Kokoro
A tiny 82M-parameter TTS model with surprisingly natural voices.
- Stars
- 9.3K
- Forks
- 1K
- Open issues
- 214
- Last commit
- 2025-08-06
Live from the GitHub API · updated 2026-10-15
What is Kokoro?
Kokoro is a lightweight open-weight TTS model that runs fast even on CPU while producing natural speech. Apache-licensed weights make it a popular choice for apps and local assistants.
Key features
- Only 82M parameters — runs on CPU
- Multiple voices and languages
- Apache-2.0 weights
System requirements
- Platforms
- Windows · macOS · Linux
- Python
- 3.10+
- Notes
- Requires espeak-ng for some languages.
How to install Kokoro
Summarized from the project’s README. Projects change quickly — check the GitHub page for the latest instructions.
pip
- 1Install the package (and espeak-ng via your package manager).
pip install kokoro soundfile - 2Generate speech in Python.
from kokoro import KPipeline import soundfile as sf pipeline = KPipeline(lang_code="a") for i, (_, _, audio) in enumerate(pipeline("Hello from Kokoro!", voice="af_heart")): sf.write(f"out_{i}.wav", audio, 24000)
Strengths
- Fast and small
- Commercially friendly license
Limitations
- No voice cloning
Kokoro alternatives compared
| Software | Stars | License | Platforms | VRAM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kokoro A tiny 82M-parameter TTS model with surprisingly natural voices. | 9.3K | Apache-2.0 | — | |
| F5-TTS Zero-shot voice cloning TTS based on flow matching. | 15.4K | MIT | — | |
| Coqui TTS Deep-learning text-to-speech toolkit, including the XTTS voice cloning model. | 46.1K | MPL-2.0 | — | |
| ChatTTS Conversational TTS for dialogue, with laughter and pauses. | 39.9K | AGPL-3.0 | 4 GB+ | |
| Whisper OpenAI’s open-source speech recognition and translation model. | 110.5K | MIT | ~1 GB (tiny) to ~10 GB (large) | |
| whisper.cpp Whisper in plain C/C++ — fast on CPUs, Apple Silicon and mobile. | 54.4K | MIT | — |
FAQ
Is Kokoro free?
Yes — Kokoro is open-source software released under the Apache-2.0 license. Check the license (and any model weight licenses) before commercial use.
Does Kokoro run on Windows, Mac and Linux?
Kokoro supports: Windows, macOS, Linux.
How do I install Kokoro?
1. Install the package (and espeak-ng via your package manager). 2. Generate speech in Python.
What are the best Kokoro alternatives?
Popular alternatives include F5-TTS, Coqui TTS, ChatTTS, Whisper. See the comparison table on this page.