Piper
A fast, local neural text-to-speech system that runs offline on modest hardware.
- Stars
- 11.3k
- Forks
- 1.1k
- Licence
- MIT
- Language
- C++
- Last update
- 1.2 years ago
- Type
- App
This repository is archived and no longer maintained.
What it is
Piper turns written text into spoken audio using neural network voices that run on your own computer rather than a cloud service. It is designed to be fast enough for small devices such as a Raspberry Pi. The project is archived; its README says development has moved to a different repository, piper1-gpl.
- Generate spoken audio from text files on your own machine
- Add offline voice responses to a local assistant or smart home setup
- Produce narration clips from scripts without sending text to a cloud service
Great for
- Developers who want offline speech output in a local app or home automation setup
- Hobbyists experimenting with text-to-speech on low-power hardware
- People who need to keep text and audio on their own machine
Not ideal for
- Anyone who needs active maintenance or new updates, since the project is archived and development has moved elsewhere
- Users who want a polished point-and-click app, because the README does not describe a graphical interface
- Projects needing guaranteed support or security patches, since the archived repository offers none
How to get it
- 1
Download the app
Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/rhasspy/piper - 2
Run it
- Check the README at the new home, https://github.com/OHF-Voice/piper1-gpl, for current install instructions
- Download a prebuilt release archive for your platform from the releases page if you want the archived version
- Extract the archive and run the included piper binary with a voice model and text input
- 3
Get the most out of it
- Use the samples site linked as the homepage to hear voices before installing
- Follow the pointer to piper1-gpl for the actively developed version
- Check the release assets list for a build matching your operating system and CPU
Downloads
Strengths
- Runs locally without a cloud account or internet connection
- Designed to be fast on modest hardware
- Released under the permissive MIT license
Trade-offs
- Archived, so no further development happens here; the README points to piper1-gpl instead
- The README provided is truncated and gives no usage details, so setup specifics are unverified
- Latest release is from 2023, so voice quality and platform support may lag newer tools
How it compares
| Project | Stars | Type | Level | Updated | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| piper (this) | 11.3k | App | intermediate | 1.2 years ago | Developers who want offline speech output in a local app or home automation setup |
| GPT-SoVITS | 64.6k | App | intermediate | 5 days ago | Hobbyists who want to experiment with cloning a voice they have permission to use |
| OpenVoice | 38.1k | AI model / agent | advanced | 1.5 years ago | Developers who want to build voice cloning or text-to-speech features into their own projects |
| leon | 17.6k | App | intermediate | 4 days ago | Developers who want to inspect or extend an open-source assistant |
| Amphion | 10.3k | Library | advanced | 8 months ago | Researchers who want reproducible implementations of speech and audio generation models |
| supertonic | 13.8k | App | intermediate | 2 months ago | Developers who want to experiment with local, offline speech synthesis |
Stats synced from GitHub. The assessment above was drafted with AI from the project's README on 2026-10-29 and may miss recent changes — check the README before relying on a command. MIT licence: free to use, modify and distribute, including commercially, as long as you keep the copyright notice.