Piper

Fast, local neural text-to-speech
Speech (STT / TTS)Text-to-speechMITRuns locallyC++ / PythonIntermediate
🛡 Published security advisories
A high count usually means the project is heavily examined. A low count usually means it is little examined — not that it is safe.
No public activity signals for this tool — it has no open repository we can measure.
OSAI Pulse ⓘ ★★★★★★★★★★ /100 signals tracked
🐳 Docker pulls 📦 PyPI downloads / month 📦 npm downloads / month 🚀 Latest release ·
Visit website →View on GitHub

What is Piper?

Piper is a fast, local neural text-to-speech engine that runs well even on low-power devices like the Raspberry Pi, with many voices.

Why people choose Piper

Piper at a glance

CategorySpeech (STT / TTS)
TypeText-to-speech
LicenseMIT
Runs locallyYes
Built withC++ / Python
Skill levelIntermediate
Best forlocal, low-latency voice output

Open-source alternatives to Piper

Other open-source speech (stt / tts) tools worth comparing:

WhisperOpenAI's open speech-to-text baselinefaster-whisperWhisper, much faster and lighterWhisperXWhisper plus word timestamps and diarizationCoqui TTSDeep-learning TTS with voice cloningBarkText-to-audio with voices and effectsF5-TTSZero-shot voice cloning that actually convincesKokoroTiny 82M TTS with astonishing qualitywhisper.cppWhisper in pure C/C++, runs anywhereOpenVoiceClone a voice and control its emotionStyleTTS 2Human-level speech synthesispyannote.audioKnow who spoke whenSilero VADDetect speech in audio, instantly

Piper head-to-head

Piper vs WhisperPiper vs faster-whisperPiper vs WhisperXPiper vs Coqui TTSPiper vs BarkPiper vs F5-TTSPiper vs KokoroPiper vs whisper.cppPiper vs OpenVoicePiper vs StyleTTS 2Piper vs pyannote.audioPiper vs Silero VAD

FAQ

Is Piper free?

Piper is free and open-source (MIT license), so you can use, self-host and modify it at no cost.

Can I run Piper locally?

Yes. Piper is designed to run on your own machine or server, keeping your data private.

What is the best alternative to Piper?

Popular open-source alternatives include Whisper, faster-whisper, WhisperX. See the comparisons above to choose.

Explore more open-source AI

Browse the full directory of open-source AI tools, models and projects — updated daily.

Browse all tools →