This article reviews the top 12 realistic text-to-speech tools that can convert written text into natural human-like speech. The review covers factors such as voice quality, speech speed, pronunciation accuracy, language support, and compatibility with different devices and platforms. Ideal for anyone who needs an automated way to create audio content or assistive technology for individuals with disabilities.

text to speech review

Are you tired of spending hours recording voiceovers for your videos or struggling to find the perfect voice actor for your project? If so, you're not alone. Many content creators face the challenge of finding realistic and engaging voiceovers that capture the essence of their message. Luckily, there is a solution: text-to-speech tools. These tools can quickly and easily convert written text into spoken words, making it easier than ever to create high-quality voiceovers in a variety of applications. No more struggling with awkward pauses or mispronunciations.

In this article, we'll explore the 12 best text to speech tools on the market, comparing their features and capabilities to help you find the perfect solution for your needs. Whether you're a video creator, podcaster, or simply looking to add an engaging voice to your website, this article will provide valuable insights and guidance. Now you can get a quick overview of hundreds of useful tools from our Tools Directory.

Top 12 Realistic Text to Speech Tools Review 2024 (Updated in June)

Tool Name
Ease of Use
Voice Options
Languages Supported
AI-Based
Suitable For
Descript
Easy
Male and Female voices
19, like En, Sp, Fr, Gr
Yes
Podcasts, Videos, Screenplays
Speechify
Moderate
80+ voices
30+, like En, Sp, Fr, Gr
Yes
Audiobooks, IVR Systems, E-learning
Naturalreaders
Easy
60+ voices
30+, like En, Cn, Fr, Gr
No
Conversational interfaces, Chatbots
FakeYou
Easy
Unique AI-generated voices
30+, like En, Sp, Mandarin
Yes
Marketing Ads, Social Media, Podcasts
Uberduck AI
Easy
Customizable voices
English only
Yes
Gaming, Virtual Reality, Chatbots
Play.ht
Easy
20+ realistic voices
28+, like En, Fr, Gr
No
Websites, E-learning
Spik.AI
Easy
Multiple lifelike voices
40++, like En, It
Yes
Business Presentations, IVR Systems
ReadSpeaker.ai
Easy
90+ natural-sounding voices
50+, En, Sp, Cn
No
E-learning, Government websites
Sonantic.io
Moderate
Unique, expressive voices
English only
Yes
Video Games, Films, Animation
AWS Amazon Polly
Moderate
60+ lifelike voices
30+, En, Gr, Fr
Yes
News, Weather, Traffic reports
Google TTS
Easy
Multiple natural-sounding voices
50+, En, Sp, Cn
Yes
Mobile Apps, Smart Assistants
AMAI
Easy
Supports text-based chatbots
10+, En, Sp, Fr, Por
Yes
Customer service, e-commerce

Note: We have personally tested and used each tool to provide accurate ratings and help readers make informed decisions about which software best suits their needs. And product updates may occur that do not match the content of this article, and we will try to update them as soon as possible, and we welcome your comments.

1. Descript - Free Text to Speech Tool

Price: Free $0/month; Creator $12.00/month; Pro $24/month

Overall rating: ★★★★☆ 9.0/10

Descript is a text-to-speech tool that converts written content into natural-sounding audio. Its unique feature is the ability to generate AI-generated voiceovers that mimic human speech with great accuracy. This product can produce high-quality, engaging audio content for podcasts, videos, and other media without expensive recording equipment or professional voice talent. Descript is suitable for content creators, podcasters, marketers, educators, and anyone who needs to create audio content quickly and easily.

It provides a variety of voices to choose from and allowed you to customize the tone and pacing of the audio. However, its limitations include occasional glitches in pronunciation and a limited selection of non-English voices. And the generated speech sounds somewhat robotic and lacks the natural nuances and intonations of human speech. For more information, read the full review of Descript.

Descript

PROS

  • Free trial supported
  • Easy-to-use
  • Inexpensive

CONS

  • Only works in English for now

2. Speechify

Price: Register for a 3-days free trial; After 3 days, the price will be $127/year

Overall rating: ★★★★☆ 8.5/10

Speechify AI text-to-speech converter is a high-quality, natural-sounding voice generator that can be used for a wide range of applications. Its unique feature is the ability to create custom voices based on real human voices, giving it an unparalleled level of realism and personality.

This text to speech tool suitable for those who need realistic, natural-sounding voices for things like audiobooks, virtual assistants, and voice-over work. It also makes it easy for users to generate speech from text without having to record their own voice or hire a professional voice actor.

The voices are incredibly realistic and customizable, and the software is easy to use. One drawback of Speechify text-to-speech generator is that it requires a stable internet connection to function properly. Without a strong and stable connection, the audio output may be delayed or disrupted, which can affect the overall user experience.

Speechify text to speech tool

PROS

  • Convenient text-to-speech functionality for reading.
  • Multi-platform support for easy access.
  • Customizable reading speed and voice options.

CONS

  • Limited language support may be a barrier.
  • Synthetic voice quality may not suit everyone's preferences.

3. Naturalreaders - Convert Text to Speech Free

Price: $9.99/month or $59.88/year for Personal; $69.50/month or $556/year for Professional

Overall rating: ★★★★☆ 8.5/10

Naturalreaders is another text-to-speech tool that can convert written text into spoken words. One of its unique features is its ability to mimic the natural intonation and pronunciation of human speech, making it a reliable tool for creating high-quality audio content. Naturalreaders is suitable for individuals or businesses looking for an efficient way to produce quality audio content.

During our use of Naturalreaders, we found that one limitation of Naturalreaders text to speech tool is that it may not accurately pronounce certain words or phrases, particularly those in languages other than English or with unusual spellings or pronunciations. Additionally, it may not convey the intended tone or inflection of the text being read aloud.

Naturalreaders text to speech converter

PROS

  • Free to use
  • Accurate pronunciation, natural sounding voice.
  • Multiple languages and voices available.

CONS

  • Limited customization options.

4. FakeYou: AI-Powered Text-to-Speech Tool [Newly Updated]

Price: Starts at $9.99/month

Overall rating: ★★★★☆ 8.5/10

FakeYou is an innovative text-to-speech converter tool that combines natural language processing and speech synthesis to produce lifelike voices, including an extensive range of celebrity options. With a user-friendly interface and advanced features, FakeYou caters to a diverse user base, including content creators, video producers, and podcasters.

Leveraging cutting-edge AI technology, FakeYou delivers high-quality voiceovers in multiple languages, enabling users to create engaging content with ease. The platform offers various pricing plans to suit different budgets, ensuring accessibility for a wide range of users.

Text-to-speech output from FakeYou is customizable, allowing users to fine-tune the voice, pitch, and speed to meet their specific requirements. With its impressive library of voices and seamless integration, FakeYou is an ideal solution for those looking to enhance their multimedia projects. However, this tool has imited voice options and potential for misuse in creating fake audio content.

fakeyoulogo

PROS

  • User-friendly interface
  • Extensive range of voices, including celebrities
  • Customizable voice output

CONS

  • Limited free trial
  • Advanced features require a subscription

5. Uberduck AI: Voice Cloning Solution [Newly Updated]

Price: Free tier available, premium plans start at $20/month

Overall rating: ★★★★☆ 8.0/10

Uberduck AI is a free text to speech tool offering high-quality synthesized voices, including a unique range of celebrity impersonations. With its advanced voice cloning technology, Uberduck AI enables users to create realistic voiceovers for various applications, such as content creation, gaming, and entertainment.

The platform utilizes deep neural networks to generate natural-sounding voices, making it suitable for a wide range of industries, including e-learning, customer support, and media production. Uberduck AI's Text-to-Speech (TTS) functionality offers numerous lifelike voices in multiple languages, while its voice cloning feature allows users to replicate any voice with remarkable accuracy.

For those with specific requirements, Uberduck AI provides customizable solutions tailored to individual needs, ensuring a versatile and user-friendly experience. But it doesn't provide diverse customization options for created voices and potential ethical concerns regarding the use of cloned voices without permission.

step 2 uberduck

PROS

  • Unique celebrity voice options
  • Voice cloning capabilities
  • Free tier available

CONS

  • Limited language options compared to competitors
  • Advanced features require a subscription

6. Play.ht

Price: One-time $60, Starter $90/year, Growth $240/year, Business $630/year.

Overall rating: ★★★★☆ 8.0/10

Play.ht offers a great variety of voices, which get updated regularly. Its text to speech tool has a great social value because users can both download and share audio.

For businesses, Play.ht creates audio that is highly compatible with SEO guidelines, while also giving you all the commercial and broadcast rights. Additionally, support is available in multiple languages, ideal for those of you who do not speak English (very well).

Unfortunately, Play.ht works quite slowly, so the text to speech creation might take a while. But its drawback is that it provides limited customization options for voices and lack of support for certain languages and accents.

Play.ht

PROS

  • Numerous voice options
  • SEO-friendly
  • Promotes sharing

CONS

  • Slow
  • Support may take a while to respond

7. Spik.AI

Price: Unregistered users 300 characters, registered users 1,000 characters

Overall rating: ★★★★☆ 8.0/10

Spik.AI is a free online text to speech software that uses a combination of advanced algorithms to generate realistic audio from any text. Any free user can use this program for up to 300-character files, while registered members can extend this limit to 1,000 characters.

Most importantly, you can use text markup to improve the quality of your audio files. For example, tag allows you to emphasize a certain part of the text. The same goes for other aspects of text editing, such as breaks, tone, pitch, and speed (rate). Limited voice options and accuracy issues with some accents and pronunciations are its disadvantages.

PROS

  • Free
  • Supports markup

CONS

  • Needs larger, more comprehensive paid plans
  • Lacks voice-to-text conversion

8. ReadSpeaker.ai

Price: ask for a quote

Overall rating: ★★★☆☆ 7.5/10

ReadSpeaker offers three solutions in total: Text-to-speech voices, Custom text-to-speech voices, and Voice Cloning Software. In over 22 years of experience, this company has built trust with more than 20,000 customers worldwide.

ReadSpeakers utilizes deep neural network to deliver natural-sounding synthesized voices, making it invaluable in industries such as healthcare, educational institutions, non-profits, government, and even automotive.

ReadSpeaker.ai text to speech tool offers more than 90 almost life-like voices in over 30 languages. Voice Cloning Software sources your input voice and create an exact copy, making it a perfect choice to duplicate someone's speech. If your needs are more specific, ReadSpeakers offers custom text to speech solution, based on your brand, needs, and niche. Like many other text-to-speech tools, it also has limited customization options for voices and potential for mispronunciation of specific words and names.

readspeaker.ai

PROS

  • Great for websites (plugin)
  • Works decently fast
  • Wide array of solutions

CONS

  • Pricing not disclosed
  • No free plan

9.  Sonantic.io

Price: ask for a quote

Overall rating: ★★★☆☆ 7.5/10

Listed 7th but one of the best artificial voice technologies tools that is capable of text-to-speech conversion. Sonantic helps create captivating and expressive voices within seconds.

You can either upload prewritten scripts or manually enter text as it continues to render. Using these features, you can create scenes based on voice delivery, accents, pacing, emphasis, and even emotions. But due to the limitation of text producing technology, it has limited language and accent options and potential for unnatural sounding voices.

Sonantic

PROS

  • Decent import/export options
  • Workflow management
  • Supports audio, images, video
  • Provides API

CONS

  • Pricing not disclosed
  • No free plan

10. AWS Amazon Polly

Price: 5 Mil characters per months (for 1 year) Free

Overall rating: ★★★☆☆ 7.0/10

AWS by Amazon offers a wide variety of high-performance services, including lifelike text-to-speech (TSS). Polly text to speech tool uses advanced deep learning to create natural sounding human speech, that could easily fool even the careful listeners.

Polly supports two speaking styles that give the better option of satisfying your customers: Conversational speaking style and Newscaster reading style. The former is ideal for two-way communications, such as mobile apps or ATM's, while the latter works great for narrating news.

Limitation: Limited naturalness in generated voices and potential for robotic sounding speech.

Amazon Polly

PROS

  • Awesome free trial
  • Outstanding voices

CONS

  • Kind of expensive after 1 year
  • Only offers 2 voices

11. Google Text-to-speech

Price: Free

Overall rating: ★★★☆☆ 7.0/10

And now my favourite – Google Text-to-speech app available for free on Google Play Store. Personally, I have this app installed on my phone, but I do not use it all that often, because I do not need to.

Either way, it is fantastic. You can use it to read aloud your books, messages, or news. Google Text-to-speech also supports numerous languages and dialects – more than 30 in total.

Additionally, you can easily use it by going to Settings > Language & Input > Text-to-speech output.

Unfortunately, only Android users may use this app. And you have limited voice options and potential for mispronunciation of specific words and names like ReadSpeaker.ai.

Google Text-to-speech

PROS

  • Completely free
  • Comprehensive language support

CONS

  • Only for Android users
  • Sometimes crashes
  • Voice sounds somehow robotic

12. AMAI

Price: $9.99 per hour of voice synthesis for API; start from $500 per year for one license

Overall rating: ★★★☆☆ 6.5/10

AMAI is a text-to-speech (TTS) converter that can convert written text into spoken words. One of its unique features is its ability to mimic the natural intonation and pronunciation of human speech, making it a reliable tool for creating high-quality audio content. AMAI is suitable for individuals or businesses looking for an efficient way to produce quality audio content. Overall, during our use of AMAI , the only limitation was occasional mispronunciations of certain words.

And one limitation of the AMAI text-to-speech converter is its inability to consistently produce natural-sounding intonation and prosody, especially when dealing with longer and more complex sentences.

Final adorable feature is Dyslexia-friendly font. Read more: Top 10 AI Video to Text Tools Review.

AMAI text to speech generator
Upload Image Here

PROS

  • Natural-sounding voices
  • Multilingual support
  • Easy-to-use interface

CONS

  • Limited voice customization options
  • High pricing for commercial use
  • Requires stable internet connection

Conclusion

In conclusion, online text-to-speech tools have come a long way in recent years and are now capable of producing highly realistic and natural-sounding speech. As many realistic text-to-speech tools are available on the market today, we recommend you first check the free text-to-speech tools I provided on this list, and if you do not find what you were looking for, check out the paid tools. The latter is usually a lot better at converting text to speech.

While these text to speech generators offer many benefits, there are also some issues to consider, such as concerns about privacy and the potential for misuse. It is important for users to be aware of these issues and to use these tools responsibly. Overall, online text-to-speech tools can be a valuable asset for anyone looking to convert text to speech quickly and efficiently. As technology continues to improve, we can expect to see even more advanced and sophisticated tools entering the market in the future.

Related article: Top 10 Best Deepfake Voice Software Review

FAQs

1. What is the best text to speech generator?

The best text-to-speech generator is arguably NaturalReaders, thanks to its inexpensive subscription plans, extremely natural voice, and friendly user-interface. Amongst apps, Google Text-to-speech is probably the best option for Android users and the most widely used software for this purpose.

2. How do I convert text to speech?

You can convert text to speech with any decent text-to-speech tool that supports your language.
Step 1. Input or upload the text that you want to convert to speech.
Step 2. Choose the voice you want for your audio.
Step 3. Start converting.
Step 4. Download your audio file.
Step 5. Use the audio file within your rights.

Harley Wayne
Senior Editor

Harley Wayne is a Senior Editor at TopTen.AI. He received his bachelor's degree in Artificial Intelligence and Human-Computer Interaction from Carnegie Mellon University in 2008, and has worked in software development and software promotion for years. In 2017, he started his own blog posting AI and tech-related articles and joined TopTen.AI. He has amassed 6 years of experience crafting articles within the technological realm. He knows a lot about photo, audio, and video products, and he always knows what attracts users the most and what users want to know about software. With his professional education, keen interest in technology, and extensive work experience, Harley Wayne has written many articles with over 100K+ views. As a leading writer for TopTen.AI, Harley Wayne will continue to be keenly attuned to experiencing new technology products and is committed to providing readers with the most valuable information.