Contributions are welcome! Check our contribution guide.
Want this for NodeJS/JS? - see http://github.com/willwade/js-tts-wrapper
TTS-Wrapper simplifies using text-to-speech APIs by providing a unified interface across multiple services, allowing easy integration and manipulation of TTS capabilities.
ℹ️ Full documentation is available at https://willwade.github.io/tts-wrapper/
- Python 3.10 or higher
- System dependencies (see below)
- API credentials for online services
- AWS Polly
- Google TTS
- Google Translate TTS (GoogleTrans)
- Microsoft Azure TTS
- IBM Watson
- ElevenLabs
- Wit.Ai
- eSpeak-NG
- Play.HT
- UpliftAI
- OpenAI
- AVSynth (macOS only)
- SAPI (Windows only)
- Sherpa-Onnx (NB: Means you can run any ONNX model you want - eg Piper or MMS models)
- PicoTTS
- UWP (WinRT) Speech system (win 10+)
- Text to Speech: Convert text into spoken audio.
- SSML Support: Use Speech Synthesis Markup Language to enhance speech synthesis.
- Voice and Language Selection: Customize the voice and language for speech synthesis.
- Streaming and Direct Play: Stream audio or play it directly.
- Pause, Resume, and Stop Controls: Manage audio playback dynamically.
- File Output: Save spoken audio to files in various formats.
- Unified Voice handling Get Voices across all TTS engines with alike keys
- Volume, Pitch, and Rate Controls Control volume, pitch and rate with unified methods
| Engine | Platform | Online/Offline | SSML | Word Boundaries | Streaming | Playback Control | Callbacks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Polly | Linux/MacOS/Windows | Online | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Full |
| Linux/MacOS/Windows | Online | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Full | |
| GoogleTrans | Linux/MacOS/Windows | Online | No* | No** | Yes | Yes | Basic |
| Microsoft | Linux/MacOS/Windows | Online | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Full |
| Watson | Linux/MacOS/Windows | Online | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Full |
| ElevenLabs | Linux/MacOS/Windows | Online | No* | Yes | Yes | Yes | Full |
| Play.HT | Linux/MacOS/Windows | Online | No* | No** | Yes | Yes | Basic |
| UpliftAI | Linux/MacOS/Windows | Online | No* | No** | Yes | Yes | Basic |
| OpenAI | Linux/MacOS/Windows | Online | No | No | Yes | Yes | Basic |
| Wit.Ai | Linux/MacOS/Windows | Online | No* | No** | Yes | Yes | Basic |
| eSpeak | Linux/MacOS | Offline | Yes | No** | Yes | Yes | Basic |
| AVSynth | MacOS | Offline | No | No** | Yes | Yes | Basic |
| SAPI | Windows | Offline | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Full |
| UWP | Windows | Offline | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Full |
| Sherpa-ONNX | Linux/MacOS/Windows | Offline | No | No** | Yes | Yes | Basic |
Notes:
- SSML: Entries marked with No* indicate that while the engine doesn't support SSML natively, the wrapper will automatically strip SSML tags and process the plain text.
- Word Boundaries: Entries marked with No** use an estimation-based timing system that may not be accurate for precise synchronization needs.
- Callbacks:
- "Full" supports accurate word-level timing callbacks, onStart, and onEnd events
- "Basic" supports onStart and onEnd events, with estimated word timings
- Playback Control: All engines support pause, resume, and stop functionality through the wrapper's unified interface
- All engines support the following core features:
- Voice selection (
set_voice) - Property control (rate, volume, pitch)
- File output (WAV, with automatic conversion to MP3/other formats)
- Streaming playback
- Audio device selection
- Voice selection (
| Method | Description | Availability |
|---|---|---|
speak() |
Direct speech playback | All engines |
speak_streamed() |
Streamed speech playback | All engines |
synth_to_file() |
Save speech to file | All engines |
pause(), resume() |
Playback control | All engines |
stop() |
Stop playback | All engines |
set_property() |
Control rate/volume/pitch | All engines |
get_voices() |
List available voices | All engines |
set_voice() |
Select voice | All engines |
connect() |
Register event callbacks | All engines |
check_credentials() |
Verify API credentials | Online engines |
set_output_device() |
Select audio output device | All engines |
This package is published on PyPI as py3-tts-wrapper but installs as tts-wrapper. This is because it's a fork of the original tts-wrapper project with Python 3 support and additional features.
This project requires the following system dependencies on Linux:
sudo apt-get install portaudio19-devor MacOS, using Homebrew
brew install portaudioFor PicoTTS on Debian systems:
sudo apt-get install libttspico-utilsThe espeak TTS functionality requires the espeak-ng C library to be installed on your system:
- Ubuntu/Debian:
sudo apt install espeak-ng - macOS:
brew install espeak-ng - Windows: Download the binaries from https://espeak.sourceforge.net/
Install from PyPI with selected engines:
pip install "py3-tts-wrapper[google,microsoft,sapi,sherpaonnx,googletrans]"Install from GitHub:
pip install "py3-tts-wrapper[google,microsoft,sapi,sherpaonnx,googletrans]@git+https://github.com/willwade/tts-wrapper"Note: On macOS/zsh, you may need to use quotes:
pip install "py3-tts-wrapper[google,watson,polly,elevenlabs,microsoft,sherpaonnx]"from tts_wrapper import PollyClient
# Initialize the client - it's also the TTS engine
client = PollyClient(credentials=('aws_key_id', 'aws_secret_access_key'))
ssml_text = client.ssml.add('Hello, <break time="500ms"/> world!')
client.speak(ssml_text)You can use SSML or plain text
from tts_wrapper import PollyClient
# Initialize the client - it's also the TTS engine
client = PollyClient(credentials=('aws_key_id', 'aws_secret_access_key'))
client.speak('Hello world')For a full demo see the examples folder. You'll need to fill out the credentials.json (or credentials-private.json). Use them from cd'ing into the examples folder. Tips on gaining keys are below.
Each service uses different methods for authentication:
from tts_wrapper import PollyClient
client = PollyClient(credentials=('aws_region','aws_key_id', 'aws_secret_access_key'))from tts_wrapper import GoogleClient
client = GoogleClient(credentials=('path/to/creds.json'))or pass the auth file as dict - so in memory
from tts_wrapper import GoogleClient
import json
import os
with open(os.getenv("GOOGLE_SA_PATH"), "r") as file:
credentials_dict = json.load(file)
client = GoogleClient(credentials=os.getenv('GOOGLE_SA_PATH'))
# Or use the dictionary directly
client = GoogleClient(credentials=credentials_dict)from tts_wrapper import MicrosoftTTS
tts = MicrosoftTTS(credentials=('subscription_key', 'subscription_region'))
tts.set_voice('voice_id')from tts_wrapper import WatsonClient
client = WatsonClient(credentials=('api_key', 'region', 'instance_id'))Note If you have issues with SSL certification try
from tts_wrapper import WatsonClient
client = WatsonClient(credentials=('api_key', 'region', 'instance_id'),disableSSLVerification=True)from tts_wrapper import ElevenLabsClient
client = ElevenLabsClient(credentials=('api_key'))- Note: ElevenLabs does not support SSML.
from tts_wrapper import WitAiClient
client = WitAiClient(credentials=('token'))from tts_wrapper import PlayHTClient
client = PlayHTClient(credentials=('api_key', 'user_id'))- Note: Play.HT does not support SSML, but we automatically strip SSML tags if present.
from tts_wrapper import UpliftAIClient
client = UpliftAIClient(api_key="api_key")from tts_wrapper import UWPClient
client = UWPClient()from tts_wrapper import eSpeakClient
client = eSpeakClient()Note: Requires espeak-ng to be installed on your system.
from tts_wrapper import SAPIClient
client = SAPIClient()Note: Only available on Windows systems.
from tts_wrapper import AVSynthClient
client = AVSynthClient()Note: Only available on macOS. Provides high-quality speech synthesis with word timing support and voice property control.
Uses the gTTS library for free text-to-speech via Google Translate.
from tts_wrapper import GoogleTransClient
# Initialize with default voice (UK English)
tts = GoogleTransClient()
# Or specify a voice/language
tts = GoogleTransClient(voice_id="en-co.uk")
# Set voice after initialization
tts.set_voice("fr-fr") # FrenchYou can provide blank model path and tokens path - and we will use a default location..
from tts_wrapper import SherpaOnnxClient
client = SherpaOnnxClient(model_path=None, tokens_path=None)Set a voice like
# Find voices/langs availables
voices = client.get_voices()
print("Available voices:", voices)
# Set the voice using ISO code
iso_code = "eng" # Example ISO code for the voice - also ID in voice details
client.set_voice(iso_code)and then use speak, speak_streamed etc..
You then can perform the following methods.
Even if you don't use SSML features that much its wise to use the same syntax - so pass SSML not text to all engines
ssml_text = client.ssml.add('Hello world!')If you want to keep things simple each engine will convert plain text to SSML if its not.
client.speak('Hello World!')This will use the default audio output of your device to play the audio immediately
client.speak(ssml_text)This will check if the credentials are valid:
tts = MicrosoftTTS(
credentials=(os.getenv("MICROSOFT_TOKEN"), os.getenv("MICROSOFT_REGION"))
)
if tts.check_credentials():
print("Credentials are valid.")
else:
print("Credentials are invalid.")NB: Each engine has a different way of checking credentials. If they don't have a specific implementation, the parent class will check get_voices. If you want to save API calls, you can just do a get_voices call directly.
These methods manage audio playback by pausing, resuming, or stopping it. NB: Only to be used for speak_streamed
You need to make sure the optional dependency is included for this
pip install py3-tts-wrapper[controlaudio,google.. etcthen
client = GoogleClient(credentials="path/to/credentials.json")
try:
text = "This is a pause and resume test. The text will be longer, depending on where the pause and resume works"
audio_bytes = client.synth_to_bytes(text)
client.load_audio(audio_bytes)
print("Play audio for 3 seconds")
client.play(1)
client.pause(8)
client.resume()
time.sleep(6)
finally:
client.cleanup()- the pause and resume are in seconds from the start of the audio
- Please use the cleanup method to ensure the audio is stopped and the audio device is released
NB: to do this we use pyaudio. If you have issues with this you may need to install portaudio19-dev - particularly on linux
sudo apt-get install portaudio19-devclient.synth_to_file(ssml_text, 'output.mp3', format='mp3')there is also "synth" method which is legacy. Note we support saving as mp3, wav or flac.
client.synth('<speak>Hello, world!</speak>', 'hello.mp3', format='mp3')Note you can also stream - and save. Just note it saves at the end of streaming entirely..
ssml_text = client.ssml.add('Hello world!')
client.speak_streamed(ssml_text, filepath, 'wav')voices = client.get_voices()
print(voices)NB: All voices will have a id, dict of language_codes, name and gender. Just note not all voice engines provide gender
client.set_voice(voice_id, lang_code="en-US")e.g.
client.set_voice('en-US-JessaNeural', 'en-US')Use the id - not a name
ssml_text = client.ssml.add('Hello, <break time="500ms"/> world!')
client.speak(ssml_text)Set volume:
client.set_property("volume", "90")
text_read = f"The current volume is 90"
text_with_prosody = client.construct_prosody_tag(text_read)
ssml_text = client.ssml.add(text_with_prosody)- Volume is set on a scale of 0 (silent) to 100 (maximum).
- The default volume is 100 if not explicitly specified.
Set rate:
client.set_property("rate", "slow")
text_read = f"The current rate is SLOW"
text_with_prosody = client.construct_prosody_tag(text_read)
ssml_text = client.ssml.add(text_with_prosody)Speech Rate:
- Rate is controlled using predefined options:
- x-slow: Very slow speaking speed.
- slow: Slow speaking speed.
- medium (default): Normal speaking speed.
- fast: Fast speaking speed.
- x-fast: Very fast speaking speed.
- If not specified, the speaking rate defaults to medium.
Set pitch:
client.set_property("pitch", "high")
text_read = f"The current pitch is HIGH"
text_with_prosody = client.construct_prosody_tag(text_read)
ssml_text = client.ssml.add(text_with_prosody)Pitch Control:
- Pitch is adjusted using predefined options that affect the vocal tone:
- x-low: Very deep pitch.
- low: Low pitch.
- medium (default): Normal pitch.
- high: High pitch.
- x-high: Very high pitch.
- If not explicitly set, the pitch defaults to medium.
Use the client.ssml.clear_ssml() method to clear all entries from the ssml list
This method allows setting properties like rate, volume, and pitch.
client.set_property("rate", "fast")
client.set_property("volume", "80")
client.set_property("pitch", "high")This method retrieves the value of properties such as volume, rate, or pitch.
current_volume = client.get_property("volume")
print(f"Current volume: {current_volume}")Note only Polly, Microsoft, Google, ElevenLabs, UWP, SAPI and Watson can do this correctly with precise timing from the TTS engine. All other engines (GoogleTrans, Wit.Ai, Play.HT, OpenAI, eSpeak, AVSynth, Sherpa-ONNX) use estimated timing based on text length and average speaking rate.
def my_callback(word: str, start_time: float, end_time: float):
duration = end_time - start_time
print(f"Word: {word}, Duration: {duration:.3f}s")
def on_start():
print('Speech started')
def on_end():
print('Speech ended')
try:
text = "Hello, This is a word timing test"
ssml_text = client.ssml.add(text)
client.connect('onStart', on_start)
client.connect('onEnd', on_end)
client.start_playback_with_callbacks(ssml_text, callback=my_callback)
except Exception as e:
print(f"Error: {e}")and it will output
Speech started
Word: Hello, Duration: 0.612s
Word: , Duration: 0.212s
Word: This, Duration: 0.364s
Word: is, Duration: 0.310s
Word: a, Duration: 0.304s
Word: word, Duration: 0.412s
Word: timing, Duration: 0.396s
Word: test, Duration: 0.424s
Speech endedThis method allows registering callback functions for events like onStart or onEnd.
def on_start():
print("Speech started")
client.connect('onStart', on_start)The wrapper provides several methods for audio output, each suited for different use cases:
The simplest method - plays audio immediately:
client.speak("Hello world")Recommended for longer texts - streams audio as it's being synthesized:
client.speak_streamed("This is a long text that will be streamed as it's synthesized")Save synthesized speech to a file:
client.synth_to_file("Hello world", "output.wav")For advanced use cases where you need the raw audio data:
# Get raw PCM audio data as bytes
audio_bytes = client.synth_to_bytes("Hello world")The synthesize() method provides silent audio synthesis without playback - perfect for applications that need audio data without immediate playback:
# Get complete audio data (default behavior)
audio_bytes = client.synthesize("Hello world")
# Get streaming audio data for real-time processing
audio_stream = client.synthesize("Hello world", streaming=True)
for chunk in audio_stream:
# Process each audio chunk as it's generated
process_audio_chunk(chunk)
# Use with specific voice
audio_bytes = client.synthesize("Hello world", voice_id="en-US-JennyNeural")- All engines output WAV format by default
- For MP3 or other formats, use external conversion libraries like
pydub:from pydub import AudioSegment import io # Get WAV data audio_bytes = client.synth_to_bytes("Hello world") # Convert to MP3 wav_audio = AudioSegment.from_wav(io.BytesIO(audio_bytes)) wav_audio.export("output.mp3", format="mp3")
You can use the synth_to_bytestream method to synthesize audio in any supported format and save it directly to a file.
# Synthesize text into a bytestream in MP3 format
bytestream = client.synth_to_bytestream("Hello, this is a test", format="mp3")
# Save the audio bytestream to a file
with open("output.mp3", "wb") as f:
f.write(bytestream.read())
print("Audio saved to output.mp3")Explanation:
- The method synthesizes the given text into audio in MP3 format.
- The
BytesIOobject is then written to a file using the.read()method of theBytesIOclass.
If you want to play the synthesized audio live without saving it to a file, you can use the sounddevice library to directly play the audio from the BytesIO bytestream.
import sounddevice as sd
import numpy as np
# Synthesize text into a bytestream in WAV format
bytestream = client.synth_to_bytestream("Hello, this is a live playback test", format="wav")
# Convert the bytestream back to raw PCM audio data for playback
audio_data = np.frombuffer(bytestream.read(), dtype=np.int16)
# Play the audio using sounddevice
sd.play(audio_data, samplerate=client.audio_rate)
sd.wait()
print("Live playback completed")Explanation:
- The method synthesizes the text into a
wavbytestream. - The bytestream is converted to raw PCM data using
np.frombuffer(), which is then fed into thesounddevicelibrary for live playback. sd.play()plays the audio in real-time, andsd.wait()ensures that the program waits until playback finishes.
For advanced use cases where you need direct control over audio playback, you can use the raw audio data methods:
from tts_wrapper import AVSynthClient
import numpy as np
import sounddevice as sd
# Initialize TTS client
client = AVSynthClient()
# Method 1: Direct playback of entire audio
def play_audio_stream(client, text: str):
"""Play entire audio at once."""
# Get raw audio data
audio_data = client.synth_to_bytes(text)
# Convert to numpy array for playback
samples = np.frombuffer(audio_data, dtype=np.int16)
# Play the audio
sd.play(samples, samplerate=client.audio_rate)
sd.wait()
# Method 2: Chunked playback for more control
def play_audio_chunked(client, text: str, chunk_size: int = 4096):
"""Process and play audio in chunks for more control."""
# Get raw audio data
audio_data = client.synth_to_bytes(text)
# Create a continuous stream
stream = sd.OutputStream(
samplerate=client.audio_rate,
channels=1, # Mono audio
dtype=np.int16
)
with stream:
# Process in chunks
for i in range(0, len(audio_data), chunk_size):
chunk = audio_data[i:i + chunk_size]
if len(chunk) % 2 != 0: # Ensure even size for 16-bit audio
chunk = chunk[:-1]
samples = np.frombuffer(chunk, dtype=np.int16)
stream.write(samples)This manual control allows you to:
- Process audio data in chunks
- Implement custom audio processing
- Control playback timing
- Add effects or modifications to the audio
- Implement custom buffering strategies
The chunked playback method is particularly useful for:
- Real-time audio processing
- Custom pause/resume functionality
- Volume adjustment during playback
- Progress tracking
- Memory-efficient handling of long audio
Note: Manual audio control requires the sounddevice and numpy packages:
pip install sounddevice numpy-
Clone the repository:
git clone https://github.com/willwade/tts-wrapper.git cd tts-wrapper -
Install the package and system dependencies:
pip install .To install optional dependencies, use:
pip install .[google, watson, polly, elevenlabs, microsoft]
This will install Python dependencies and system dependencies required for this project. Note that system dependencies will only be installed automatically on Linux.
-
pip install uv
-
Clone the repository:
git clone https://github.com/willwade/tts-wrapper.git cd tts-wrapper -
Install Python dependencies:
uv sync --all-extras
-
Install system dependencies (Linux only):
uv run postinstall
NOTE: to get a requirements.txt file for the project use uv export --format requirements-txt --all-extras --no-hashes juat be warned that this will include all dependencies including dev ones.
git tag -a v0.1.0 -m "Release 0.1.0"
git push origin v0.1.0This guide provides a step-by-step approach to adding a new engine to the existing Text-to-Speech (TTS) wrapper system.
-
Create a new folder for your engine within the
enginesdirectory. Name this folder according to your engine, such aswitaifor Wit.ai.Directory structure:
engines/witai/ -
Create necessary files within this new folder:
__init__.py- Makes the directory a Python package.client.py- Handles all interactions with the TTS API and implements the AbstractTTS interface.ssml.py- Defines any SSML handling specific to this engine (optional).
Final directory setup:
engines/ └── witai/ ├── __init__.py ├── client.py └── ssml.py
Implement authentication and necessary setup for API connection. This file should manage tasks such as sending synthesis requests and fetching available voices. The client class should inherit from AbstractTTS.
from tts_wrapper.tts import AbstractTTS
class WitAiClient(AbstractTTS):
def __init__(self, credentials=None):
super().__init__()
self.token = credentials[0] if credentials else None
self.audio_rate = 24000 # Default sample rate for this engine
# Setup other necessary API connection details here
def _get_voices(self):
# Code to retrieve available voices from the TTS API
# Return raw voice data that will be processed by the base class
pass
def synth_to_bytes(self, text, voice_id=None):
# Code to send a synthesis request to the TTS API
# Return raw audio bytes
pass
def synth(self, text, output_file, output_format="wav", voice_id=None):
# Code to synthesize speech and save to a file
passIf the engine has specific SSML requirements or supports certain SSML tags differently, implement this logic in ssml.py.
from tts_wrapper.ssml import BaseSSMLRoot, SSMLNode
class WitAiSSML(BaseSSMLRoot):
def add_break(self, time='500ms'):
self.root.add(SSMLNode('break', attrs={'time': time}))Make sure the __init__.py file properly imports and exposes the client class.
from .client import WitAiClientYou can store your credentials in either:
credentials.json- For developmentcredentials-private.json- For private credentials (should be git-ignored)
Example structure (do NOT commit actual credentials):
{
"Polly": {
"region": "your-region",
"aws_key_id": "your-key-id",
"aws_access_key": "your-access-key"
},
"Microsoft": {
"token": "your-subscription-key",
"region": "your-region"
}
}This project is licensed under the MIT License.