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Amazon Polly Reviews

Vendor: Amazon Web Services (AWS)
3.7 out of 5
Badge Ranked 1
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What is Amazon Polly?

Amazon Polly is a service that turns text into lifelike speech, allowing you to create applications that talk, and build entirely new categories of speech-enabled products. Polly's Text-to-Speech (TTS) service uses advanced deep learning technologies to synthesize natural sounding human speech. With dozens of lifelike voices across a broad set of languages, you can build speech-enabled applications that work in many different countries.

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Amazon Polly is the #1 ranked solution in top Text-To-Speech Services. PeerSpot users give Amazon Polly an average rating of 7.4 out of 10. Amazon Polly is most commonly compared to Microsoft Azure Speech Service: Amazon Polly vs Microsoft Azure Speech Service. Amazon Polly is popular among the large enterprise segment, accounting for 57% of users researching this solution on PeerSpot. The top industry researching this solution are professionals from a comms service provider, accounting for 8% of all views.
Buyer's Guide
Amazon Polly
March 2026
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Amazon Polly mindshare

As of April 2026, the mindshare of Amazon Polly in the Text-To-Speech Services category stands at 19.5%, down from 31.4% compared to the previous year, according to calculations based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Text-To-Speech Services Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Amazon Polly19.5%
Microsoft Azure Speech Service21.2%
Google Cloud Text-to-Speech19.5%
Other39.8%
Text-To-Speech Services

PeerResearch reports based on Amazon Polly reviews

TypeTitleDate
CategoryText-To-Speech ServicesApr 2, 2026Download
ProductReviews, tips, and advice from real usersApr 2, 2026Download
ComparisonAmazon Polly vs DeepgramApr 2, 2026Download
ComparisonAmazon Polly vs Google Cloud Text-to-SpeechApr 2, 2026Download
ComparisonAmazon Polly vs Microsoft Azure Speech ServiceApr 2, 2026Download
Suggested products
TitleRatingMindshareRecommending
Microsoft Azure Speech Service4.521.2%100%3 interviewsAdd to research
Deepgram4.210.8%81%11 interviewsAdd to research
 
 
Key learnings from peers

Valuable Features

Amazon Polly excels with realistic neural voices, customizable pitch and speed, language options including Spanish and German, and SSML for controlling voice behavior. Users appreciate its integration capabilities with AWS services like Lambda and storage in DynamoDB and S3. It supports multilingual text-to-speech conversion for global connections and customer interaction enhancements. Additionally, features like personal lexicons and browser-like functionality for reading material are valuable to those who need flexibility in accessibility.
  • "They have the neural voices, and they're so realistic, you don't even know that a person is not reading to you, making things much better."
  • "Amazon Polly offers significant features like the ability to select different voice categories and language options, such as Spanish, Portuguese, German, and French, which is particularly useful for maintaining worldwide contact centers and enhances customer experience by allowing us to give voice responses instead of text-based responses."
  • "The sound generated by Amazon Polly is very natural, and I appreciate the options to select different voices, including an expensive or cheaper one, and the Structured Speech Markup Language (SSML) feature allows me to specify if I want a warmer or higher tune, which has helped make the meditations sound very natural."

Room for Improvement

Amazon Polly users suggest reducing costs. They desire lexicon packages tailored for various professions. There is a call for improved accessibility and more diverse use cases beyond commercial applications, enhancing aid for those with disabilities. Users find the setup process complex, urging a more user-friendly interface. There is interest in enabling imitation of well-known voices and in improving text-to-speech capabilities. Enhancements like new languages and better phone integration are also sought.
  • "The price could be better; I wish it weren't so expensive to do because it's really cool."
  • "Another point is that Amazon Polly needs better hard phone capability compared to Cisco solutions, which easily connect with hard phones."
  • "To get to the solution, there are many steps to go through, such as setting up AWS, which is a lot of hops."

Pricing

Amazon Polly offers a pay-as-you-go pricing model, starting at approximately $4 per million characters for standard voices and $10 for neural voices. It is free for the first twelve months. While some users find the pricing reasonable, neural voices can be significantly more expensive. Usage and business scale affect the perceived affordability. Some companies integrate it with hybrid cloud solutions like Genesys and Cisco Webex for better cost efficiency.
  • "The solution has a pay-as-you-go pricing model, where you must pay according to your usage."
  • "The price could be better. Neural voices are so realistic, and I want to say that they have it so that you can try to tell where the voice is coming from or something like that. But if I have more than one, it's so expensive to have to listen to a bunch of cases on my phone and have the neural voice read to me. It really wouldn't be worth it. It'd be paying probably more than what I make in the case.Right now, I'm on the free tier, and I think the number of minutes that you get is reasonable as long as you're not doing this all the time and you're using it judiciously. I have some credits that I think I can use, but I don't know how fast they'll go through."

Popular Use Cases

Amazon Polly is primarily used to convert text into audio. It is employed in creating spoken audio for meditations, checking SSML tag performance, and deploying Amazon Connect in contact centers. Companies utilize it to deliver voice messages to disabled users and via IVR calls.

Deployment

Amazon Polly's initial setup receives mixed feedback. Some say it is simple, requiring only a few clicks, while others feel it is complex and time-consuming due to multiple steps like setting up AWS and creating a Lambda function. Once deployed, users can configure call flows with a drag-and-drop interface to use Amazon Polly features. The setup involves passing parameters such as text and voice settings to return audio files.

Scalability

Users find Amazon Polly scalable, highlighting customization options for language and voice. They note that it operates efficiently across different regions like APAC, EMEA, and NAM. Some mention leveraging AWS services like Elastic Beanstalk and elastic containers to enhance scalability. While scalability is praised, some users express concerns regarding its price. Overall, the general sentiment indicates satisfaction with Amazon Polly's scalability features and capabilities.

Stability

Amazon Polly is described as stable by users, with one rating its stability a perfect ten. Some testers have encountered glitches related to internet bandwidth during text-to-speech conversion. Stability has reportedly been an initial concern but improved over time, as evidenced by users transitioning to Amazon Connect from Cisco. Others have experienced no performance issues, suggesting reliable operation. The app development aspect remains challenging for those uncertain about creation details.
These insights are based on the in-depth reviews provided by peers to help you make a better buying decision.
Download our Amazon Polly Buyer's Guide for additional reliable information.

Top industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
8%
Educational Organization
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
University
7%
Media Company
6%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Retailer
6%
Computer Software Company
5%
Construction Company
5%
Government
4%
Energy/Utilities Company
4%
Healthcare Company
4%
Marketing Services Firm
3%
Hospitality Company
3%
Non Profit
3%
Real Estate/Law Firm
3%
Legal Firm
2%
Performing Arts
2%
Logistics Company
2%
Wholesaler/Distributor
1%
Transportation Company
1%
Outsourcing Company
1%
Consumer Goods Company
1%
Pharma/Biotech Company
1%
Renewables & Environment Company
1%

Compare Amazon Polly with alternative products

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Learn more about Amazon Polly

In addition to Standard TTS voices, Amazon Polly offers Neural Text-to-Speech (NTTS) voices that deliver advanced improvements in speech quality through a new machine learning approach. Polly’s Neural TTS technology also supports two speaking styles that allow you to better match the delivery style of the speaker to the application: a Newscaster reading style that is tailored to news narration use cases, and a Conversational speaking style that is ideal for two-way communication like telephony applications.

Finally, Amazon Polly Brand Voice can create a custom voice for your organization. This is a custom engagement where you will work with the Amazon Polly team to build an NTTS voice for the exclusive use of your organization.

Amazon Polly customers

GoAnimate, Duolingo, Bandwidth

Related questions

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Popular Comparisons

Popular Comparisons
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Microsoft Azure Speech Service vs Amazon Polly
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Google Cloud Text-to-Speech vs Amazon Polly
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ElevenLabs vs Amazon Polly
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Amazon Polly Reviews Summary
Author infoRatingReview Summary
Senior Software Developer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees4.0I use Amazon Polly to convert text into speech, primarily for disabled users and IVR calls. Its multilingual capabilities and integration with AWS are valuable, but I wish it offered more natural speech and additional languages to enhance its utility.
Works3.5I find Amazon Polly's natural sound and SSML voice customization excellent for my meditation app. However, the initial AWS setup is overly complex and not user-friendly, making it a significant hurdle despite good scalability.
Sr. Manager - Advanced Solutions Delivery4.0I extensively use Amazon Polly for Amazon Connect, valuing its diverse voices and global language options for customer experience. While stable and scalable with good support, I wish for voice mimicking and better hard phone integration. I rate it 8/10.
Lead Engineer at HCLTech3.5I use Amazon Polly with AWS for text-to-speech in Amazon Connect, leveraging SSML tags for enhanced speech patterns. However, using multiple tags for conversational speech sometimes results in errors, which needs improvement.
Owner at a non-profit with 1-10 employees3.5I use Amazon Polly for text-to-speech, valuing its realistic neural voices and selective reading for legal documents. My main concerns are its high price and the need for specialized lexicon packages, plus broader use case promotion beyond commercial.