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Flite

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Spec score 8.5 #54 of 223 in Text-to-Speech Software

Spec sheet

Purpose
Flite is a small, fast, open source run-time text-to-speech engine.Read 12 Oct 2026 · github.com
Platforms
The project reports successful builds on Linux, Mac OS X, Android, FreeBSD, Solaris, Windows through Cygwin or Windows Subsystem for Linux, and experimental WASI.Read 12 Oct 2026 · github.com
Deployment
Voice, lexicon, and language data can be compiled into C representations and linked into an application, and voice files may also be loaded from disk or HTTP.Read 12 Oct 2026 · github.com
Security
The README warns that command-line feature-setting options are debug facilities and malicious values can stop Flite from working, so they are not intended for standard users.Read 12 Oct 2026 · github.com
License
The project says the core code is free to use in commercial products under its BSD-like copyright terms; some included files have separate licenses.Read 12 Oct 2026 · github.com
API access
YesRead 20 Sep 2026 · github.com
Commercial use
YesRead 20 Sep 2026 · github.com
Companion app
The README describes Bard Storyteller as an app that reads text, HTML, and EPUB ebooks aloud using Flite.Read 12 Oct 2026 · github.com
Export formats
WAVRead 20 Sep 2026 · github.com
Features
The command-line program synthesizes strings or files to audio devices or waveform files, and the library provides simple functions for applications.Read 12 Oct 2026 · github.com
Implementation
The engine is written in ANSI C and does not require Festival or FestVox to compile or run.Read 12 Oct 2026 · github.com
Integration
Flite can be used as a library in applications, and the repository documents SAPI support for clustergen voices.Read 12 Oct 2026 · github.com
Languages
The project describes Indic language support and hundreds of languages through grapheme support.Read 12 Oct 2026 · github.com
Quality tradeoff
The bundled 8 kHz diphone voice is described as a sample voice, and the README notes it is less computationally expensive but more robotic than other voice technology in Flite.Read 12 Oct 2026 · github.com
Resource limits
For standard diphone voices, the README estimates maximum run-time memory at less than twice the memory needed for the generated waveform, or under 1 MB on 32-bit architectures.Read 12 Oct 2026 · github.com
Thread safety
The README describes Flite as thread safe, with the release notes specifying thread safety after initialization.Read 12 Oct 2026 · github.com
Use cases
It is designed for small devices such as phones and PDAs, as well as large servers that need to serve many ports.Read 12 Oct 2026 · github.com
Voices
The distribution includes one 8K diphone voice, a pruned lexicon, and US English models; additional voices can be downloaded or loaded from files or an HTTP connection.Read 12 Oct 2026 · github.com

Plans and prices

Flite Free Open source speech synthesis engine · single 8K diphone voice included Read 12 Oct 2026 · github.com

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Where Specifiction places it

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