Social Proof

Alternatives to Amazon Polly Text-to-Speech

Speechify is the #1 audio reader in the world. Get through books, docs, articles, PDFs, emails - anything you read - faster.

Featured In

forbes logocbs logotime magazine logonew york times logowall street logo
Listen to this article with Speechify!
Speechify

Amazon Polly is a powerful text-to-speech solution available. Learn about other solutions to find out if it's right for you.

If you are looking for a natural-sounding text-to-speech alternative, you need a program with strong API integrations that is far better than the traditional chatbots you work with. For that reason, you might want to automate the process with some of the top AI voices on the market.

Even though you might like Amazon Polly for some audiobooks, you might be frustrated with the pricing or limitations of its functionality. You might also be tired of the choppiness of the program. If you need an alternative that will work well for you, take a look at a few of the top options below. Then, consider trying them out to see which one works best for your needs, whether for your podcast, social media content, or PowerPoint presentations.

Speechify

Speechify

Without a doubt, the best program, if you are looking for Amazon Polly alternatives, is Speechify. This is a program that has the best machine learning on the market, and you have the option to set up a custom voice where you control the reading speed, volume, and pitch in real time. The natural-sounding voices and natural language processing make this program the best one available.

It is also suitable for a wide variety of platforms, including Microsoft Windows, Apple, MacOS, Android, iOS, and more. This means that you can use this program on your iPhone, iPad, within Google Chrome, and in sync with numerous other platforms as well.

This text-to-speech software is the best alternative to Amazon Polly because of its SSML capabilities as well. It can handle numerous audio files, ranging from MP3 to WAV and even PDF and ePub files. It can take any text your transcription process produces and convert it into amazing, crystal-clear, high-quality voices that you can hear even across the room.

In addition to the natural-sounding speech, the deep learning technologies of this program can also help you increase your productivity. For example, you might be interested in the text highlighting feature, which can help you expand your English vocabulary. That makes Speechify great for e-learning purposes. It is also a great program for people with dyslexia because, instead of having to read the article, you can listen to the quality generated speech instead. For these reasons, the customer experience is exceptional.

Murf.AI Voiceovers

Murf.AI

If you are looking for natural-sounding speech voices, you might be interested in Murf AI. It is known for its exceptional user interface with its strong software development. You can access a handful of different features that allow you to streamline your experience and leverage tools to synthesize speech to meet your needs.

SpeechParrot.app

Another program you might want to consider is called SpeechParrot. This is a great program because it still works offline. It is a subscription text-to-speech converter that can help you with your workflow. A lot of people like this program because you only use what you pay for, but the program lacks a lot of the features that other programs have.

SpeakLine

Speakline

SpeakLine is a popular TTS program that has been specifically designed for Mac users. While the messaging and SMS features are a bit lacking, the screenshots show that the program is easy to use. Lots of people like this program because it allows them to add funny voices to their files, but it is not the best program for larger books that you might need to convert into spoken text and truly want the best lifelike voices AI can offer. The program can be a bit slow from time to time.

Resemble AI

Resemble AI

If you are looking for voice cloning features for AI-enabled virtual agents, Resemble AI is one of the best programs on the market. As SaaS has become more popular during the past few years, AI has grown tremendously, and Resemble AI is one of the top examples. The custom voices are exceptional and rival a human voice, but the price can be steep. You might want a more cost-effective alternative. You can try the program for free, but if you want to take advantage of all of the features, you will need to pay for them.

TexVoz

TexVoz

TexVoz is another strong speech converter. Many people enjoy using it to learn a second language because it does a great job with dialects, particularly in Spanish; however, if you want a program to work as quickly as possible, the program does have some hiccups from time to time. The user interface is great, but the program can be a bit slow, particularly if you want it to read quickly. Overall, it is a very simple program that is easy to use, but the customizability is a bit lacking when compared to the others.

NaturalReader

Natural Reader

Next, you might want to explore NaturalReader as well. This is a solid program that can handle basic TTS requirements, and you have the option to upgrade your features as you need to, which makes pricing a bit easier to understand. On the downside, the free version of the app must have internet access to connect to the top features. This can be a problem, particularly if you are using a mobile device and struggling to control your data usage.

FAQs

Is Amazon text-to-speech free?

If you decide to use the standard voice from Amazon, then there is a free tier that will give you five million characters per month for the first 12 months. After that, you will need to start paying for the service, which can get expensive quickly. If you want to save money, you should consider making the switch to Speechify.

Is Amazon Polly AI?

Yes, it is a part of the Amazon AI suite of programs. Some of the other programs, in addition to Amazon Polly, include Lex and Rekognition. Even though Amazon has a strong presence in the AI space, Speechify has an even stronger presence with some better programming, which has made it one of the most popular text-to-speech tools on the market today.

What is Amazon Polly used for?

There are a lot of reasons why you might want to use Amazon Polly, as the program provides you with a service that can help you turn your text into lifelike speech. There are a lot of people who like to use the TTS program to build applications that can talk back to you with a number of voices, but this is not necessarily the best program if you want someone that can read a book to you. For that type of program, you might want to go with Speechify instead. It is easier to use and provides you with more features. 

How do I enable Polly on Amazon?

If you want to get Polly to work on Amazon, the process is relatively straightforward. You need to create a user account for the Amazon Web Services client. Once you have an AWS account set up, you simply need to sign in to the management console and open up the IAM area to get your user account going. You should be able to access the features tied to the tier you paid for there. If you are looking for a program that is easier to use, consider making the move to Speechify.

What is the difference between Amazon Polly and Amazon Alexa?

When people talk about Amazon Alexa, they are talking about the AI assistant. Amazon Polly is a TTS program that you can add to apps you build and translate speech into spoken text.

How does Amazon Polly work?

Amazon Polly is an artificial intelligence program that takes OCR programming and TTS software to convert text into spoken speech. The use cases for each of these technologies is very different.

What are some other alternative text-to-speech services?

Speechify is the best one for this purpose. Speechify is known for being a program that is easy to use and can handle dozens of languages with hundreds of high-quality, realistic voices.

What are the alternatives to Amazon Polly?

If you need an alternative to Amazon, then Speechify is your best choice. While some people like NaturalReader, Speechify is better. You can customize voices in this program while also highlighting written text and handling a number of file formats, from ePub to PDF and even MP3.

Who can I contact to learn more about Amazon Polly?

If you want to learn more about the features of Amazon, you should reach out to the Amazon customer service team for help getting the most out of the program.

Cliff Weitzman

Cliff Weitzman

Cliff Weitzman is a dyslexia advocate and the CEO and founder of Speechify, the #1 text-to-speech app in the world, totaling over 100,000 5-star reviews and ranking first place in the App Store for the News & Magazines category. In 2017, Weitzman was named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list for his work making the internet more accessible to people with learning disabilities. Cliff Weitzman has been featured in EdSurge, Inc., PC Mag, Entrepreneur, Mashable, among other leading outlets.