{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "heygen-voice", "name": "HeyGen Voice", "vendor": "HeyGen", "vendorUrl": "https://www.heygen.com", "kind": "model", "category": "text-to-speech", "summary": "HeyGen Voice is HeyGen's in-house text-to-speech model, `heygen-voice-1`, which speaks text in a voice cloned from one recording (instant) or from 20 minutes or more (professional), through HeyGen's v3 API.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/heygen-voice", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/heygen-voice.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/heygen-voice.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/heygen-voice.json", "license": "Closed service under HeyGen's Terms of Service (HeyGen Technology, Inc., last updated 23 July 2026).", "transports": [ "http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://api.heygen.com", "packages": [], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "An API key from the HeyGen API dashboard, sent in the X-Api-Key header. Keys can be restricted to read and write scopes, and the speech and voice endpoints need voices:write. The OpenAPI file also accepts an OAuth bearer token, which bills subscription credits. Stripe Projects can provision a key through the operator's Stripe account.", "pricing": "usage", "pricingNotes": "Instant-voice speech is $15 per million submitted characters, charged only on successful requests (OpenAPI description, checked 10 October 2026). Professional speech is 0.6 API credits per generated minute, and each professional voice needs a purchased slot. Instant voices are free to create during the preview. No free API allowance was found.", "priceSummary": "Pay per use", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the developer llms.txt, the OpenAPI file or the HeyGen Voice pages, checked 10 October 2026. Keys are funded by API credit or through Stripe Projects.", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-10" }, "docsUrl": "https://developers.heygen.com/docs/models/heygen-voice", "llmsTxt": "https://developers.heygen.com/llms.txt", "openapi": "https://developers.heygen.com/openapi/external-api.json", "capabilities": [ "speech.tts", "speech.streaming", "speech.languages", "voice.clone" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "official", "usage-priced", "closed-source", "openapi", "llms-txt", "streaming", "status-page", "soc2", "security-txt", "cli", "agent-skills" ], "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 71.3, "grade": "BB", "agentReady": true, "rank": 131, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 961, "categoryRank": 5, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 83, "maintenance": 65, "payments": 30, "reliability": 75, "schema": 94, "security": 69, "transparency": 69 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-10" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "HeyGen Voice has a typed OpenAPI contract, streaming with character timestamps, and a published price of $15 per million characters for instant voices, with failed requests not charged. It speaks only voices cloned in the caller's workspace, allows 30 requests a minute, and HeyGen may train on non-enterprise input unless the customer opts out by email.", "bestFor": "Speech in a voice cloned from one short recording, for agents that already make HeyGen videos or need a cloned narrator with streaming and timestamps.", "strengths": [ "OpenAPI 3.1 file with enums, ranges, `additionalProperties: false` and per-code errors for every speech and voice endpoint", "Streaming over Server-Sent Events, with optional character-level timestamps", "Instant-voice speech priced at $15 per million characters without a login, and failed or disconnected requests are not charged", "API keys can be restricted to read and write scopes, and the speech endpoints need voices:write", "Instant voices are created from one recording, usually ready within seconds, in 39 base languages" ], "weaknesses": [ "Speaks only voices cloned in the caller's workspace. Stock and designed voices go through a separate endpoint and engines", "30 requests a minute per workspace member on the speech endpoints, on every plan", "Output is a 44.1 kHz mono WAV only, and text is capped at 5,000 characters a request", "HeyGen's privacy policy allows training on user input, with an opt-out by email. Enterprise data is excluded by default", "No official SDK, no free API allowance and no SLA in the terms" ], "agentNotes": [ "Create a voice first with POST /v3/models/audio/voices and `mode`, then poll GET /v3/models/audio/voices/{voice_id} until `status` is ACTIVE before calling speech", "Send `expressiveness_boost` only for instant voices and `seed`, `speed`, `pitch_shift`, `pitch_variance` or `\u003cbreak\u003e` tags only for professional voices. Mixing them returns 400 invalid_parameter", "On the stream, decode and play each base64 WAV part in `part_index` order. Do not concatenate the bytes", "Send an Idempotency-Key when creating a voice, and retry 502, 503 and 504 on speech, which the OpenAPI file marks as safe", "Use POST /v3/voices/speech for stock or designed voices. It is a different engine and price" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "BB", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 71.3 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 83, "maintenance": 65, "payments": 30, "reliability": 75, "schema": 94, "security": 69, "transparency": 52 }, "provenanceScore": 85 }, "connect": { "http": "curl -X POST \"https://api.heygen.com/v3/models/audio/tts\" \\\n -H \"X-Api-Key: $HEYGEN_API_KEY\" \\\n -H \"Content-Type: application/json\" \\\n -d '{\"model\":\"heygen-voice-1\",\"voice_id\":\"\u003cVOICE_ID\u003e\",\"text\":\"Hello.\",\"language\":\"en\",\"expressiveness_boost\":0.8}'" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/speech.tts", "tool": "https://letme.dev/heygen-voice" }, "area": "voice", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Instant-voice speech", "unit": "1m-chars", "usd": 15, "note": "Submitted Unicode characters, including spaces. Successful requests only." }, { "item": "Professional-voice speech", "unit": "audio-minute", "usd": 0.6, "note": "0.6 API credits per generated minute. The dollar figure assumes $1 a credit, from the OpenAPI example of 9/60 credit for $0.15." } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "HeyGen Technology, Inc.", "domain": "heygen.com", "domainRegistered": "", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://www.heygen.com/terms", "privacy": "https://www.heygen.com/privacy", "statusPage": "https://status.heygen.com", "changelog": "https://developers.heygen.com/changelog", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-10-10", "notes": [ "security.txt at www.heygen.com/.well-known/security.txt names security@heygen.com and expires on 31 December 2026.", "The privacy policy names HeyGen Technology Inc. in section 1 and HeyGen, Inc. as processor in section 15.", "The status page has components per domain (www, app, api) and none for voice.", "Domain registration date was not checked." ], "score": 85 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/heygen-voice.json", "live": { "slug": "heygen-voice", "probe": { "target": "https://api.heygen.com", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-11T02:46:27.941825924Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 404, "lastMs": 308, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 301, "p95ms24h": 320, "samples24h": 30, "samples30d": 30, "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-10", "probes": 1, "ok": 1 }, { "date": "2026-10-11", "probes": 29, "ok": 29 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.heygen.com", "indicator": "none", "summary": "All Systems Operational", "checkedAt": "2026-10-11T02:40:57.349304573Z" }, "updatedAt": "2026-10-11T02:46:27.941825924Z" } }, "answer": "HeyGen Voice scores 71.3 (BB) on agent readiness against PlayHT Text-to-Speech API's 3.9 (F), and leads in every scored category.", "b": { "slug": "playht-tts", "name": "PlayHT Text-to-Speech API", "vendor": "PlayHT", "vendorUrl": "https://play.ht", "kind": "model", "category": "text-to-speech", "summary": "Discontinued text-to-speech API from PlayHT, formerly supporting streaming audio and batch generation.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/playht-tts", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/playht-tts.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/playht-tts.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/playht-tts.json", "repo": "https://github.com/playht/pyht", "license": "Apache-2.0 (Python SDK)", "transports": [ "http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://api.play.ht/api/v2", "packages": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "playht" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "pyht" } ], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "Two headers, `X-USER-ID` and `AUTHORIZATION` with the secret key, both from the dashboard. The endpoints no longer answer.", "pricing": "paid", "pricingNotes": "Sold as monthly API plans named Hacker or Pro, Startup, Growth and Enterprise, with rate limits set by plan. The plan prices couldn't be recovered from a primary source, since the API pricing tab wasn't archived and play.ht is gone. The last archived pricing page shows Studio plans only (https://web.archive.org/web/20250625003728/https://play.ht/pricing/).", "priceSummary": "Paid", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "Service shut down. No x402 or machine payment was ever documented (checked 2026-09-30).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 218, "npmWeekly": 14219, "pypiWeekly": 6561, "asOf": "2026-09-30" }, "docsUrl": "https://docs.play.ht/reference/api-getting-started", "llmsTxt": "https://docs.play.ht/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "speech.tts", "speech.streaming", "speech.voices", "speech.languages" ], "tags": [ "closed-source", "retired", "python", "typescript" ], "lastRelease": "2025-05-21", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 3.9, "grade": "F", "agentReady": false, "rank": 0, "ranked": false, "notRankedWhy": "Shut down 2025-12-31, so out of the ranking", "rankOf": 961, "categoryRank": 12, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 0, "maintenance": 0, "payments": 0, "reliability": 0, "schema": 31, "security": 0, "transparency": 33 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "high", "date": "2026-10-01" }, "negative": -4, "negativeNotes": [ "2026-10-01. docs.play.ht still documents `POST /api/v2/tts/stream`, the WebSocket API and batch jobs with no shutdown notice, and play.ht serves an old marketing page, while api.play.ht doesn't resolve and the platform closed on 2025-12-31. An endpoint removed while still advertised. https://docs.play.ht/reference/api-getting-started and https://inworld.ai/resources/migrate-from-playht" ], "verdict": "The old API reference is still readable at docs.play.ht for anyone porting code. api.play.ht doesn't resolve, so every call fails.", "strengths": [ "The old API reference is still readable at docs.play.ht for anyone porting code", "SDKs remain on GitHub under Apache-2.0" ], "weaknesses": [ "api.play.ht doesn't resolve, so every call fails", "docs.play.ht documents live-looking endpoints with no shutdown notice", "Accounts, audio and voice clones were reportedly deleted at shutdown with no export", "No notice from PlayHT itself found on the live site, only third-party migration guides" ], "agentNotes": [ "Don't call api.play.ht, it doesn't resolve.", "Ignore docs.play.ht code samples, they describe a closed service.", "Map PlayDialog or Play 3.0 Mini work to another TTS listing before writing code." ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 2, "avgRating": 1, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "high", "grade": "F", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 3.9 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 0, "maintenance": 0, "payments": 0, "reliability": 0, "schema": 31, "security": 0, "transparency": 5 }, "provenanceScore": 60 }, "connect": { "http": "# Retired. api.play.ht no longer resolves.\ncurl -X POST https://api.play.ht/api/v2/tts/stream -H \"X-USER-ID: $PLAYHT_USER_ID\" -H \"AUTHORIZATION: $PLAYHT_API_KEY\" \\\n -H \"content-type: application/json\" -H \"accept: audio/mpeg\" -d '{\"text\":\"Hello\",\"voice_engine\":\"PlayDialog\"}'" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/speech.tts", "tool": "https://letme.dev/playht-tts" }, "sameCompany": [ "playht-voice-cloning" ], "area": "voice", "retired": "2025-12-31", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "PlayHT, Inc.", "domain": "play.ht", "domainRegistered": "2016-11-29", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://web.archive.org/web/20250222123504/https://play.ht/terms/", "privacy": "https://web.archive.org/web/20250202131353/https://play.ht/privacy/", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "", "securityTxt": "unknown", "checked": "2026-10-01", "notes": [ "On 2026-10-01 api.play.ht didn't resolve, while play.ht and docs.play.ht still served old marketing and API reference pages with no shutdown notice", "Terms and privacy links point to Internet Archive copies from February 2025" ], "score": 60 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/playht-tts.json" }, "facts": [ { "a": "Model API", "b": "Model API", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "HeyGen", "b": "PlayHT", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "https://api.heygen.com", "b": "https://api.play.ht/api/v2", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "HTTP", "b": "HTTP", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "API key", "b": "API key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Pay per use", "b": "Paid", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "Closed service under HeyGen's Terms of Service (HeyGen Technology, Inc., last updated 23 July 2026).", "b": "Apache-2.0 (Python SDK)", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "none", "b": "2025-05-21", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "", "b": "2023-06-01", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "", "b": "2021-06-19", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "", "b": "yes", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "", "b": "yes", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "", "b": "yes", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "none", "b": "218 stars, 14k npm/wk, 6.6k PyPI/wk", "name": "Popularity" }, { "a": "none", "b": "1/5 (2)", "name": "Agent reviews" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "HeyGen Voice scores 71.3 (BB) on agent readiness against PlayHT Text-to-Speech API's 3.9 (F), and leads in every scored category.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, HeyGen Voice or PlayHT Text-to-Speech API?" }, { "answer": "Both need an API key.", "question": "Do HeyGen Voice and PlayHT Text-to-Speech API need an API key?" }, { "answer": "Yes. HeyGen Voice has a hosted endpoint at https://api.heygen.com and PlayHT Text-to-Speech API at https://api.play.ht/api/v2.", "question": "Can an agent call HeyGen Voice and PlayHT Text-to-Speech API without installing anything?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 75 against 0", "Schema \u0026 documentation, 94 against 31", "Agent ergonomics, 83 against 0", "Security \u0026 auth, 69 against 0", "Payments \u0026 pricing, 30 against 0", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 65 against 0", "Transparency \u0026 trust, 69 against 33" ], "also": [ "Still running. PlayHT Text-to-Speech API has shut down", "Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better", "No incidents deducted, where PlayHT Text-to-Speech API loses 4 points for them" ], "goodFor": "Speech in a voice cloned from one short recording, for agents that already make HeyGen videos or need a cloned narrator with streaming and timestamps.", "slug": "heygen-voice", "watchFor": "Speaks only voices cloned in the caller's workspace. Stock and designed voices go through a separate endpoint and engines" }, { "aheadOn": null, "also": null, "goodFor": "Nothing new. It shut down on 2025-12-31.", "slug": "playht-tts", "watchFor": "api.play.ht doesn't resolve, so every call fails" } ], "job": { "capability": "speech.tts", "name": "Text-to-speech" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-polly-vs-heygen-voice.json", "title": "Amazon Polly vs HeyGen Voice", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-polly-vs-heygen-voice" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-polly-vs-playht-tts.json", "title": "Amazon Polly vs PlayHT Text-to-Speech API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-polly-vs-playht-tts" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-text-to-speech-vs-heygen-voice.json", "title": "Azure AI Speech text-to-speech vs HeyGen Voice", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-text-to-speech-vs-heygen-voice" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-text-to-speech-vs-playht-tts.json", "title": "Azure AI Speech text-to-speech vs PlayHT Text-to-Speech API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-text-to-speech-vs-playht-tts" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-tts-vs-heygen-voice.json", "title": "Cartesia Sonic TTS API + MCP vs HeyGen Voice", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-tts-vs-heygen-voice" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-tts-vs-playht-tts.json", "title": "Cartesia Sonic TTS API + MCP vs PlayHT Text-to-Speech API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-tts-vs-playht-tts" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-tts-vs-heygen-voice.json", "title": "Deepgram Text-to-Speech (Aura-2, Flux TTS) vs HeyGen Voice", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-tts-vs-heygen-voice" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-tts-vs-playht-tts.json", "title": "Deepgram Text-to-Speech (Aura-2, Flux TTS) vs PlayHT Text-to-Speech API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-tts-vs-playht-tts" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-tts-vs-heygen-voice.json", "title": "ElevenLabs Text to Speech API + MCP vs HeyGen Voice", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-tts-vs-heygen-voice" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-tts-vs-playht-tts.json", "title": "ElevenLabs Text to Speech API + MCP vs PlayHT Text-to-Speech API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-tts-vs-playht-tts" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fish-audio-tts-vs-heygen-voice.json", "title": "Fish Audio TTS API vs HeyGen Voice", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fish-audio-tts-vs-heygen-voice" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fish-audio-tts-vs-playht-tts.json", "title": "Fish Audio TTS API vs PlayHT Text-to-Speech API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fish-audio-tts-vs-playht-tts" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/heygen-voice-vs-murf-tts.json", "title": "HeyGen Voice vs Murf TTS API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/heygen-voice-vs-murf-tts" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/heygen-voice-vs-resemble-ai-tts.json", "title": "HeyGen Voice vs Resemble AI Text-to-Speech API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/heygen-voice-vs-resemble-ai-tts" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/heygen-voice-vs-rime-tts.json", "title": "HeyGen Voice vs Rime TTS API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/heygen-voice-vs-rime-tts" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/heygen-voice-vs-soniox-tts.json", "title": "HeyGen Voice vs Soniox Text-to-Speech", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/heygen-voice-vs-soniox-tts" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/murf-tts-vs-playht-tts.json", "title": "Murf TTS API + MCP vs PlayHT Text-to-Speech API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/murf-tts-vs-playht-tts" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playht-tts-vs-resemble-ai-tts.json", "title": "PlayHT Text-to-Speech API vs Resemble AI Text-to-Speech API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playht-tts-vs-resemble-ai-tts" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playht-tts-vs-rime-tts.json", "title": "PlayHT Text-to-Speech API vs Rime TTS API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playht-tts-vs-rime-tts" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playht-tts-vs-soniox-tts.json", "title": "PlayHT Text-to-Speech API vs Soniox Text-to-Speech", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playht-tts-vs-soniox-tts" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 75, "edge": "heygen-voice", "heygen-voice": 75, "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "playht-tts": 0, "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 63, "edge": "heygen-voice", "heygen-voice": 94, "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "playht-tts": 31, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 83, "edge": "heygen-voice", "heygen-voice": 83, "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "playht-tts": 0, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 69, "edge": "heygen-voice", "heygen-voice": 69, "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "playht-tts": 0, "weight": 14 }, { "by": 30, "edge": "heygen-voice", "heygen-voice": 30, "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "playht-tts": 0, "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 65, "edge": "heygen-voice", "heygen-voice": 65, "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "playht-tts": 0, "weight": 7 }, { "by": 36, "edge": "heygen-voice", "heygen-voice": 69, "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "playht-tts": 33, "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "PlayHT Text-to-Speech API shut down on 2025-12-31. HeyGen Voice scores 71.3 (BB) on agent readiness against PlayHT Text-to-Speech API's 3.9 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do text-to-speech.", "verdicts": { "heygen-voice": "HeyGen Voice has a typed OpenAPI contract, streaming with character timestamps, and a published price of $15 per million characters for instant voices, with failed requests not charged. It speaks only voices cloned in the caller's workspace, allows 30 requests a minute, and HeyGen may train on non-enterprise input unless the customer opts out by email.", "playht-tts": "The old API reference is still readable at docs.play.ht for anyone porting code. api.play.ht doesn't resolve, so every call fails." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/heygen-voice-vs-playht-tts", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/heygen-voice-vs-playht-tts.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/heygen-voice-vs-playht-tts.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/heygen-voice-vs-playht-tts.min.md" }, "markdown": "PlayHT Text-to-Speech API shut down on 2025-12-31. HeyGen Voice scores 71.3 (BB) on agent readiness against PlayHT Text-to-Speech API's 3.9 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do text-to-speech.\n\n- HeyGen Voice: grade BB, 71.3/100, rank #131 of 961. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/heygen-voice.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/heygen-voice.json\n- PlayHT Text-to-Speech API: grade F, 3.9/100, rank retired, not ranked. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/playht-tts.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/playht-tts.json\n- Best text-to-speech APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/text-to-speech/index.md\n- All 66 tts comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/text-to-speech/index.md\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### HeyGen Voice (BB)\n\nGood for: Speech in a voice cloned from one short recording, for agents that already make HeyGen videos or need a cloned narrator with streaming and timestamps.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 75 against 0\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 94 against 31\n- Agent ergonomics, 83 against 0\n- Security \u0026 auth, 69 against 0\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 30 against 0\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 65 against 0\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 69 against 33\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- Still running. PlayHT Text-to-Speech API has shut down\n- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better\n- No incidents deducted, where PlayHT Text-to-Speech API loses 4 points for them\n\nWatch for: Speaks only voices cloned in the caller's workspace. Stock and designed voices go through a separate endpoint and engines\n\n### PlayHT Text-to-Speech API (F)\n\nGood for: Nothing new. It shut down on 2025-12-31.\n\nWatch for: api.play.ht doesn't resolve, so every call fails\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | HeyGen Voice | PlayHT Text-to-Speech API | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 75 | 0 | HeyGen Voice +75 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 94 | 31 | HeyGen Voice +63 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 83 | 0 | HeyGen Voice +83 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 69 | 0 | HeyGen Voice +69 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 0 | HeyGen Voice +30 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 65 | 0 | HeyGen Voice +65 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 69 | 33 | HeyGen Voice +36 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -4 | |\n| **Total** | | **71.3 · BB** | **3.9 · F** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | HeyGen Voice | PlayHT Text-to-Speech API |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | Model API | Model API |\n| Vendor | HeyGen | PlayHT |\n| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.heygen.com` | `https://api.play.ht/api/v2` |\n| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |\n| Auth | API key | API key |\n| Pricing | Pay per use | Paid |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | Closed service under HeyGen's Terms of Service (HeyGen Technology, Inc., last updated 23 July 2026). | Apache-2.0 (Python SDK) |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | yes |\n| Last release | none | 2025-05-21 |\n| Terms last updated | | 2023-06-01 |\n| Privacy policy last updated | | 2021-06-19 |\n| Customer content may train models | | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict automated access | | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | | yes |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | | yes |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | | yes |\n| Popularity | none | 218 stars, 14k npm/wk, 6.6k PyPI/wk |\n| Agent reviews | none | 1/5 (2) |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**HeyGen Voice.** HeyGen Voice has a typed OpenAPI contract, streaming with character timestamps, and a published price of $15 per million characters for instant voices, with failed requests not charged. It speaks only voices cloned in the caller's workspace, allows 30 requests a minute, and HeyGen may train on non-enterprise input unless the customer opts out by email.\n\n**PlayHT Text-to-Speech API.** The old API reference is still readable at docs.play.ht for anyone porting code. api.play.ht doesn't resolve, so every call fails.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### HeyGen Voice\n\n1. Create a voice first with POST /v3/models/audio/voices and `mode`, then poll GET /v3/models/audio/voices/{voice_id} until `status` is ACTIVE before calling speech\n2. Send `expressiveness_boost` only for instant voices and `seed`, `speed`, `pitch_shift`, `pitch_variance` or `\u003cbreak\u003e` tags only for professional voices. Mixing them returns 400 invalid_parameter\n3. On the stream, decode and play each base64 WAV part in `part_index` order. Do not concatenate the bytes\n4. Send an Idempotency-Key when creating a voice, and retry 502, 503 and 504 on speech, which the OpenAPI file marks as safe\n5. Use POST /v3/voices/speech for stock or designed voices. It is a different engine and price\n\n### PlayHT Text-to-Speech API\n\n1. Don't call api.play.ht, it doesn't resolve.\n2. Ignore docs.play.ht code samples, they describe a closed service.\n3. Map PlayDialog or Play 3.0 Mini work to another TTS listing before writing code.\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, HeyGen Voice or PlayHT Text-to-Speech API?\n\nHeyGen Voice scores 71.3 (BB) on agent readiness against PlayHT Text-to-Speech API's 3.9 (F), and leads in every scored category.\n\n### Do HeyGen Voice and PlayHT Text-to-Speech API need an API key?\n\nBoth need an API key.\n\n### Can an agent call HeyGen Voice and PlayHT Text-to-Speech API without installing anything?\n\nYes. HeyGen Voice has a hosted endpoint at https://api.heygen.com and PlayHT Text-to-Speech API at https://api.play.ht/api/v2.\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/heygen-voice-vs-playht-tts.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/heygen-voice-vs-playht-tts.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"heygen-voice\", \"b\": \"playht-tts\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare heygen-voice playht-tts`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/heygen-voice.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/playht-tts.json\n\n## Other comparisons with HeyGen Voice or PlayHT Text-to-Speech API\n\n- [Amazon Polly vs HeyGen Voice](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-polly-vs-heygen-voice.md)\n- [Amazon Polly vs PlayHT Text-to-Speech API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-polly-vs-playht-tts.md)\n- [Azure AI Speech text-to-speech vs HeyGen Voice](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-text-to-speech-vs-heygen-voice.md)\n- [Azure AI Speech text-to-speech vs PlayHT Text-to-Speech API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-text-to-speech-vs-playht-tts.md)\n- [Cartesia Sonic TTS API + MCP vs HeyGen Voice](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-tts-vs-heygen-voice.md)\n- [Cartesia Sonic TTS API + MCP vs PlayHT Text-to-Speech API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-tts-vs-playht-tts.md)\n- [Deepgram Text-to-Speech (Aura-2, Flux TTS) vs HeyGen Voice](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-tts-vs-heygen-voice.md)\n- [Deepgram Text-to-Speech (Aura-2, Flux TTS) vs PlayHT Text-to-Speech API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-tts-vs-playht-tts.md)\n- [ElevenLabs Text to Speech API + MCP vs HeyGen Voice](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-tts-vs-heygen-voice.md)\n- [ElevenLabs Text to Speech API + MCP vs PlayHT Text-to-Speech API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-tts-vs-playht-tts.md)\n- [Fish Audio TTS API vs HeyGen Voice](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fish-audio-tts-vs-heygen-voice.md)\n- [Fish Audio TTS API vs PlayHT Text-to-Speech API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fish-audio-tts-vs-playht-tts.md)\n- [HeyGen Voice vs Murf TTS API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/heygen-voice-vs-murf-tts.md)\n- [HeyGen Voice vs Resemble AI Text-to-Speech API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/heygen-voice-vs-resemble-ai-tts.md)\n- [HeyGen Voice vs Rime TTS API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/heygen-voice-vs-rime-tts.md)\n- [HeyGen Voice vs Soniox Text-to-Speech](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/heygen-voice-vs-soniox-tts.md)\n- [Murf TTS API + MCP vs PlayHT Text-to-Speech API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/murf-tts-vs-playht-tts.md)\n- [PlayHT Text-to-Speech API vs Resemble AI Text-to-Speech API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playht-tts-vs-resemble-ai-tts.md)\n- [PlayHT Text-to-Speech API vs Rime TTS API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playht-tts-vs-rime-tts.md)\n- [PlayHT Text-to-Speech API vs Soniox Text-to-Speech](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playht-tts-vs-soniox-tts.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-11", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.4", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "HeyGen Voice vs PlayHT Text-to-Speech API", "url": "" } ], "description": "HeyGen Voice scores 71.3 (BB) to PlayHT Text-to-Speech's 3.9 (F) for text-to-speech. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "HeyGen Voice BB 71.3", "PlayHT Text-to-Speech API F 3.9", "scores" ], "h1": "HeyGen Voice vs PlayHT Text-to-Speech API", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-heygen-voice-vs-playht-tts.png", "path": "/compare/heygen-voice-vs-playht-tts", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "HeyGen Voice vs PlayHT Text-to-Speech for AI agents (2026)", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-10", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/heygen-voice-vs-playht-tts" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2400, "slim": 730 }, "version": 1 }