Hi, if you’re looking for a good voice generator, you might want to give PlayHT a try. It is a popular tool to create realistic AI voices. If you want to create a podcast, audiobook, or video for YouTube and TikTok, PlayHT is one of the best platforms.
I have been using it for a while and have written this review to help you decide whether to go with it or not. I signed up for the trial of 12,500 characters, and you can also register to try PlayHT for free.
After you register, you’ll be welcomed into the ultra-realistic studio, which is the new dashboard. To use the old dashboard, which is termed standard studio, go to the non-English voices option and select standard studio.
Text-to-Speech Generation
Currently, there are four models that you can use to create speech. The first three models work in the new studio and the last one works in the standard old studio.
Firstly, the user interface of the ultra-realistic studio is simple and minimal, which lets you generate speech easily without any difficulty. You just need to write the text and click on the generate button to create the speech.
If you hit enter, it adds another text area where you can change the voice and controls and generate a different audio file. You can also download each of your files in the .wav format.
Advanced voice controls: It allows you to set the stability (expressiveness and variance), similarity (uniqueness of the voice compared to other voices), and intensity (emotional performance) of the voice.
Voice Speed: You can also change the speed of the voice, ranging from 1.5x to 0.5x times. This is good for increasing or decreasing the duration of the speech.
Audio Timeline: At the bottom, you can see the timeline that adds the files that you created in a project. You can drag and drop them according to your needs and listen to the complete audio.
Finally, there is the export button to download your project. You have two options: download each paragraph separately or as a single audio file.
Now, to use all the voices and features, you need to use the standard studio. PlayHT has over 142 text-to-speech languages and accents to choose from. You can listen to them here.
Now let’s take a look at the original studio where you can create speech. As you can see below, PlayHT offers a complete studio to convert text to speech, along with all types of settings. You can either write the text or import it from an URL (PDF coming soon).
If you select the voices option, you can browse through all the voices available. There is a drop-down menu to select the language and accent, an option to select the gender, premium or standard voices, use cases, voice styles, emphasis, etc. When you hover over a voice, you can see the voice styles, formats, sample rates, and tones that it supports.
You can select a part of the text and change its pronunciation and tone. In the tone setting, you can change the volume, rate, and pitch of the voice. You can also add a pause of custom duration anywhere within the text.
You get different voice styles, like angry, cheerful, excited, friendly, sad, terrified, and more. And yes, they were quite realistic when I tried them. But not all voices have these styles.
The pronunciation library allows you to add new pronunciations of words for all languages. These will apply while generating speech. Another option is to select the text and change its pronunciation.
Other settings include the audio file format that you can select (mp3 or wav), bitrate, and speed. Finally, you can download all the paragraphs separately or as a complete file.
Here is the most important information that you need to know: if you preview the paragraphs separately, it doesn’t consume credits. But if you listen to the full text, it consumes credits.
Now let’s see some more tools and features that PlayHT offers.
Different Integrations
PlayHT has the following integrations:
WordPress plugin: This plugin allows you to add audio and also convert your blog posts into audio.
Chrome extension: This extension provides the option to add audio to your Medium stories.
JavaScript code snippet: This creates a code snippet to embed audio in your blog posts.
Audio Widgets
PlayHT has responsive and customizable audio players, listen buttons, and floating players.
The audio player is fully customizable, and you can change the title, color theme, speed, add a download button, subscribe button, and social sharing feature. You will see the live preview too.
The audio buttons include the listen button, floating play button, and player UI settings. You can change all the colors, texts, positions, and previews of the player.
Analytics
The audio analytics track the listens, shares, downloads, and subscribers of your audio widgets. You can also view the email subscriptions of your audio widgets and export them.
Voice Cloning
Using this tool, you can create a realistic AI voice using your own voice. So, if you want to avoid using generic voices that others may use, just upload a sample of your voice and generate speech. The voice-cloning feature is available in the new studio.
PlayHT Pricing
Below are the plans that you can choose from according to your needs. The free plan is a beneficial option to try out all the features except voice cloning.
If you want to create podcasts, short videos, or audiobooks, the creator plan is perfect for you. But if you want to generate speech on a larger scale, go with the unlimited plan.
PlayHT offers a 20% discount if you choose to pay annually. The creator plan would cost $374 per year. For a limited time, it is offering the unlimited plan for just $348 a year (only $29 per month), which is a great deal!
Do I recommend PlayHT?
A big yes! because it offers a huge library of voices along with different tones and pronunciations. If you are a small creator, the free plan is enough for you. There is no need to choose any other platform.
But if you want to use more characters, I recommend Voicemaker because it is more affordable than PlayHT. Although it doesn’t have a studio like PlayHT, it is still a good option.
Conclusion
That’s it. This was my personal review of the widely popular AI voice generator, PlayHT. Overall, it is a good choice for people who just want to create short speeches. You can also use it for free without signing up here.
