Google Cloud Text-to-Speech vs Read Aloud
Google Cloud Text-to-Speech
cloud.google.comRead Aloud
readaloud.appSide by side
| Figure | Google Cloud Text-to-Speech | Read Aloud |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $4/mo | $1/mo |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 14 | 4 |
| Spec score · Text-to-speech tools | 9.2 (#8) | 8.1 (#95) |
| Spec score · Text-to-Speech Software | 9.0 (#13) | 8.2 (#95) |
| API access | Yes | No |
| Commercial use | Yes | No |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Integrations | GetApp lists integrations including Cloud Vision API, YouTube, Unity and Studio. | The listing says cloud voices may require an in-app purchase or the user's own API key. |
| Platforms | web,api | chrome_extension |
| Purpose | The API converts text into natural-sounding speech and can accept text or SSML input to produce audio data. | Read Aloud converts webpage text to speech so users can listen to articles with one click. |
| Security | Google Cloud states that data is encrypted in transit and at rest with audited access to encryption keys. | The maker says its servers are hosted on Amazon Web Services with subnet-level firewalls and per-instance security groups with strict access permissions. |
| Voice cloning | Yes | No |
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
Read Aloud
- Free TierFree
- Premium Voices - 2M$1 a month
- Read Aloud Free TierFree
- Paid CreditsPrice 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.
Read Aloud
Read Aloud has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.