gTTS
gTTS (Google Text-to-Speech), a Python library and CLI tool to interface with Google Translate text-to-speech API
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes, if you need lightweight, free text-to-speech without cloud setup. The low install friction, active maintenance, and MIT license make it straightforward to adopt. However, be aware that it depends on Google Translate's undocumented API—upstream changes can break it without notice, and it is not a substitute for official Google Cloud Text-to-Speech if you need production-grade reliability or SLA guarantees.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires internet access to reach Google Translate's API; relies on that undocumented endpoint remaining available.
- Low install friction with only two runtime dependencies (requests, click).
- Actively maintained with recent commits and a large user base; last release was 642 days ago but repo shows ongoing activity.
License · maintenance · safety
MIT (permissive) — MIT license is permissive, allowing commercial and private use with minimal restrictions—suitable for most projects.
last release 2024-11-10 (642 days) · last repo commit 2026-04-06 · 2,626 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 5,340,702 downloads/mo, #2,115 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install gTTS
from gtts import gTTS
tts = gTTS('hello')
tts.save('hello.mp3')- Whether Google Translate API changes could break the package without notice, as the description disclaims.
- Performance characteristics when handling very long texts or batch conversions.
- Audio quality or language support coverage compared to official Google Cloud Text-to-Speech.
What it is and what it does
gTTS is a Python wrapper around Google Translate's undocumented text-to-speech functionality. It lets you generate MP3 audio from text strings and save them to disk, pass them to other audio libraries, or stream to stdout. The library includes a customizable sentence tokenizer to handle long texts while preserving intonation, abbreviations, and decimals, and supports custom text pre-processors for pronunciation corrections.
You can use it as a Python module or via a command-line tool (gtts-cli). It supports modern Python versions (3.8–3.12) across macOS, Windows, and Linux. The project is not affiliated with Google and relies on an undocumented API, so breaking changes can occur without notice—it is explicitly different from the official Google Cloud Text-to-Speech service.
Use it for
- Generate spoken audio files from text for accessibility or content creation workflows.
- Build a command-line tool to batch-convert text documents or scripts into MP3 files.
- Integrate text-to-speech into a Python application without setting up a paid cloud service.
- Preprocess and customize pronunciation in generated speech using text pre-processors.
- Stream audio output directly to stdout for piping into other audio processing tools.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes, if you need lightweight, free text-to-speech without cloud setup.
The low install friction, active maintenance, and MIT license make it straightforward to adopt. However, be aware that it depends on Google Translate's undocumented API—upstream changes can break it without notice, and it is not a substitute for official Google Cloud Text-to-Speech if you need production-grade reliability or SLA guarantees.
Install
gtts on PyPI
Before you install
Low install friction with only two runtime dependencies (requests, click). Actively maintained with recent commits and a large user base; last release was 642 days ago but repo shows ongoing activity.
Requires internet access to reach Google Translate's API; relies on that undocumented endpoint remaining available.
License in practice
MIT license is permissive, allowing commercial and private use with minimal restrictions—suitable for most projects.
Quickstart
pip install gTTS
from gtts import gTTS
tts = gTTS('hello')
tts.save('hello.mp3')Verify before relying
- Whether Google Translate API changes could break the package without notice, as the description disclaims.
- Performance characteristics when handling very long texts or batch conversions.
- Audio quality or language support coverage compared to official Google Cloud Text-to-Speech.
Package facts
| License | MIT permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.7 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 2 packagesrequestsclick |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 642 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 5,340,702 / month, #2,115 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Environment :: ConsoleIntended Audience :: DevelopersLicense :: OSI Approved :: MIT LicenseOperating System :: MacOSOperating System :: Microsoft :: WindowsOperating System :: POSIXOperating System :: POSIX :: LinuxOperating System :: UnixProgramming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9Topic :: Multimedia :: Sound/Audio :: SpeechTopic :: Software Development :: Libraries |
Evidence: gTTS-2.5.4-py3-none-any.whl
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See also pyttsx3 · edge-tts · piper-tts · chatterbox-tts · google-cloud-texttospeech · pocket-tts · TTS · livekit-plugins-soniox · mlx-audio · eyeD3