Azure AI Speech
Microsoft's voices, with a large free monthly allowance.
Free
- Best for
- Many languages at low cost
- On your PC
- No, online only
- Works on
- Web, API
- Made by
- Microsoft
What’s good
- Biggest free monthly allowance of the big clouds
- Reliable, well documented, many voices
Downsides
- Needs an Azure account and some setup
- Ranks well below ElevenLabs and Google on quality
- Custom and personal voices need Microsoft approval
At a glance.
- Best for
- Many languages at low cost
- Price
- Free
- For developers
- About $15 per 1M characters (Neural); $22 (HD)
- Version
- Azure HD 2.5Released 2026-03
- Works on
- Web, API
- Open source
- No
- Made by
- Microsoft
- Website
- azure.microsoft.com
How it ranks.
- Artificial Analysis Speech Arena (HD 2.5)#34 · 11442026-11-05
Can I run it myself?
No. It only runs online.
Your prompts and files go to the company’s servers. See the local options in this category for a private alternative.
Want it offline? The best local option for text to speech is Kokoro.