Free Text to Speech Tools and APIs
Which AI voice generators and text-to-speech APIs a startup can use for free today, how many characters or minutes the free plan covers, whether the audio may be used commercially, whether a card is needed and what the first paid plan costs, read from each provider's own page.
Free allowances read on each provider's own pages, all checked on or after . Text-to-speech tools change their free allowances often: confirm the terms on the tool's page before you publish audio made with it.
Text-to-speech tools and voice APIs you can use for free today include ElevenLabs (10k credits a month), Google Cloud Text-to-Speech (4M Standard or WaveNet characters a month), Listnr (1,000 credits to start, $0 a month), Azure AI Speech (0.5M neural characters a month), and WellSaid (3 download minutes a month). Each of the 12 free plans below links to the tool's page that states it, with its main limit, whether the audio may be used commercially, whether a card is needed and what the first paid plan costs.
Text to speech gives a product a voice: narration for a demo video, audio for an article, a spoken answer from an app. Voice studios and cloud APIs both have free plans, and for a first version they are often enough.
The headline rarely tells you how far it goes. A free plan can cap characters or minutes, add a watermark or ask for attribution, or keep commercial use for paid plans, which matters the moment the audio goes into a product or an ad. Each tool below shows what is free, its main limit, whether the audio may be used commercially, whether a card is needed and what the first paid plan costs, quoted from the provider's own page with the date we read it.
Which tools we picked and the order they appear in are our editorial choices; the terms are the tools'. Some of these tools pay us a referral commission when someone signs up through our link: those links are labeled, and they play no part in which tools are listed or where.
AI voice generators with a free plan
Studios that turn a script into a voiceover, with free characters or minutes to start.
- 1
ElevenLabs
Creators who want a monthly credit pool to test voices
ElevenLabs gives 10,000 credits a month on its Free plan, shared across its products. Its Free plan lists 3 projects in Studio, and the Commercial License starts on the paid Starter plan at $6 a month.
- What's free
- 10k credits a month (source: elevenlabs.io)
- First paid plan
- Starter: $6 a month, 30k credits (source: elevenlabs.io)
Start free at ElevenLabsTerms read on elevenlabs.io on ElevenLabs: the free allowance and how to start ElevenLabs Startup Grants: what startups get - 2
Listnr
Solo creators who want voices with no card
Listnr's Free plan costs $0 a month with no credit card, and includes 1,000 credits to start and a preview of its voice library. Commercial rights come with the paid plans, from $19 per month.
- Commercial use
- Commercial rights on paid plans only (source: listnr.ai)
- Payment card
- No card needed (source: listnr.ai)
- First paid plan
- Individual: $19 a month, 20,000 credits (source: listnr.ai)
Start free at ListnrReferral linkTerms read on listnr.ai on Listnr: the free allowance and how to start - 3
WellSaid
Trying a studio voice tool before paying, no card needed
WellSaid's free Trial plan gives full Studio access and 3 download minutes a month, with no credit card required. Its downloads carry no commercial rights, and the Starter plan is $10 a month billed annually.
- Commercial use
- No commercial rights on the trial (source: wellsaid.io)
- Payment card
- No card needed (source: wellsaid.io)
- First paid plan
- Starter: $10 a month, billed yearly (source: wellsaid.io)
- 4
Narakeet
Short voiceovers and tests on a free account
Narakeet's free account includes 20 conversions and a 1 KB audio script limit, with no commercial use. Its first paid option is 30 minutes of credits for $6, bought once.
- First paid plan
- 30 minutes of credits for $6, one-off (source: narakeet.com)
- 5
Murf AI
A first test of Murf voices, ends when the minutes run out
Murf's Free plan includes 10 minutes of voice generation and transcription time, a one-time allowance with no end date that runs out once used.
Start free at Murf AIReferral linkTerms read on help.murf.ai on Murf AI: the free allowance and how to start Murf Startup Incubator Program: what startups get
Text-to-speech APIs with a free tier
Voice APIs for developers, with a free monthly allowance or free credits to start.
- 1
Google Cloud Text-to-Speech
Teams on Google Cloud who need many free characters
Google Cloud gives a free monthly allowance of 4 million Standard or WaveNet characters. Usage past the free characters is charged per character, at US$4 per 1 million for Standard voices.
Start free at Google CloudTerms read on cloud.google.com on Google Cloud Text-to-Speech: the free allowance and how to start - 2
Azure AI Speech
Teams on Microsoft Azure who want a free neural voice tier
Azure AI Speech's free F0 tier includes 0.5 million neural text-to-speech characters a month. It also includes 5 audio hours of real-time speech to text each month.
Start free at MicrosoftTerms read on azure.microsoft.com on Azure AI Speech: the free allowance and how to start - 3
Amazon Polly
AWS users who want Standard voices free every month
Amazon Polly's free tier includes 5 million Standard voice characters each month. Its Neural voices get 1 million characters a month, but only for the first 12 months.
Start free at Amazon Web ServicesTerms read on aws.amazon.com on Amazon Polly: the free allowance and how to start - 4
Speechify API
Developers testing a voice API before paying
Speechify's API Free plan costs $0 a month with no credit card, and includes 500K characters a month, with commercial use listed on the plan. When that balance runs out it pauses until the next month.
- Commercial use
- Commercial use allowed on Free (source: speechify.com)
- Payment card
- No card needed (source: speechify.com)
Start free at SpeechifyTerms read on speechify.com on Speechify API: the free allowance and how to start - 5
Cartesia
Developers testing Sonic speech on a small budget
Cartesia's Free plan costs $0 a month and includes 20K credits a month for Sonic text to speech and Ink speech to text. The commercial use license is listed on the Pro plan at $5 a month.
- What's free
- 20K credits a month (source: cartesia.ai)
- First paid plan
- Pro: $5 a month, 100K credits (source: cartesia.ai)
Start free at CartesiaTerms read on cartesia.ai on Cartesia: the free allowance and how to start Cartesia Startups Grant: what startups get - 6
Unreal Speech
Developers who want a monthly free text to speech allowance
Unreal Speech's Free plan gives 250K characters a month, reset on the 1st of each month. Audio can be used commercially with an attribution link, and the Basic plan is $4.99 a month for the first 6 months.
- First paid plan
- Basic: $4.99/mo for 6 months (source: unrealspeech.com)
Start free at Unreal SpeechReferral linkTerms read on unrealspeech.com on Unreal Speech: the free allowance and how to start - 7
Deepgram
Developers who want to try speech APIs before paying
Every new Deepgram account receives $200 in free credit, with no credit card required. The credit stays available until it is used up, and pay as you go text to speech is $0.030/1k characters for Aura-2.
- What's free
- $200 in free credit (source: deepgram.com)
- Payment card
- No card needed (source: deepgram.com)
Start free at DeepgramTerms read on deepgram.com on Deepgram: the free allowance and how to start Deepgram Startup Program: what startups get
Voice AI startup programs
Programs from voice AI companies that give startups credits or a discount on paid plans.
Also useful for voice, speech and communications APIs
Referral links, picked for fit and ordered by fit (70%) and what a signup earns us (30%), at no cost to you. They never change this page's ranking.
How this comparison is built
The list covers AI voice generators and text-to-speech APIs a founder can use for free today without applying to a program. The order and the "best for" notes are our editorial reading of each tool's terms. Every term comes from the tool's own pricing or help page on the date shown, never from a third-party list; follow each link for the full conditions. A cap on characters or minutes, or commercial use kept for paid plans, can matter more than the headline, so the comparison quotes them wherever the tool states them. Some of these tools pay StartupPerks a referral commission, and their links are labeled as referral links; that decides neither whether nor where a tool appears, and no tool pays for a placement on this page.
Read the full methodologyCommon questions
What is the best free text to speech?
It depends on the job. For developers, by the terms each provider states, Google Cloud Text-to-Speech includes 4M Standard or WaveNet characters a month, Amazon Polly 5M Standard characters a month, Speechify API 500K characters a month and Unreal Speech 250K characters a month. For voiceovers, ElevenLabs includes 10k credits a month.
Is ElevenLabs free?
Yes. ElevenLabs' free plan includes 10k credits a month. Its commercial license starts on the Starter plan, which costs $6 a month for 30k credits.
Can I use free text-to-speech audio commercially?
On some free plans. By each tool's own terms, Speechify API allows commercial use on its Free plan and Unreal Speech allows it with a link to Unreal Speech, while ElevenLabs' commercial license starts on Starter and Listnr, WellSaid and Narakeet keep commercial use for paid plans.
Is Murf AI free?
Murf's Free plan includes 10 minutes of voice generation, a one-time allowance with no end date that runs out once used, and it has no downloads. Commercial rights come with Murf's paid plans.
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