Three Indian-built AI platforms. One is a unicorn backed by peak XV. One is Ola's billion-dollar bet. One is free government infrastructure. Which is right for your business, product, or project?
| Feature | Sarvam AI | Krutrim AI | Bhashini |
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2023, Bengaluru | 2023, Bengaluru (Ola) | 2022, Govt of India (MeitY) |
| Valuation | Unicorn ($1B+) | Unicorn ($1B) | Non-profit / Govt |
| Languages | 10 Indic + Hinglish | 8 Indic languages | 22 official languages |
| STT (Speech-to-Text) | Yes — real-time, Indian accents | Limited | Yes — 12+ languages |
| TTS (Text-to-Speech) | Yes — most natural voices | Limited | Yes — regional accents |
| LLM / Chat API | Yes — Saarika model | Yes — Krutrim model | Translation only |
| Translation API | Yes | Yes | Yes — all 22 languages |
| Pricing | Pay per API call | Pay per API call | Free |
| Data stays in India | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Enterprise support | Yes — SLAs available | Yes | Community only |
| Best for | Voice bots, WhatsApp AI, enterprise APIs | Hindi chatbots, Hinglish content | Bootstrapped projects, govt apps |
Founded by ex-AI4Bharat researchers Vivek Raghavan and Pratyush Kumar, Sarvam AI hit unicorn valuation in 2025 backed by Peak XV and Lightspeed. It offers the most comprehensive API suite: STT, TTS, translation, and a full LLM (Saarika) — all trained natively on Indian data.
Built by Bhavish Aggarwal's Ola, Krutrim became India's first AI unicorn in early 2024. Its LLM is particularly strong on Hinglish — the code-mixed Hindi-English that dominates Indian social media and casual conversations. Better than Sarvam for chat-only applications.
India's national language technology mission, built by MeitY. Covers all 22 scheduled languages — far more than any private platform. The STT and TTS APIs are free with no rate limit for registered developers. Ideal for public-interest applications, NGOs, and bootstrapped founders.