Google Cloud Text-to-Speech vs Tortoise TTS
Google Cloud Text-to-Speech
cloud.google.comTortoise TTS
github.comSide by side
| Figure | Google Cloud Text-to-Speech | Tortoise TTS |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $4/mo | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 14 | 1 |
| Spec score · Text-to-speech tools | 9.2 (#7) | 8.0 (#101) |
| Spec score · Text-to-Speech Software | 9.0 (#10) | 7.8 (#136) |
| API access | 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. | Users can add a voice by providing at least three roughly 10-second WAV clips at 22,050 Hz. |
| License | The public Google API protocol definition is licensed under Apache License 2.0; the hosted synthesis service itself is proprietary. | Tortoise TTS is licensed under Apache 2.0. |
| Platforms | web,api | windows,macos,api,self_hosted |
| Purpose | The API converts text into natural-sounding speech and can accept text or SSML input to produce audio data. | Tortoise is a text-to-speech program focused on multi-voice capability and realistic prosody and intonation. |
| Streaming | The product supports streaming audio synthesis for low-latency, real-time conversations. | The repository includes a socket streaming server that listens on port 5000. |
| Voice cloning | Yes | Yes |
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.
Tortoise TTS
Tortoise TTS has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.