Text-to-Speech · Compare
Speechify vs PlayHT
PlayHT (now operating as Play.ai) historically offered strong neural voices and cloning, but it never published a clear per-1M API rate and its status is now uncertain: the site was unreachable in mid-2025 and the team was reportedly acquired by Meta. Speechify offers documented from-$6-per-1M pricing and a 99.9% uptime SLA.
Speechify
PlayHT
Speechify at a glance
from $6
per 1M characters
<300ms
first byte, streaming
30+
languages
1,500+
voices
| Capability | Speechify | PlayHT |
|---|---|---|
| Price (per 1M chars) | From $6 / 1M | Not publicly listed per 1M; consumer plans sold by characters, Play.ai by speech-credit minutes |
| Pricing model | Per character; no credits, no token math | Character bundles (consumer) or minute credits (Play.ai); API rate custom |
| Voice quality | Proprietary neural voice models | Natural neural voices (historically) |
| Voice cloning | Professional voice cloning included | Instant and high-fidelity cloning (historically) |
| Languages | 30+ | Multilingual; exact coverage varies |
| Latency | Sub-300ms first byte, streaming | Low-latency streaming advertised |
| Availability / commercial use | Commercial use on every plan; 50K chars/month free; 99.9% uptime SLA | Status uncertain; site unreachable in mid-2025 and team reportedly acquired by Meta |
The verdict
Given the uncertainty around PlayHT's availability and the absence of a clear public per-1M price, it is hard to recommend for new production work today. Speechify offers documented per-character pricing, an uptime SLA, and commercial use on every plan.