Cloudflare AI Gateway vs. AssemblyAI

Learn why developers building Voice AI choose AssemblyAI’s managed LLM Gateway over an edge control plane:

0% markup and no provider keys to manage—call 25+ models through one API
Native, purpose-built speech-to-text in the same pipeline
EU data residency by default, opt-in zero data retention, and a BAA when you need one

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At a glance: Cloudflare AI Gateway vs. AssemblyAI

Model

AssemblyAI LLM Gateway

Cloudflare AI Gateway

Model access

25+ curated models, billed at provider rates

Bring your own provider keys + Workers AI

Speech-to-text

First-party, purpose-built models

Whisper via Workers AI

Pricing

0% markup, no keys to manage

Free gateway; you manage provider billing

Automatic fallbacks

Configurable per-model

Fallback routing

EU data residency

Default-on for EU traffic

Global edge

Zero data retention

Opt-in, per request

Configurable logging

BAA available

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OpenAI SDK compatible

Compatible endpoints

Managed model access, with native speech built in

Curated models, no keys to manage

Call 25+ frontier models through one API, billed at provider rates. There are no separate provider accounts or keys to create and rotate yourself.

Native, purpose-built speech-to-text

Transcribe with AssemblyAI’s own speech models and apply any LLM in one pipeline. Cloudflare offers Whisper via Workers AI, but not a purpose-built speech and audio-intelligence stack.

0% markup

Pay provider token rates with no gateway markup and no minimum commitment. The price you see is the price you pay.

Automatic fallbacks

Configure a primary model and any number of backups per request. If a provider errors or rate-limits, the Gateway retries the next model—no code changes.

OpenAI-compatible

Drop into any OpenAI SDK or HTTP client. Change a base URL and a model string, and the rest of your code keeps working.

EU data residency

Route requests through EU-resident infrastructure, on by default for EU traffic, for GDPR-sensitive workloads.

Zero data retention

Opt into zero data retention per request or project-wide, so prompts and responses are never stored.

BAA available

Sign a Business Associate Addendum for applications that process PHI, backed by SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, and GDPR.

Start building

Get your free API key and make your first Gateway call in minutes—no provider keys to wire up first.

Live demo

Pick a model. Take action on your audio.

The same transcript, four different jobs, four different models — all routed through one endpoint.

Prompt

What is runner's knee?

claude-opus-4-7 412 ms · 47 tokens

Based on the transcript, runner's knee is a condition characterized by pain behind or around the kneecap. It is caused by overuse, muscle imbalance and inadequate stretching. Symptoms include pain under or around the kneecap and pain when walking.

Want managed models, not just a proxy?

Get one OpenAI-compatible API to 25+ models at provider rates—with native speech-to-text and no provider keys to manage.

Get your API key

Playground

We’re not playing around—but you can

Put our Voice AI models and the LLM Gateway to the test in our no-code playground.

Explore Playground

Frequently asked questions

: Cloudflare AI Gateway is an observability and control plane you put in front of your own provider keys, adding caching, rate limiting, and analytics at the edge. AssemblyAI’s LLM Gateway is a managed model API—call 25+ curated models at provider rates with 0% markup, no keys to manage, and native first-party speech-to-text in the same pipeline. Choose AssemblyAI when you want managed model access and audio support; choose Cloudflare when you mainly want edge caching and analytics over keys you already hold.
: With Cloudflare AI Gateway, yes—it proxies requests to providers whose keys and billing you manage yourself (its Workers AI catalog is the exception). With AssemblyAI, no: you call one API and models are billed at provider rates with 0% markup, so there are no separate provider accounts to set up.
: AssemblyAI, because it runs its own purpose-built speech-to-text models and applies any LLM to the transcript in one pipeline—no extra network hop. Cloudflare can run Whisper through Workers AI, but it does not offer a first-party speech and audio-intelligence stack tuned for production Voice AI.
: Cloudflare’s strength is its edge observability and caching, and that is a real reason to use it in front of existing provider keys. AssemblyAI focuses on managed model access with automatic fallbacks and native speech, so if edge caching and analytics are your primary need, Cloudflare may fit better—while AssemblyAI wins on audio and no-markup managed access.
: Yes. Point any OpenAI SDK at the Gateway, change the base URL and model string, and your code works unchanged. Cloudflare also exposes OpenAI-compatible endpoints for the providers it proxies.
: Yes, with AssemblyAI: EU residency is on by default for EU traffic, zero data retention is available per request, and a Business Associate Addendum (BAA) is available for workloads that process PHI. Cloudflare runs on a global edge network with configurable logging rather than default-on EU residency and per-request ZDR.