What Is Pay-As-You-Go Text to Speech?

There are two common shapes. Some services bill per character or per minute of audio at the end of a period. Others sell prepaid credits that you spend as you go. Either way, a month with no work costs nothing.

A subscription is a good deal if you fill its allowance every month. If you make a handful of voiceovers a year, or in bursts, pay-as-you-go is usually cheaper, because you are not paying for months you did not use. To compare fairly, work out your typical minutes of audio per month and multiply by the per-minute rate.

• Whether credits expire, and after how long.
• Whether the price per minute drops only if you buy in bulk.
• Whether you can preview the real voice before paying.
• Whether commercial use is included.

GetMeAudio uses prepaid AudioMinutes: you top up once and spend only when you download a finished file, at $0.15 per minute for Standard voices and $0.25 per minute for Natural voices. Each top-up is valid for 12 months, the expiry is shown before you buy, and the rate is the same however much you buy at once. There is no subscription.