Side by side

Aria TTS vs IndexTTS

Both stand on text-to-speech software. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.

Aria TTS

Free plan APIiPhoneSelf-hosted+1

Aria TTS offers an open model with expressive tags, streaming timestamps, multiple deployment paths, and stated commercial use. Its not-yet-ready status is the main practical constraint despite the free license and included weights.

Visit Aria TTS

IndexTTS

Free plan APILinuxSelf-hosted+2

IndexTTS provides voice cloning, audio controls, and both browser and Python interfaces. Before use, review the bilibili Model Use License Agreement and its disclaimer; commercial use inquiries go to the project.

Visit IndexTTS

The facts

	Aria TTS	IndexTTS
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Open source	Not published	Not published
Runs on	API, iPhone, Self-hosted, Web	API, Linux, Self-hosted, Web, Windows
Lowest paid plan	Not published	Free or on request
Plans published	None	1
Maker	Not published	Not published
Website	aria-tts.org	github.com
On text-to-speech software	#29 of 223	#25 of 223

Aria TTS: what it does well

MIT-licensed open-source model
Supports expressive inline speech tags
Streams audio with word-level timestamps
Offers iOS on-device inference
No usage caps or phone-home behavior

What to know first

English is the only listed language
The site says it is not yet ready
Unlimited reserved-instance infrastructure is listed at $42/mo
Model output is 32 kHz audio

IndexTTS: what it does well

Clones a voice from one reference audio clip.
Supports five languages in IndexTTS-2.5.
Includes emotion, speed, and pronunciation controls.
Provides a WebUI, Python API, and serving recipe.

What to know first

Setup instructions call for Git and uv.
CUDA installation errors prompt a CUDA Toolkit 12.8-or-newer recommendation.
Pinyin control in IndexTTS-2 covers only supported vocabulary cases.

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