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Amazon Polly is an AWS cloud text-to-speech service: send it text or SSML, select a compatible voice and engine, and receive synthesized audio or speech-mark metadata. The right setup depends on the voice and engine combination, the output format your application can consume, and whether you need a short request, a long synthesis job, or incremental audio.
Polly does not translate text. Your input language must align with the selected voice. SSML is optional, but it can guide pronunciation and delivery; speech marks can add timing information for synchronized text or animation.
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What does Amazon Polly do, and what goes into a request?
Polly turns supplied text into speech through an AWS API. A basic synthesis request supplies the content, a voice, an engine, and an output format. The response to an audio request is an audio stream; a request for speech marks returns timing metadata instead of spoken audio.
The SynthesizeSpeech API exposes these request fields:
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Textcontains the words or SSML document to synthesize.TextTypeindicates whether the input is plain text or SSML.VoiceIdselects the voice.Engineselects Standard, Neural, Long-form, or Generative. If you omit this field, Standard is the default.LanguageCodeidentifies the language where applicable.OutputFormatselects the audio encoding or JSON for speech marks.SampleRaterequests a supported audio sampling rate.SpeechMarkTypesrequests types of speech-mark metadata.
A voice ID is not a promise that every engine can use that voice. Compatibility is voice-specific, and AWS Region availability is another design constraint. Check the voice and engine combination and the Region where you plan to call Polly before building around a particular voice.
What Polly does not do
Polly synthesizes speech from the language of the input; it is not a translation service. A voice chosen for one language should not be treated as a way to convert text written in another language. Select a voice that supports the language of the text you will send.
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Which Amazon Polly engine should you choose?
Polly has four engines: Standard, Neural, Long-form, and Generative. They differ in synthesis approach, intended use, supported voices and features, and availability; no single engine is the right default for every application.
| Engine | What AWS documents | Check before choosing |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | Uses concatenative synthesis built from recorded phoneme segments. AWS documents broad language and regional availability. | Confirm the voice supports Standard and check required features and output settings. |
| Neural | A neural network converts phoneme sequences into spectrograms, then a vocoder converts those into an audio signal. Neural has its own regional and feature compatibility rules. | Confirm voice and Region support, then check SSML and speech-mark compatibility for the features you need. |
| Long-form | Designed for extended content. AWS documents English and Spanish long-form voice options and currently documents the engine in US East (N. Virginia). | Verify that your content length, voice, Region, and workflow fit the engine’s documented availability. |
| Generative | AWS describes this as Polly’s largest TTS model, with conversational and emotionally engaged behavior. It supports MP3, Ogg Vorbis, and raw PCM. | Speech-mark generation is currently unavailable for Generative; confirm the output and request mode meet your application needs. |
Use a decision process rather than assuming that a particular engine or voice ID will transfer unchanged across choices:
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- Start with the voice. Identify a voice compatible with the language and delivery you need.
- Check engine compatibility. Confirm that the selected voice supports the engine; do not rely on the voice ID alone.
- Check the Region. Availability differs by engine and feature. Long-form, for example, is documented in US East (N. Virginia); that does not establish availability in every Region.
- Check feature requirements. If you need a specific SSML tag, speech marks, or a particular streaming method, verify support for that engine and voice.
- Check the consumer of the audio. Choose an output format and sample rate accepted by the browser, device, telephony system, or downstream pipeline.
For Neural, Long-form, and Generative voices, AWS maintains separate feature and SSML compatibility rules. Treat a feature as supported only when the documentation confirms it for your selected combination; a similar voice in another engine may not have the same capabilities.
How do you use SSML with Amazon Polly?
SSML is optional markup that lets you influence how Polly speaks text. When using it, set the request’s text type to SSML and wrap the complete document in a <speak> element.
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<break>to insert a pause.<phoneme>to specify pronunciation.<prosody>to adjust rate, pitch, or volume where supported.<say-as>to indicate how text such as a date or number should be interpreted.<sub>to speak a substitution for the displayed text.<lang>to mark a language span.<mark>to insert a custom timing marker.<amazon:domain name="news">to request the Newscaster style on supported Neural voices.
Tag support varies by engine and voice. AWS’s SSML matrix classifies support as full, partial, or unavailable, and unsupported tags can cause an error for Standard, Neural, and Long-form synthesis. Do not assume a tag accepted by one engine will work in another. Check the matrix for each tag you depend on.
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SSML checks that prevent avoidable errors
- Wrap the entire SSML input in one well-formed
<speak>root element. - Escape characters that SSML reserves rather than sending them as unescaped text.
- Validate tag nesting and closing tags before making the API request.
- Check support for the selected engine and voice, especially for style or language-specific features.
- Use plain text when markup is unnecessary; SSML adds control, but also adds formatting and compatibility requirements.
Which audio formats and sample rates does Polly support?
For audio synthesis, SynthesizeSpeech supports MP3, Ogg Vorbis, Ogg Opus, PCM, Mu-law, and A-law. JSON is the output format for speech marks rather than an audio codec. The valid sample rate depends on the selected format, and the defaults differ by engine and format.
| Output | Documented sample rates | Practical fit |
|---|---|---|
| MP3 | 8,000; 16,000; 22,050; 24,000; 44,100; or 48,000 Hz | Broadly compatible downloadable or web audio. |
| Ogg Vorbis | 8,000; 16,000; 22,050; 24,000; 44,100; or 48,000 Hz | Applications that prefer an open audio codec. |
| Ogg Opus | 48,000 Hz | Use when the consuming application supports Ogg Opus at its documented rate. |
| PCM | 8,000 or 16,000 Hz | Low-level audio and device pipelines. Polly’s PCM is signed 16-bit, mono, little-endian. |
| Mu-law | 8,000 Hz | Telephony systems that require Mu-law. |
| A-law | 8,000 Hz | Telephony systems that require A-law. |
| JSON | Not an audio sample rate | Speech-mark metadata, not spoken audio. |
AWS documents Standard’s default sample rate as 22,050 Hz and the defaults for Neural, Long-form, and Generative as 24,000 Hz. PCM’s documented default is 16,000 Hz. Because supported rates depend on format and engine, specify a rate deliberately when the receiving system requires a particular value rather than assuming that an engine default will suit every format.
The highest available rate is not automatically the best choice. The important test is whether the format and rate match the application that plays, transmits, or processes the result. For example, a telephony pipeline may require an 8,000 Hz companded format, while a web player may accept MP3. Confirm the downstream requirement before selecting the request fields.
What are speech marks, and when should you use them?
Speech marks are structured timing metadata, not audio. Polly can return sentence, word, viseme, or SSML marks, which applications can use to coordinate visual changes with synthesized speech.
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Word marks can support highlighting text as speech progresses; viseme marks can help synchronize mouth-shape animation. Sentence marks can align larger text segments, while SSML marks let an application use custom markers placed in markup. These are timing cues for an application to interpret, not a replacement for the audio stream itself.
Request speech marks using the speech-mark options and JSON output rather than expecting an audio file to contain the metadata. If the application needs both sound and synchronized visual behavior, plan for how it will obtain and coordinate the audio and the timing data. Generative currently does not provide speech-mark generation, so an application requiring marks should select a compatible alternative engine.
Which Polly request mode fits the amount and timing of your text?
Polly offers request-response synthesis, an asynchronous synthesis task for larger text, and a Generative-only bidirectional streaming API. The right mode depends on text size, whether input arrives incrementally, and whether the application needs speech marks.
| Mode | Text capacity | Behavior and constraints |
|---|---|---|
SynthesizeSpeech |
6,000 total characters per request; no more than 3,000 can be billed. | Request-response API. Supports all four engines and speech marks, and streams response bytes as they become available. |
StartSpeechSynthesisTask |
Up to 200,000 total characters; 100,000 billed. | Asynchronous synthesis task for text larger than the synchronous request limit. |
StartSpeechSynthesisStream |
6,000 characters per TextEvent. |
Sends text incrementally over HTTP/2 and receives audio events while generation proceeds. AWS documents it for Generative only; it does not support speech marks. |
The character figures above distinguish total characters from billed characters. Keep both limits in view when designing how text is split or submitted; the total request limit is not the same as the billable-character limit.
Choose by interaction pattern
- Use
SynthesizeSpeechfor a request-response interaction that fits within its per-request character limit, including cases where audio bytes can be consumed as they arrive. - Use
StartSpeechSynthesisTaskwhen the content exceeds the synchronous request limit and an asynchronous task fits the workflow. - Use
StartSpeechSynthesisStreamwhen text is supplied incrementally and the application can use Generative-engine audio events over HTTP/2. It is not the option for speech marks.
Do not treat the three modes as interchangeable. The task API handles larger total text, while the bidirectional stream handles incremental text but is limited to Generative and has a per-event text limit. If speech marks are a requirement, the documented streaming mode for Generative does not meet it.
How do you plan a Polly integration without format or compatibility surprises?
Settle the language, voice, engine, output, and request mode as one design rather than choosing each independently. This sequence helps expose incompatibilities before an application depends on a particular response.
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- Select a voice and engine together. Verify voice support for the engine and the language; Standard is the default only when the engine field is omitted.
- Confirm the AWS Region. Check availability for that engine, voice, and required features in the Region where the application will call Polly.
- Choose the response type. Use an audio output format for sound, or JSON with speech-mark types for timing metadata.
- Match the audio settings to the consumer. Check codec and sample-rate support in the playback, device, or telephony pipeline; specify a supported rate when necessary.
- Choose a request mode by text size and arrival pattern. Compare the synchronous, asynchronous, and Generative streaming constraints before deciding how to divide or send input.
- Validate markup and feature support. If using SSML, check XML-like structure, escaping, and the selected engine’s tag support.
When a request fails or behaves differently from expectation, check the constraints in this order: voice-engine compatibility, Region availability, output-format and sample-rate validity, SSML syntax and tag support, then request-size and mode limits. This separates configuration errors from limitations of the chosen synthesis path.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Amazon Polly return an MP3 file or an audio stream?
An audio request returns audio response bytes; MP3 is one selectable output format, not the only one. Your application is responsible for handling the response in the format it requested.
Can I use a speech mark as a substitute for an audio file?
No. Speech marks are timing metadata for synchronizing text or visuals, not recorded or synthesized sound. An application that needs audible speech must request audio separately.
Can Amazon Polly speak the same text in another language automatically?
Polly is a text-to-speech service, not a translation service. Translate the content separately, then synthesize it with a voice compatible with the translated text’s language.
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