eSpeak NG
eSpeak NG is a free, open-source text-to-speech synthesizer for Android, Linux, macOS, Windows, APIs and self-hosted use.
What eSpeak NG is
eSpeak NG is a free, open-source text-to-speech synthesizer for Android, Linux, macOS, Windows, APIs and self-hosted use. It supports more than 100 languages and accents; the development version lists 127, while the project recommends checking a distributed installation with `espeak-ng --voices`. Formant synthesis keeps language data compact and permits high speaking speeds, but speech is less natural or smooth than systems based on human recordings. Multiple voices are included and their characteristics can be changed. The software outputs WAV audio and supports HTML plus partial SSML. It is available as a command-line program, shared library and Windows SAPI5 version for compatible screen readers and other programs. MBROLA can serve as a backend, with text converted to phonemes containing pitch and length information. Its C API and ABI are compatible with eSpeak, although some voice, dictionary and phoneme files are not. Commercial use is permitted under the GNU GPL version 3 or later. The 1.52 release notes direct builders to CMake.
Good
- Free and open source
- Supports over 100 languages and accents
- Command-line, library and SAPI5 interfaces
- WAV output with HTML support
- Commercial use permitted
Watch out
- Speech is less natural than recorded-voice synthesizers
- SSML support is incomplete
- Some files are incompatible with eSpeak
- CMake is required for current compilation
Who it suits
It suits developers, screen-reader users and projects needing a compact synthesizer across desktop, mobile, API or self-hosted environments. Commercial users can use it under its stated GPL license.
Verdict
eSpeak NG offers broad language coverage, compact data and several integration interfaces at no cost. Its formant voices favor speed and size, while users seeking highly natural speech or complete SSML support may find the stated limitations important.
Plans and prices
From eSpeak NG's own pricing page, checked 15 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| eSpeak NG | Free | Open-source engine · desktop and mobile ports · GPLv3+ engine license |
The facts
Each one read from eSpeak NG's own pages, with the date it was checked.
Where it runs
- Android app rating
- The Google Play listing shows 3.4 out of 5 stars from 1.67K reviews.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Apple App Store rating
- The Apple App Store listing shows 4.0 out of 5 from 21 ratings.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Independent Android analysis
- AppRecs rates the Android listing 2.9 and reports a trustworthiness score of 86 out of 100 from its analyzed review sample.checked 15 Oct 2026
What it does
- API access
- Yeschecked 20 Sep 2026
- API compatibility
- The C API remains API and ABI compatible with eSpeak 1.48.15.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Audio and markup
- It can produce WAV output and supports SSML (not completely) and HTML.checked 12 Oct 2026
- Audio output
- The software can generate speech as WAV audio files.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Build requirement
- The 1.52 release notes say it is the last release supporting the Autoconf build system and instruct users to use CMake to compile eSpeak NG.checked 12 Oct 2026
- Build requirements
- The current native build requires CMake 3.10 or later and a C99-capable compiler such as GCC or Clang.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Command line
- Command-line programs speak text supplied as files or standard input on Linux and Windows.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Commercial use
- Yeschecked 20 Sep 2026
- Compact footprint
- The executable, language data and many voices total only a few megabytes.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Compatibility
- Its C API and ABI are compatible with eSpeak, while some voice, dictionary, and phoneme files are incompatible with eSpeak.checked 12 Oct 2026
- Component licenses
- Fedora identifies GPL-3.0-only, GPL-3.0-or-later, Apache-2.0, BSD-2-Clause, Unicode-DFS-2016 and CC-BY-SA-3.0 components in the package.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Debian interface
- The Debian man page documents speaking text, reading files or standard input, phoneme output and voice listing options.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Developer documentation
- Documentation includes user, building, contributor, language and voice-development guides plus C-library guidance.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Export formats
- WAVchecked 20 Sep 2026
- Integration
- It is available as a command-line program, a shared library, and a Windows SAPI5 version for compatible screen readers and other programs.checked 12 Oct 2026
- Language coverage
- The development version lists 127 languages and accents; the project says to run `espeak-ng --voices` to check the distributed version.checked 12 Oct 2026
- Latest release
- GitHub lists version 1.52.0 as the latest release, dated December 12, 2024.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Library API
- A shared library and Windows DLL expose a C API for embedding in other programs.checked 15 Oct 2026
- License
- The main eSpeak NG engine is released under the GNU GPL version 3 or later.checked 15 Oct 2026
The company
- Founded
- 2015checked 28 Sep 2026
Money
- Free plan
- Yeschecked 20 Sep 2026
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