[!WARNING] Active beta. Use the latest release for stable work. main contains the newest fixes and may change between releases. Report problems through GitHub Issues.

At a glance

	VoiceStudio
Workflows	Voice cloning and design, video dubbing, dictation, stories, audiobooks, batch generation
Language catalogue	646 TTS languages; actual coverage and quality depend on the selected engine
Engines	16 TTS · 11 ASR · switch in Model Catalogue or with Ctrl/Cmd+E
Platforms	macOS 13.3+ on Apple Silicon · Windows 10/11 x64 · Linux x86_64 with glibc 2.39+
Compute	CUDA · Apple Silicon MPS/MLX · ROCm on Linux · CPU · optional remote workers
Interfaces	Desktop app · local REST/SSE/WebSocket API · OpenAI-compatible audio API · MCP Server
Storage	Voices, projects, settings, and outputs stay on the machine by default
License	AGPL-3.0 application; downloaded models keep their upstream terms

Features

Area	Included
Voice Cloning	Zero-shot synthesis from a short reference clip (guide)
Voice Design	Create a voice from age, accent, pitch, style, and delivery instructions (expressive speech)
Video Dubbing	Transcribe, translate, preserve speakers, synthesize, and export video (export guide)
Stories and audiobooks	Multi-voice scripts · EPUB/PDF import · chapter rendering · .m4b export
Dictation Widget	System-wide shortcut, live transcription, optional local-LLM cleanup
Vocal Isolation	Demucs speech/background separation
Speaker Diarization	Pyannote and WhisperX speaker assignment (guide)
Batch Queue	Queue large sets of audio and video jobs with per-job progress, or watch a local folder for new videos
Model Catalogue	Install, remove, select, and route TTS, ASR, and LLM models (catalogue)
Remote Model Downloads	Install models on enrolled remote workers with live progress (guide)
GPU Auto-Detect	CUDA, MPS, ROCm, and CPU routing with per-engine checks (performance)
AI Watermark	AudioSeal embedding and detection
MCP Server	Synthesis and transcription tools for MCP clients (guide)
Diagnostics	Self-checks, error journal, logs, and scrubbed support bundles (troubleshooting)
Local-first	Core creation stays local; network-backed features are explicit opt-ins
Extensible	Registry-based TTS, ASR, and plugin interfaces (acceptance)

Model Catalogue: engine, device, and install state	Gallery: save a shared voice as a local profile

Comparison

VoiceStudio trades managed cloud compute for local control. This is the practical difference:

	VoiceStudio	Typical hosted voice service
Best fit	Private, offline, self-hosted, or high-volume work	Fast setup without local model management
Data path	Local by default; remote features are opt-in	Audio and text are processed by the provider
Cost model	Free software; you supply the hardware	Subscription, credits, or metered API use
Setup	Install the app and model weights	Create an account and use the web app or API
Performance	Depends on your engine and hardware	Provider manages compute and scaling
Offline use	Yes, after required models are installed	Usually requires a network connection
Customization	Source, engines, models, API, and routing are open	Limited to provider options
Maintenance	You manage updates, disk, and compute	Provider manages infrastructure

Requirements

Requirements vary by engine. These values cover the default local workflow.

	Minimum	Recommended
OS	Windows 10 x64 · macOS 13.3 Apple Silicon · Linux x86_64 with glibc 2.39+	Current supported OS release
RAM	8 GB	16 GB+
Disk	10 GB free	20 GB+ SSD
GPU	Optional; CPU mode is supported	NVIDIA CUDA or Apple Silicon
VRAM	4 GB when using a GPU	8 GB+; large optional engines need more
Python from source	3.11+	3.11 or 3.12

ROCm is Linux-only and opt-in. Windows AMD/Ryzen AI uses CPU. Systems with limited VRAM offload work to CPU when required. See performance, benchmarks, and engine disk usage.

Recommended stack by hardware

Hardware	Recommended TTS	Recommended ASR	Why
Apple Silicon (M1–M4)	MLX-Audio · OmniVoice (MPS)	MLX Whisper · Parakeet MLX	Native unified memory, lowest latency on macOS
NVIDIA GPU (8 GB+ VRAM)	OmniVoice · CosyVoice 3	WhisperX	High-fidelity zero-shot cloning, word timestamps, diarization
Low VRAM / CPU-only	PocketTTS · Sherpa-ONNX · KittenTTS	Moonshine · Faster-Whisper (int8)	Low memory footprint, optimized CPU inference

Engines

Engine support is capability-specific. Check cloning, language, platform, memory, and license before choosing one. Full setup guides: docs/engines.

Text to speech

Engine	Languages	Clone	Instruct	Linux	macOS ARM	Windows	License
VoiceStudio (default, powered by k2-fsa/OmniVoice)	600+	Yes	Yes	CUDA/CPU	MPS	CUDA/CPU	AGPL-3.0 app · Apache-2.0 code, CC-BY-NC weights³
CosyVoice 3	9 + 18 dialects	Yes	Yes	CUDA/CPU	CPU	CUDA/CPU	Apache-2.0
GPT-SoVITS	5	Yes	No	CUDA/CPU	No	CUDA/CPU	MIT
VoxCPM2	30	Yes	Yes	CUDA/CPU	MPS	CUDA/CPU	Apache-2.0
MOSS-TTS-Nano	20	Yes	No	CUDA/CPU	CPU	CUDA/CPU	Apache-2.0
KittenTTS	English	No	No	CPU	CPU	CPU	MIT
MLX-Audio	Model-dependent	Varies	Varies	No	MLX	No	Varies
Sherpa-ONNX	20+	No	No	CUDA/CPU	CPU	CUDA/CPU	Apache-2.0
IndexTTS 2.5 ⚡	ZH · EN · JA · ES · AR	Yes	No	CUDA/CPU	CPU	CUDA/CPU	Bilibili model license¹
OmniVoice GGUF ⚡	600+	Yes	Yes	CUDA/CPU	MPS/CPU	CUDA/CPU	AGPL-3.0 app · review the derivative model terms³
OmniVoice (subprocess) ⚡	600+	Yes	Yes	CUDA/CPU	MPS	CUDA/CPU	AGPL-3.0 app · Apache-2.0 code, CC-BY-NC weights³
PocketTTS ⚡	EN · FR · DE · PT · IT · ES	Yes	No	CPU	CPU	CPU	CC-BY-4.0, gated²
Supertonic 3 ⚡	31	No	No	CPU	CPU	CPU	OpenRAIL-M
MOSS-TTS-v1.5 ⚡	31	Yes	No	CUDA/CPU	CPU	CUDA/CPU	Apache-2.0
dots.tts ⚡	24	Yes	No	CUDA/CPU	CPU	No	Apache-2.0
Confucius4-TTS ⚡	14	Yes	No	CUDA/CPU	CPU	CUDA/CPU	Apache-2.0

⚡ Installed or registered on demand.

¹ IndexTTS 2.5 requires a separate written Bilibili license above 100 million monthly active users or RMB 1 billion annual revenue. Review the model license.

² PocketTTS shows its gated-access and CC-BY-4.0 terms before first use.

³ The OmniVoice snapshot also includes an audio tokenizer under separate Boson Higgs Audio 2 and Meta Llama community terms. VoiceStudio's application license does not replace model or tokenizer terms.

Clone-less engines cannot preserve a reference speaker in dubbing or pinned-voice batch jobs. VoiceStudio rejects those jobs instead of silently changing engines. Heavy engines have separate memory and platform limits; check their engine guide first.

Speech to text

Engine	ID	Languages	Best fit
WhisperX (default)	whisperx	~100	Dubbing, subtitles, word-level timing
Faster-Whisper	faster-whisper	~100	General cross-platform transcription
Faster-Whisper (isolated)	faster-whisper-isolated	~100	Crash-isolated batch transcription
MLX Whisper	mlx-whisper	~100	Apple Silicon
PyTorch Whisper	pytorch-whisper	~100	CUDA, MPS, and CPU fallback
Parakeet TDT	nemo-parakeet	English + 25 EU	Fast CPU/CUDA transcription
Parakeet TDT v3 (MLX)	parakeet-mlx	25 EU	Apple Silicon dictation and word timestamps
Moonshine	moonshine	English	Low-power, low-latency ONNX
FunASR	funasr	50+	VAD and inline diarization
sherpa-onnx (live dictation)	sherpa-onnx-asr	Model-dependent	Streaming CPU dictation
OpenAI-compatible ⚠️ configured server	openai-compat-asr	Server-dependent	Local gigastt/Qwen3-ASR or a remote endpoint; audio goes only to that server

WhisperX and Faster-Whisper retry with int8 when efficient float16 is unavailable. Pin ASR_COMPUTE_TYPE=int8 or float32 only if automatic selection still fails.

Architecture

Tauri v2 desktop shell (Rust)
        │ IPC
React + Vite UI
        │ HTTP · SSE · WebSocket on localhost:3900
FastAPI backend
        ├── TTS / ASR engine registries
        ├── dubbing / audio / long-form pipelines
        ├── OpenAI-compatible API and MCP server
        └── SQLite + Alembic → omnivoice_data/

Layer	Path	Responsibility
Desktop shell	frontend/src-tauri/	Window lifecycle, tray, shortcuts, updater, sidecar bootstrap
Frontend	frontend/src/	React UI, Zustand state, API and event clients, i18n
API	backend/api/	REST routes, schemas, auth boundaries, streaming
Core services	backend/services/	Generation, dubbing, audio processing, persistence
Engines	backend/engines/	Isolated and optional engine adapters
Worker system	backend/worker/	Authenticated remote compute and job transport
Data	omnivoice_data/	Projects, voices, settings, logs, and SQLite state
Delivery	scripts/, deploy/, .github/workflows/	Development, packaging, containers, releases, CI

Network boundary

• The desktop talks to a loopback-only backend on localhost:3900.
• Loopback API calls need no server key. Remote access requires a share PIN or API key.
• Remote workers and OpenAI-compatible ASR are opt-in. Loopback ASR may use HTTP and keeps audio on the machine; non-loopback endpoints require HTTPS, and redirects are not followed.
• Analytics is off until consent. If enabled, it sends allowlisted, content-free usage metadata. It never sends text, audio, file names, or projects.

Local speech platform and OpenAI-compatible API

Point an OpenAI-compatible audio client at the local backend:

- base_url="https://api.openai.com/v1"
+ base_url="http://localhost:3900/v1"

Endpoint	Purpose
POST /v1/audio/speech	TTS to mp3, opus, aac, flac, wav, or pcm; select a profile with voice and an engine with model
POST /v1/audio/transcriptions	STT to json, text, verbose_json, srt, or vtt
WS /v1/audio/transcriptions/stream	Live PCM/WebM transcription with partial, utterance, and session-final events
GET /.well-known/voicestudio-speech	Discover HTTP, WebSocket, MCP, and native dictation-control transports
GET /v1/audio/voices	List local voice profiles and engines

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(base_url="http://localhost:3900/v1", api_key="local")

with client.audio.speech.with_streaming_response.create(
    model="tts-1",
    voice="<profile-id>",
    input="Made on my own hardware.",
    response_format="wav",
) as response:
    response.stream_to_file("speech.wav")

# Quick test via cURL
curl http://localhost:3900/v1/audio/speech \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"model": "tts-1", "input": "Made on my own hardware.", "voice": "default", "response_format": "wav"}' \
  --output speech.wav

The bundled Rust control sidecar lets Herdr, coding agents, VS Code, desktop apps, and TUIs trigger the system-wide dictation flow or reuse its native text insertion. See the speech platform guide. The full API reference is in Settings → OpenAPI Reference. For LAN, Tailscale, or proxy access, read API authentication before exposing the backend.

Agent skills

Install the VoiceStudio skills for Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and other skills.sh-compatible agents:

npx skills add debpalash/VoiceStudio

• omnivoice: synthesize speech and transcribe audio through local VoiceStudio.
• oss-maintainer: the repository's open-source maintenance workflow.

Model Context Protocol (MCP)

VoiceStudio mounts an MCP server at http://localhost:3900/mcp for Claude Desktop, Cursor, and AI agents:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "voicestudio": {
      "url": "http://localhost:3900/mcp"
    }
  }
}

For clients requiring stdio transport, use the bundled local shim (docs/mcp.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "voicestudio": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "backend.mcp_shim"],
      "cwd": "/path/to/VoiceStudio"
    }
  }
}

See the MCP guide for tools (generate_speech, clone_voice, transcribe), file streaming modes, and client bindings.

Google Colab

The notebook runs the app and web UI on a Colab GPU. Colab is remote compute, so uploaded audio and project data do not remain local to your machine.

Documentation

Need	Read
Install	macOS · Windows · Linux · Docker
Fix setup	Troubleshooting · model downloads · Hugging Face token
Choose an engine	Engine guides · benchmarks · expressive speech
Tune hardware	Performance · remote workers
Build integrations	Speech platform · Private production API · API auth · MCP · examples
Build VoiceStudio	Contributing · engine acceptance
Track changes	Changelog · roadmap · latest release
Remove everything	Uninstall guide

FAQ

Does it work on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs?

Apple Silicon is supported with MPS and MLX options. Intel Macs cannot run the local backend because current PyTorch wheels are unavailable; they can connect to a remote backend. See macOS installation.

How much VRAM do I need?

A GPU is optional. Use 4 GB VRAM as the minimum for accelerated work and 8 GB+ for the default multi-stage workflow. Large optional engines can require 12 to 16 GB or more. Check the benchmarks and engine guide.

Why does a longer reference clip not always improve the clone?

Cloning is zero-shot: the clip is a prompt, not training data. Use 5 to 15 seconds of one speaker, close to the microphone, without music, noise, or reverb. Match the tone and pace you want in the output. For training, see data preparation and training.

Can I use generated audio commercially?

VoiceStudio's application license does not restrict generated audio, but it does not grant rights under a model's separate terms. The default OmniVoice repository labels its pretrained weights CC-BY-NC and includes a tokenizer under separate community terms. Review the selected model terms before commercial use.

Does VoiceStudio collect data?

Not unless you opt in. Analytics is off by default and skipping consent keeps it off. When enabled, the app sends allowlisted, content-free usage metadata. Text, audio, file names, voices, and projects are excluded. Change this at Settings → Privacy.

How do I remove VoiceStudio and its data?

Use scripts/uninstall.sh on macOS/Linux or scripts\uninstall.ps1 on Windows. Both show a dry run before deletion. See the uninstall guide for every path.

Community and contributing

• GitHub Issues for reproducible bugs and feature requests.
• Discord for setup help and project discussion.
• Good first issues for a scoped starting point.
• Contributing guide for setup, tests, and pull requests.

Support development

VoiceStudio is free and has no paid tier. Donations fund development and infrastructure.

Ko-fi · PayPal · Sponsorship details

Responsible use and safety

VoiceStudio enables zero-shot voice cloning and speech generation on personal hardware. Please use it responsibly:

• Consent: Only clone or synthesize voices with explicit permission from the speaker.
• Audio provenance: VoiceStudio integrates AudioSeal imperceptible watermarking by default to detect and identify synthetic speech without altering sound quality.
• Local privacy: For the default local workflow, audio recordings, transcripts, voices, and projects remain strictly on your local disk; data leaves your device only when you explicitly configure remote workers or external ASR endpoints.

License

VoiceStudio is licensed under AGPL-3.0. You may run it, modify it, and use it internally. The application license itself does not restrict selling generated audio, but downloaded model and tokenizer terms may. If you modify VoiceStudio and provide that modified version as a network service, AGPL requires you to offer the corresponding source under the same license. A commercial license for VoiceStudio-owned code is available for proprietary embedding; it does not relicense third-party models. Contact VoiceStudio@palash.dev. See LICENSE-NOTICE.md for the plain-language scope.

Optional engines and downloaded models retain their own licenses. The bundled omnivoice/ Python code is Apache-2.0 upstream; the default downloaded weights and audio tokenizer use separate terms.

Acknowledgments

VoiceStudio builds on OmniVoice, WhisperX, Demucs, Pyannote, CTranslate2, AudioSeal, Tauri, Supertonic, Sherpa-ONNX, GPT-SoVITS, and PocketTTS.