New: Kitten TTS v0.8 is out -- 15M, 40M, and 80M parameter models now available.
Kitten TTS is an open-source, lightweight text-to-speech library built on ONNX. With models ranging from 15M to 80M parameters (25-80 MB on disk), it delivers high-quality voice synthesis on CPU without requiring a GPU.
Status: Developer preview -- APIs may change between releases.
Commercial support is available. For integration assistance, custom voices, or enterprise licensing, contact us.
from kittentts import KittenTTS
model = KittenTTS("KittenML/kitten-tts-mini-0.8")
audio = model.generate("This high-quality TTS model runs without a GPU.", voice="Jasper")
import soundfile as sf
sf.write("output.wav", audio, 24000)
Advanced Usage
# Adjust speech speed (default: 1.0)
audio = model.generate("Hello, world.", voice="Luna", speed=1.2)
# Save directly to a file
model.generate_to_file("Hello, world.", "output.wav", voice="Bruno", speed=0.9)
# List available voices
print(model.available_voices)
# ['Bella', 'Jasper', 'Luna', 'Bruno', 'Rosie', 'Hugo', 'Kiki', 'Leo']
Using with GPU
pip install -r requirements_gpu.txt
m = KittenTTS("KittenML/kitten-tts-mini-0.8", backend="cuda")
Check out example_cuda.py
API Reference
KittenTTS(model_name, cache_dir=None)
Load a model from Hugging Face Hub.
| Parameter | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| model_name | str | "KittenML/kitten-tts-nano-0.8" | Hugging Face repository ID |
| cache_dir | str | None | Local directory for caching downloaded model files |
model.generate(text, voice, speed, clean_text)
Synthesize speech from text, returning a NumPy array of audio samples at 24 kHz.
| Parameter | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| text | str | -- | Input text to synthesize |
| voice | str | "expr-voice-5-m" | Voice name (see available voices) |
| speed | float | 1.0 | Speech speed multiplier |
| clean_text | bool | False | Preprocess text (expand numbers, currencies, etc.) |
from kittentts import normalize_text
normalized = normalize_text("Dr. Rivera paid $12.50 at 3:05 p.m.")
# "Doctor Rivera paid twelve dollars and fifty cents at three oh five p m."
result = normalize_text("Fig. 2", return_spans=True)
print(result.text)
print(result.spans)
When return_spans=True, the result includes original-to-normalized character spans for changed segments such as abbreviations, dates, times, numbers, currency, URLs, and punctuation.
model.available_voices
Returns a list of available voice names: ['Bella', 'Jasper', 'Luna', 'Bruno', 'Rosie', 'Hugo', 'Kiki', 'Leo']
System Requirements
Operating system: Linux, macOS, or Windows
Python: 3.8 or later
Hardware: Runs on CPU; no GPU required
Disk space: 25-80 MB depending on model variant
A virtual environment (conda, venv, or similar) is recommended to avoid dependency conflicts.
We offer commercial support for teams integrating Kitten TTS into their products. This includes integration assistance, custom voice development, and enterprise licensing.
Contact us or email info@stellonlabs.com to discuss your requirements.