OpenAI Text-to-Speech by OpenAI
TTS API (gpt-4o-mini-tts, tts-1, tts-1-hd) with built-in voices and custom voices for eligible customers.
Voiceover (text-to-speech) Service
Price
Paid
Pay as you go: tts-1 $15/1M chars; tts-1-hd $30/1M;...
Commercial use
Unclear
Credit the author
—
Agent access
Public API
API key needed
Rules for your agent
Copied.
- OpenAI Text-to-Speech (Voiceover (text-to-speech)). TTS API (gpt-4o-mini-tts, tts-1, tts-1-hd) with built-in voices and custom voices for eligible customers. Price: paid; commercial use unclear; shipping inside an app unclear. Connect: API docs https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/guides/text-to-speech (API key needed); npm openai; PyPI openai. Rule: Tell end users clearly that the TTS voice is AI-generated. Rule: Create custom voices only with a consent recording of the voice actor reading the consent phrase.
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 with conditions |
| 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 openai |
| PyPI | pip install openai |
| Status page | status.openai.com |
Pricing
| Free | — |
|---|---|
| Paid from | — |
| Usage price | Pay as you go: tts-1 $15/1M chars; tts-1-hd $30/1M; gpt-4o-mini-tts $0.60/1M text tokens + $12/1M audio tokens. |
| Good to know | The tts-1 model page labels it 'Deprecated'. Voices are optimized for English. |
Sources
Read on Oct 10, 2026: developers.openai.com/api/docs/guides/text-to-speech, developers.openai.com/api/docs/models/gpt-4o-mini-tts, developers.openai.com/api/docs/models/tts-1, developers.openai.com/api/docs/guides/custom-voices.
Not confirmed: Usage-policy and services-agreement pages returned 403; output ownership not read; the guide mentions both 11 and 13 voices.
Not legal advice. Check the license page before you ship.
Alternatives to OpenAI 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. |
Free tier · from $6/mo | Commercial: conditions | With conditions | MCP API | |
| 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.