15.ai is no longer a working voice generator, but its use cases remain. Compare seven current alternatives for familiar-character TTS, original voices, voice conversion, musical vocals, application speech, and interactive voice agents.
15.ai alternatives at a glance
The original 15.ai generated character voices from typed text. Its replacements divide that workflow across character catalogs, voice design, voice conversion, musical vocals, developer APIs, and complete conversational runtimes.
| Alternative | Best fit | Input and output | Operating model | Main tradeoff |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dasha | Interactive voice characters and agents | Spoken input to a generated spoken response | Managed platform | Built for live conversation rather than single audio clips |
| FakeYou | Fast character-style TTS experiments | Text to generated audio | Hosted web app and API | Public models require individual quality and rights review |
| Fish Audio | Expressive character lines and voice discovery | Text or recorded speech to generated audio | Hosted web app and API | Model choice affects the available expression controls |
| ElevenLabs | Designing an original character voice | Text or recorded speech to generated audio | Hosted web app and API | The closest fit may require prompt iteration or an authorized clone |
| Applio | Local voice conversion and custom model training | Recorded or live speech to converted speech | Local app or cloud notebook | Setup, compute, and model sourcing are your responsibility |
| Uberduck | Spoken, sung, and rapped character performances | Text or speech to vocals | Hosted web app and API | Its scope is broader than 15.ai-style character clips |
| Cartesia | Version-controlled TTS inside an application | Text to streamed speech | Hosted API | Supplies speech rather than character behavior or conversation state |
For one-off familiar-character clips, FakeYou has the closest workflow. Fish Audio adds model-specific expression controls, while ElevenLabs focuses on creating an original voice. Applio fits local voice conversion. Uberduck covers musical delivery. Cartesia handles application speech. When the character must listen and respond, we recommend Dasha.
Cross outdated 15.ai links off your list
The original 15.ai domain redirects to a Wikipedia page instead of a voice generator. The creator's 15.dev site is now a personal portfolio that lists 15.ai as past work. Neither site hosts a replacement generator.
1. Dasha: for characters that can hold a conversation
Dasha is the right category when a character needs to listen, decide what to say, speak, retain context, and use application tools. A generated clip cannot do that. An interactive character needs speech recognition, an AI model and prompt, conversation state, text-to-speech, interruption handling, tool calls, and a runtime that keeps the loop moving.
We provide that runtime through the managed Dasha voice AI backend. A Dasha agent combines a system prompt, a large language model, a voice configuration, and optional tools for external actions. Technical teams can connect the agent to application data through tools and APIs, then deploy it through a web integration or a phone connection.
Voice and character behavior stay separate. Dasha's current TTS provider configuration supports ElevenLabs, Cartesia, Inworld, and LMNT, along with settings for delivery and interruption sensitivity. A team can change the speech provider without rebuilding the character's prompt and tools. Dasha also provides browser testing and a call inspector for reviewing transcripts, audio, model interactions, and tool executions. The voice is one layer of the wider voice AI stack.
This fit matters for interactive game characters, browser experiences, role-play applications, and products where the next line depends on what a user just said. Dasha is excessive for typing a sentence and downloading a WAV file. FakeYou, Fish Audio, or ElevenLabs will finish that smaller job with less setup.
Choose Dasha when: the product needs two-way speech, conversation state, interruptions, API actions, testing, and production operation.
Choose a clip generator when: every line is written in advance and the final output is an audio file.
2. FakeYou: the closest browser workflow to 15.ai
FakeYou preserves the basic interaction many 15.ai users want. Pick a public voice model, enter text, generate a line, and retrieve the result. Its official API documentation exposes public voice titles, creator accounts, language tags, and model identifiers, then processes TTS through queued jobs.
That catalog model is both the appeal and the constraint. Uploaders supply model titles, and multiple models can represent the same speaker. Creator metadata identifies an account; it does not establish permission from an actor or character owner. Treat each model as a separate artifact instead of assuming that the whole catalog shares one quality or licensing standard.
The FakeYou API is freely available with IP-based rate limits. Its TTS endpoint returns a job token that the client polls for completion. That asynchronous workflow suits experiments and batch clip generation. It is a weaker fit for response-time-sensitive dialogue inside a live application.
Choose FakeYou when: you want a quick public-model search and a type-text-to-audio workflow.
Main limitation: quality, source, and allowed use differ by model.
3. Fish Audio: for expressive TTS and voice discovery
Fish Audio combines browser TTS, a voice library, voice cloning, voice conversion, and developer access. Its current TTS documentation supports browser generation, API and SDK use, streamed audio, saved voice IDs, and cloning from reference audio.
Expression control depends on the model. The same documentation identifies s2-pro as a previous-generation model with natural-language expression control and s1 as a previous-generation model with parenthetical emotion tags. This makes the selected model part of the creative workflow. A prompt or tag that works with one model should not be assumed to behave the same way on another.
Fish Audio's current plans reserve commercial use for paid subscribers using verified voices they own. Free-plan output is limited to personal, non-commercial projects. A voice appearing in the library does not establish that the uploader owns the source recordings or can authorize commercial use.
Choose Fish Audio when: you want a browser TTS tool, voice discovery, cloning, or model-specific expression controls for produced dialogue.
Main limitation: expression syntax, voice provenance, and commercial permission depend on the selected model, voice, and plan.
4. ElevenLabs: for creating an original character voice
ElevenLabs is a better route when you want a new character voice rather than an imitation of an existing one. Voice Design creates voice options from a written description. Its prompting guide covers language, age, accent, timbre, persona, emotion, and pacing, and notes that output quality can vary with the prompt and use case.
Voice Changer starts with a performance instead of text. A performer records the line, including its timing and emotional delivery, and the system transfers that performance to a selected voice. This gives a director more control over rhythm and expression than repeatedly changing punctuation in a TTS script.
A designed voice still takes iteration. Use a preview script that fits the intended character and includes the range the production needs. Keep the reusable voice description separate from scene direction so that the character identity stays consistent while individual lines change.
ElevenLabs' TTS documentation says commercial usage rights require a paid plan and ownership of the intellectual-property rights in the input content. A paid subscription does not create rights to a character or another person's voice.
Choose ElevenLabs when: you need an original reusable character voice or want a performer to direct delivery through speech-to-speech conversion.
Main limitation: Voice Design takes iteration, while cloning and commercial use require the appropriate rights and plan.
5. Applio: for free local voice conversion
Applio is an open-source Retrieval-based Voice Conversion (RVC) application. Its inference workflow takes recorded speech and changes the vocal identity while preserving the source performance's phrasing and emotion. It can process one file, a batch, or a live audio stream. You can also train a model from your own dataset.
This is a different input model from 15.ai. Your performance drives the result, which suits acted dialogue, songs, and live filters. Applio also has a TTS workflow that first generates speech with EdgeTTS and then passes the audio through the selected conversion model. That TTS step requires an internet connection.
Applio's installation guide covers local and Docker deployments, while its cloud guide covers notebook workflows. Real-time conversion is restricted to GPU use because it requires more compute than most CPUs can provide. The project repository notes that Applio will receive security patches, dependency updates, and occasional feature improvements rather than frequent feature releases.
The Applio repository uses the MIT License for its source code and included model weights. That license does not grant rights to third-party datasets, downloaded models, voices, or characters.
Choose Applio when: you want a free local workflow, can provide the performance, and are comfortable managing models and dependencies.
Main limitation: you own the setup, compute, audio routing, and provenance work.
6. Uberduck: for speech, singing, and rap
Uberduck spans text-to-speech, text-to-singing, text-to-rapping, voice cloning, and speech-to-speech conversion. Uberduck supports those workflows in the web app and through API access. That combination fits character songs, authorized parody-style demos, branded jingles, and dialogue that shifts between speech and musical delivery.
The Uberduck API documentation covers programmatic TTS, voice selection, and model selection for repeatable generation.
Uberduck's scope is wider than a catalog of familiar fictional characters. Start with the required output. FakeYou or Fish Audio is more direct for plain spoken character dialogue. Uberduck earns its place when the same creative workflow also needs singing or rap.
Choose Uberduck when: the character needs to speak, sing, or rap within one hosted workflow.
Main limitation: its broad vocal-production scope is less direct than 15.ai's simple character TTS workflow.
7. Cartesia: for TTS inside a product
Cartesia is an API-first TTS option for developers who already own the character logic. It streams generated speech and supports custom voices. Its current Sonic 3.6 documentation offers two production versioning paths: the sonic-3.6 model ID moves to the latest stable snapshot, while a date-stamped model ID never changes after release.
That distinction matters in software. A change in pronunciation, pacing, or emotional delivery can break recorded baselines and user expectations. Pinning a dated snapshot lets a team evaluate a newer version before changing production behavior, which makes voice agent testing more repeatable.
Cartesia also documents instant voice cloning through its dashboard and API. Cartesia still supplies the speech layer. Your application must provide the prompt, model, state, safety rules, tools, turn handling, and monitoring that determine what the character does.
Choose Cartesia when: you need streaming TTS, API control, and model-version stability inside an application.
Main limitation: it does not supply a public fictional-character catalog or the character's behavior.
How to choose the right replacement
Start with the input and final experience. That choice removes most of the wrong options immediately.
- Typed text to a familiar voice: FakeYou is the closest workflow. Fish Audio adds model-specific expression controls.
- Typed text to a new, original voice: ElevenLabs Voice Design fits this job.
- A performed line converted into another voice: use ElevenLabs Voice Changer or Applio.
- A live voice filter: Applio fits a local GPU workflow.
- A sung or rapped line: Uberduck covers musical vocal generation.
- Speech embedded in software: Cartesia supplies a version-controlled TTS layer.
- A character that listens and responds: Dasha runs the complete conversational loop.
For an audio comparison, use the same short script in every candidate. Include a neutral line, an emotional reversal, a proper noun, a number, a question, a whisper, and a fast sentence. Listen for dropped words, unstable identity, unnatural pauses, and emotion that changes pronunciation.
For a live system, measure the full turn from the end of the user's speech to the start of the reply. TTS generation is only one part of conversational latency. Transcription, model reasoning, tool calls, audio transport, and interruption handling also shape the experience.
Voice access and voice rights are different
A public model, paid subscription, or open-source license does not automatically authorize imitation of a person or commercial use of a protected character. The U.S. Copyright Office's digital replicas report explains that voice replicas intersect with a patchwork of state and federal rights beyond copyright.
Keep these layers separate:
- Software rights govern the code or service.
- Model rights govern the model weights and their license.
- Dataset rights govern the recordings used to train the model.
- Voice and identity rights can apply to the person represented.
- Character and content rights can apply to the character, script, music, and finished work.
For a production project, retain the voice source, uploader, permission, model license, service plan, and intended distribution in one rights record. Original designed voices and contracted performers create a clearer operating path than anonymous character models.
Questions about 15.ai alternatives
Is 15.ai working again?
No. The original 15.ai domain redirects to Wikipedia, and 15.dev is the creator's portfolio rather than a relaunched generator.
What is the closest free 15.ai alternative?
FakeYou is closest for public character-style TTS in a browser, and the FakeYou API is freely available with rate limits. Applio is free and open source, although its main workflow starts with recorded or live speech rather than text. Free access does not settle whether a particular voice can be used in a published project.
What is the difference between TTS and voice conversion?
Text-to-speech turns written text into audio. Voice conversion starts with spoken audio and changes the vocal identity while preserving much of the original performance. The tool profiles above identify which products support each workflow.
Can Dasha generate a one-off character clip?
Dasha is designed for two-way voice agents rather than isolated clip generation. Use it when the character must listen, retain context, respond, and take actions. A TTS or voice-conversion tool is the more direct choice when you only need an audio file.
If your project needs a voice character that can answer back and act on application data, build the first conversation with Dasha and evaluate the complete turn, including recognition, reasoning, tools, and speech.