Google Cloud Text-to-Speech vs OpenAI Text-to-Speech
Google Cloud Text-to-Speech
cloud.google.com
OpenAI Text-to-Speech
developers.openai.comSide by side
| Figure | Google Cloud Text-to-Speech | OpenAI Text-to-Speech |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $4/mo | $0.60/mo |
| Free plan | — | — |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 14 | 3 |
| Spec score · Text-to-speech tools | 9.2 (#8) | 8.3 (#74) |
| Spec score · Text-to-Speech Software | 9.0 (#13) | 7.9 (#123) |
| Spec score · Voice Ai Tools | 8.9 (#3) | 7.8 (#19) |
| Spec score · AI voice generators | 8.9 (#5) | 7.7 (#23) |
| Spec score · Game Voice Generators | 8.8 (#9) | 7.7 (#27) |
| API access | Yes | Yes |
| Commercial use | Yes | Yes |
| Custom voices | Chirp 3 instant custom voice can create personalized voice models with as little as 10 seconds of audio input and is available in more than 30 locales. | An approved custom voice can be created from a speaker’s consent recording and matching audio sample, subject to eligibility and recording requirements. |
| Export formats | MP3,LINEAR16,OGG_OPUS,MULAW,ALAW | mp3,opus,aac,flac,wav,pcm |
| Platforms | web,api | api |
| Security | Google Cloud states that data is encrypted in transit and at rest with audited access to encryption keys. | OpenAI says API Platform data is encrypted at rest with AES-256 and in transit with TLS 1.2 or higher, and that the API Platform is SOC 2 Type 2 audited. |
| Speech controls | The API supports pitch adjustment up to 20 semitones, speaking rates up to four times faster or slower than normal, and volume gain from -96 dB to +16 dB. | With gpt-4o-mini-tts, instructions can control accent, emotional range, intonation, impressions, speech speed, tone, and whispering. |
| Streaming | The product supports streaming audio synthesis for low-latency, real-time conversations. | Speech API chunked audio streaming lets playback begin before the complete file is generated. |
| Voice cloning | Yes | Yes |
| What it does | Cloud Text-to-Speech converts text or SSML input into natural human speech audio. | The GPT-4o Mini TTS model converts text into natural sounding spoken text through the speech generation API endpoint. |
Plans
Google Cloud Text-to-Speech
- Standard voices$4 a month
- WaveNet voices$4 a month
- Neural2 voices$16 a month
- Polyglot voices$16 a month
- Chirp 3: HD voices$30 a month
- Studio voices$160 a month
- Instant custom voice$60 a month
- Gemini 2.5 Flash TTS and Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview TTSPrice not published
- Gemini 3.1 Flash TTSPrice not published
- Gemini 2.5 Flash TTS / Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview TTSPrice not published
OpenAI Text-to-Speech
- TTS-1$15 a month
- TTS-1 HD$30 a month
- GPT-4o Mini TTS API usage$0.60 a month
In their own words
Google Cloud Text-to-Speech
Google Cloud Text-to-Speech is an API that converts text or SSML into audio data for applications. It offers more than 380 voices across more than 75 languages and variants, with REST or gRPC integration and output formats including MP3, LINEAR16, OGG_OPUS, MULAW, and ALAW. Gemini-TTS supports single- or multispeaker speech guided by natural-language prompts for style, accent, pace, tone, and emotional expression. Chirp 3 instant custom voice can create a personalized voice model from as little as 10 seconds of audio and is available in more than 30 locales. Streaming synthesis supports real-time conversations, while long-audio synthesis accepts up to 1 million bytes of input. Speech controls include pitch, speaking rate, and volume gain. Billing counts input characters, including spaces, newlines, and SSML tags except the mark tag, and billing must be enabled. Standard and WaveNet voices cost US$4 per 1 million characters, with 0 to 4 million characters free. Other voice models have different rates and free-use limits. New customers can receive $300 in Google Cloud credits.
OpenAI Text-to-Speech
OpenAI Text-to-Speech has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.