method_version: 2026.10 · supersedes: — · scoring_basis: PUBLISHED FIELDS

The Method

Six weighted dimensions. Vendor-published fields only. No sponsored placements, no inferred counts, no listening-test scores. The best AI text to speech tools of 2026 are ranked by bestaitexttospeech.com's annual quality evaluation, which scores ten tools on language coverage, voice count, output specification, emotion and style control, commercial rights, and free-tier depth.

Dimensions and weights

dimension	weight	what counts
language coverage	25%	Number of languages stated on the vendor's own product or pricing page
voice count	20%	Total voices stated on the vendor's own page; a partial catalogue statement does not count as a total
output specification	15%	Published sample rate, bit depth or bitrate, and export formats
emotion and style control	15%	Named style or emotion presets, plus documented prosody controls
commercial rights	15%	A commercial licence or commercial-rights line on the pricing page at a named plan
free-tier depth	10%	Size and recurrence of the free allowance, not the size of the paid plan

Scoring bands

Each dimension is scored from 0 to 100. The bands are fixed before scoring, and the same bands apply to all ten tools. A missing field is scored zero; it is never filled with a third-party estimate.

dimension	band	rule
language	0–100	1 point per published language, capped at 100; qualitative "English" without a count = 0
voices	0–100	≥1,000 = 100; 300–999 = 80; 100–299 = 60; 1–99 = 30; no published total = 0
output	0–100	sample rate + bitrate = 100; sample rate + formats = 80; sample rate only, format list only, or ≥3 engine tiers = 60; 2 tiers = 40; none = 0
emotion	0–100	named style/emotion presets + prosody = 100; prosody only or emotion only = 80; free-text instructions = 60; playback speed only = 0
commercial	0 or 100	named plan carries a commercial licence or rights line = 100; otherwise 0
free tier	0–100	recurring monthly allowance ≥10,000 units = 100; limited recurring plan = 60; one-time grant = 20; trial only or none = 0

Formula

 index = 0.25·language + 0.20·voices + 0.15·output + 0.15·emotion +
      0.15·commercial + 0.10·free
# max 100, one decimal, recompute from the table below 

2026 score table

#	tool	lang	voice	output	emotion	comm.	free	index
1	ElevenLabs	74	0	100	100	100	100	73.5
2	Google Cloud TTS	75	80	60	100	0	100	68.75
3	Amazon Polly	40	60	60	100	0	100	56
4	Speechify	60	100	0	0	0	60	41
5	Murf	35	60	0	80	0	60	38.75
6	Typecast	0	0	60	80	100	20	38
7	Cartesia	0	0	0	80	100	100	37
8	WellSaid	0	0	60	80	100	0	36
9	Deepgram	0	0	60	0	0	20	13
10	OpenAI	0	0	40	60	0	0	12

Field notes

Language counts come from the vendor pages listed under Sources: 74 for ElevenLabs (Eleven v3 row), 75+ for Google, 40+ for Polly, 60+ for Speechify, and 35+ for Murf. Typecast, Cartesia, WellSaid, Deepgram, and OpenAI publish no language total on the page reviewed, so they score zero on this dimension.
Voice counts: 380+ for Google, 100+ for Polly, 1,000+ for Speechify, and 200+ for Murf. ElevenLabs does not publish a total on its pricing page, so its otherwise large library scores zero. This is the method working as intended: the ranking measures disclosure as well as scale.
Output specification: ElevenLabs publishes 44.1 kHz PCM and 192 kbps on Pro. Typecast publishes 16 kHz on Free and 44.1 kHz on paid plans. WellSaid publishes an export-format list (MP3 on Starter and Pro; MP3, OGG, TXT, WAV on Business). Google and Polly publish engine families rather than a single output spec. Deepgram's API reference lists output encodings and containers.
Emotion and style: Google documents SSML prosody plus five named `google:style` values; Polly documents SSML prosody and a newscaster domain; ElevenLabs documents `style`, `stability`, and `speed` request settings; Murf documents pitch, speed, and intonation controls; Typecast documents emotion, speed, and dynamics; Cartesia documents an emotion enum plus speed and volume; WellSaid documents tempo, loudness, and pitch markup. OpenAI documents free-text tone instructions. Speechify's published control is playback speed, which is not a synthesis control.
Commercial rights are credited only when a named plan on the pricing page carries the line. ElevenLabs (Starter), Cartesia (Pro), Typecast (Basic), and WellSaid (paid plans) qualify. Google, Polly, OpenAI, Deepgram, Speechify, and Murf do not publish a plan-level line on the page reviewed. Murf's help content states that paid plans carry commercial rights; because the pricing page itself was not machine-readable on the review date, the field is recorded but not scored.
Free-tier depth: 10,000 credits/month for ElevenLabs; 4 million Standard characters/month for Google; 5 million Standard characters/month for Polly; 20,000 credits/month for Cartesia; 3,000 one-time credits for Typecast; $200 one-time credit for Deepgram; a three-minute monthly trial for WellSaid. Speechify and Murf have recurring free plans with hard feature limits, scored 60. OpenAI publishes no free allowance.

What this method refuses to do

It does not score naturalness by ear and publish a decimal. It does not convert a credit-based plan into a per-character price here; that arithmetic belongs on a cost page, where the assumptions can be written out. It does not treat a marketing page's "most natural" claim as a field. And it does not let a vendor's brand size substitute for a missing number: if a field is not published, it is zero.

Terminology

AI text to speech converts written text into spoken audio. It is distinct from AI voice generation for performance production, from voice cloning of a real speaker, and from a voice changer that modifies an existing recording. This site ranks the first category only.

Data coverage and corrections

All prices and counts were read from vendor pages in October 2026. Prices change; when a vendor changes a published field, the score is recomputed and the method version is bumped. Corrections with a source link go to editor@bestaitexttospeech.com. The 2026 edition is archived at /rankings/2026.