AI voice generators are getting insanely realistic. You can clone your own voice, copy a celebrity's voice, and even change up the emotion and the tone. The problem is that there are loads and loads of AI voice generators out there, and so it can be really difficult to know which ones offer the best text-to-speech features and which have the most realistic voices. Luckily, having tried out almost every AI Text-to-Speech app over the last five years when creating realistic voices, we can explore the best options available today.
In this article, we'll explore 10 of the best AI voice generators available today, analyzing their features, benefits, and drawbacks to help you find the best one for you. We've added in links so that you can try them out for yourself, and we'll reveal what might be considered the best AI text-to-speech voice generator towards the end. With that said, let's get right into it.
Flawer
Flawer is an AI voice generator used by thousands of businesses and content creators. This feature-packed platform helps you create engaging content with realistic human voices, offering over 25 different emotions to make the output sound truly dynamic. The software boasts a large library of 400 voices suitable for marketing, social media, explainer videos, podcasts, and loads of other purposes too. Critically, the voices are available in 100 different languages, so that you can create content for your global audience.
Its intuitive interface can be easily used, and it contains everything you need to create a video too. It's also ideal for dubbing your videos with background music and special effects. Currently, Flawer has a community of half a million creators who help with any queries you might have. It comes with four simple pricing plans and, obviously, the option to use the Pro Plan for 14 days for free, as well as the free plan which you can use forever. The voices are really realistic, and you can get started very quickly with its simple interface. As one might say, "Are you looking for the perfect voice? Then I'm your best option."
11 Labs
Next on the list we have 11 Labs. Having tried out hundreds of AI voice generators, I can honestly say that 11 Labs is one of the best AI text-to-speech tools out there. It's super easy to use with a generous free tier, allowing you to choose from hundreds of AI-generated voices from the community in the voice library. You can then use the speech synthesis tool to input any text and have the voice you chose from the voice library read it out loud.
11 Labs' most impressive feature, however, is its Voice Lab, which is able to clone your own voice or create a new synthetic voice from just 60 seconds of audio, where other alternatives might need 20 to 30 minutes. The way it works is that you upload 1 to two hours of your audio of you speaking and it then creates your own AI voice Avatar so you do not have to record your voice again. The results are pretty amazing too, and the voices can be tweaked and edited. Pricing is usage-based, with high-quality professional voice cloning available on Enterprise tiers. The problem with this is it only gets better with more audio that you feed in, ideally 10 hours or more for the most natural results. The quality is notable, capable of producing natural-sounding speech like: "The immortal jellyfish turretopsis Dorney, often referred to as the immortal jellyfish, has a remarkable capability that sets it apart from other creatures." I have used 11 labs in collaboration with haen to create my AI video reels.
Speechify
Next up, we've got Speechify, which can turn text in any format into natural-sounding speech. Based on the web, the platform can take PDFs, emails, documents, or articles and turn them into audio that can then be listened to instead of read. This is incredibly useful for consuming content on the go or for accessibility purposes. The tool also enables you to adjust the reading speed and has over 30 natural-sounding voices to select from.
The software is intelligent and can identify more than 15 different languages when processing text. Furthermore, it can seamlessly convert scanned printed text into clearly audible audio. Speechify has also got a mobile app and Chrome and Safari extensions, making it accessible across various devices and platforms. It's really easy to use, with newer features including audiobooks and more. Its voices aim for approachability, like the sample: "Hey, I'm Guy. I'm the voice that's just as friendly and approachable as your next-door neighbor."
Murf
Next up is one of the best text-to-speech generators out there, and it's called Murf. It's one of the most popular and impressive AI voice generators on the market. Murf enables anyone to convert text to speech, voiceovers, and dictations, and it's used by a wide range of professionals, from product developers and podcasters to educators and business leaders.
Murf offers a lot of customization options to help you create the best natural-sounding voices. It has a variety of voices and dialects that you can choose from, as well as a really easy-to-use interface. The text-to-speech generator provides users with a comprehensive AI voiceover studio that includes a built-in video editor, which enables you to create a video with voiceover. There are over 100 AI voices from 15 languages, and you can select preferences such as the speaker, accents, voice styles, and tone or purpose.
Another great feature offered by Murf is the voice changer, which allows you to record without using your own voice as a voiceover. The voiceovers offered by Murf can also be customized by pitch, speed, and volume. You can add pauses and emphasis or change pronunciation. Murf's best features are its large library of voices on offer and its expressive emotional options, where you can tweak those voices to your need. It embodies the idea that "It only takes one voice at the right pitch to start an avalanche."
Synthesys
Voice generator number five on the list is called Synthesys, and it's one of the most popular and powerful AI text-to-speech generators, as it enables anyone to produce professional AI voiceovers or AI videos in just a few clicks. The platform is on the leading edge of developing algorithms for text-to-voiceover and videos for commercial use. Imagine being able to enhance your website explainer videos or product tutorials in a matter of minutes with the aid of a natural-sounding human voice.
Synthesys' text-to-speech (TTS) and Synthesys text-to-video (TTV) technology can transform your script into vibrant and dynamic media presentations. It has a bunch of great features on offer, including a large library of professional voices with over 30 female and 30 male voices. You can create and sell unlimited voiceovers for any purpose. The voices are extremely lifelike and compelling, unlike some competing platforms. You can choose specific emphasis on words and a range of emotions, from happiness to excitement to sadness and more. It aims to be part of "the most important revolution in the future of human communication and perception," analogous to the birth of the internet.
Listener
The next tool on the list is Listener, which can convert text-to-speech in various formats, offering options like genre selection, accent selection, pauses, and more. It also enables users to get their own customizable audio player embed, which you can then use to embed into your blog as an audio version, making written content more accessible.
One of the greatest aspects of Listener is that it's highly personalized for each individual listener and their preferences. It's a great tool for podcasting, as it can help you monetize content through advertising. The text-to-speech generator can be used to distribute and convert audio with commercial broadcasting rights on top streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple. Listener supports more than 17 languages and it can convert blog posts into various languages and dialects. Its main USPs are its focus on podcasting and its personalization and customization of the audio, as well as that useful embed feature. As noted, "Listener uses Cloud machine learning to provide you with the best AI voices in over 70 different languages."
WellSaid Labs
Next up, we've got WellSaid, which is a web-based authoring tool for creating voiceovers with generative AI. The tool offers a diverse roster of AI voices, providing plenty of options for different projects. A key advantage is the ability to generate voiceovers as fast as you can type, speeding up workflows significantly. Unlike some competing options, it offers some of the most lifelike voices, rated as realistic as human recordings by users.
You can actually audition over 50 AI voices in different speaking styles, genders, and accents in real-time. This allows for careful selection to match the desired tone and context. You can mix and match voices for different scenarios based on instruction. A unique feature here is its pronunciation library that enables users full control over how the AI tells your story by teaching it how to say things specifically how you want. This gives you a lot of control compared to other tools out there, ensuring brand names, jargon, or specific terms are pronounced correctly. Its quality supports narratives like: "In this series, we'll explore the purpose of mediation and the role of a mediator."
Microsoft Speech Studio
Microsoft have invested over 10 billion dollars into OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. It's therefore no surprise that Microsoft's cloud-based AI text-to-speech solution is super powerful. Microsoft's text-to-speech solution is called Speech Studio, and it's part of Microsoft's Azure AI Services. Speech Studio comes with Voice Gallery, which features over 400 voices across 140 languages and dialects, offering vast global reach.
But the real power comes from Custom Neural Voice, which lets you create a natural-sounding synthetic voice which is trained on human voice recordings. Your custom voice can adapt across languages and speaking styles and is perfect for adding a one-of-a-kind voice to your text-to-speech solutions, ensuring brand consistency or a unique character voice. The main downside here is you'll likely need some developer support to integrate Azure AI. However, if you want the most realistic-sounding AI voices, it's well worth persevering. It has been used throughout a number of businesses. The results can be quite convincing: "I'm Jenny, a synthetic voice created by custom neural voice, and happy that you're here."
Play.ht
Next up, we've got Play.ht, which is another powerful text-to-speech generator. It uses AI to generate audio and voices from major providers like IBM, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon, leveraging their established technologies. It's especially useful for converting text into natural language voices. The tool allows you to download the voiceover as MP3 and WAV files, providing standard formats for easy use.
You can choose a voice type before either importing or typing your text. The tool then instantly converts the text into a natural human voice. Importantly, the audio can be enhanced afterwards with speech styles, pronunciation adjustments, and more, allowing for fine-tuning of the final output. It helps ensure your message lands effectively, because "You need to address a very specific customer with your content; otherwise, it won't resonate."
Semantic
Next up, we've got Semantic, which has risen in popularity since it was used to help actor Val Kilmer reclaim his voice with a synthetic voice replica in Top Gun Maverick. The easy-to-use AI tool is popular in the entertainment industry since it enables really lively voice expressions.
The tool allows you to change the tone of the speech generated with tones like happy, sad, or angry. You can also customize the level of emotion through some simple adjustments, adding depth to the performance. It works by simply copying and pasting written text into the editor before waiting for it to be converted into your audio. These reasons—expressiveness and ease of use—are why this type of technology has been used for animations, films, and games, where capturing emotion is key. It speaks to the idea that "We all have the capacity to be creative. We're all driven to share our deepest dreams and ideas with the world."
Bonus: Amazon Polly
Alexa isn't the only artificial intelligence tool created by tech giant Amazon, as it also offers an intelligent text-to-speech system called Amazon Polly. Employing advanced deep learning techniques, the software turns text into lifelike speech. Developers can use the software to create speech-enabled products and apps. It sports an API that lets you easily integrate speech synthesis capabilities into things like ebooks, articles, and other media.
What's great is that Amazon Polly is really easy to use from a developer perspective. To get text converted into speech, you just need to send it through the API, and then it'll send an audio stream straight back to your application. You can also store audio streams as MP3, Ogg Vorbis, and PCM file formats. There's support for a range of international languages and dialects, including things like British English, Australian English, French, Spanish, Dutch, Danish, Russian, and many, many more.
Polly is available as an API on its own, as well as a feature of the AWS Management Console and command-line interface. In terms of pricing, you're charged based on the number of characters you convert into speech, typically around $16 per 1 million characters, but there are always free credits available via the AWS Free Tier, especially for the first year. Polly's got some really lifelike voices, but it will require developer support, a bit like Microsoft Azure.
Which AI Voice Generator is Best?
Okay, so that was the full top 10 list plus a little bonus AI voice generator tool. But which one stands out as the best? Well, in my personal opinion, having tried them all out and having used their APIs in my own businesses, the most realistic voices come from Microsoft Speech Studio, Amazon Polly, and 11 Labs.
For most people, 11 Labs is well worth checking out, as it's gonna be the most accessible to use without the need for any developer support or using Azure or AWS cloud services. The voice cloning and synthesis are super easy on 11 Labs, needing only 60 seconds of audio to clone a voice effectively. So, if you're looking for something that doesn't sound robotic and is easy to get started with, the free tier from 11 Labs is well worth trying out.
Remember, lots of these tools offer translation and different dialects too, so consider your specific needs regarding language support and target audience when making your final choice. The field is constantly evolving, so keep an eye out for updates and new contenders entering the space.
