Google Cloud Text-to-Speech vs PlayHT
Google Cloud Text-to-Speech
cloud.google.com
PlayHT
playht.coSide by side
| Figure | Google Cloud Text-to-Speech | PlayHT |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $4/mo | $9.99/mo |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 14 | 4 |
| Spec score · Game Voice Generators | 8.8 (#9) | 7.9 (#24) |
| Integrations | GetApp lists integrations including Cloud Vision API, YouTube, Unity and Studio. | The REST API supports speech generation and other PlayHT features, and the maker documents an MCP connector for Claude.ai, Claude Desktop, and other MCP-compatible clients. |
| Security | Google Cloud states that data is encrypted in transit and at rest with audited access to encryption keys. | The privacy policy states that data is encrypted in transit with TLS 1.3 and at rest with AES-256, and hosted on AWS infrastructure in the United States. |
| Voice cloning | Yes | PlayHT says a voice clone can be created from a 30-second sample and used for multilingual speech and through its API. |
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
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.