Play.ht has made a name for itself in text-to-speech, but is it truly the best choice for everyone?
Maybe you’re looking for a wider range of voices, extra customization, or something more affordable.
Whatever you’re after, these six alternatives could be the upgrade you didn’t know you needed.
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1. Podcastle
Podcastle goes a step further from being just a text-to-speech tool, as it’s a full content creation platform with integrated audio and video editors, built for podcasters, video creators, and all types of storytellers. With a selection of AI voices, along with multi-track recording and editing (along with other easy editing features), it’s a great pick for anyone looking to create high-quality spoken content.
Key Features
- Massive AI Voice Library: Over 200 AI voices, covering a wide range of accents, tones, and emotions. Find a voice that fits your project, whether you need something energetic, soothing, or authoritative.
- Voice Cloning in Minutes: Record 70 sentences (about five minutes of audio) and the AI builds a digital version of your voice. It’s fast, efficient, and ready to use with far less setup than many other platforms.
- Ultra-Realistic AI Speech: AI-generated voices that sound human, with natural intonations and fluid pacing. No robotic, flat-sounding speech. Just realistic, dynamic voices that enhance your content.
- Easy Text-to-Speech Editing: Type out a script and turn it into high-quality audio in seconds. Adjust pacing, pronunciation, and emphasis to make the delivery sound exactly how you want it.
- Studio-Quality Recording: No need for a soundproof booth. Record crisp, clear audio straight from your browser or mobile device, and let AI enhancements clean up the final product.
- Royalty-Free Music & Effects: A built-in library of high-quality sounds, so you never have to search for background music or effects. Just pick what fits, drop it into your project, and keep moving.
- Fast, Accurate Transcriptions: Convert speech to text with a few clicks. Whether you need captions for accessibility, transcripts for SEO, or notes for editing, everything is automated and ready within minutes.
Pricing
You can start for free on the basic plan. But if you’re ready to unlock more tools and features, you can select between three paid plans:
1) Essentials Plan
Includes 8 hours of video recording, 10 hours of transcription, and 200K text-to-speech characters.
– Monthly: $19.99/month per creator
– Yearly: $11.99/month ($143.90/year)
2) Pro Plan
Offers 20 hours of video recording, 25 hours of transcription, 500K text-to-speech characters, and voice cloning.
– Monthly: $39.99/month per creator
– Yearly: $23.99/month ($287.90/year)
3) Business Plan
Designed for teams, with unlimited video recording, 2M text-to-speech characters, and dedicated support.
– Monthly: $64.99/month per creator
– Yearly: $39.99/month ($479.90/year)
2. Murf.ai
Murf.ai is a versatile text-to-speech platform offering AI-powered voiceovers for videos, presentations, and e-learning content. It gives users control over pitch, speed, and pronunciation, making it easy to fine-tune a voice for specific projects.
Key Features
- Diverse Voice Options: Provides over 120 AI voices across 20+ languages for varied applications.
- Voice Customization: Fine-tune pronunciation, pitch, speed, and more for personalized voiceovers.
- Voice Cloning: Create custom voices for branding purposes, ensuring consistency.
- Video and Image Integration: Sync voiceovers with videos, images, and presentations seamlessly.
- AI Translation and Dubbing: Translate and dub content into multiple languages for global reach.
Pricing
– Free Plan: $0/month
– Basic Plan: $19/month
– Pro Plan: $26/month
– Enterprise Plan: Custom pricing
3. Speechify
Speechify is all about accessibility and productivity. It turns any written text into spoken audio, making it easier to absorb information while on the go. Whether you’re listening to a document, a webpage, or an article, Speechify’s natural-sounding AI voices make it feel like a real person is reading to you. It’s a great tool for anyone who wants to consume more content without being glued to a screen.
Key Features
- Natural-Sounding Voices: Offers a wide range of human-like voices in different accents and languages.
- Ease of Use: Upload any text format or use the browser extension for instant text-to-speech conversion.
- Customization Options: Adjust reading speed, voice selection, and text highlighting to suit preferences.
- Integration: Works with popular apps and devices, including iOS, Android, Chrome, and Safari.
- Additional Features: Includes note-taking and vocabulary tools to enhance the learning experience.
Pricing
– Free Plan: $0/month
– Premium Plan: $11.58/month (billed annually)
4. Google Text-to-Speech
Google’s Text-to-Speech tool is simple, reliable, and widely used across apps and devices. It supports dozens of languages and gives users control over voice speed and pitch. While it’s often built into accessibility features, it’s also useful for developers, businesses, and content creators who need an easy way to add spoken word to apps, articles, or presentations.
Key Features
- Extensive Voice Selection: Access hundreds of voices in multiple languages for diverse applications.
- Voice Customization: Adjust pitch, speed, and tone to match specific requirements.
- SSML Support: Customize speech with SSML tags for adding pauses, formatting, and pronunciation.
- Flexible Audio Formats: Download in various formats like MP3, Linear16, OGG Opus, or WAV.
- API Integration: Provides an API for developers to integrate Google’s TTS into apps and services, allowing for automated text-to-speech generation at scale.
Pricing
Pay-as-you-go model based on usage; specific rates vary.
5. ElevenLabs
ElevenLabs delivers some of the most lifelike AI voices on the market. It’s designed to replicate human speech patterns with impressive realism, capturing tone, pacing, and emotion in a way that many text-to-speech tools struggle to achieve. It’s ideal for audiobooks, gaming, and localization projects where a robotic-sounding voice won’t cut it.
Key Features
- Realistic AI Voices: Generates lifelike voices with nuanced intonations and inflections.
- Voice Cloning: Allows users to create custom AI voices based on recordings.
- Multilingual AI Speech: Supports multiple languages with natural-sounding speech synthesis.
- Text-to-Speech & Dubbing: Converts text into high-quality speech and enables real-time dubbing.
- API & Developer Tools: Offers API access for integrating ElevenLabs’ voice technology into applications.
Pricing
– Free Plan: $0/month
– Starter Plan: $5/month
– Creator Plan: $22/month
– Pro Plan: $99/month
– Scale Plan: $330/month
– Business Plan: $1,320/month
– Enterprise Plan: Custom pricing
6. LOVO AI
LOVO is an AI voice generator built for creatives who need realistic, customizable voices for their projects. With over 500 voices across different accents and emotional tones, it’s widely used in gaming, animation, audiobooks, and e-learning. Just like Podcastle, LOVO also lets users tweak voice settings to match the mood of their content, whether it’s a high-energy commercial or a calm meditation guide.
Key Features
- Large AI Voice Library: Features hundreds of voices in multiple languages, ideal for text-to-speech applications.
- Voice Cloning: Create unique, realistic AI-generated voices for branding and personalization.
- Expressive Speech Synthesis: Provides emotion-infused AI voices for more engaging narrations.
- Web-Based Editor: Allows users to refine and adjust speech output before finalizing voiceovers.
- API & Cloud Integration: Easily integrates with various platforms for automated voice generation.
Pricing
– Free Plan: Limited access
– Basic Plan: $24/month
– Pro Plan: $49/month
– Enterprise Plan: Custom pricing
