Piper
A free tool that turns text into speech on your computer. It's for people making images, video, or audio. It's free.
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No affiliate link on file. Outbound goes to github.com. Identity checked October 21, 2026. Score null is from the run on October 21, 2026.
Grade
We tried it ourselves. Grade B.
- Grade
- B · We tried it
- Score
- 7/10
- Price
- Free
Best for
Jobs people use this for.
Test details
Fast local neural text-to-speech with downloadable voices. GPL-3.0.
Hands-on review · 2026-10-21
TestedB7/10- CPU-only box: 8 cores, 15 GB RAM, no GPU.
- Audio checked by transcription, not yet by ear.
- No human listening test
Piper is a light, fast, free TTS that runs anywhere. It rendered our script in about 2 seconds on CPU, and Whisper transcribed the result almost perfectly, so it is clearly intelligible. We could not judge how natural it sounds because we can't listen on this box. Have someone listen to piper/out.wav before publishing a tier.
Fast and intelligible on CPU. Naturalness not judged by ear.
- Coverage
- One 36-word script, en_US-lessac-medium, intelligibility by transcription
- What we tested
- Speed and intelligibility of a fixed 36-word script with the en_US-lessac-medium voice.
Method
piper-tts 1.8.0 CLI, 3 runs. Intelligibility measured by transcribing the output back with faster-whisper.
Measured
- wall_ms_incl_model_load2540, 2205, 1933
- audio_s11.46
- transcription check0.061-0.091 error rate (tiny.en 0.091; base/small 0.061, brand-name split only)
- model_size_mb63
Pros
- About 2 s, including model load, for 11.5 s of audio on CPU
- Small 63 MB voice
- Simple CLI
Cons
- GPL-3.0 licence
- We can't judge naturalness by ear; we only transcribed the audio back
- Status
- Not run
- Date
- October 21, 2026
- Time to first output
- —
- Cost
- —
- Result
- —
- Evidence
- Log linked below
Queued task. Render a fixed script in a chosen voice. Log time to the first usable take and artifacts.
FAQ
What is the agent-tested verdict for Piper?
A free tool that turns text into speech on your computer. It's for people making images, video, or audio. It's free. We tried it ourselves. Grade B.
How much does Piper cost?
Free. GPL-3.0.
Do sponsors outrank this tool?
No. A sponsored slot is labeled and sold separately from tiers. It cannot move this listing.