Voice & audio
kokoro-tts
Reads your EPUBs and PDFs aloud, chapter by chapter
★ 1.9k
August 2026
MIT
Voice & audio
What we checked ourselves
Not copied from the project's own blurb. These are things we opened and verified, with the date.
- 8 Sept 2026We checked that the link to the project still resolves.
- 14 Aug 2026We read the licence text itself (LICENSE). No unusual restrictions were stated.
- 1 Sept 2026We read the project's own documentation and found no sign that development has stopped.
Where this sits among the 119 tools we list in Voice & audio
- No API key required114 of 119
- Keeps your data on your own machine31 of 119
- Commercial use confirmed as allowed56 of 119
- Requires terminal commands93 that do not →
Only 25 of the 119 meet all of the conditions above.
Counted from our own checks: every tool we list is examined against the same criteria.
What it does
Command-line text-to-speech built on Kokoro that takes EPUB, PDF or plain text and produces audio split by chapter, with voice blending, adjustable speed and streaming playback across several languages. Converting a book you own for your own listening is private use; distributing the resulting audio is not. DRM-protected files cannot be read, and synthesised speech still trips over names and unusual readings. MIT.
Summary based on the project's own description. The Japanese page has a fuller beginner guide: setup difficulty, what to prepare, and a step-by-step start.
Screenshots & visuals
Before you start
- Setup difficultySome setup needed
- Command lineRequired
- API keyNot required
- Sends data onlineNo
Judged automatically from the project's own metadata. Always confirm on the official page.
kokoro-tts FAQ
- Is kokoro-tts free?
- Yes. It runs on your own machine, so there is no usage-based cost either.
- Do I need to install anything or write code to use kokoro-tts?
- It needs the command line. If you are not comfortable typing commands, expect to get stuck during setup.
- Does kokoro-tts work on a phone?
- No. It needs a computer.
- Can I use kokoro-tts commercially?
- The licence is MIT, which permits commercial use. Conditions such as keeping the copyright notice still apply, so read the licence text before shipping it inside something.
How it compares
The conditions that decide whether you can actually use it, side by side.
| Tool | Command line | API key | Sends data out | Phone | Commercial use |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| kokoro-tts (this page) | Required | Not needed | No | No | Yes |
| abogen | Required | Not needed | Yes | No | Yes |
| Whisper | Required | Not needed | No | No | Yes |
| Real-Time-Voice-Cloning | Required | Not needed | Yes | No | Not verified |
"Sends data out" means your input is uploaded to someone's server. Pick "No" when the material cannot leave your organisation.