Text to speech
Best open source alternatives to ZenMic 3 open-source tools, licences checked on GitHub
- Open-source tools
- 3
- Licences
- 2
- Most GitHub stars
- 64,408
- Self-host stated
- 1
Data checked Oct 14, 2026 against the vendors' own pages. How we verify
We found 3 open-source tools that share a category with ZenMic. Each licence is GitHub's own value for the repository, and each tool's website says the product is open source.
Licences: GPL-3.0 (2) and AGPL-3.0 (1). GPL-family licences require you to publish the source of modified versions you distribute (AGPL also when you run them as a network service); permissive licences such as MIT and Apache-2.0 do not.
VoiceStudio has the most GitHub stars here (64,408, checked Oct 14, 2026). Stars measure attention on GitHub, not quality.
2 of them are ranked on the text to speech tools scorecard. Order: tools in ZenMic's own market come first, then the rest, ranked tools by rank, then by GitHub stars.
1 tool states a self-hosting option on its own site; for the others we found no statement either way.
Open source ZenMic alternatives compared
| # | Tool | Licence | GitHub stars | Repository | Self-host | Paid from, monthly | Free plan | Score | Data checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  cboard | GPL-3.0 | 762 | cboard-org/cboard | – | $8/mo | Yes | 92/100 | Oct 14, 2026 |
| 2 |  VoiceStudio | AGPL-3.0 | 64,408 | debpalash/VoiceStudio | – | Not offered | Yes | 84/100 | Oct 14, 2026 |
| 3 |  pigeon-pod | GPL-3.0 | 1,194 | aizhimou/pigeon-pod | Yes | $6.90/mo | Yes, 1 storage gb | Not ranked | Oct 14, 2026 |
Each value links the page it was read from (hover for the check date).
– = not published by the vendor, or not verified yet.
How each one differs from ZenMic
- cboard · GPL-3.0
Open-source communication board app that pairs symbols and text with spoken output for people with speech and language impairments.
- Licence: GPL-3.0 (GitHub, checked Oct 14, 2026) source
- GitHub stars: 762 (checked Oct 14, 2026) source
- Vendor says: "Communication for Everyone Cboard is an open-source app for children and adults with speech and language impairments, aiding" source
- Hosted or paid plan: $8 billed monthly; not compared with ZenMic, which publishes no price on the same billing basis source
- Score: 92/100, #7 of 41
- In numbers: 3 published plans and a free plan. source
3 of 10 tracked details verified
Homepage captured Oct 14, 2026 - VoiceStudio · AGPL-3.0
Open-source desktop application for local voice cloning, voice design, video dubbing, dictation, transcription and audiobook creation.
- Licence: AGPL-3.0 (GitHub, checked Oct 14, 2026) source
- GitHub stars: 64,408 (checked Oct 14, 2026) source
- Vendor says: ". s h Library ProNew Docs Cloud 50,000 Download Menu Open Source AI Voice Studio fully-local voice cloning, voice design, video dubbing," source
- Hosted or paid plan: $8.25 per user per month billed annually; not compared with ZenMic, which publishes no price on the same billing basis source
- Score: 84/100, #15 of 41
- Verified features: Voice cloning, AI dubbing / translation
4 of 10 tracked details verified
- pigeon-pod · GPL-3.0
Service that turns YouTube channels and playlists into private podcast RSS feeds with automatic syncing and content filters.
- Licence: GPL-3.0 (GitHub, checked Oct 14, 2026) source
- GitHub stars: 1,194 (checked Oct 14, 2026) source
- Vendor says: "/ Cloud OP / Self-hosted GitHub-backed releases for the open-source and self-hosted product line. 2026-06-05 Multi-user Support & Role-Based Access" source
- Self-host: stated on the vendor's site source
- Hosted or paid plan: $6.90 billed monthly; not compared with ZenMic, which publishes no price on the same billing basis source
- In numbers: 3 published plans, a free plan and 1 supported platform. source
1 of 10 tracked details verified
How we picked
- Open source only: the licence is GitHub's SPDX value for the tool's repository (NOASSERTION or no licence is left out), and the tool's own website or our grounded summary says the product is open source. A company that merely publishes a repository is not counted.
- Same category or overlapping use: the tool lists at least one category the tool on this page lists; tools in its own market come first.
- Order: tools ranked on the category scorecard by rank (at least 60% of the weight with verified data), then by GitHub stars, then name. Stars are as of the date shown.
- Self-hosting is shown only when the vendor's site states it. A feature counts as missing only when the vendor's page states it; a feature the vendor does not mention is not listed either way.
- This page is built only when at least 3 tools qualify.
Every value is read from the vendor's own pages (or GitHub for licences and stars) and shown with the date we checked it. A value we could not verify is shown as a dash, never estimated, and never read as a “no”. We did not test these tools hands-on unless a listing says so. Methodology
The scorecard behind the ranks
Every one of these text to speech tools is scored by the same 8 criteria (scorecard v1). Each criterion gives 0 to 100 from the vendor's published data; the total is the weighted average. A criterion without verified data is left out and the other weights are re-normalised. A tool with under 60% of the weight covered is listed as not ranked, and so is a tool with no verified price and fewer than 2 verified features (“needs a verified price”); each score shows how many criteria it is based on. The core criteria are the same in every category; the category criteria are specific to text to speech tools. Nobody gets custom weights, including our own products.
| Criterion | Weight | Type | What we measure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price | 25% | Core | Price per month of the cheapest paid plan, against the prices of other text to speech tools on the same billing basis (monthly-billed prices against monthly, annual-billed against annual).Log scale. Billed monthly: $8/month or less = 100, $99 or more = 0. Only billed annually: $5/month or less = 100, $28 or more = 0. Only free plans = 100. Usage-priced and one-time plans are not scored. |
| Free plan or trial | 15% | Core | Whether you can use the tool before paying: a free plan, or failing that a free trial, as shown on the vendor's pricing page.Free plan = 100. No free plan but a free trial = 60. The pricing page lists plans but shows neither = 0. No plans read = not scored. |
| Pricing transparency | 10% | Core | How much of the pricing is public: the share of plans with a published price ("contact sales" counts against), and whether there are at least 3 published tiers.80 x (plans with a public price / plans listed) + 20 x (public plans, up to 3) / 3. No plans read = not scored. |
| Verified features | 15% | Core | How many of the 5 features we track for this category the vendor's own pages verifiably show (voice cloning, commercial use on paid plans, text-to-speech api, ai dubbing / translation, team access). This counts verified features only: a tool that documents less scores lower here, and only here.Linear: verified features / 3 (half the tracked list) x 100, capped at 100. No tracked feature verified = not scored. |
| API, integrations and export | 10% | Core | Whether a public API exists, how many integrations the vendor states, and whether the vendor documents a way to export your data.Average of the parts with data: public API yes = 100, no = 0; integrations on a log scale (100 or more = 100); a documented data export = 100. None verified = not scored. |
| Languages | 10% | Category | Number of languages the vendor says it offers.Linear scale: 100 or more = 100. No stated count = not scored. |
| Voice library | 10% | Category | Number of stock voices the vendor says it offers.Log scale: 1,000 or more = 100. No stated count = not scored. |
| Cost per user (team of 3) | 5% | Category | Monthly price per user for a team of 3, on the cheapest paid plan that is priced per seat or states room for at least 3 users.Log scale: $8.25 per user or less = 100, $99.67 or more = 0. Plans that do not state a user limit are not used. No such plan = not scored. |
Sources are vendor pricing pages, docs and changelogs, each with the date we checked it. We did not test these tools hands-on unless a listing says so. Full formulas: methodology.
Questions, answered from the data
Is there an open source alternative to ZenMic?
Yes: 3 open-source tools share a category with ZenMic, led by cboard, VoiceStudio and pigeon-pod.
Which open source ZenMic alternative is most popular on GitHub?
VoiceStudio, with 64,408 GitHub stars (checked Oct 14, 2026).
Which licences do these alternatives use?
GPL-3.0: 2 and AGPL-3.0: 1, as GitHub reports them for each repository.
Which ones can I self-host?
pigeon-pod states a self-hosting option on its own site.