Last updated: 28 June 2026
OpenAI TTS Pricing
OpenAI offers TTS through its API with three model tiers: tts-1 (standard), tts-1-hd (high definition), and gpt-4o-mini-tts (latest multimodal model with steerable prosody). Pricing is character-based for tts-1/tts-1-hd and token-based for gpt-4o-mini-tts.
Models
3
tts-1, tts-1-hd, gpt-4o-mini-tts
From
$0.015
per 1K chars
Quality
4.1/5
Latency
250ms
time-to-first-audio
Languages
50
supported
Free Tier
AvailableAvailable Models & Pricing
OpenAI tts-1
Lowest costPay-as-you-go. 6 preset voices, no cloning.
Quality
3.8/5
Latency
300ms
Languages
50
OpenAI tts-1-hd
Pay-as-you-go. Higher fidelity, no streaming.
Quality
4.1/5
Latency
350ms
Languages
50
OpenAI gpt-4o-mini-tts
Pay-as-you-go. 11 voices, steerable prosody via prompts.
Quality
3.7/5
Latency
250ms
Languages
50
OpenAI tts-1: $5 credit free (one-time) — New accounts
OpenAI tts-1-hd: $5 credit free (one-time) — New accounts
OpenAI gpt-4o-mini-tts: $5 credit free (one-time) — New accounts
Cost Examples
| Characters | tts-1 | tts-1-hd | gpt-4o-mini-tts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1K | $0.015 | $0.030 | $0.015 |
| 10K | $0.150 | $0.300 | $0.150 |
| 100K | $1.50 | $3.00 | $1.50 |
| 1M | $15.00 | $30.00 | $15.00 |
When to Use OpenAI
Best for
Developers already using the OpenAI ecosystem who want straightforward TTS at scale.
Key strengths
- ✓Simple API integration
- ✓Multiple quality tiers
- ✓Good language support
- ✓Steerable prosody (gpt-4o-mini-tts)
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does OpenAI text-to-speech cost?
OpenAI offers three TTS models: tts-1 at $15 per million characters, tts-1-hd at $30 per million characters, and gpt-4o-mini-tts with token-based pricing (~$0.015/1K chars equivalent). All are pay-as-you-go with no monthly minimums.
What is the difference between OpenAI tts-1 and tts-1-hd?
OpenAI tts-1 costs $15/1M chars and is optimized for low-latency streaming. tts-1-hd costs $30/1M chars (2× more) and produces higher-fidelity audio but does not support streaming. For most use cases, tts-1 offers the best value.
How much does OpenAI gpt-4o-mini-tts cost?
OpenAI gpt-4o-mini-tts uses token-based pricing at $0.60/1M input tokens + $12/1M audio output tokens, working out to approximately $0.015 per 1,000 characters. It supports 11 voices and steerable prosody via natural language prompts.
Is OpenAI TTS cheaper than ElevenLabs?
Yes — OpenAI tts-1 at $15/1M chars is significantly cheaper than ElevenLabs, which costs $0.182–$0.20 per 1K chars (~$182–$200/1M chars equivalent). However, ElevenLabs scores higher on voice quality benchmarks (4.5/5 vs. 3.8/5) and offers voice cloning.