The latest articles on DEV Community by GIFANI PUTRA (@gifani_putra_7726f7b5cd38). https://dev.to/gifani_putra_7726f7b5cd38 https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F3890059%2Ff48283b9-0e4f-478a-bac2-2aaa0e7580a3.jpg https://dev.to/gifani_putra_7726f7b5cd38 en GIFANI PUTRA Tue, 21 Apr 2026 04:27:11 +0000 https://dev.to/gifani_putra_7726f7b5cd38/i-got-tired-of-expensive-text-to-speech-apis-so-i-built-my-own-j8k https://dev.to/gifani_putra_7726f7b5cd38/i-got-tired-of-expensive-text-to-speech-apis-so-i-built-my-own-j8k <p>Hey devs 👋</p> <p>Over the past few months, I’ve been experimenting with different text-to-speech (TTS) tools and APIs.</p> <p>And honestly… most of them left me frustrated.</p> <p>Here’s why:</p> <ul> <li>Pricing gets expensive really fast</li> <li>Character limits are restrictive</li> <li>Some voices still sound robotic</li> <li>Too many steps just to generate a simple audio</li> </ul> <p>So I decided to build my own.</p> <p>Not to compete with the big players — but to create something simple, fast, and actually usable.</p> <h2> What I focused on </h2> <p>Instead of adding too many features, I focused on:</p> <ul> <li>⚡ Fast text-to-speech generation </li> <li>🎯 Clean and minimal UI </li> <li>🔓 No unnecessary login barriers </li> <li>💰 More accessible usage </li> </ul> <h2> What I learned </h2> <p>Building this wasn’t just about coding.</p> <p>A few things surprised me:</p> <ol> <li><p><strong>Speed matters more than features</strong><br><br> Users don’t want complexity. They want results.</p></li> <li><p><strong>UX &gt; AI quality (to a point)</strong><br><br> Even a good model feels bad with a slow or confusing UI.</p></li> <li><p><strong>People hate friction</strong><br><br> Login walls, limits, paywalls — they kill experience.</p></li> </ol> <h2> The result </h2> <p>I ended up with a simple tool that does one thing well:<br> convert text into speech quickly and easily.</p> <p>It’s still a work in progress, but already usable.</p> <p>👉 You can try it here:<br><br> [<a href="https://ttsforge.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://ttsforge.com</a>]</p> <h2> Looking for feedback </h2> <p>If you’ve built or used TTS tools before, I’d love to know:</p> <ul> <li>What features actually matter to you?</li> <li>What frustrates you the most?</li> <li>What would make you switch tools?</li> </ul> <p>Appreciate any feedback 🙏</p> webdev ai