# Text to Speech with Voice Cloning (`andrew_babo/pocket-tts`) Actor

Turn text into speech with built-in voices, or clone a voice from a short recording and have it read anything. English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese. MP3, WAV and Opus output. No rental fee - you pay Apify compute only.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/andrew\_babo/pocket-tts.md
- **Developed by:** [Andrew Babo](https://apify.com/andrew_babo) (community)
- **Categories:**
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per usage

This Actor is paid per platform usage. The Actor is free to use, and you only pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-usage

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## Text to Speech with Voice Cloning — 6 Languages, MP3 & WAV

Turn text into speech using a built-in voice, or **clone a voice from a short recording** and have it read anything you write. Fast, light and cheap to run at volume.

**Good for:** branded voiceovers in your own voice, multilingual product videos, e-learning, podcast intros, character voices for games and stories, accessibility read-aloud.

### Quick start

Built-in voice:

```json
{
  "text": "Hello! This audio was generated automatically.",
  "voice": "alba",
  "language": "english",
  "format": "mp3"
}
```

Clone a voice from your own clip:

```json
{
  "text": "Now I sound just like the reference recording.",
  "ref_audio_url": "https://example.com/my-voice.wav",
  "language": "english",
  "format": "mp3"
}
```

A clean 5–10 second recording of one speaker gives the best results.

### What you get

- **6 languages**: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
- **Voice cloning** from a single short clip — no training, no waiting
- **Built-in preset voices** when you don't have a reference
- **Speed control** and long-text support
- **MP3, WAV or Opus** output
- Warm mode for fast repeat requests

### Input

| Field | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| `text` | required | The text you want spoken |
| `voice` | `alba` | Preset voice (ignored when you clone) |
| `ref_audio_url` | — | Link to your reference recording to clone a voice |
| `language` | `english` | Language of the text |
| `speed` | `1.0` | Playback speed |
| `format` | `wav` | `wav`, `mp3` or `opus` |

### Output

One dataset row per run: audio URL, duration, voice or clone used, processing time.

### Pricing

No rental fee — you only pay Apify compute.

### Notes

- **Vietnamese is not supported** — use the Vietnamese Text to Speech Actor for that.
- Only clone voices you own or have permission to use.

# Actor input Schema

## `text` (type: `string`):

Required text to synthesize. Text may be split at sentence boundaries; maximum 20,000 characters. Vietnamese is not supported.

## `voice` (type: `string`):

Built-in speaker. Ignored when a reference audio URL is given.

## `ref_audio_url` (type: `string`):

Public URL to 5-15 seconds of clean speech to clone. Overrides the preset voice.

## `language` (type: `string`):

Which Pocket TTS language model to load. Vietnamese is not supported.

## `speed` (type: `string`):

Playback rate multiplier applied after synthesis. 1.0 is natural.

## `max_tokens` (type: `integer`):

Generation budget. Lower values can be faster but may cut long text; 50 is the tuned default.

## `format` (type: `string`):

Container/codec of the returned audio file.

## `stream` (type: `boolean`):

Reserved for a future streaming endpoint; keep false for the current stable audio response.

## `chunk_chars` (type: `integer`):

Text is split on sentence boundaries up to this length before synthesis.

## `chunk_parallel` (type: `integer`):

Pocket decoding is memory-bandwidth bound; 1 is fastest on 4 vCPUs. Use 2 only for streaming latency.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "text": "Hello! This audio was generated by Pocket TTS running on Apify CPU.",
  "voice": "alba",
  "language": "english",
  "speed": "1.0",
  "max_tokens": 50,
  "format": "wav",
  "stream": false,
  "chunk_chars": 220,
  "chunk_parallel": 1
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `audio` (type: `string`):

Generated audio record stored in the run's key-value store (audio.wav / audio.mp3 / audio.ogg).

## `metrics` (type: `string`):

Dataset rows with engine, duration, synthesis time, RTF, peak RAM and the audio URL.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "text": "Hello! This audio was generated by Pocket TTS running on Apify CPU."
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("andrew_babo/pocket-tts").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "text": "Hello! This audio was generated by Pocket TTS running on Apify CPU." }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("andrew_babo/pocket-tts").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "text": "Hello! This audio was generated by Pocket TTS running on Apify CPU."
}' |
apify call andrew_babo/pocket-tts --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,andrew_babo/pocket-tts"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/Xaibd8PfTfbofGtUn/builds/w70gpo41yLoW39Cvj/openapi.json