be quiet! IO Center vs Piper

be quiet! IO Center configures supported be quiet! keyboards, mice, and coolers. It lets users customize individual LEDs or select preset RGB effects, set keybindings, record macros, and manage profiles. Keys can be assigned functions such as media controls, mouse buttons, Windows tools, files, and applications; macros can include editable delays and action order. Profiles can be switched manually, launched when an application runs, or imported and exported as files. For supported cooler screens, users can select preset or uploaded images and videos, or browse GIPHY for animations and memes. Cooling controls include presets and PID control, which continues working after IO Center closes. Custom keyboard lighting effects require the software to remain running in the background. The Windows desktop app is compatible with Windows 11 Dynamic Lighting. IO Center Web works on Windows, macOS, and Linux in a Chromium-based browser without an account. Settings can be saved to keyboard onboard memory. The software is free.

Piper is a free local neural text-to-speech engine that generates spoken audio from text. It supports 44 languages, embeds espeak-ng for phonemization and exports WAV files. The project lists API, Linux, self-hosted and web platforms. Users can work through a command-line interface, web server, Python API or C/C++ API, and the project links a Java binding called Piper JNI. Installation instructions use the command `pip install piper-tts`. The README also links guidance for training new voices. Piper is licensed under GPL-3.0, with a listed plan price of free. The README names Home Assistant, NVDA, Open Voice Operating System, JetsonGPT and LocalAI among projects using it. The Open Home Foundation owns and governs Piper as part of more than 250 open-source projects, standards, drivers and libraries. The foundation describes privacy, choice and sustainability as its smart-home principles and is seeking maintainers.