Dessa Alternatives
Dessa does two things people want: it talks like a person, and it sounds like one. No single tool you can sign up for does both the way Block's demos do, so we split the alternatives by job.
Updated
For realistic voices and cloning
These three turn text into speech for videos, podcasts, ads and apps. Two of them let you clone your own voice on a self-serve plan.
- ElevenLabs
The most complete of the three. Instant voice cloning is included from the $6/mo Starter plan, professional cloning from Creator, and the API is documented. Start here if you need it to just work and you are not optimising for cost.
Try ElevenLabs → - Fish Audio
The cheapest of the three for volume: Plus is $11/mo billed annually for 250,000 credits, and voice cloning is listed on every plan. Free output is for personal, non-commercial use only.
Try Fish Audio → - Murf
Built around a studio timeline for voice-over rather than an API call. Voice cloning is an Enterprise add-on, so pick Murf for polished stock voices, not for cloning your own.
Try Murf →
The ElevenLabs link above is an affiliate link: if you sign up through it we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Fish Audio and Murf are linked without any affiliate deal. Tools are listed in the order we would recommend them.
For real-time conversation
These two listen and talk at the same time, like Dessa. Neither is an affiliate link.
- ChatGPT Voice (GPT-Live)
OpenAI's full-duplex voice model, live in ChatGPT since July 2026. Free users get GPT-Live-1 mini; developers can use GPT-Live-1 through the API. Block's own demos include Dessa talking to GPT-Live-1.
Open ChatGPT → - Kyutai Moshi
An open full-duplex speech model from the Paris lab Kyutai. The weights are published under CC-BY 4.0, and there is a browser demo, so you can hear the listen-while-talking style without signing up.
Try the Moshi demo →
Side by side
| Feature | Dessa AI Voice | ElevenLabs | Fish Audio | Murf |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public access | Waitlist only (research preview) | Open sign-up, free plan | Open sign-up, free plan | Open sign-up, free plan |
| API | None announced | Yes, documented | Yes, pay-as-you-go for paid subscribers | Yes, pay-as-you-go ($10 free trial credit) |
| Self-serve voice cloning | Not announced | Yes, from Starter | Yes, every plan | No (Enterprise add-on) |
| Commercial use | Not offered | Paid plans (Starter and up) | Paid plans (free is personal use only) | Paid plans (Creator and up) |
| Entry paid price | Not priced | $6/mo (Starter) | $11/mo billed annually (Plus) | $19/mo billed annually (Creator) |
Prices and plan features were read on each vendor's own pricing page on 2026-10-26 and change often. ElevenLabs showed a first-month promotional price on Starter that day; we list the regular price.
Where Dessa fits
Dessa is a conversation model: audio in, audio out, no text step. Block says its knowledge comes from conversation recordings rather than a separate large language model. ChatGPT Voice, by contrast, can hand harder questions to OpenAI's frontier models mid-conversation.
That makes it a different kind of product from the text-to-speech tools above. If Block opens access, the closest comparison will be ChatGPT Voice and Moshi, not ElevenLabs or Murf.
Questions about Dessa alternatives
Which alternative is closest to Dessa?
For the listen-and-talk-at-once style, ChatGPT Voice (GPT-Live) and Kyutai's Moshi. Block's own demos include Dessa talking to GPT-Live-1. We haven't benchmarked them against each other, and Block hasn't published benchmark numbers.
Which is cheapest for long audio?
Among the three text-to-speech tools, Fish Audio: its Plus plan lists up to 200 minutes a month for $11/mo billed annually, checked on 2026-10-26. Murf's API is also cheap per character but doesn't include self-serve cloning.
Which allows commercial use?
All three text-to-speech tools allow commercial use on paid plans. Free tiers are the catch: Fish Audio's free plan is personal use only, and ElevenLabs lists the commercial license from Starter up.
Which has an API?
ElevenLabs, Fish Audio and Murf all offer one. OpenAI offers GPT-Live-1 through its API. Moshi is open source, so you run it yourself. Dessa has no API.