Device Voices vs AI Voices: Which Text-to-Speech Voice Should You Use?
Unlimited TTS gives you two kinds of voice: Quick voices from your device, and Natural AI voices generated in your browser. Both are free to listen to and neither needs an account. They suit different jobs, so the right choice depends on what you are doing.
Quick voices: instant, on every device
Quick voices use the speech engine built into your operating system, through your browser. They start straight away with nothing to download, and they work on every device. You can adjust both speed and pitch.
The trade-off is that the sound and the choice of languages depend on what your device has installed. If you want more languages or better-sounding voices, the guide to adding voices covers Windows, macOS, iOS and Android.
Some browsers also offer online voices. These are labelled when they may send your text to the browser's provider, so you can choose a local voice instead.
Natural voices: lifelike, and you can save the audio
Natural voices run an AI model inside your browser. The first use downloads the model once, and after that everything runs locally on your device. They give the more natural quality of the two, and they are the option to choose when you want to save the speech as an audio file.
Because the model runs on your own hardware, Natural voices need more memory and work best on a desktop browser. They also cover a set of supported languages rather than every language your device can speak.
Which one to choose
- Reading something right now, or on a phone: start with a Quick voice.
- Listening for a long stretch: try a Natural voice on a desktop browser.
- Making an audio file: use a Natural voice and the download button.
- Using a less common language: check your device's voices first, and add more if you need them.
The quickest way to decide is to hear both. Open the text-to-speech reader, paste a paragraph, and switch between Quick and Natural.