Baidu Text-to-Speech vs Kokoro TTS
Baidu Text-to-Speech
cloud.baidu.com
Kokoro TTS
github.comSide by side
| Figure | Baidu Text-to-Speech | Kokoro TTS |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 14 | 1 |
| Spec score · Text-to-Speech Software | 9.3 (#3) | 8.6 (#41) |
| Spec score · Text-to-speech tools | 9.3 (#5) | 8.6 (#48) |
| API access | Yes | Yes |
| Export formats | mp3,pcm,wav | WAV |
| Languages | 2 | 8 |
| Platforms | web,api,ios,android,linux | web,windows,macos,linux,api,self_hosted |
| Purpose | Converts text into natural-sounding speech for applications and devices. | Kokoro is an open-weight text-to-speech model with 82 million parameters. |
| Streaming | Streaming synthesis supports bidirectional text and speech so synthesized audio can be heard nearly as text is entered. | The JavaScript library documents streaming generated speech as text is added over time. |
| Voice cloning | Yes | No |
Plans
Baidu Text-to-Speech
- Short-text Basic Voice LibraryPrice not published
- Short-text Premium Voice LibraryPrice not published
- Short-text Large-model and Premium Voice LibraryPrice not published
- Long-text Basic Voice LibraryPrice not published
- Long-text Premium Voice LibraryPrice not published
- Long-text Large-model and Premium Voice LibraryPrice not published
- Streaming Basic Voice LibraryPrice not published
- Streaming Premium Voice LibraryPrice not published
- Streaming Large-model and Premium Voice LibraryPrice not published
- 离线语音合成试用版Free
In their own words
Baidu Text-to-Speech
Baidu Text-to-Speech converts text into speech for applications and devices, with Chinese, English, mixed Chinese-English, and more than 70 voice styles available through its online service. Users can change speech rate, pitch, volume, and supported emotional effects; Chinese polyphonic characters can be annotated with pronunciation. Streaming synthesis can play audio nearly as text is entered, and long-text synthesis handles up to 100,000 Chinese characters in one request. Baidu provides HTTP and WebSocket APIs, online and offline SDKs, and Android and iOS SDKs for phones and smart devices. Offline synthesis is intended for settings with weak or no network access, including mobile apps, readers, robots, and smart hardware. Listed uses include audiobook reading, news and order announcements, and smart hardware. Short-text API requests must stay under 1,024 GBK bytes, with 120 bytes or less recommended. Export formats are MP3, PCM, and WAV. The service offers a free trial; offline trial and license plans are listed, while prices for other listed plans are not provided.
Kokoro TTS
Kokoro TTS is an open-weight text-to-speech model with 82 million parameters. It uses a decoder-only architecture built with StyleTTS 2 and ISTFTNet, and supports eight languages. In the documented Python pipeline, users can choose a voice and adjust speech speed; generated audio is 24 kHz and can be saved as WAV. The kokoro.js library runs the model locally in a browser through Transformers.js, also documents Node CPU use, and supports streaming speech as text is added. The model weights use the Apache license, and commercial use is listed as permitted. The maker describes Kokoro as lightweight and more cost-efficient than larger models while delivering comparable quality. Python installation uses kokoro, soundfile, and espeak-ng, with Misaki handling grapheme-to-phoneme processing. The README includes Windows setup guidance for espeak-ng and Apple Silicon GPU instructions for macOS M1 through M4. Examples point to Google Colab and a Hugging Face demo. Kokoro is free, with a free plan listed at free.