Text-to-Speech API · decision tool
Deepgram Aura alternatives — ranked for your stack
Leaving Deepgram Aura? The other TTS API options ranked at your usage, budget and constraints with verified dated pricing — plus when Deepgram Aura is still the right call.
Prices verified 2026-07-17 against official pricing pages · fit weights are our estimates (see methodology) · share the URL to share your configuration
As of Jul 2026, with 200,000 characters of speech/month, a $50 budget for this slot, Groq (Orpheus) ranks first for these inputs at 76% fit and a StackSays-estimated $4.40/month (Cartesia (TTS): 72% fit, $49.00/month). Fit weights are our estimates; prices trace to official pages. Change any input below and the verdict recomputes.
Your situation
The verdict updates as you move these.
Narrow pick — the runner-up is close
Open-weights Orpheus TTS hosted at the lowest per-character rate here
vs Cartesia (TTS): fit 76% against 72%, est $4.40 against $49.00 per month
Comparing 3 tools head-to-head. Open the full field (4 options) →
The decision, in plain words
For a solo builder at 200,000 characters of speech/month and a $50.00/mo budget for the TTS API slot, Groq (Orpheus) leads at 76% fit and $4.40/mo. The two rules doing the work: budget fit (~$4.4/mo is 9% of your $50/mo budget); batteries included (Bundles streaming synthesis, STT from the same vendor — fewer services to glue at team size 1).
Cartesia (TTS) runs close (72% fit, $49.00/mo). It takes the lead if ~$49/mo is 98% of your $50/mo budget matters more to you than the current weights assume.
Honest weak spot of the pick: no free tier — paying from day one.
Generated from the calculation above — every number traces to the sourced data; nothing here is written by an AI making things up.
Why Groq (Orpheus) scores 76%
How the $4.40/mo estimate is calculated
What could change this verdict
Cost risk
Official prices verified 2026-07-17; calculation is deterministic code over those prices.
At a glance
| Tool | Free tier | Paid entry | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| ElevenLabs | 10K credits/month (≈10K characters); NO commercial license | Starter $6/mo | 2026-07-17 |
| Groq (Orpheus) | No free tier | Pay-as-you-go — $22 per 1M characters English ($40/1M Arabic); pure usage, no subscription | 2026-07-17 |
| Cartesia (TTS) | 20K credits/month ≈ 27 TTS minutes (vendor approximation; ≈1 credit/char, our estimate) | Pro $5/mo | 2026-07-17 |
Data sources
| Tool | Source | Verified |
|---|---|---|
| ElevenLabs | ElevenLabs pricing | 2026-07-17 |
| Groq (Orpheus) | Groq pricing | 2026-07-17 |
| Cartesia (TTS) | Cartesia pricing | 2026-07-17 |
A monitor re-checks these pages for changes; when a vendor moves a price, the date updates and every verdict recomputes.