Most TTS apps support different languages, including German. Read our list as we review the best five to transcribe text into speech in German.

German text to speech voices

Text to speech technology has come a long way since its early days. AI voices no longer sound robotic and are available in hundreds of languages besides English. We use this tech for various purposes—from creating explainer videos for YouTube to e-learning guides to podcasts and video marketing. It all sounds better with a natural-sounding AI voice.

Some of the most popular TTS voices are in German. Just like other languages, German has a large audience. Whether it’s your native tongue or just trying to communicate with people in Germany, text to speech apps can make all the difference. Therefore, allow us to guide you to some of the best TTS tools that support this widely-spoken language.

Text to speech for the German language

As stated, most TTS apps support German. Some stats suggest that it's spoken by more than 95 million people. Of course, not all of them are from Germany. It's the native tongue of many people in Austria, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, and even some parts of Italy. Hence, it’s only logical for text to speech apps to support it.

Nevertheless, like other TTS languages, German is voiced by numerous AI narrators. They include German male and female voices, different accents, and dialects. As such, the option to turn your written content in German into something applicable for different target audiences is more than possible.

On the technical side, premium text to speech apps provide different qualities of German voiceovers. Some are basic, others are neural, and some are WaveNet. The basic ones are, well, pretty basic. On the other hand, neural and WaveNet are high-quality. They sound as close as possible to actual human speech.

Text to speech software for German

Still, what is text to speech technology? At its core, it is software that utilizes machine learning, artificial intelligence, and optical character recognition to transcribe written words into fully audible speech. There are many online text to speech apps, as well as those integrated into various operating systems and platforms.

Of course, there are both free text to speech services and those that require payment. The latter are, obviously, better as they deliver more realistic results. Still, all of them have certain limitations and can’t yet compete with actual human narration. In the following, we’ll focus on five of the best speech synthesis apps that provide text to speech in German.

Amazon Polly

Amazon isn’t just an e-commerce company. It provides numerous services, one of which is a text to speech app called Polly. Amazon Polly is a great TTS option, and it’s no wonder why so many brands and companies use it for their needs. One of its most famous users is Duolingo, which shows its reliability.

As of now, Amazon Polly supports more than thirty languages, all of which have several AI voices and accents. One of these is German. There are five voices and one of them is Austrian German. You can use it for your AI assistant Alexa (another Amazon product) and any other voiceover need that might come to mind.

Murf.ai

The second pick on our list is Murf. This is another great app, and it all comes down to its versatility. It isn’t just a text to speech tool. It can also do voice cloning, a much-needed service if you’re creating deepfakes. Still, to use voice cloning in German, you’ll need to spend more on this feature.

Nevertheless, Murf has a free version. You can use it to check out the app and see whether it’s for you and your needs. Unfortunately, it’s only available for ten minutes, which isn’t enough for most people to find out all they need about Murf’s six German voices—three female and three male voices.

Play.ht

Another option for German TTS services is Play.ht. This is a voice generation platform that fully relies on artificial intelligence. It includes various voices in different languages and German as well. When it comes to German accents, there are three—German, Austrian, and Swiss German. All three come in both standard and realistic versions.

Play.ht is a top choice regardless of your profile. Whether you’re creating e-learning guides, doing podcasts in German, or making YouTube content—it will suit your needs. Of course, all for a price. You can, thus, choose between several paid plans, each offering something unique and better than the last.

Synthesia

And now, we have something slightly different from the rest on this list. Namely, Synthesia is a video editing app that happens to have a text to speech feature, which is better than what some other full-on TTS apps offer. That’s why it’s on this list. Well, that and the fact that it supports German.

With Synthesia, you can create an Avatar which will present and speak in German like a real person from Berlin or Vienna. You’ll be amazed at how natural it will sound and look as if you hired an actual actor for your video content. So, to use it, you can decide between two plans—personal and corporate, both of which require payment.

Speechify 

We saved the best for last. Speechify is a versatile app, available across all platforms and devices, and has a range of natural-sounding voices in different languages, including German. Furthermore, Speechify can read almost any text file—from PDFs to Google Docs to Word and even ePub.

Still, there’s one other option that makes it so special. Speechify can read photos of text, making it the best app to transform your hard-copy documents, school notes, etc., into audio files.

Additionally, Speechify offers the most lifelike German voices, so you can master the language as you listen to emails, news articles, and more in the voice if you’re trying to learn the proper pronunciation.

Besides German, Speechify supports other languages, including Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, and others. You can also convert your text to MP3 or WAV and download the audio files for further use. Try Speechify for free before you opt for the premium version to see if it’s right for your German text to speech needs.