Unreal Speech
Fast, cheap text-to-speech API for developers
Overview
Unreal Speech is a text-to-speech API aimed squarely at developers, not a consumer app with a chat interface. It converts text to speech fast, streaming audio back in about 300ms, and returns per-word timestamps alongside the audio, which is the detail that makes it genuinely useful for building captions, subtitles, or karaoke-style word highlighting instead of just getting an audio file back. It supports 48 voices across 8 languages and can handle requests up to 10 hours long, which covers most audiobook and long-form narration use cases.
The pitch that gets developers to switch is price: Unreal Speech markets itself as roughly 11x cheaper than ElevenLabs for equivalent usage, with a free tier covering 1 million characters a month and paid tiers starting around $49/month for 3 million characters, scaling down in per-character cost at higher volumes. Unused characters roll over on paid plans, which softens the sting of an uneven usage month. It's a strong pick for developers building at volume where API costs actually matter; if you need a polished no-code interface rather than an API, this isn't built for you.
Key Features
300ms Streaming: Generates and streams audio fast enough for real-time applications.
Per-Word Timestamps: Returns exact timing data for each word, useful for captions and karaoke-style highlighting.
48 Voices, 8 Languages: Covers a reasonable range of voices and languages for an API-first tool.
Long-Form Support: Handles requests up to 10 hours of audio in a single call.
Character Rollover: Unused characters on paid plans roll over month to month.
Free Tier: 1 million characters (about 22 hours of audio) at no cost, resetting monthly.
Pricing
Starting price
Usage-based; the entry paid tier runs around $49/mo for 3 million characters (roughly $16.33 per 1M characters), with a free tier covering 1 million characters
Free: $0. 1 million characters/month (about 22 hours of audio).
Basic: Around $49/month. Up to 3 million characters (roughly $16.33 per 1M).
Plus: Around $499/month. Up to 42 million characters, lower per-character rate.
Pro: Around $1,499/month. Up to 150 million characters, lower per-character rate still.
Enterprise: Around $4,999/month. Up to 625 million characters, lowest per-character rate (~$8/1M).
Disclaimer: this is a usage-based API, exact character allowances and prices may change, confirm current pricing on Unreal Speech's own pricing page before buying.
Pros
Genuinely Cheap At Scale: Priced well below ElevenLabs and most competitors for high-volume use.
Fast Streaming: 300ms response time works for near real-time applications.
Per-Word Timestamps: A genuinely useful feature for captioning and subtitle workflows.
Character Rollover: Unused characters carry over instead of resetting to zero each month.
Cons
API Only: No polished consumer app, you need to build the interface yourself.
Smaller Voice Library: 48 voices across 8 languages is modest next to bigger voice AI platforms.
Usage-Based Pricing Is Fiddly: No flat monthly rate, so budgeting requires estimating character volume in advance.
Less Emotional Range: Voice expressiveness is generally more limited than premium voice cloning tools.
What Makes It Unique
Per-Word Timestamps Built In: Unlike most budget TTS APIs, Unreal Speech returns exact word-level timing data by default, which most competitors charge extra for or don't offer at all.
Kay Score
7.7
/ 10
Tool Information
Pricing
Usage-based; the entry paid tier runs around $49/mo for 3 million characters (roughly $16.33 per 1M characters), with a free tier covering 1 million characters
Category
Voice & Video
Platform
Web / iOS / Android
Last Updated
