Show HN: Three new Kitten TTS models – smallest less than 25MB
Kitten TTS v0.8 introduces ultra-lightweight text-to-speech models starting from 15M parameters, optimized for CPU inference without requiring a GPU.
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.
- Features
- Available Models
- Demo
- Quick Start
- API Reference
- System Requirements
- Roadmap
- Commercial Support
- Community and Support
- License
Ultra-lightweight-- Model sizes from 25 MB (int8) to 80 MB, suitable for edge deploymentCPU-optimized-- ONNX-based inference runs efficiently without a GPU8 built-in voices-- Bella, Jasper, Luna, Bruno, Rosie, Hugo, Kiki, and LeoAdjustable speech speed-- Control playback rate via thespeed
parameterText preprocessing-- Built-in pipeline handles numbers, currencies, units, and more24 kHz output-- High-quality audio at a standard sample rate
| Model | Parameters | Size | Download | |---|---|---|---| | kitten-tts-mini | 80M | 80 MB | KittenML/kitten-tts-mini-0.8 | | kitten-tts-micro | 40M | 41 MB | KittenML/kitten-tts-micro-0.8 | | kitten-tts-nano | 15M | 56 MB | KittenML/kitten-tts-nano-0.8 | | kitten-tts-nano (int8) | 15M | 25 MB | KittenML/kitten-tts-nano-0.8-int8 |
Note:Some users have reported issues with thekitten-tts-nano-0.8-int8
model. If you encounter problems, please open an issue.
final_vid.mp4
Try Kitten TTS directly in your browser on Hugging Face Spaces.
- Python 3.8 or later
- pip
pip install https://github.com/KittenML/KittenTTS/releases/download/0.8.1/kittentts-0.8.1-py3-none-any.whl
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)
# 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']
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 |
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.) |
Synthesize speech and write directly to an audio file.
| Parameter | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
text |
str |
-- | Input text to synthesize |
output_path |
str |
-- | Path to save the audio file |
voice |
str |
"expr-voice-5-m" |
Voice name |
speed |
float |
1.0 |
Speech speed multiplier |
sample_rate |
int |
24000 |
Audio sample rate in Hz |
clean_text |
bool |
True |
Preprocess text (expand numbers, currencies, etc.) |
Returns a list of available voice names: ['Bella', 'Jasper', 'Luna', 'Bruno', 'Rosie', 'Hugo', 'Kiki', 'Leo']
**Operating system:Linux, macOS, or WindowsPython:3.8 or laterHardware:Runs on CPU; no GPU requiredDisk space:**25-80 MB depending on model variant
A virtual environment (conda, venv, or similar) is recommended to avoid dependency conflicts.
- Release optimized inference engine
- Release mobile SDK
- Release higher quality TTS models
- Release multilingual TTS
- Release KittenASR
- Need anything else? Let us know
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 [email protected] to discuss your requirements.
**Discord:Join the communityWebsite:kittenml.comCustom support:Request formEmail:[email protected]Issues:**GitHub Issues
This project is licensed under the Apache License 2.0.
Source: Hacker News
