{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "playht-voice-cloning", "name": "PlayHT Voice Cloning API", "vendor": "PlayHT", "vendorUrl": "https://play.ht", "kind": "model", "category": "voice-cloning", "summary": "Discontinued PlayHT service for creating voices from uploaded audio samples.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/playht-voice-cloning", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/playht-voice-cloning.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/playht-voice-cloning.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/playht-voice-cloning.json", "dns": "playht-voice-cloning.grade.anchorterminal.com", "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": "Cloning was sold inside PlayHT's API and Studio plans, with custom cloning terms on Enterprise. Per-clone prices couldn't be recovered from a primary source (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-create-instant-voice-clone", "llmsTxt": "https://docs.play.ht/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "voice.clone", "speech.tts" ], "tags": [ "closed-source", "retired", "python", "typescript" ], "lastRelease": "2025-05-21", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 4.1, "grade": "F", "agentReady": false, "rank": 0, "ranked": false, "notRankedWhy": "Shut down 2025-12-31, so out of the ranking", "rankOf": 1486, "categoryRank": 15, "methodology": "0.7", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 0, "maintenance": 0, "payments": 0, "reliability": 0, "schema": 31, "security": 0, "transparency": 35 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-17" }, "negative": -4, "negativeNotes": [ "2026-10-01, still the case on 2026-10-17. docs.play.ht documents `POST /api/v2/cloned-voices/instant` with no shutdown notice, 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-create-instant-voice-clone.md and https://inworld.ai/resources/migrate-from-playht" ], "verdict": "The API reference is still readable at docs.play.ht, useful for mapping old integrations. Shut down, api.play.ht doesn't resolve.", "strengths": [ "The API reference is still readable at docs.play.ht, useful for mapping old integrations", "SDKs remain on GitHub under Apache-2.0", "The reference lists each response code, including 415 for unsupported audio and 429 for rate limits" ], "weaknesses": [ "Shut down, api.play.ht doesn't resolve", "Cloned voices reportedly deleted at shutdown with no export", "Docs still describe the API with no shutdown notice", "No consent or verification step was ever in the API" ], "agentNotes": [ "Don't call `api.play.ht`. The host doesn't resolve", "Ignore docs.play.ht for new work. It documents an API that no longer exists", "Re-create voices with another vendor from the original recordings, the clones can't be recovered" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 2, "avgRating": 1, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "F", "methodology": "0.7", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 4.1 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 0, "maintenance": 0, "payments": 0, "reliability": 0, "schema": 31, "security": 0, "transparency": 5 }, "provenanceScore": 65, "checked": { "categories": { "ergonomics": "2026-10-17", "maintenance": "2026-10-17", "payments": "2026-10-17", "reliability": "2026-10-17", "schema": "2026-10-17", "security": "2026-10-17", "transparency": "2026-10-17" }, "last": "2026-10-17", "lastMoved": "2026-10-27", "oldest": "2026-10-17", "stale": false, "staleAfterDays": 90 } }, "connect": { "http": "# Retired. api.play.ht no longer resolves.\ncurl -X POST https://api.play.ht/api/v2/cloned-voices/instant -H \"X-USER-ID: $PLAYHT_USER_ID\" -H \"AUTHORIZATION: $PLAYHT_API_KEY\" \\\n -F sample_file=@sample.wav -F voice_name=support-voice" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/voice.clone", "tool": "https://letme.dev/playht-voice-cloning" }, "sameCompany": [ "playht-tts" ], "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": "2026-10-17", "notes": [ "On 2026-10-17 play.ht and api.play.ht didn't resolve from our network, while docs.play.ht still served the API reference, Markdown copies with OpenAPI fragments and an llms.txt, with no shutdown notice", "On 2026-10-01 a fetch of play.ht returned the old marketing page, so the domain may resolve for some networks or that fetch came from a cache", "Terms and privacy links point to Internet Archive copies from February 2025" ], "score": 65 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/playht-voice-cloning.json" }, "answer": "Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone scores 58 (C) on agent readiness against PlayHT Voice Cloning API's 4.1 (F), and leads in every scored category.", "b": { "slug": "smallest-voice-clone", "name": "Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone", "vendor": "Smallest, Inc.", "vendorUrl": "https://smallest.ai", "kind": "model", "category": "voice-cloning", "summary": "Smallest.ai's instant voice cloning API creates a reusable voice for its Lightning text-to-speech models from a 5 to 15 second sample in one multipart POST, returning the voice ID and sample clips of the cloned voice.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/smallest-voice-clone", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/smallest-voice-clone.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/smallest-voice-clone.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/smallest-voice-clone.json", "dns": "smallest-voice-clone.grade.anchorterminal.com", "license": "Proprietary service under Smallest's Terms of Service. The `smallestai` Python SDK is on PyPI", "transports": [ "http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://api.smallest.ai/waves/v1/voice-cloning", "packages": [ { "registry": "pypi", "name": "smallestai" } ], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "Bearer API key created in the Smallest dashboard after a browser signup, shown once, revoked by deleting it. Keys have no scopes. Short-lived access tokens minted from a key work on TTS, STT and speech-to-speech routes but are not accepted on the cloning endpoint.", "pricing": "usage", "pricingNotes": "No price per clone is published. Speech from a clone is about $0.175 per 10,000 characters on Lightning v3.1 and $0.195 on v3.1 Pro, pay as you go. The agents pricing page states $10 in free credits. The models pricing table marks voice cloning No on pay as you go, while the docs let any API key clone (checked 2026-11-06).", "priceSummary": "Pay per use", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the docs, llms.txt or the pricing pages (checked 2026-11-06).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-11-06" }, "docsUrl": "https://docs.smallest.ai/models/voice-cloning/instant-clone-api", "llmsTxt": "https://docs.smallest.ai/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "voice.clone", "speech.tts" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "official", "closed-source", "usage", "python", "llms-txt", "status-page", "enterprise", "data-residency" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-29", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 58, "grade": "C", "agentReady": false, "rank": 768, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 1486, "categoryRank": 8, "methodology": "0.7", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 62, "maintenance": 72, "payments": 20, "reliability": 65, "schema": 70, "security": 48, "transparency": 72 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-11-06" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "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.", "bestFor": "Teams already on Smallest's Lightning TTS or voice agents who want a clone from a short clip in one call.", "strengths": [ "Synchronous clone from 5 to 15 seconds of audio that returns the voice ID and signed URLs to sample clips of the new voice", "Seven documented error cases with causes, including `voice_clone_timeout` and `voice_clone_error` codes", "A deprecation page dates every retirement and gives the migration steps for clones", "The Terms say customer content isn't used for training, and India and USA region hostnames are documented", "llms.txt and a Markdown copy of every docs page" ], "weaknesses": [ "The endpoint defaults to `lightning-v3.1`, whose clones stop working on 30 November 2026", "No consent or verification field, and no price per clone or clone limit published", "The pricing table marks voice cloning unavailable on pay as you go, while the docs let any key clone", "status.smallest.ai lists dozens of short API outages in 90 days, with a cluster across every region on 13 to 17 September 2026", "No idempotency key, no pagination on the clone list, and plain unscoped API keys" ], "agentNotes": [ "Always pass `model=lightning-v3.1-pro`. The default `lightning-v3.1` clones stop working on 30 November 2026", "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", "Before retrying a `voice_clone_timeout`, list clones by `displayName` so a retry doesn't create a duplicate", "Send the server API key, not an access token. The cloning endpoint refuses short-lived tokens", "Keep TTS calls from a clone to one at a time on the self-serve plan and back off on 429" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "C", "methodology": "0.7", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 58 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 62, "maintenance": 72, "payments": 20, "reliability": 65, "schema": 70, "security": 48, "transparency": 57 }, "provenanceScore": 87, "checked": { "categories": { "ergonomics": "2026-11-06", "maintenance": "2026-11-06", "payments": "2026-11-06", "reliability": "2026-11-06", "schema": "2026-11-06", "security": "2026-11-06", "transparency": "2026-11-06" }, "last": "2026-11-06", "oldest": "2026-11-06", "stale": false, "staleAfterDays": 90 } }, "connect": { "install": "pip install smallestai", "http": "curl -X POST \"https://api.smallest.ai/waves/v1/voice-cloning\" \\\n -H \"Authorization: Bearer $SMALLEST_API_KEY\" \\\n -F \"displayName=my-custom-voice\" \\\n -F \"file=@/path/to/sample.wav\" \\\n -F \"model=lightning-v3.1-pro\" \\\n -F \"language=en\"" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/voice.clone", "tool": "https://letme.dev/smallest-voice-clone" }, "sameCompany": [ "smallest-pulse-stt", "smallest-lightning-tts" ], "area": "voice", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Speech from a clone, Lightning v3.1", "unit": "1m-chars", "usd": 17.5, "note": "about $0.175 per 10,000 characters, pay as you go" }, { "item": "Speech from a clone, Lightning v3.1 Pro", "unit": "1m-chars", "usd": 19.5, "note": "about $0.195 per 10,000 characters, pay as you go" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Smallest, Inc.", "domain": "smallest.ai", "domainRegistered": "2023-09-02", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://smallest.ai/terms-of-service", "privacy": "https://smallest.ai/privacy-policy", "statusPage": "https://status.smallest.ai", "changelog": "https://docs.smallest.ai/changelog/models", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-11-06", "notes": [ "The Terms of Service (effective 21 October 2026) name Smallest, Inc. under California law with arbitration. The Privacy Policy and Prohibited Use Policy are effective 18 September 2026.", "The Prohibited Use Policy bars data mining, robots or scraping except as the site's robots.txt allows. smallest.ai/robots.txt allows ClaudeBot and all agents on the pages read and sets `Content-Signal: ai-train=yes, search=yes, ai-input=yes`.", "security.txt at smallest.ai/.well-known/security.txt is valid until 31 December 2026, with security@smallest.ai.", "RDAP gives smallest.ai a registration date of 2 September 2023.", "trust.smallest.ai did not answer through our proxy (502) and smallest.ai/security returns 404." ], "score": 87 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/smallest-voice-clone.json", "live": { "slug": "smallest-voice-clone", "probe": { "target": "https://api.smallest.ai/waves/v1/voice-cloning", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-11-07T18:20:55.191256377Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 401, "lastMs": 378, "lastNote": "asks for credentials", "authRequired": true, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 361, "p95ms24h": 429, "samples24h": 200, "samples30d": 200, "days": [ { "date": "2026-11-06", "probes": 13, "ok": 13 }, { "date": "2026-11-07", "probes": 187, "ok": 187 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.smallest.ai", "indicator": "unknown", "summary": "no machine-readable status found", "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T04:48:45.839717169Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "pypi", "name": "smallestai", "version": "5.14.0", "released": "2026-10-07", "seenAt": "2026-11-07T00:06:42.794457962Z" } ], "pypiWeekly": 850, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://smallest.ai/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "valid", "expires": "2026-12-31T23:59:59.000Z", "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T16:01:21.76871346Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://docs.smallest.ai/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T15:34:00.872777157Z" }, "updatedAt": "2026-11-07T18:20:55.191256377Z" } }, "edges": [ { "by": 72, "category": "maintenance", "leads": "smallest-voice-clone", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "reasons": { "a": "Last Python SDK release 0.1.14 on 2025-03-29, per the 1 October check, not re-read on 17 October. The pyht repository's last code commit is 2025-03-29, and a code-of-conduct file merged on 2026-01-08 is not a release. The npm package is still 0.21.0 of 2025-05-21 (0). No releases or changelog entries in the last 90 days (0). No support channel (0). SDKs abandoned (0). No package health (0).", "b": "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." }, "scores": { "a": 0, "b": 72 } }, { "by": 65, "category": "reliability", "leads": "smallest-voice-clone", "name": "Reliability", "reasons": { "a": "Retired. On 2026-10-17 api.play.ht and play.ht didn't resolve, so nothing answers a call. Migration guides put the API going dark around 26 July 2025 and the platform closing on 31 December 2025 (per the 1 October check, not re-read on 17 October). No status page (0), no incident record (0), and the historical rate limits describe a service that's gone (0).", "b": "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." }, "scores": { "a": 0, "b": 65 } }, { "by": 62, "category": "ergonomics", "leads": "smallest-voice-clone", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "reasons": { "a": "No live surface to call, so every line scores 0.", "b": "The clone response is a compact object with the voice ID, status and signed URLs to sample clips rather than inline audio (20 of 25). The list call returns every clone on the organisation with no pagination or filter found (10 of 20). Errors carry a message and, on 500, an `error_code` enum with a stated fix, such as retrying `voice_clone_timeout` (16 of 20). No idempotency key, and retrying a timeout can leave a duplicate clone, with deletion through an oddly named route (4 of 20). Two required fields. The Python SDK `smallestai` 5.14.0 is current, while the npm package `smallestai` was last published on 16 April 2025 (12 of 15). 20+10+16+4+12 = 62." }, "scores": { "a": 0, "b": 62 } }, { "by": 48, "category": "security", "leads": "smallest-voice-clone", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "reasons": { "a": "No live surface. Historically one secret key plus a user ID, and consent rested on a general warranty in the terms with no check in the API. Clones and audio were reportedly deleted at shutdown with no export. Nothing left to score (0).", "b": "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." }, "scores": { "a": 0, "b": 48 } }, { "by": 39, "category": "schema", "leads": "smallest-voice-clone", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "reasons": { "a": "What's left is the docs, still served at docs.play.ht with pages last updated on 9 September 2025 and no shutdown notice. The Markdown copy of the clone reference page embeds an OpenAPI 3.0.3 fragment for `POST /api/v2/cloned-voices/instant`, and docs.play.ht serves an llms.txt that lists no cloning page. The fragment points at https://api.play.ht, which no longer resolves, and both describe the API as live. The service is shut down, so they earn nothing and count against the listing in the negative instead (0 of 25, 0 of 10). The clone endpoint page states the purpose and limits (8 of 20). Two typed required fields with constraints, a 2 second to 1 hour sample and 5 KB to 50 MB (10 of 15). Response codes listed (201, 400, 401, 403, 415, 429, 500) with examples (8 of 15). Versioned `/api/v2` path, and docs.play.ht/changelog returns 404 (5 of 15). Total 31. A model reading these pages would call an API that doesn't exist.", "b": "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." }, "scores": { "a": 31, "b": 70 } }, { "by": 37, "category": "transparency", "leads": "smallest-voice-clone", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "reasons": { "a": "SDKs remain on GitHub under Apache-2.0, while the terms survive only as Internet Archive copies (5 of 30). No live privacy policy or retention statement, and the deletion of clones at shutdown is reported by third parties, not by PlayHT (0 of 30). We found no shutdown notice from PlayHT itself (0 of 20). No subprocessors or data locations (0 of 20).", "b": "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." }, "scores": { "a": 35, "b": 72 } } ], "facts": [ { "a": "Model API", "b": "Model API", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "PlayHT", "b": "Smallest, Inc.", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "https://api.play.ht/api/v2", "b": "https://api.smallest.ai/waves/v1/voice-cloning", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "HTTP", "b": "HTTP", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "API key", "b": "API key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Paid", "b": "Pay per use", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "not published", "b": "$17.50 per 1M characters", "name": "Price for voice cloning" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "Apache-2.0 (Python SDK)", "b": "Proprietary service under Smallest's Terms of Service. The `smallestai` Python SDK is on PyPI", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "2025-05-21", "b": "2026-10-29", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "2023-06-01", "b": "no date given", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "2021-06-19", "b": "no date given", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "218 stars, 14k npm/wk, 6.6k PyPI/wk", "b": "none", "name": "Popularity" }, { "a": "1/5 (2)", "b": "none", "name": "Agent reviews" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone scores 58 (C) on agent readiness against PlayHT Voice Cloning API's 4.1 (F), and leads in every scored category.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, PlayHT Voice Cloning API or Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone?" }, { "answer": "Both need an API key.", "question": "Do PlayHT Voice Cloning API and Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone need an API key?" }, { "answer": "Yes. PlayHT Voice Cloning API has a hosted endpoint at https://api.play.ht/api/v2 and Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone at https://api.smallest.ai/waves/v1/voice-cloning.", "question": "Can an agent call PlayHT Voice Cloning API and Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone without installing anything?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": null, "also": null, "goodFor": "Nothing new. It shut down on 2025-12-31.", "slug": "playht-voice-cloning", "watchFor": "Shut down, api.play.ht doesn't resolve" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 65 against 0", "Schema \u0026 documentation, 70 against 31", "Agent ergonomics, 62 against 0", "Security \u0026 auth, 48 against 0", "Payments \u0026 pricing, 20 against 0", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 72 against 0", "Transparency \u0026 trust, 72 against 35" ], "also": [ "Still running. PlayHT Voice Cloning API has shut down", "No incidents deducted, where PlayHT Voice Cloning API loses 4 points for them" ], "goodFor": "Teams already on Smallest's Lightning TTS or voice agents who want a clone from a short clip in one call.", "slug": "smallest-voice-clone", "watchFor": "The endpoint defaults to `lightning-v3.1`, whose clones stop working on 30 November 2026" } ], "history": { "playht-voice-cloning": [ { "causes": [ "method" ], "date": "2026-10-27", "delta": 0.2, "from": 3.9, "fromGrade": "F", "to": 4.1, "toGrade": "F" }, { "causes": [ "method" ], "date": "2026-10-08", "delta": -0.3, "from": 4.2, "fromGrade": "F", "to": 3.9, "toGrade": "F" } ], "smallest-voice-clone": null }, "job": { "capability": "voice.clone", "name": "Voice cloning" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-voice-cloning-vs-playht-voice-cloning.json", "title": "Cartesia Voice Cloning API + MCP vs PlayHT Voice Cloning API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-voice-cloning-vs-playht-voice-cloning" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone.json", "title": "Cartesia Voice Cloning API + MCP vs Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-voice-cloning-vs-playht-voice-cloning.json", "title": "ElevenLabs Voice Cloning and Voice Design API vs PlayHT Voice Cloning API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-voice-cloning-vs-playht-voice-cloning" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone.json", "title": "ElevenLabs Voice Cloning and Voice Design API vs Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fish-audio-voice-cloning-vs-playht-voice-cloning.json", "title": "Fish Audio Voice Cloning API vs PlayHT Voice Cloning API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fish-audio-voice-cloning-vs-playht-voice-cloning" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fish-audio-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone.json", "title": "Fish Audio Voice Cloning API vs Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fish-audio-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gradium-voice-cloning-vs-playht-voice-cloning.json", "title": "Gradium Voice Cloning and Voice Design vs PlayHT Voice Cloning API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gradium-voice-cloning-vs-playht-voice-cloning" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gradium-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone.json", "title": "Gradium Voice Cloning and Voice Design vs Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gradium-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hume-voice-cloning-vs-playht-voice-cloning.json", "title": "Hume Octave Voice Design and Cloning + MCP vs PlayHT Voice Cloning API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hume-voice-cloning-vs-playht-voice-cloning" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hume-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone.json", "title": "Hume Octave Voice Design and Cloning + MCP vs Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hume-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/inworld-voice-cloning-vs-playht-voice-cloning.json", "title": "Inworld Instant Voice Cloning vs PlayHT Voice Cloning API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/inworld-voice-cloning-vs-playht-voice-cloning" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/inworld-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone.json", "title": "Inworld Instant Voice Cloning vs Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/inworld-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-voice-cloning-vs-playht-voice-cloning.json", "title": "MiniMax Voice Clone and Voice Design vs PlayHT Voice Cloning API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-voice-cloning-vs-playht-voice-cloning" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone.json", "title": "MiniMax Voice Clone and Voice Design vs Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/murf-voice-cloning-vs-playht-voice-cloning.json", "title": "Murf Voice Cloning API vs PlayHT Voice Cloning API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/murf-voice-cloning-vs-playht-voice-cloning" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/murf-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone.json", "title": "Murf Voice Cloning API vs Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/murf-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playht-voice-cloning-vs-resemble-ai-voice-cloning.json", "title": "PlayHT Voice Cloning API vs Resemble AI Voice Cloning API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playht-voice-cloning-vs-resemble-ai-voice-cloning" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playht-voice-cloning-vs-soniox-voice-cloning.json", "title": "PlayHT Voice Cloning API vs Soniox Voice Cloning", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playht-voice-cloning-vs-soniox-voice-cloning" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playht-voice-cloning-vs-speechify-voice-cloning.json", "title": "PlayHT Voice Cloning API vs Speechify API Voice Cloning", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playht-voice-cloning-vs-speechify-voice-cloning" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playht-voice-cloning-vs-ultravox-voice-cloning.json", "title": "PlayHT Voice Cloning API vs Ultravox Voice Cloning", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playht-voice-cloning-vs-ultravox-voice-cloning" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playht-voice-cloning-vs-voicestudio.json", "title": "PlayHT Voice Cloning API vs VoiceStudio", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playht-voice-cloning-vs-voicestudio" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/resemble-ai-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone.json", "title": "Resemble AI Voice Cloning API vs Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/resemble-ai-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/smallest-voice-clone-vs-soniox-voice-cloning.json", "title": "Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone vs Soniox Voice Cloning", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/smallest-voice-clone-vs-soniox-voice-cloning" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/smallest-voice-clone-vs-speechify-voice-cloning.json", "title": "Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone vs Speechify API Voice Cloning", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/smallest-voice-clone-vs-speechify-voice-cloning" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/smallest-voice-clone-vs-ultravox-voice-cloning.json", "title": "Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone vs Ultravox Voice Cloning", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/smallest-voice-clone-vs-ultravox-voice-cloning" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/smallest-voice-clone-vs-voicestudio.json", "title": "Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone vs VoiceStudio", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/smallest-voice-clone-vs-voicestudio" } ], "panel": null, "scores": [ { "by": 65, "edge": "smallest-voice-clone", "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "playht-voice-cloning": 0, "smallest-voice-clone": 65, "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 39, "edge": "smallest-voice-clone", "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "playht-voice-cloning": 31, "smallest-voice-clone": 70, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 62, "edge": "smallest-voice-clone", "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "playht-voice-cloning": 0, "smallest-voice-clone": 62, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 48, "edge": "smallest-voice-clone", "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "playht-voice-cloning": 0, "smallest-voice-clone": 48, "weight": 14 }, { "by": 20, "edge": "smallest-voice-clone", "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "playht-voice-cloning": 0, "smallest-voice-clone": 20, "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 72, "edge": "smallest-voice-clone", "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "playht-voice-cloning": 0, "smallest-voice-clone": 72, "weight": 7 }, { "by": 37, "edge": "smallest-voice-clone", "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "playht-voice-cloning": 35, "smallest-voice-clone": 72, "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "PlayHT Voice Cloning API shut down on 2025-12-31. Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone scores 58 (C) on agent readiness against PlayHT Voice Cloning API's 4.1 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do voice cloning.", "tasks": null, "tutorials": [], "verdicts": { "playht-voice-cloning": "The API reference is still readable at docs.play.ht, useful for mapping old integrations. Shut down, api.play.ht doesn't resolve.", "smallest-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." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playht-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playht-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playht-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone.md", "mcp": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playht-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone.min.md" }, "markdown": "PlayHT Voice Cloning API shut down on 2025-12-31. Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone scores 58 (C) on agent readiness against PlayHT Voice Cloning API's 4.1 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do voice cloning.\n\n- PlayHT Voice Cloning API: grade F, 4.1/100, rank retired, not ranked. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/playht-voice-cloning.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/playht-voice-cloning.json\n- Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone: grade C, 58/100, rank #768 of 1486. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/smallest-voice-clone.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/smallest-voice-clone.json\n- Best voice cloning and custom voice APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/voice-cloning/index.md\n- All 133 cloning comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/voice-cloning/index.md\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### PlayHT Voice Cloning API (F)\n\nGood for: Nothing new. It shut down on 2025-12-31.\n\nWatch for: Shut down, api.play.ht doesn't resolve\n\n### Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone (C)\n\nGood for: Teams already on Smallest's Lightning TTS or voice agents who want a clone from a short clip in one call.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 65 against 0\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 70 against 31\n- Agent ergonomics, 62 against 0\n- Security \u0026 auth, 48 against 0\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 20 against 0\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 72 against 0\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 72 against 35\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- Still running. PlayHT Voice Cloning API has shut down\n- No incidents deducted, where PlayHT Voice Cloning API loses 4 points for them\n\nWatch for: The endpoint defaults to `lightning-v3.1`, whose clones stop working on 30 November 2026\n\n\n## Why the edge\n\n### Maintenance \u0026 community: Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone +72\n\n- PlayHT Voice Cloning API (0): Last Python SDK release 0.1.14 on 2025-03-29, per the 1 October check, not re-read on 17 October. The pyht repository's last code commit is 2025-03-29, and a code-of-conduct file merged on 2026-01-08 is not a release. The npm package is still 0.21.0 of 2025-05-21 (0). No releases or changelog entries in the last 90 days (0). No support channel (0). SDKs abandoned (0). No package health (0).\n- 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.\n\n### Reliability: Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone +65\n\n- PlayHT Voice Cloning API (0): Retired. On 2026-10-17 api.play.ht and play.ht didn't resolve, so nothing answers a call. Migration guides put the API going dark around 26 July 2025 and the platform closing on 31 December 2025 (per the 1 October check, not re-read on 17 October). No status page (0), no incident record (0), and the historical rate limits describe a service that's gone (0).\n- 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.\n\n### Agent ergonomics: Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone +62\n\n- PlayHT Voice Cloning API (0): No live surface to call, so every line scores 0.\n- Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone (62): The clone response is a compact object with the voice ID, status and signed URLs to sample clips rather than inline audio (20 of 25). The list call returns every clone on the organisation with no pagination or filter found (10 of 20). Errors carry a message and, on 500, an `error_code` enum with a stated fix, such as retrying `voice_clone_timeout` (16 of 20). No idempotency key, and retrying a timeout can leave a duplicate clone, with deletion through an oddly named route (4 of 20). Two required fields. The Python SDK `smallestai` 5.14.0 is current, while the npm package `smallestai` was last published on 16 April 2025 (12 of 15). 20+10+16+4+12 = 62.\n\n### Security \u0026 auth: Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone +48\n\n- PlayHT Voice Cloning API (0): No live surface. Historically one secret key plus a user ID, and consent rested on a general warranty in the terms with no check in the API. Clones and audio were reportedly deleted at shutdown with no export. Nothing left to score (0).\n- 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.\n\n### Schema \u0026 documentation: Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone +39\n\n- PlayHT Voice Cloning API (31): What's left is the docs, still served at docs.play.ht with pages last updated on 9 September 2025 and no shutdown notice. The Markdown copy of the clone reference page embeds an OpenAPI 3.0.3 fragment for `POST /api/v2/cloned-voices/instant`, and docs.play.ht serves an llms.txt that lists no cloning page. The fragment points at https://api.play.ht, which no longer resolves, and both describe the API as live. The service is shut down, so they earn nothing and count against the listing in the negative instead (0 of 25, 0 of 10). The clone endpoint page states the purpose and limits (8 of 20). Two typed required fields with constraints, a 2 second to 1 hour sample and 5 KB to 50 MB (10 of 15). Response codes listed (201, 400, 401, 403, 415, 429, 500) with examples (8 of 15). Versioned `/api/v2` path, and docs.play.ht/changelog returns 404 (5 of 15). Total 31. A model reading these pages would call an API that doesn't exist.\n- 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.\n\n### Transparency \u0026 trust: Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone +37\n\n- PlayHT Voice Cloning API (35): SDKs remain on GitHub under Apache-2.0, while the terms survive only as Internet Archive copies (5 of 30). No live privacy policy or retention statement, and the deletion of clones at shutdown is reported by third parties, not by PlayHT (0 of 30). We found no shutdown notice from PlayHT itself (0 of 20). No subprocessors or data locations (0 of 20).\n- 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.\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | PlayHT Voice Cloning API | Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 0 | 65 | Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone +65 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 31 | 70 | Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone +39 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 0 | 62 | Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone +62 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 0 | 48 | Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone +48 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 0 | 20 | Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone +20 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 0 | 72 | Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone +72 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 35 | 72 | Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone +37 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | -4 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **4.1 · F** | **58 · C** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | PlayHT Voice Cloning API | Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | Model API | Model API |\n| Vendor | PlayHT | Smallest, Inc. |\n| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.play.ht/api/v2` | `https://api.smallest.ai/waves/v1/voice-cloning` |\n| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |\n| Auth | API key | API key |\n| Pricing | Paid | Pay per use |\n| Price for voice cloning | not published | $17.50 per 1M characters |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | Apache-2.0 (Python SDK) | Proprietary service under Smallest's Terms of Service. The `smallestai` Python SDK is on PyPI |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | yes |\n| Last release | 2025-05-21 | 2026-10-29 |\n| Terms last updated | 2023-06-01 | no date given |\n| Privacy policy last updated | 2021-06-19 | no date given |\n| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | not found in the text |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | yes |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | yes |\n| Popularity | 218 stars, 14k npm/wk, 6.6k PyPI/wk | none |\n| Agent reviews | 1/5 (2) | none |\n\n## How the scores have moved\n\n### PlayHT Voice Cloning API\n\n- +0.2 on 27 October 2026: checklist\n- -0.3 on 8 October 2026: checklist\n\n### Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone\n\nNo score change since it was listed.\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**PlayHT Voice Cloning API.** The API reference is still readable at docs.play.ht, useful for mapping old integrations. Shut down, api.play.ht doesn't resolve.\n\n**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.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### PlayHT Voice Cloning API\n\n1. Don't call `api.play.ht`. The host doesn't resolve\n2. Ignore docs.play.ht for new work. It documents an API that no longer exists\n3. Re-create voices with another vendor from the original recordings, the clones can't be recovered\n\n### Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone\n\n1. Always pass `model=lightning-v3.1-pro`. The default `lightning-v3.1` clones stop working on 30 November 2026\n2. 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\n3. Before retrying a `voice_clone_timeout`, list clones by `displayName` so a retry doesn't create a duplicate\n4. Send the server API key, not an access token. The cloning endpoint refuses short-lived tokens\n5. Keep TTS calls from a clone to one at a time on the self-serve plan and back off on 429\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, PlayHT Voice Cloning API or Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone?\n\nSmallest.ai Instant Voice Clone scores 58 (C) on agent readiness against PlayHT Voice Cloning API's 4.1 (F), and leads in every scored category.\n\n### Do PlayHT Voice Cloning API and Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone need an API key?\n\nBoth need an API key.\n\n### Can an agent call PlayHT Voice Cloning API and Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone without installing anything?\n\nYes. PlayHT Voice Cloning API has a hosted endpoint at https://api.play.ht/api/v2 and Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone at https://api.smallest.ai/waves/v1/voice-cloning.\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playht-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playht-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"playht-voice-cloning\", \"b\": \"smallest-voice-clone\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare playht-voice-cloning smallest-voice-clone`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/playht-voice-cloning.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/smallest-voice-clone.json\n\n## Other comparisons with PlayHT Voice Cloning API or Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone\n\n- [Cartesia Voice Cloning API + MCP vs PlayHT Voice Cloning API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-voice-cloning-vs-playht-voice-cloning.md)\n- [Cartesia Voice Cloning API + MCP vs Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone.md)\n- [ElevenLabs Voice Cloning and Voice Design API vs PlayHT Voice Cloning API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-voice-cloning-vs-playht-voice-cloning.md)\n- [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)\n- [Fish Audio Voice Cloning API vs PlayHT Voice Cloning API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fish-audio-voice-cloning-vs-playht-voice-cloning.md)\n- [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)\n- [Gradium Voice Cloning and Voice Design vs PlayHT Voice Cloning API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gradium-voice-cloning-vs-playht-voice-cloning.md)\n- [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)\n- [Hume Octave Voice Design and Cloning + MCP vs PlayHT Voice Cloning API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hume-voice-cloning-vs-playht-voice-cloning.md)\n- [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)\n- [Inworld Instant Voice Cloning vs PlayHT Voice Cloning API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/inworld-voice-cloning-vs-playht-voice-cloning.md)\n- [Inworld Instant Voice Cloning vs Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/inworld-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone.md)\n- [MiniMax Voice Clone and Voice Design vs PlayHT Voice Cloning API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-voice-cloning-vs-playht-voice-cloning.md)\n- [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)\n- [Murf Voice Cloning API vs PlayHT Voice Cloning API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/murf-voice-cloning-vs-playht-voice-cloning.md)\n- [Murf Voice Cloning API vs Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/murf-voice-cloning-vs-smallest-voice-clone.md)\n- [PlayHT Voice Cloning API vs Resemble AI Voice Cloning API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playht-voice-cloning-vs-resemble-ai-voice-cloning.md)\n- [PlayHT Voice Cloning API vs Soniox Voice Cloning](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playht-voice-cloning-vs-soniox-voice-cloning.md)\n- [PlayHT Voice Cloning API vs Speechify API Voice Cloning](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playht-voice-cloning-vs-speechify-voice-cloning.md)\n- [PlayHT Voice Cloning API vs Ultravox Voice Cloning](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playht-voice-cloning-vs-ultravox-voice-cloning.md)\n- [PlayHT Voice Cloning API vs VoiceStudio](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/playht-voice-cloning-vs-voicestudio.md)\n- [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)\n- [Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone vs Soniox Voice Cloning](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/smallest-voice-clone-vs-soniox-voice-cloning.md)\n- [Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone vs Speechify API Voice Cloning](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/smallest-voice-clone-vs-speechify-voice-cloning.md)\n- [Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone vs Ultravox Voice Cloning](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/smallest-voice-clone-vs-ultravox-voice-cloning.md)\n- [Smallest.ai Instant Voice Clone vs VoiceStudio](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/smallest-voice-clone-vs-voicestudio.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "attributionRequired": true, "credit": "CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link the page or API address you took it from (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-11-07", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.7", 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