Alternatives hub · Voice
Speechify alternatives
Speechify's free plan reads aloud at up to 1.5x with 10 basic voices, so the best free alternative depends on the job: ElevenReader to listen to PDFs, articles and books, ElevenLabs' free plan (10,000 credits a month) for voiceovers, Fish Audio for personal projects, or the open-source Kokoro for unlimited local use. Every row below is checked against the official page.
Our pick
ElevenLabs for free voiceovers, Kokoro if you want no limits and can self-host
Best free alternative for listening
ElevenReader, ElevenLabs' read-aloud app, is free to start with 1,000+ natural voices for PDFs, articles and books.
Best free alternative for voiceovers
ElevenLabs — The free plan gives 10,000 credits a month (about 10 minutes of speech), with no commercial license until Starter at $6 a month.
Best free option with no credit limit
Kokoro TTS — Open-source (Apache 2.0) model you run yourself, with no subscription or per-character fees. Setup is on you.
ElevenLabs is an affiliate partner (disclosed below); Kokoro is not.
Some links are affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you buy through them. Payment never changes our rankings or editorial verdicts.
Quick answer
Speechify's free plan reads aloud at up to 1.5x with 10 robotic-sounding voices; its natural voices need Premium at $29 a month. The free alternatives split by job. To listen to PDFs, articles and books, ElevenReader, the read-aloud app from ElevenLabs, is free to start with 1,000+ natural voices. To make voiceovers, ElevenLabs' free plan gives 10,000 credits a month (about 10 minutes of speech), Fish Audio's free plan gives 8,000 credits (about 7 minutes, personal use), and Kokoro is a free, open-source (Apache 2.0) voice model you can run yourself with no credit limit. Fliki's free plan suits short narrated videos, with a watermark.
Alternatives at a glance
Same job, different trade-offs. Open any profile for full sources and limitations.
| Tool | Category | Best for | Pricing note | Pricing source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ElevenLabs | Voice | Creators who need consistent narration, multilingual voiceover, or automated voice agent workflows. | Free plan: $0 (10,000 credits/month). Starter $6/month (30,000 credits); Creator $22/month (121,000 credits, $11 first month); Pro $99/month (600,000 credits); Scale $299/month (1.8M credits, 3 seats); Business $990/month (6M credits, 10 seats); Enterprise custom. Credits are shared across TTS/STT/music/dubbing (TTS ~1 credit/char, STT ~330 credits/char-min). Annual billing is approximately monthly x10 per the official FAQ. | Official pricing page · checked |
| Kokoro TTS | Voice | Developers and creators who want free, self-hosted TTS without per-character fees, and who can handle model setup. | Free and open source (Apache 2.0 license). Self-hosted — no subscription; run locally or on your own hardware. 82M-parameter model, ~100x real-time generation speed. Hosted demos (TTS.ai, Rewind.ai, Unreal Speech) are free to try; commercial services built on Kokoro may charge. | github.com · checked |
| Fish Audio | Voice | Creators who want free, realistic TTS with cloning plus affordable paid tiers (Plus $5.5/mo annual), and teams needing bulk generation (Pro/Max) with commercial rights. | Free $0 (8,000 credits/month, ~7 min, 3 public voice slots, personal non-commercial). Plus $5.5/mo annual ($15 monthly, $66/yr) 250K credits/200 min. Pro $37.5/mo annual ($100 monthly, $450/yr) 2M credits/1,620 min, 3 seats. Max $749/mo annual ($999 monthly, $8,988/yr) 25M credits. Enterprise custom. Commercial use requires Premium (Free = personal, non-commercial only). API pay-as-you-go for Premium. | Official pricing page · checked |
| Fliki | Voice | Creators who want fast text-to-video with AI narration, or budget-friendly multilingual voiceover without hiring voice actors. | Free plan available. Paid Standard and Premium plans unlock more characters, voices, and commercial rights. Check the official pricing page for current tiers and credit allowances. | Official pricing page · checked |
Choose the right alternative
ElevenLabs
Creators who need consistent narration, multilingual voiceover, or automated voice agent workflows.
Free plan: $0 (10,000 credits/month). Starter $6/month (30,000 credits); Creator $22/month (121,000 credits, $11 first month); Pro $99/month (600,000 credits); Scale $299/month (1.8M credits, 3 seats); Business $990/month (6M credits, 10 seats); Enterprise custom. Credits are shared across TTS/STT/music/dubbing (TTS ~1 credit/char, STT ~330 credits/char-min). Annual billing is approximately monthly x10 per the official FAQ.
Some links are affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you buy through them. Payment never changes our rankings or editorial verdicts.
Read the profileKokoro TTS
Developers and creators who want free, self-hosted TTS without per-character fees, and who can handle model setup.
Free and open source (Apache 2.0 license). Self-hosted — no subscription; run locally or on your own hardware. 82M-parameter model, ~100x real-time generation speed. Hosted demos (TTS.ai, Rewind.ai, Unreal Speech) are free to try; commercial services built on Kokoro may charge.
Fish Audio
Creators who want free, realistic TTS with cloning plus affordable paid tiers (Plus $5.5/mo annual), and teams needing bulk generation (Pro/Max) with commercial rights.
Free $0 (8,000 credits/month, ~7 min, 3 public voice slots, personal non-commercial). Plus $5.5/mo annual ($15 monthly, $66/yr) 250K credits/200 min. Pro $37.5/mo annual ($100 monthly, $450/yr) 2M credits/1,620 min, 3 seats. Max $749/mo annual ($999 monthly, $8,988/yr) 25M credits. Enterprise custom. Commercial use requires Premium (Free = personal, non-commercial only). API pay-as-you-go for Premium.
Some links are affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you buy through them. Payment never changes our rankings or editorial verdicts.
Read the profileFliki
Creators who want fast text-to-video with AI narration, or budget-friendly multilingual voiceover without hiring voice actors.
Free plan available. Paid Standard and Premium plans unlock more characters, voices, and commercial rights. Check the official pricing page for current tiers and credit allowances.
Some links are affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you buy through them. Payment never changes our rankings or editorial verdicts.
Read the profileDirect comparisons
Side-by-side pages involving Speechify.
Run it 24/7 on your own server
Kokoro TTS runs on your own machine, so it stops answering when your laptop sleeps. A small Linux VPS with Docker keeps it online for scripts, agents and teammates, with a fixed monthly cost instead of per-token markup.
- Start with the smallest plan that runs Docker; upgrade only if you add users or local models.
- Keep the gateway bound to localhost or behind a firewall, and store provider keys as environment variables.
- Monthly billing lets you test before committing to a long term.
Some links are affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you buy through them. Payment never changes our rankings or editorial verdicts.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a free alternative to Speechify?
- It depends on the job. To listen to PDFs, articles and books, ElevenReader (from ElevenLabs) is free to start. To make voiceovers, ElevenLabs' free plan gives 10,000 credits a month (about 10 minutes of speech, no commercial license), Fish Audio's free plan gives 8,000 credits (about 7 minutes, personal use only), and Kokoro is free and open source with no credit limit if you can run it yourself.
- What is the best alternative to Speechify?
- The most direct alternative to Speechify is ElevenLabs. It is best suited for creators who need consistent narration, multilingual voiceover, or automated voice agent workflows. You can also evaluate Kokoro TTS, Fish Audio, Fliki depending on your specific requirements. Use the decision table above to compare pricing and feature trade-offs.
Keep the decision honest
Pricing, credit systems, and commercial terms change often. Every profile is checked against the official site — Verify the current plan before subscribing. Estimate your voice cost If an alternative here does not fit, the comparisons hub covers more pairs.