Video content continues to dominate as a highly engaging marketing strategy. They can help you understand your audience better. Enter professional voice-over artists who offer services to various industries. However, searching for experts who can record voice-overs for your videos can take time and effort.
Fortunately, there’s an alternative to hiring a voice actor. This is called an AI voice generator, which can also deliver impressive results. AI apps replicate the natural sound of human voices, allowing you to transform the text into speech without recording. Explore the five best AI voice generator tools for creating realistic voices.
1. Speechify
Are you looking for an AI text-to-speech app that can take busy people like you from zero to hero with the click of a button? Then, Speechify is just what you need.
Speechify is a software tool designed to convert written text into spoken words. It’s a digital tool that enables users to listen to any text material, be it books, articles, emails, or study materials, thus making reading a hands-free and eyes-free experience.
The key benefit of Speechify is its accessibility and versatility. It allows users to multitask and consume information faster, making reading more accessible for individuals with visual impairments or learning disabilities like dyslexia.
Speechify price: Free without the option to download; Paid plans start at $24/user/month (billed annually) or $69/user/month (billed monthly).
2. ElevenLabs
ElevenLabs is a text-to-speech and AI voice generator software that uses generative AI to create realistic synthetic voices in multiple languages and voices. The software is built using deep learning research to advance AI speech synthesis.
Users can clone voices or generate new voices through an intuitive interface. Key features are:
- Precision tuning controls.
- A text reader to convert text to natural speech.
- Tools to produce audiobooks.
ElevenLabs price: Free for less than 10 minutes of audio every month; paid plans start at $5/month (or $50/year) for less than 30 minutes of audio and extra features like voice cloning. They also have three more plans such as Creator, Pro, and Scale with prices ranging from $11 to $330 monthly.
3. Respeecher
Respeecher is a voice cloning solution that uses deep learning artificial intelligence to replicate human voices. The solution analyzes voice recordings to capture tone, pitch, accent, and emotion. Respeecher is for content creators who want to generate realistic, human-sounding speech without multiple recording sessions. After initial cloning, the technology allows users to edit and develop new speech in the replicated voice.
Respeecher offers AI voice features for creators, studios, and companies:
- AI Voice Lab
- API Integrations
- Call centers
- Voice cloning
- Voice Marketplace
Respeecher price: Starts at $4/month
4. WellSaid Labs
WellSaid is an enterprise-grade AI voice generator. Its Text to Voice Studio allows you to convert text to voice with compelling, realistic AI voices to enhance your brand. Enter text in the Studio, and with just a click, you have realistic AI text-to-voice for any project. Where other platforms go general, WellSaid Labs offers full control over sections of your script, down to word-for-word if necessary.
WellSaid Labs price: Free trial available; paid plans start at $44/month (billed annually) or $49/month (billed monthly)
5. Murf
Murf AI is a cloud-based realistic text-to-speech platform that can create voice-overs for YouTube videos, podcasts, commercials, e-learning, presentations, etc. The platform uses AI and deep machine learning technology to generate these ultra-realistic voice-overs across 120+ voices in 20+ languages.
Traditionally, Voice-over production is a time-consuming and complicated process involving hiring a voice actor and other related tasks. This is where Murf comes in to streamline the whole process and reduce the overall cost and time by leveraging AI.
Murf is an all-in-one platform where content creators/users can easily convert their script into natural-sounding audio within minutes. In addition, the app lets you add images, music, and video to their voice-over and sync them all in one place.
Murf price: Free for 10 minutes of voice generation and 2 projects; paid plans start at $23/month (billed annually) or $29/month (billed monthly)
Qualities of the Best AI Voice Generator
The best AI voice generators are easy to identify. The generated speech sounds natural and almost like a real person speaking. Aside from that, each platform offers various settings that help to customize the generation, like pronunciation, volume, pitch, or pace.
With that in mind, here are the qualities of the best voice generators:
- Realism. These text-to-voice apps offer realistic speech with variations, natural changes in tone, and adequate pauses.
- Available controls. Pitch, volume, pace, and pronunciation controls, among others, will let you tune the generation to your needs.
- Audio quality. I looked for the highest export audio quality possible so you can use these voices in any project.
- Intonation. Intonation deals with the variations of pitch throughout sentences. Low-quality AI models make everything predictable, robotic, and lifeless.
- Voice library. Multiple voices can fit more projects, including voices in other languages, giving you flexibility as you work.
- Additional features. You're lucky if an app has useful extra voice-generating tools, such as audio-to-audio or AI model training.
When choosing an AI voice generator, remember that listeners are typically engaged with other elements of your content. Minor vocal nuances are usually forgiven. That said, here are our top picks for this year.
What are the legal implications of using AI-generated voices?
After testing the AI voice generator apps above, you might wonder - are AI voices legal? Most AI voices are legal if used within platform terms. The real issue lies in voice cloning. Anyone can mimic a voice with AI which can lead to identity theft, fraud, or copyright infringement.
Laws vary by location. That is why we highly recommend getting written consent every time you want to clone someone's voice. Likewise, misuse can have legal consequences. Creating and using these deepfakes can lead to identity theft, manipulation, misinformation, blackmail, or infringement of copyright laws.
