encoding`	`encoding`	Match the actual audio format (e.g., `linear16` ↔ `wav/pcm`).
	`bit_depth`	Choose the bit depth value from your audio
`sample_rate`	`sample_rate`	Same unit (Hz).
`channels`	`channels`	Same meaning.
`interim_results`	`messages_config.receive_partial_transcripts`	Set `true` to receive partials messages.
`endpointing`	`endpointing`; `maximum_duration_without_endpointing`	Port thresholds and consider a hard cap.
`language`	`language_config.languages` (+ `code_switching`)	Pass one or more languages; enable switching when multiple languages are spoken.

Gladia config example

{
  "model": "solaria-1",
  "encoding": "wav/pcm",
  "bit_depth": 16,
  "sample_rate": 16000,
  "channels": 1,
  "language_config": { "languages": ["en"], "code_switching": false },
  "messages_config": {
    "receive_partial_transcripts": true,
    "receive_final_transcripts": true
  },
  "endpointing": 0.8,
  "maximum_duration_without_endpointing": 30,
  "realtime_processing": {
    "custom_vocabulary": false,
    "custom_spelling": false
  }
}

See the full schema in the live init reference.

Start the transcription session

Open a live transcription session using your configuration. The flow is the same as with Deepgram: establish the WebSocket and get ready to stream audio. For Deepgram :

with deepgram_client.listen.v1.connect(deepgram_config) as deepgram_connection:
    # Further code to add event handlers
    deepgram_connection.start_listening()

const deepgramConnection = deepgramClient.listen.live(deepgramConfig);

For Gladia :

gladia_session = gladia_client.live_v2().start_session(gladia_config)

const gladiaSession = gladiaClient.liveV2().startSession(gladiaConfig);

Send audio chunks

Stream audio frames to the session as they are produced. Both SDKs accept small chunks continuously—keep your existing chunking logic. For Deepgram :

deepgram_connection.send(audio_chunk)

deepgramConnection.send(audioChunk);

For Gladia :

gladia_session.send_audio(audio_chunk)

gladiaSession.sendAudio(audioChunk);

Read transcription messages

After audio is flowing, subscribe to transcript and lifecycle events. The mapping below shows how to translate Deepgram listeners to Gladia in a single place. Event mapping from Deepgram to Gladia:

Transcript → listen to Gladia message and branch on message.data.is_final to separate partial vs final results.
Open/Close/Error → map to Gladia started/ended/error.

In practice, subscribe once to message and use the is_final flag instead of wiring separate listeners—less boilerplate, same control. To receive partials, enable messages_config.receive_partial_transcripts: true in your init config. For Deepgram :

from deepgram.core.events import EventType

def on_open(_):
    print("Deepgram connection opened")

def on_message(data, **kwargs):
    # Print the top alternative transcript if present
    print(data["channel"]["alternatives"][0])

def on_close(data, **kwargs):
    print("Deepgram connection closed")

def on_error(error, **kwargs):
    print("Error:", error)

deepgram_connection.on(EventType.OPEN, on_open)
deepgram_connection.on(EventType.MESSAGE, on_message)
deepgram_connection.on(EventType.CLOSE, on_close)
deepgram_connection.on(EventType.ERROR, on_error)

deepgramConnection.on(LiveTranscriptionEvents.Open, () => {
  deepgramConnection.on(LiveTranscriptionEvents.Transcript, (data) => {
    console.log(data.channel.alternatives[0].transcript);
  });

  deepgramConnection.on(LiveTranscriptionEvents.Error, (err) => {
    console.error(err);
  });
});

For Gladia :

from gladiaio_sdk import (
    LiveV2WebSocketMessage,
    LiveV2InitResponse,
    LiveV2EndedMessage,
)

@live_session.on("message")
def on_message(message: LiveV2WebSocketMessage):
    # Partial and final transcripts are delivered here
    # filter them with message.data.is_final field
    print(message)

@live_session.once("started")
def on_started(_response: LiveV2InitResponse):
    print("Session started. Listening...")

@live_session.once("ended")
def on_ended(_ended: LiveV2EndedMessage):
    print("Session ended.")

@live_session.on("error")
def on_error(error: Exception):
    print(f"Error: {error}")

gladiaSession.on("message", (message) => {
  // Partial and final transcripts are delivered here
  // filter them with message.data.is_final field
  console.log(message);
});

gladiaSession.on("started", (info) => {
  console.log("Start session", info);
});

gladiaSession.on("ended", (info) => {
  console.log("End session", info);
});

gladiaSession.on("error", (err) => {
  console.error("Error", err);
});

​Step-by-step guide

​Install the SDK

​Initialize the client

​Configure the session

​Deepgram to Gladia parameter mapping

​Start the transcription session

​Send audio chunks

​Read transcription messages

Step-by-step guide

Install the SDK

Initialize the client

Configure the session

Deepgram to Gladia parameter mapping

Start the transcription session

Send audio chunks

Read transcription messages