Azure AI Speech (Text to Speech) by Microsoft
Azure neural text-to-speech with HD voices, long audio and Limited Access custom voices.
Voiceover (text-to-speech) Service
Price
Free tier
F0: 0.5 million Neural characters free per month.
Commercial use
Unclear
Credit the author
—
Agent access
Public API
API key needed
Rules for your agent
Copied.
- Azure AI Speech (Text to Speech) (Voiceover (text-to-speech)). Azure neural text-to-speech with HD voices, long audio and Limited Access custom voices. Price: free tier; commercial use unclear; shipping inside an app unclear. Connect: API docs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/speech-service/ (API key needed); npm microsoft-cognitiveservices-speech-sdk; PyPI azure-cognitiveservices-speech. Rule: Apply for Limited Access and submit a voice-talent consent recording before creating a custom voice. Rule: Disclose synthetic voice use as the transparency notes require.
Paste it into your prompt or AGENTS.md. It is built from the license and API terms below.
License
| License | — |
|---|---|
| Commercial use | Commercial use unclear |
| Credit | — |
| Inside your app or game | Shipping inside an app unclear |
| Monetized YouTube | Monetized YouTube unclear |
| AI training | Not stated |
| Bots and bulk downloads | Not stated |
| Rules |
|
Connect it to an agent
| MCP server | None found |
|---|---|
| API | API docs · key needed |
| npm | npm install microsoft-cognitiveservices-speech-sdk |
| PyPI | pip install azure-cognitiveservices-speech |
| Status page | azure.status.microsoft |
Pricing
| Free | F0: 0.5 million Neural characters free per month. |
|---|---|
| Paid from | — |
| Usage price | S1 Neural $15/1M chars; Neural HD $22/1M; Long Audio $100/1M; custom neural $24/1M + training and hosting (eastus list). |
Sources
Read on Oct 10, 2026: azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/cognitive-servi..., prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices?$filter=armRegionName..., learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/speech-servic..., learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/speech-servic....
Not confirmed: Prices come from the Retail Prices API (the public page shows placeholders); no commercial restriction stated.
Not legal advice. Check the license page before you ship.
Alternatives to Azure AI Speech (Text to Speech)
| Pick for your agent | Source | Price | License | Monetized YouTube | Agent access |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cartesia Sonic Sonic TTS API (Sonic 3.6 claims 44 languages) with instant and pro voice cloning. |
Free tier · from $5/mo | Commercial: conditions | With conditions | MCP API | |
| ElevenLabs Text-to-speech and voice cloning API in many languages, with an official MCP server. |
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| Fish Audio TTS app and pay-as-you-go API priced per UTF-8 byte; S2.1-Pro claims 83 languages. |
Free tier · from $11/mo | Commercial: conditions | With conditions | MCP API | |
| Hume Octave Octave TTS with voice cloning and an official MCP server. |
Free tier · from $3/mo | Commercial: conditions | With conditions | MCP API | |
| Speechify API TTS API (Simba models) with a free plan that lists commercial use. |
Free tier · from $10/mo | Commercial OK | With conditions | API | |
| WellSaid TTS voices with commercial rights on paid plans; API access is available. |
Free tier · from $10/mo | Commercial: conditions | With conditions | API | |
| Chatterbox MIT-licensed open TTS with zero-shot cloning in 23 languages and a built-in Perth watermark. |
Free | Commercial OK No credit | Yes | PyPI | |
| Kokoro-82M 82M-parameter open-weight TTS model under Apache-2.0 with fixed voice packs. |
Free | Commercial OK No credit | Yes | npm |
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Copied. Paste it into your prompt or AGENTS.md.