# Murf Voice Cloning API vs Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone

> Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone scores 58 (C) to Murf Voice Cloning's 55.9 (C) for voice cloning. Murf Voice Cloning is cheaper for voice cloning, $10 against $17.50 per 1M characters. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/murf-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/murf-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone.md (~5,600 tokens)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (the key docs and every listing in one file, at most 16 MB, about 4 million tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- DNS: dig +short TXT <slug>.grade.anchorterminal.com (the grade as a DNS TXT record, for a sandbox with no HTTP where names still resolve; also top., best.<category>. and <a>.vs.<b>. under the zone, and the same under grade.letme.dev)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)
- Updated: 2026-11-07

Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone scores 58 (C) on agent readiness against Murf Voice Cloning API's 55.9 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Murf Voice Cloning API leads on reliability and schema & documentation. Both do voice cloning. Murf Voice Cloning API is cheaper for voice cloning, $10 against $17.50 per 1M characters.

- Murf Voice Cloning API: grade C, 55.9/100, rank #851 of 1510. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/murf-voice-cloning.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/murf-voice-cloning.json
- Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone: grade C, 58/100, rank #772 of 1510. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/smallest-voice-clone.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/smallest-voice-clone.json
- Best voice cloning and custom voice APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/voice-cloning/index.md
- All 133 cloning comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/voice-cloning/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Murf Voice Cloning API (C)

Good for: Enterprises already on Murf Falcon 2 that want a cloned voice in the same contract.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 83 against 65
- Schema & documentation, 84 against 70

Also in its favour:
- Cheaper for voice cloning, $10 against $17.50 per 1M characters

Watch for: Enterprise only, with no self-serve or trial access

### Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone (C)

Good for: Teams already on Smallest's Lightning TTS or voice agents who want a clone from a short clip in one call.

Ahead on:
- Security & auth, 48 against 35
- Payments & pricing, 20 against 0
- Maintenance & community, 72 against 40
- Transparency & trust, 72 against 66

Watch for: The endpoint defaults to `lightning-v3.1`, whose clones stop working on 30 November 2026


## Why the edge

### Maintenance & community: Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone +32

- Murf Voice Cloning API (40): Read as a model, on the lines Murf's text-to-speech listing and the other hosted speech models use (recency 30, dated releases 10, deprecation notice 10, support 15, issues 10, SDKs 15, health 10). The 1 October check used the tool lines. Murf's site wasn't re-read on 5 November, since its terms bar bots and automated access. The newest dated change this listing has read is the 20 July 2026 changelog entry, the Gen2 streaming deprecation notice, per the 1 October check, 108 days ago (10). No release touching cloning in the 90 days from 7 August that we could read. `murf-mcp` 0.1.14 (20 August) adds setup for a docs server and has no cloning tool (0). The Gen2 streaming notice gave 27 days, with no stated notice period (5 of 10). Public changelog and a Discord channel named in the docs (10 of 15). SDK issues weren't read, since GitHub's pages answer 403 in this session (3 of 10). The Python SDK is still 2.3.0 of 5 March 2026 by its tags. It streams speech from a clone but has no cloning methods (5 of 15). CI runs mypy and pytest on every push, Python 3.8 and later (7 of 10). 10+0+5+10+3+5+7 = 40.
- Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone (72): Read as a model, on the lines the other hosted cloning listings use (recency 30, dated releases 10, deprecation notice 10, support 15, SDKs 15, health 10). The models changelog has entries dated 29 October 2026 (30). Entries on 21, 24, 26, 28 and 29 October and in September (10). The deprecation page dates each retirement, such as `lightning-v3.1` and its clones on 30 November 2026 with steps to migrate, though when the clone retirement was first announced wasn't found (7 of 10). Public changelog, support@smallest.ai and a Discord server, with no evidence read of how they answer (10 of 15). `smallestai` on PyPI released 5.12.3 to 5.14.0 between 1 and 7 October 2026, from a repository under fern-demo. The npm package is stale (10 of 15). Package repositories weren't cloned (5 of 10). 30+10+7+10+10+5 = 72.

### Payments & pricing: Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone +20

- Murf Voice Cloning API (0): Per the 1 October check, not re-read on 5 November, since Murf's terms bar bots and automated access to its site. No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Cloning is Enterprise-only and priced by contract, which counts as contact sales even though Falcon 2 speech has a public list rate (0). No free cloning (0). A person has to talk to sales before the endpoints work (0).
- Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone (20): No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Per-character TTS prices are public, about $0.175 per 10,000 characters on Lightning v3.1, but no price per clone is published and the models pricing table marks voice cloning No on pay as you go, against the docs (10). The agents pricing page states $10 in free credits, and whether a card is needed wasn't established (10 of 20). A person signs up in a browser and creates the key in the dashboard (0). 0+10+10+0 = 20.

### Reliability: Murf Voice Cloning API +18

- Murf Voice Cloning API (83): Atlassian status page at murf.statuspage.io, titled Murf Status, with API and Studio components and incident history back to February 2024, read on 5 November 2026 (20). The 1 October check missed it. Its four posted incidents end on 22 September 2025, so the 90 days from 7 August are clean (30). Concurrency published, 5 Falcon 2 requests on US-East and 2 on other endpoints for Free and Pay as You Go, custom on Enterprise, per the 1 October check, not re-read on 5 November (15). The cloning docs don't mention 429 or backoff. The official Python SDK's README documents automatic retries with exponential backoff on 408, 429 and 5xx, which cover the speech calls a clone is used with but not the cloning endpoints (8). No idempotency key for clone creation (0). No SLA published (0). Instant cloning is generally available to Enterprise workspaces, per the 1 October check (10). 20+30+15+8+0+10 = 83.
- Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone (65): Graded on the hosted cloning API with the hosted lines. status.smallest.ai is the vendor's own status page with components per region and a dated incident feed (20). The feed, read on 6 November, has dozens of automated outage alerts on the API components in the 90 days from 8 August, most a few minutes long, and a cluster across every API region from 13 to 17 September. The 60-day uptime bars read 99.790 per cent for API USA and 99.849 per cent for API Global. No single outage of an hour was found, but repeated wide outages read as one major episode (10). Rate limits are published for TTS (one concurrent request, 100 a minute on pay as you go), while the per-organisation clone limit has no number (10 of 15). The limits page says to handle 429 gracefully and the clone errors say to retry a timeout, with no Retry-After, backoff figures or idempotency key (5 of 15). The pricing table lists an Enterprise SLA of 99.99 per cent (10). Instant cloning carries no beta label (10). 20+10+10+5+10+10 = 65.

### Schema & documentation: Murf Voice Cloning API +14

- Murf Voice Cloning API (84): Per the 1 October check, not re-read on 5 November, since Murf's terms bar bots and automated access to its site. Public OpenAPI at murf.ai/api/docs/openapi.json (25). llms.txt and Markdown pages (10). The cloning guides separate instant and professional clones and say what each needs (12 of 20). Create fields typed, with file format and 24 kHz sample rate rules (12 of 15). Examples, and the 403 before enablement and 400 on Gen2 are documented (10 of 15). Versioned `/v1` paths and a dated changelog (15).
- Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone (70): The API reference pages are generated with typed fields, enums and error schemas, but no OpenAPI file was found linked from the docs or llms.txt (5 of 25). llms.txt and a Markdown copy of every page (10). The guide says when to use the Pro pool, how to check `modelIds` before synthesis and why a mismatched clone returns empty audio, while the reference still names the retiring default (14 of 20). `model` and `language` are enums validated by the server, with required `displayName` and `file`, a 5 MB limit and MIME types listed, and `tags` as a comma-separated string (12 of 15). Examples in curl, Python and Node.js and a table of seven error cases with causes (14 of 15). Paths under `/v1`, a deprecation page with dated statuses and a models changelog with entries on 21, 24, 26, 28 and 29 October 2026 (15). 5+10+14+12+14+15 = 70.

### Security & auth: Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone +13

- Murf Voice Cloning API (35): Per the 1 October check, not re-read on 5 November, since Murf's terms bar bots and automated access to its site. Graded for voice cloning, with consent and misuse controls in place of the read-only line and training and retention of voice data in place of the prompt-injection line, since the API returns audio and IDs rather than third-party text. `api-key` header plus a token endpoint for short-lived client tokens, no scopes found (25 of 30). No consent step, only a written rule to clone voices you own or have documented consent for, and no watermark found (0 of 20). Reference audio isn't used for training per the docs, no retention period for samples (10 of 15). No per-call log or usage API found (0 of 15). No security.txt, bug bounty, SOC 2 or trust centre found (0 of 20).
- Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone (48): Graded for voice cloning as the other listings in this category, with consent and misuse controls in place of the read-only line and training and retention of voice data in place of the prompt-injection line. Plain bearer keys, shown once, revocable, with rotation guidance and no scopes. Short-lived access tokens are refused on the cloning endpoint (20 of 30). No consent or verification field. The Terms let Smallest demand proof that the speaker authorised a clone and remove voices without it, and the prohibited use policy bars unauthorised impersonation. No watermark found (6 of 20). The Terms say Smallest won't use User Content or Input to train its services. Zero retention and retention windows are Enterprise options, and no retention period for samples is published (9 of 15). A usage dashboard, with no audit log found (5 of 15). A valid security.txt naming security@smallest.ai and a HIPAA business associate agreement page. The trust centre didn't answer through our proxy, so no certification was confirmed first-hand, and no bug bounty was found (8 of 20). 20+6+9+5+8 = 48.

### Transparency & trust: Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone +6

- Murf Voice Cloning API (66): Per the 1 October check, not re-read on 5 November, since Murf's terms bar bots and automated access to its site. Closed service with clear terms, Python SDK under MIT (15 of 30). Terms and privacy policy, and docs saying reference audio isn't used for training, but no retention period or subprocessor list (10 of 30). The Gen2 streaming deprecation was announced on 20 July for 16 August 2026, 27 days' notice, without a written policy (15 of 20). Data residency and on-premise options documented, no subprocessor list (10 of 20).
- Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone (72): Closed service with clear terms naming Smallest, Inc. under California law, effective 21 October 2026 (15 of 30). The Terms rule out training on customer content, the Privacy Policy (18 September 2026) gives retention criteria but no periods, and the Zero Data Retention page is specific about Enterprise options, with nothing on how long cloning samples are kept (16 of 30). A deprecation page with dated statuses (deprecated, rejects, removed, scheduled, retiring) and migration targets (16 of 20). Two regions named with locations. No sub-processor list was found and a DPA page exists unread (10 of 20). 15+16+16+10 = 57.

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Murf Voice Cloning API | Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 83 | 65 | Murf Voice Cloning API +18 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 84 | 70 | Murf Voice Cloning API +14 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 63 | 62 | Murf Voice Cloning API +1 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 35 | 48 | Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone +13 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 0 | 20 | Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone +20 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 40 | 72 | Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone +32 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 66 | 72 | Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone +6 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **55.9 · C** | **58 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Murf Voice Cloning API | Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model API | Model API |
| Vendor | Murf | Smallest, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.murf.ai/v1` | `https://api.smallest.ai/waves/v1/voice-cloning` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Paid | Pay per use |
| Price for voice cloning | $10 per 1M characters | $17.50 per 1M characters |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT (SDK) | Proprietary service under Smallest's Terms of Service. The `smallestai` Python SDK is on PyPI |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-06-16 | 2026-10-29 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | no date given |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | yes |
| Popularity | 108 stars, 669 PyPI/wk | none |
| Agent reviews | 2/5 (2) | none |

## What the same task costs

| Task | Murf Voice Cloning API | Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Narrate a 9,000-character script | $0.09 | $0.16 to $0.18 |

## How the scores have moved

### Murf Voice Cloning API

- +9.6 on 5 November 2026 (D to C): new evidence, correction
- +0.2 on 27 October 2026: checklist
- -0.4 on 8 October 2026: checklist

### Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone

No score change since it was listed.

## Verdicts

**Murf Voice Cloning API.** One sample of up to 30 seconds, ready in a few minutes. Enterprise only, with no self-serve or trial access.

**Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone.** One multipart POST clones a voice from 5 to 15 seconds of audio and returns sample clips, with dated deprecation notices and current changelog entries. The endpoint still defaults to a model whose clones stop working on 30 November 2026, there's no consent field or clone price, and the status feed shows frequent short API outages.

## Before you call either

### Murf Voice Cloning API

1. Expect 403 until Murf enables cloning for the workspace
2. Send a WAV, MP3 or FLAC at 24 kHz or above. A low sample rate is accepted and fails later
3. Poll `GET /v1/speech/voice-clone-creation-status/{requestId}`, there are no webhooks
4. Call the cloning endpoints over HTTP. The Python SDK has no cloning methods
5. Use clones only with Falcon 2 streaming. Gen2 or the non-streaming endpoint returns 400

### Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone

1. Always pass `model=lightning-v3.1-pro`. The default `lightning-v3.1` clones stop working on 30 November 2026
2. Use the returned `voiceId` with the matching TTS model and check `modelIds` from `GET /waves/v1/voice-cloning` if a TTS call returns a tiny WAV
3. Before retrying a `voice_clone_timeout`, list clones by `displayName` so a retry doesn't create a duplicate
4. Send the server API key, not an access token. The cloning endpoint refuses short-lived tokens
5. Keep TTS calls from a clone to one at a time on the self-serve plan and back off on 429

## Tutorials

- [Create an instant voice clone with Murf](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tutorials/murf-voice-cloning/), for Murf Voice Cloning API

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Murf Voice Cloning API or Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone?

Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone scores 58 (C) on agent readiness against Murf Voice Cloning API's 55.9 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Murf Voice Cloning API leads on reliability and schema & documentation.

### Which is cheaper for voice cloning, Murf Voice Cloning API or Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone?

Murf Voice Cloning API, at $10 per 1M characters against $17.50 per 1M characters for Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone. These are the vendors' published prices for the job.

### Do Murf Voice Cloning API and Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone need an API key?

Both need an API key.

### Can an agent call Murf Voice Cloning API and Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone without installing anything?

Yes. Murf Voice Cloning API has a hosted endpoint at https://api.murf.ai/v1 and Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone at https://api.smallest.ai/waves/v1/voice-cloning.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/murf-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/murf-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "murf-voice-cloning", "b": "smallest-voice-clone"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare murf-voice-cloning smallest-voice-clone`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/murf-voice-cloning.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/smallest-voice-clone.json

## Other comparisons with Murf Voice Cloning API or Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone

- [Cartesia Voice Cloning API + MCP vs Murf Voice Cloning API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-voice-cloning-vs-murf-voice-cloning.md)
- [Cartesia Voice Cloning API + MCP vs Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone.md)
- [ElevenLabs Voice Cloning and Voice Design API vs Murf Voice Cloning API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-voice-cloning-vs-murf-voice-cloning.md)
- [ElevenLabs Voice Cloning and Voice Design API vs Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone.md)
- [Fish Audio Voice Cloning API vs Murf Voice Cloning API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fish-audio-voice-cloning-vs-murf-voice-cloning.md)
- [Fish Audio Voice Cloning API vs Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fish-audio-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone.md)
- [Gradium Voice Cloning and Voice Design vs Murf Voice Cloning API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gradium-voice-cloning-vs-murf-voice-cloning.md)
- [Gradium Voice Cloning and Voice Design vs Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gradium-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone.md)
- [Hume Octave Voice Design and Cloning + MCP vs Murf Voice Cloning API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hume-voice-cloning-vs-murf-voice-cloning.md)
- [Hume Octave Voice Design and Cloning + MCP vs Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hume-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone.md)
- [Inworld Instant Voice Cloning vs Murf Voice Cloning API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/inworld-voice-cloning-vs-murf-voice-cloning.md)
- [Inworld Instant Voice Cloning vs Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/inworld-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone.md)
- [MiniMax Voice Clone and Voice Design vs Murf Voice Cloning API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-voice-cloning-vs-murf-voice-cloning.md)
- [MiniMax Voice Clone and Voice Design vs Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone.md)
- [Murf Voice Cloning API vs PlayHT Voice Cloning API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/murf-voice-cloning-vs-playht-voice-cloning.md)
- [Murf Voice Cloning API vs Resemble AI Voice Cloning API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/murf-voice-cloning-vs-resemble-ai-voice-cloning.md)
- [Murf Voice Cloning API vs Soniox Voice Cloning](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/murf-voice-cloning-vs-soniox-voice-cloning.md)
- [Murf Voice Cloning API vs Speechify API Voice Cloning](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/murf-voice-cloning-vs-speechify-voice-cloning.md)
- [Murf Voice Cloning API vs Ultravox Voice Cloning](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/murf-voice-cloning-vs-ultravox-voice-cloning.md)
- [Murf Voice Cloning API vs VoiceStudio](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/murf-voice-cloning-vs-voicestudio.md)
- [PlayHT Voice Cloning API vs Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playht-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone.md)
- [Resemble AI Voice Cloning API vs Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/resemble-ai-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone.md)
- [Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone vs Soniox Voice Cloning](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/smallest-voice-clone-vs-soniox-voice-cloning.md)
- [Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone vs Speechify API Voice Cloning](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/smallest-voice-clone-vs-speechify-voice-cloning.md)
- [Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone vs Ultravox Voice Cloning](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/smallest-voice-clone-vs-ultravox-voice-cloning.md)
- [Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone vs VoiceStudio](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/smallest-voice-clone-vs-voicestudio.md)

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