What it does
Core capabilities at a glance
- 2x faster than real-time on CPU
- 10+ American and Japanese voices
- Gradio web interface included
- Python API and ONNX runtime
- Low memory footprint (~200MB)
- Custom voice cloning support
Deep dive
The full breakdown - performance, comparisons, and setup
Kokoro TTS
Kokoro TTS produces the best voice quality among open-source, CPU-runnable TTS engines. Its voices sound natural and expressive, rivaling cloud TTS services.
What it is
Kokoro is an ONNX-based neural TTS engine that produces high-quality speech from text. It uses a proprietary architecture trained on high-quality voice data, resulting in voices that sound significantly more natural than Piper or other CPU-based TTS.
How it stacks up
| Kokoro TTS | Piper TTS | Sherpa Onnx | ElevenLabs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voice quality | 8/10 | 6/10 | 6/10 | 9/10 |
| CPU speed | 2x real-time | 2x real-time | 1x real-time | Cloud |
| Memory | ~200MB | ~100MB | ~200MB | Cloud |
| Open-source | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Best for | Quality TTS | Home Assistant | All-in-one | Best quality |
Get started
from kokoro import KPipeline
pipeline = KPipeline(lang_code='a')
generator = pipeline("Hello, how can I help you today?", voice='af_heart')
for audio in generator:
# audio is a numpy array of float32
passWhen to use something else
- Home Assistant integration: Piper has native HA support
- Need STT too: Sherpa Onnx does both STT and TTS
- Multi-modal API: LocalAI bundles everything
Frequently asked
Quick answers to common questions
What is Kokoro TTS?
Kokoro TTS is a tts-stt tool for local AI workloads. High-quality, lightweight neural TTS with 10+ voices, 2x faster than real-time on CPU.
Is Kokoro TTS free and open source?
Yes, Kokoro TTS has 7,363 GitHub stars and is licensed under Apache-2.0. You can self-host it for free on linux, macos, windows, docker.
What platforms does Kokoro TTS support?
Kokoro TTS runs on linux, macos, windows, docker.
What hardware do I need for Kokoro TTS?
The hardware requirements depend on which models you run. Check our hardware directory for compatible GPUs and systems. Kokoro TTS has 7,363 GitHub stars and an active community.
Does Kokoro TTS support GPU acceleration?
Kokoro TTS supports GPU acceleration via CUDA, Metal, or Vulkan depending on your platform. For the best performance, pair it with an NVIDIA RTX 4090 or 5090.
What are the best alternatives to Kokoro TTS?
Popular alternatives include other tts-stt tools in our directory. Browse our full collection at /tool for comparisons, community reviews, and benchmark data to find the right fit for your workflow.
How much does Kokoro TTS cost?
Kokoro TTS is free-open-source. It is completely free and open source to self-host.
Pairs well with
Complementary tools, models, and hardware
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