Octobits Blog – Microsoft Azure Text to Speech service has made the long-awaited dream of transforming written text into spoken words a tangible reality. Learn more about Microsot Azure Text to Speech pricing before you made some decision about this tools.
But as with any cloud-based service, the question of cost inevitably arises. So, how much does Microsoft Azure Text to Speech pricing really cost?
Let’s break down pricing models and factors that influence costs now.
What is Azure Text to Speech?
Azure Text to Speech is a service from Microsoft that’s part of its Azure AI suite. This service lets you convert text into speech that sounds just like a person’s.
What makes this service stand out is how it uses neural networks, which really improve the natural sound of the speech it generates.
Azure Text to Speech, also known as Speech Synthesis, lets users use prebuilt neural voices or create custom neural voices to match the specific needs of their brand or product.
Plus, you can create your own custom neural voices, making them brand or product specific. This adds a personalised touch to the user experience.
Is Microsoft Azure Text to Speech Free?
It’s a bit of a yes and no answer. Azure Text to Speech has a range of pricing models, including a free option for limited use.
As you can see on the Azure AI Speech Pricing page, users can access 0.5 million characters of neural text-to-speech conversion per month at no cost under the free tier.
This is great for startups or small businesses who want to test out what Azure can do without making a big financial commitment.
But if you go over your free allowance or want to use more advanced features, you’ll have to switch to a paid plan, which depends on how much you use and what you need.
Azure Text to Speech Pricing Models
Azure Text to Speech is a pay-as-you-go service. You are billed based on the number of characters converted to speech.
The standard Neural voice costs $15 per 1 million characters.
If you require even higher audio fidelity, the Neural HD voice is available. For this kind of service, you should contact an Azure sales representative.
Microsoft also offers Commitment Tiers for Azure Text to Speech, in addition to the pay-as-you-go model.
These tiers offer discounted rates for users with predictable, high-volume usage.
For example, the monthly commitment for 80 million characters is $960, which equates to a unit cost of $12 per 1 million characters.
This is undoubtedly a significant saving compared to the pay-as-you-go rate.
For your reference on Azure services, kindly read “Microsoft Azure Pricing Models: Overview, Additional Options, & Factors Affecting.”
Factors Affecting Pricing
There are a number of factors that will affect the overall cost of using Azure Text to Speech.
The most obvious factor is the volume of text converted to speech.
The cost is directly related to the number of characters you process. Furthermore, the selected voice will affect the price.
The pricing for Neural HD voices and custom neural voices may vary, but the standard Neural voices have a clearly defined cost.
Furthermore, the use of advanced features such as Speech Synthesis Markup Language (SSML) will affect the cost, as it allows for fine-tuning of the speech output.
SSML elements are counted as billable characters, which increases the overall character count and consequently the cost.
Azure also adjusts costs based on regional market conditions and currency exchange rates, so the geographic location of the user affects pricing.
Australian users must understand these fluctuations to budget accurately.
Features like real-time processing and enhanced capabilities such as continuous language identification or pronunciation assessment add to the overall cost.
Cost Optimization Strategies
There are a few ways to manage and optimise the costs associated with Azure Text to Speech.
It’s a great idea to make the most of the free tier, especially when you’re first getting started with development and testing.
If you’re running a bigger operation, you’ll save a lot with a commitment tier, especially if you’re planning to do a lot of text-to-speech conversions.
Another thing businesses could do is make their text content as short as possible, because every character, including spaces and punctuation, is billable.
Using SSML efficiently can help you save money. SSML gives you a lot of control over the speech output, but it’s important to use it wisely. Make sure the benefits outweigh the potential increase in billable characters.
Also, manage custom voice training times and endpoint hosting carefully to avoid unnecessary costs. These are billed per hour.
Finally, regularly review and adjust usage patterns to align with the most cost-effective pricing tier.
And yes, always use Azure’s pricing calculator to project and manage future expenses.
For further information, please refer to “Microsoft Azure SQL Database Pricing: Models, Tiers, & Cost Optimization Strategies.”
Azure Operational Optimisation Strategies
There’s another way to save money that doesn’t involve the usual strategies. It’s called Octobits, and it’s a SaaS management platform.
This all-in-one license management platform gives you a simple, centralised dashboard to make your cloud operations easier to understand.
What do these mean for you?
With Octobits, you can keep an eye on your bills, and how your resources are being used, and manage your devices in one place.
Let’s say you’re an Australian startup that’s growing fast and managing lots of Azure services.
Dealing with Azure services can get pretty complicated, pretty quickly. That’s why Octobits makes it easier by putting all your billing info in one place.
It helps you spot underused virtual machines and find unnecessary subscriptions, so you can adjust your resources and cut costs.
But Octobits isn’t just about cutting costs. It gives you the power to make your cloud environment smarter and more efficient. So, how does it do that?
By making things simpler and giving you better visibility, Octobits makes sure you get the most out of your Azure investment.
This platform can be integrated with major IT systems like Microsoft 365, AWS, and Azure, giving you complete control over your entire software ecosystem.
We know this might come across as a bit of a sales pitch. But hey, we’re Aussies, we’re upfront about these things.
We’d love for you to do your own research and see how Octobits can help you take control of your cloud costs.
Take a closer look at the Octobits website, or even book a demo – it’s like a test drive, but for cloud management. And the great news is that Octobits is free for use until December 2024.
Or, if you’re ready for a coffee and some pastry, let’s meet up. We can show you how we can help you get to grips with the Azure pricing structure.
In Closing
The most important thing is to get your head around the different pricing models and the things that affect the costs.
Then you need to think about how you can get the best value for money out of them. Therefore, you can use Octobits.
The Octobits dashboard makes it easy to manage your cloud services, find ways to cut costs, and make your cloud infrastructure more efficient.
That means Octobits can help you get to grips with the complexities of Microsoft Azure Text to Speech pricing and make the best use of the available tools and strategies.
