Slash Text-to-Speech Costs by up to 90%

Up to 10x cheaper than Eleven Labs and Play.ht.
Up to 2x cheaper than Amazon, Microsoft, and Google.

Get a Free API Key →

Live Demo

Try our text-to-speech API. Click a button to generate random text:

Non-Fiction

Fiction

News

Blog

Conversation

0/250

Speed

0 s

Filesize

0 kb

The more you use it, the cheaper it gets

Start for free. Stay for volume discounts.

Number of Characters one time	1M

Audio Duration Estimated	~22 hours

Free	$0 Contact Us

Additional Usage

—

Comparison

$49

a month

$510

a month

Score

Fiction

4.32

Non-Fiction

4.32

Conversation

4.32

Score

Fiction

4.32

Non-Fiction

4.32

Conversation

4.32

Price Comparison

Unreal

ElevenLabs

Play.ht

Amazon

Microsoft

Google

Calculated using public prices. Custom plans may be cheaper.

Get Started for Free →

“Unreal Speech saved us 75% on our text-to-speech cost. It sounds better than Amazon Polly, and is much cheaper. We switched over at high volumes, and often processing 10,000+ pages per hour. Unreal was able to handle the volume, while delivering a high quality listening experience.”

Derek Pankaew — CEO, Listening.com

Characters per month

0.3s

Latency

99.9%

Uptime

Code Samples

Get started quickly with our simple text-to-speech API.

Short
Medium
Long
SDK

                      


# Short endpoint: /stream
# - Up to 1,000 characters
# - Synchronous, instant response (0.3s+)
# - Streams back raw audio data

import requests

response = requests.post(
  'https://api.v6.unrealspeech.com/stream',
  headers = {
    'Authorization' : 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY'
  },
  json = {
    'Text': '''<YOUR_TEXT>''', # Up to 1,000 characters
    'VoiceId': '<VOICE_ID>', # Scarlett, Dan, Liv, Will, Amy
    'Bitrate': '192k', # 320k, 256k, 192k, ...
    'Speed': '0', # -1.0 to 1.0
    'Pitch': '1', # 0.5 to 1.5
    'Codec': 'libmp3lame', # libmp3lame or pcm_mulaw
  }
)

with open('audio.mp3', 'wb') as f:
    f.write(response.content)



# Medium endpoint: /speech
# - Up to 3,000 characters
# - Synchronous, takes ~1s per 700 chars
# - Returns MP3 and JSON timestamp URLs

import requests

response = requests.post(
  'https://api.v6.unrealspeech.com/speech',
  headers = {
    'Authorization' : 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY'
  },
  json = {
    'Text': '''<YOUR_TEXT>''', # Up to 3,000 characters
    'VoiceId': '<VOICE_ID>', # Scarlett, Dan, Liv, Will, Amy
    'Bitrate': '192k', # 320k, 256k, 192k, ...
    'Speed': '0', # -1.0 to 1.0
    'Pitch': '1', # 0.5 to 1.5
    'TimestampType': 'sentence' # word or sentence
  }
)

print(response.json())





# Long endpoint: /synthesisTasks
# - Up to 500,000 characters
# - Asynchronous, takes ~1s per 800 chars
# - Returns a TaskId (use to check status)

import requests

response = requests.post(
  'https://api.v6.unrealspeech.com/synthesisTasks',
  headers = {
    'Authorization' : 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY'
  },
  json = {
    'Text': '''<YOUR_TEXT>''', # Up to 500,000 characters
    'VoiceId': '<VOICE_ID>', # Scarlett, Dan, Liv, Will, Amy
    'Bitrate': '192k', # 320k, 256k, 192k, ...
    'Speed': '0', # -1.0 to 1.0
    'Pitch': '1', # 0.5 to 1.5
    'TimestampType': 'sentence', # word or sentence
   #'CallbackUrl': '<URL>', # pinged when ready
  }
)

print(response.json())

Sample Response

{
  'SynthesisTask': {
    'CreationTime': '2023-09-01T15:05:22.15Z',
    'OutputUri': 'https://unreal-tts-live-demo.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/d8ef514d.mp3',
    'RequestCharacters': 14,
    'TaskId': 'd8ef514d',
    'TaskStatus': 'scheduled',
    'TimestampsUri': 'https://unreal-tts-live-demo.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/d8ef514d.json',
    'VoiceId': 'Scarlett'
  }
}
Check Task Status
Make a GET request with TaskId in the URL to check the status.

import requests

response = requests.get(
  'https://api.v6.unrealspeech.com/synthesisTasks/d8ef514d',
  headers = {
    'Authorization' : 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY'
  },
  json = {}
)

print(response.json())


// Short endpoint: /stream
// - Up to 1,000 characters
// - Synchronous, instant response (0.3s+)
// - Streams back raw audio data

const axios = require('axios');
const fs = require('fs');

const headers = {
    'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY',
};

const data = {
    'Text': '<YOUR_TEXT>', // Up to 1,000 characters
    'VoiceId': '<VOICE_ID>', // Scarlett, Dan, Liv, Will, Amy
    'Bitrate': '192k', // 320k, 256k, 192k, ...
    'Speed': '0', // -1.0 to 1.0
    'Pitch': '1', // 0.5 to 1.5
    'Codec': 'libmp3lame', // libmp3lame or pcm_mulaw
};

axios({
    method: 'post',
    url: 'https://api.v6.unrealspeech.com/stream',
    headers: headers,
    data: data,
    responseType: 'stream'
}).then(function (response) {
    response.data.pipe(fs.createWriteStream('audio.mp3'))
});




// Medium endpoint: /speech
// - Up to 3,000 characters
// - Synchronous, takes ~1s per 700 chars
// - Returns MP3 and JSON timestamp URLs

const axios = require('axios');

const headers = {
    'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY',
};

const data = {
    'Text': '<YOUR_TEXT>', // Up to 3,000 characters
    'VoiceId': '<VOICE_ID>', // Scarlett, Dan, Liv, Will, Amy
    'Bitrate': '192k', // 320k, 256k, 192k, ...
    'Speed': '0', // -1.0 to 1.0
    'Pitch': '1', // 0.5 to 1.5
    'TimestampType': 'sentence', // word or sentence
};

axios({
    method: 'post',
    url: 'https://api.v6.unrealspeech.com/speech',
    headers: headers,
    data: data,
}).then(function (response) {
    console.log(JSON.stringify(response.data));
});





// Long endpoint: /synthesisTasks
// - Up to 500,000 characters
// - Asynchronous, takes ~1s per 800 chars
// - Returns a TaskId (use to check status)

const axios = require('axios');

const headers = {
    'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY',
};

const data = {
    'Text': '<YOUR_TEXT>', // Up to 500,000 characters
    'VoiceId': '<VOICE_ID>', // Scarlett, Dan, Liv, Will, Amy
    'Bitrate': '192k', // 320k, 256k, 192k, ...
    'Speed': '0', // -1.0 to 1.0
    'Pitch': '1', // 0.5 to 1.5
    'TimestampType': 'sentence', // word or sentence
  //'CallbackUrl': '<URL>', // pinged when ready
};

axios({
    method: 'post',
    url: 'https://api.v6.unrealspeech.com/synthesisTasks',
    headers: headers,
    data: data,
}).then(function (response) {
    console.log(JSON.stringify(response.data));
});


Sample Response

{
  'SynthesisTask': {
    'CreationTime': '2023-09-01T15:05:22.15Z',
    'OutputUri': 'https://unreal-tts-live-demo.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/d8ef514d.mp3',
    'RequestCharacters': 14,
    'TaskId': 'd8ef514d',
    'TaskStatus': 'scheduled',
    'TimestampsUri': 'https://unreal-tts-live-demo.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/d8ef514d.json',
    'VoiceId': 'Scarlett'
  }
}
Check Task Status
Make a GET request with TaskId in the URL to check the status.

const axios = require('axios');

const headers = {
    'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY',
};

axios({
    method: 'get',
    url: 'https://api.v6.unrealspeech.com/synthesisTasks/d8ef514d',
    headers: headers,
}).then(function (response) {
    console.log(JSON.stringify(response.data));
});



// Short endpoint: /stream
// - Up to 1,000 characters
// - Synchronous, instant response (0.3s+)
// - Streams back raw audio data

import React from "react";
import { View, Button, ActivityIndicator } from "react-native";
import { useUnrealSpeech, blobToDataURI } from "react-native-unrealspeech";
import { Audio } from "expo-av";

export default function App() {
  const { stream, requestState } = useUnrealSpeech("YOUR_API_KEY");

  const play = async (response: any) => {
    try {
      if (!response.ok) {
        throw new Error("Network response was not ok");
      }
      const blobData = await response.blob();
      const blob = new Blob([blobData], { type: "audio/mp3" });
      const uri = await blobToDataURI(blob);

      const { sound } = await Audio.Sound.createAsync({ uri }, {});
      console.log(uri);
      await sound.playAsync();
    } catch (error) {
      console.error("Error occurred while playing sound:", error);
    }
  };

  const handleSpeak = async () => {
    try {
      const response = await stream(
          "<YOUR_TEXT>", // Up to 1,000 characters
          "<VOICE_ID>", // Scarlett, Dan, Liv, Will, Amy
          "192k", // 320k, 256k, 192k, ...
          0, // Speed: -1.0 to 1.0
          1, // Pitch: 0.5 to 1.5
          "libmp3lame" // Codec: libmp3lame or pcm_mulaw
      );
      play(response);
    } catch (error) {
      console.error("Error occurred while handling speak:", error);
    }
  };

  return (
    <View style={{ flex: 1, justifyContent: "center" }}>
      {requestState === "loading" ? (
        <ActivityIndicator />
      ) : ( 
        <Button title="Speak" onPress={handleSpeak} />
      )}
    </View>
  );
}




// Medium endpoint: /speech
// - Up to 3,000 characters
// - Synchronous, takes ~1s per 700 chars
// - Returns MP3 and JSON timestamp URLs

import React from "react";
import { StatusBar } from "expo-status-bar";
import { StyleSheet, Button, View, ActivityIndicator } from "react-native";
import { useUnrealSpeech } from "react-native-unrealspeech";

export default function App() {
  const { speech, requestState } = useUnrealSpeech("YOUR_API_KEY");

  const handleSpeak = async () => {
    const mySpeech = await speech(
      "<YOUR_TEXT>", // Up to 3,000 characters
      "<VOICE_ID>", // Scarlett, Dan, Liv, Will, Amy
      "192k", // 320k, 256k, 192k, ...
      "sentence" // word or sentence
    );

    console.log(mySpeech);
  };

  return (
    <View style={styles.container}>
      <StatusBar style="auto" />
      {requestState === "loading" ? (
        <ActivityIndicator />
      ) : (
        <Button title="Speak" onPress={handleSpeak} />
      )}
    </View>
  );
}

const styles = StyleSheet.create(
  {
    container: {
      flex: 1,
      backgroundColor: "#fff",
      alignItems: "center",
      justifyContent: "center"
    }
  }
);




// Long endpoint: /synthesisTasks
// - Up to 500,000 characters
// - Asynchronous, takes ~1s per 800 chars
// - Returns a TaskId (use to check status)

import React from "react";
import { StatusBar } from "expo-status-bar";
import { StyleSheet, Button, View, ActivityIndicator } from "react-native";
import { useUnrealSpeech } from "react-native-unrealspeech";

export default function App() {
  const { 
    createSynthesisTask, 
    getSynthesisTaskStatus, 
    speech, 
    stream, 
    status, 
    requestState 
  } = useUnrealSpeech("YOUR_API_KEY");

  const handleSpeak = async () => {

    const task = await createSynthesisTask(
      "<YOUR_TEXT>", // Up to 500,000 characters
      "<VOICE_ID>", // Scarlett, Dan, Liv, Will, Amy
      "192k", // 320k, 256k, 192k, ...
      "sentence" // word or sentence
    );

    if (status) {
      const response = await getSynthesisTaskStatus(status);
      console.log(response);
    }
  };

  return (
    <View style={styles.container}>
      <StatusBar style="auto" />
      {requestState === "loading" ? (
        <ActivityIndicator />
      ) : (
        <Button title="Speak" onPress={handleSpeak} />
      )}
    </View>
  );
}

const styles = StyleSheet.create(
  {
    container: {
      flex: 1,
      backgroundColor: "#fff",
      alignItems: "center",
      justifyContent: "center"
    }
  }
);





# Short endpoint: /stream
# - Up to 1,000 characters
# - Synchronous, instant response (0.3s+)
# - Streams back raw audio data

curl -X POST "https://api.v6.unrealspeech.com/stream" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" --data '{"Text": "<YOUR_TEXT>", "VoiceId": "<VOICE_ID>", "Bitrate": "128k", "Speed": "0", "Pitch": "1", "Codec": "libmp3lame"}' --output audio.mp3



# Medium endpoint: /speech
# - Up to 3,000 characters
# - Synchronous, takes ~1s per 700 chars
# - Returns MP3 and JSON timestamp URLs

curl -X POST "https://api.v6.unrealspeech.com/speech" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" --data '{"Text": "<YOUR_TEXT>", "VoiceId": "<VOICE_ID>", "Bitrate": "192k", "Speed": "0", "Pitch": "1", "TimestampType": "sentence"}'





# Long endpoint: /synthesisTasks
# - Up to 500,000 characters
# - Asynchronous, takes ~1s per 800 chars
# - Returns a TaskId (use to check status)

curl -X POST "https://api.v6.unrealspeech.com/synthesisTasks" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" --data '{"Text": "<YOUR_TEXT>", "VoiceId": "<VOICE_ID>", "Bitrate": "128k", "Speed": "0", "Pitch": "1", "TimestampType": "sentence"}' 

Sample Response

{
  'SynthesisTask': {
    'CreationTime': '2023-09-01T15:05:22.15Z',
    'OutputUri': 'https://unreal-tts-live-demo.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/d8ef514d.mp3',
    'RequestCharacters': 14,
    'TaskId': 'd8ef514d',
    'TaskStatus': 'scheduled',
    'TimestampsUri': 'https://unreal-tts-live-demo.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/d8ef514d.json',
    'VoiceId': 'Scarlett'
  }
}
Check Task Status
Make a GET request with TaskId in the URL to check the status.

curl -X GET "https://api.v6.unrealspeech.com/synthesisTasks/d8ef514d" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" 

Ready to dive in?

Get a Free API Key →

Per-word Timestamps

Highlight words in sync with the speech.

How To Get Timestamps

Use /speech or /synthesisTasks with TimestampType set to word or sentence (see docs).

The response will have a TimestampsUri containing JSON like this:

[
  {
    "word": "It", // word or sentence 
    "start": 0.542, // seconds
    "end": 0.622,
    "score": 0.682, // confidence
    "text_offset": 0 // position within text
  }, 
  ...
]

Demo Code →

Super Fast Text-to-Speech API

Build real-time apps. Generate long-form audio fast.

/stream

Play audio in

0.3s

/synthesisTasks

Create 10-hour audio in

15 min

Get Started for Free →

Unreal Speech Studio

Make studio-quality voice overs for podcasts, videos & more.

Open Studio →

FAQ

Do you offer voices in other languages?

We currently only have English speaking voices. But we're working on multilingual voice support, expected to be available in 3-6 months.

Can I create custom voices (voice cloning)?

Not right now, but we're working on it!

What happens if I use all of my monthly characters?

Additional usage over the monthly allowance will be charged daily at the rate of your current plan:

Basic – $16 per 1M characters
Plus – $12 per 1M characters
Pro – $10 per 1M characters
Enterprise – $8 per 1M characters

What happens to unused characters at the end of the month?

Free plan – Characters are reset on the 1st of every month.
Paid plan – Unused characters roll over to the next billing cycle.

Can I use generated audio commercially?

Yes, audio generated with Unreal Speech can be used commercially. The following terms apply, based on your subscription plan:

Free plan – You must attribute Unreal Speech when publishing audio by including a link to "unrealspeech.com" in the description.
Paid plan – You do not need to include any attribution.

How do I update my payment method?

Go to your Dashboard and choose "Manage Subscription".

How do I cancel my subscription?

You can cancel your subscription at any time. Go to your Dashboard and choose "Manage Subscription".

Do you have an affiliate program?

Yes! You can earn 15% recurring on all paid referrals. Click here to sign up.

Slash Text-to-Speech Costs by up to 90%

Live Demo

Try our text-to-speech API. Click a button to generate random text:

The more you use it, the cheaper it gets

Start for free. Stay for volume discounts.

Code Samples

Get started quickly with our simple text-to-speech API.

Ready to dive in?

Per-word Timestamps

Highlight words in sync with the speech.

Super Fast Text-to-Speech API

Build real-time apps. Generate long-form audio fast.

Unreal Speech Studio

Make studio-quality voice overs for podcasts, videos & more.

FAQ

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