Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS
Near-top AI voices for less than half the price of ElevenLabs, with a free tier. Prices double on 1 Jan 2027.
Should you use it?
Pick it if
Developers adding narration or read-aloud to apps who need natural voices at volume on a budget.
Best for: Narration or read-aloud in apps at volume, in over 130 languages (Voice models Top 20)
Skip it if
You want the single most natural voice and price is secondary; Eleven v4 Turbo ranks first.
You give up: Ranks below both Eleven v4 models; free tier inputs are used to improve Google products
The short version
- What this is
- Google's text to speech model in the Gemini API. It turns text into natural speech in over 130 languages, with style control and two-speaker dialogue.
- Why it matters
- It gets close to the best AI voices in blind tests for less than half the price of the leader.
- 5th of 96 on the Artificial Analysis speech arena; no score yet, as its terms stop us publishing one.
- $16.50 per 1M characters on Artificial Analysis; free tier available.
- Paid prices double on 1 Jan 2027, so budget for that.
Good at
- 5th of 96 in Artificial Analysis's blind listening arena, at $16.50 per 1M characters, against $40 for Eleven v4 Turbo and $80 for Eleven v4 s1.
- Over 130 languages detected automatically, 30 prebuilt voices plus hundreds more in an extended library, says Google s3.
- Two-speaker dialogue and style control over emotion and pace in one request s3.
Our take
Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS, generally available since 22 Sep 2026 s4, is the value pick in text to speech among the voices we review. Listeners in Artificial Analysis's blind arena place it 5th of 96, a step behind the two Eleven v4 models, at $16.50 per 1M characters against $40 and $80 s1.
Two things to plan for. Google's paid prices double on 1 Jan 2027, which roughly doubles its cost per character s2. And the free tier's inputs are used to improve Google products, so use the paid tier for private scripts s2.
Score
A score from 0 to 100 per job, against everything available today.
New to this? What the scores and labels mean
- 0 to 100
- Our score for one job, like writing or coding, compared with everything else out today. 100 is the best available today. For AI models we build it from public data, such as Arena's blind votes and Epoch AI's independent tests; apps and tools are scored on our own checklist. The same tool can score differently for different jobs, and where two likely ranges overlap, we call it a tie.
- Our verdict
- Use it: a top choice for most people. Worth trying: good, and worth a go. Depends: good for some people or one kind of job. Wait: too early to tell, or not out for everyone yet. Skip: something else does the job better.
- First look
- Just released. We say what it is and whether to bother, and give it a score once public results exist.
- No score yet
- None of the public sources we use covers it yet, or the only evidence is from a source whose numbers we can't use, so we describe it in words instead.
- Best buy
- Nothing cheaper scores as well for that job.
- Best free
- The best score for that job that costs nothing, through a free plan or by running on your own computer.
- Pay as you go
- No monthly plan: you pay for each use, usually through a developer account.
- Checked
- The day we last confirmed the score and the price against the sources. Prices change often, so check the date.
- AI model
- The engine underneath, like GPT or Claude. You use it through an app or, if you code, directly.
- Open source
- Free to download and run on your own computer, so nothing leaves your machine.
Voice and audio
No score yet. The leaderboard this rests on does not let us publish numbers from it, so we describe the evidence instead.
1 source so far
Public leaderboardArtificial Analysis text to speech arena rank 5 of 96, range 4 to 6, Elo 1272, 2,677 samples s1. The range does not include 1. No independent eval to adjust with.
Alternatives
Nothing we have scored beats it for voice on score or on price.
- Eleven v4 TurboVoice model–FreeRanks 1st, for about 2.4 times the price per character. Side by side
- Eleven v4Voice model–FreeTied for 1st, for long expressive work; about 5 times the price. Side by side
- Gemini 3.8 Flash-Lite TTSVoice model–FreeRanks 8th of 96, against 5th here, at $11.00 per 1M characters, a third less. Side by side
Evidence
Everything behind the call and the scores, folded so the page stays short. Spotted a wrong price, score or link? Report a mistake.
How we scored this
Voice has no score yet, because none of the public sources we use covers it.
Public leaderboard
Reviews are drafted with help from AI models, including Anthropic's Claude. Model scores come only from outside leaderboards and independent evaluations, by a written rule.
No one paid for this review or gave us free access, and we earn nothing if you sign up. How we score
Sources 4
- s1Artificial Analysis text to speech leaderboard
- s2Gemini API pricing
- s3Gemini API docs: speech generation
- s4Gemini API changelog
Something here out of date or wrong? Report a mistake and we will check it against the source.
History 2 changes
Every change to a rating, the price or our call, with the reason. Scores are against what exists on the day, so they drift down as better things ship. Older entries come from before we moved to scores.
- New: Voice ratedReviewed: voice.
- Audit: 'well under half' corrected to 'less than half' ($16.50 against $40 is 41%). Added Flash-Lite TTS, the same rating for less, as an alternative. Rating unchanged.
Use it well 4 guides on this site
Pages on this site that help with the jobs above.