Alexa text-to-speech API
Make Alexa say anything
Send any text to the Voice Monkey API and your Echo speaks it out loud, usually within a couple of seconds. Trigger it from Home Assistant, IFTTT, a script, a button, or anything else that can make an HTTP request.
Free plan includes 200 requests a month. No credit card required.
curl -X POST https://api-v3.voicemonkey.io/announce \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"token": "YOUR_TOKEN",
"device": "kitchen-echo-3f7k2",
"speech": "Dinner is ready!"
}'await fetch('https://api-v3.voicemonkey.io/announce', {
method: 'POST',
headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
body: JSON.stringify({
token: 'YOUR_TOKEN',
device: 'kitchen-echo-3f7k2',
speech: 'Dinner is ready!',
}),
});import requests
requests.post('https://api-v3.voicemonkey.io/announce', json={
'token': 'YOUR_TOKEN',
'device': 'kitchen-echo-3f7k2',
'speech': 'Dinner is ready!',
})# configuration.yaml
rest_command:
vm_announce:
url: https://api-v3.voicemonkey.io/announce
method: POST
headers:
Authorization: !secret voice_monkey_auth # "Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"
content_type: application/json
payload: '{"device":"kitchen-echo-3f7k2","speech":"{{ speech }}"}'https://api-v3.voicemonkey.io/announce?token=YOUR_TOKEN&device=kitchen-echo-3f7k2&speech=Dinner%20is%20ready!- Alexa voices
- 38
- languages
- 7
- Echos in one call
- 10
- free requests a month
- 200
Your first announcement in three steps
Set up once, then make any Echo talk with a single request.
- 1
Enable the skill and sign in
Enable Voice Monkey in the Alexa app, then sign in to the console with your Amazon account. We never see your password.
Get started → - 2
Connect a Speaker to your Echo
Create a Speaker in the console and add one Alexa Routine that tells Voice Monkey which Echo to talk on. It takes a couple of minutes, and you only do it once per Echo.
See how → - 3
Send your first announcement
Create an API token and call /announce. The API Playground in the console writes the request for you in cURL, Python, JavaScript, Home Assistant YAML, Node-RED, Apple Shortcuts and more.
About the Playground →
What will your Echo say?
If it can send an HTTP request, it can talk through your Echo. A few favourites:
“The washing machine has finished. Time to hang it out.”
Fired by a power sensor dropping to zero.
From IFTTT“Someone's at the front door.”
With a doorbell chime, and the camera snapshot on your Echo Show.
From your code“Heads up. The production deploy just failed.”
One line at the end of a CI job, a cron script or a server monitor.
From a Flic button“Kids, dinner's on the table!”
One press, every Echo upstairs.
From a reminder“Ten minutes until we leave for school.”
Lead-up announcements and a spoken countdown that lands on time.
From an AI assistant“Sam says he's running twenty minutes late.”
Ask Claude or ChatGPT to tell the kitchen Echo, and it makes the call.
More than a voice
Every announcement can carry sound, pictures and live data, and reach as many rooms as you need.
38 Alexa voices
Brian, Joanna, Céline, Hans and 34 more, across English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish. Pick a voice for each announcement.
Learn more →Your own voices
Connect ElevenLabs and announce in any voice from your library, including a clone of your own. Repeated messages replay for free. Hobby and Ultimate plans.
Learn more →Chimes and sound
Open with a doorbell, bell or air horn from Alexa's sound library, play your own audio file, or put music underneath the speech.
Learn more →Pictures, video and Screens
On Echo Show, Echo Spot and Fire TV, show a photo, play a video, put big text on screen, or send a Screen you designed while Alexa speaks.
Learn more →Every room at once
List up to 10 Speakers in one request, or set up a multi-room Speaker that plays on every Echo in the house for a single request.
Learn more →Text that fills itself in
Drop variables, webhook data and built-ins like the time or the weekday into your text. Set a variable in the same request with var-NAME.
Learn more →One request. The whole show.
Start with one line of text, then add as much as you like. This doorbell announcement plays a chime, speaks the time in a British voice and shows the camera snapshot on the Echo Show, in two rooms at once.
device- Up to 10 Speakers in one call. Every one gets the whole announcement.
speech- Variables and built-ins like the time are filled in before Alexa speaks.
voice- Any of the 38 Alexa voices, or one of your own.
chime- A sound from Alexa's library to grab attention first.
image- Shown on an Echo Show while it speaks. Or send a video, big text or a Screen.
display_seconds- How long the picture stays on screen.
POST https://api-v3.voicemonkey.io/announce
{
"token": "YOUR_TOKEN",
"device": ["kitchen-echo-3f7k2", "lounge-show-8h2p1"],
"speech": "Someone's at the front door. It's {VM.TIME.TEXT12}.",
"voice": "Brian",
"chime": "soundbank://soundlibrary/home/amzn_sfx_doorbell_01",
"image": "https://example.com/doorbell/latest.jpg",
"display_seconds": 30
}{
"success": true,
"data": "OK",
"devices": [
{ "device": "kitchen-echo-3f7k2", "ok": true },
{ "device": "lounge-show-8h2p1", "ok": true }
]
}Built for real homes
Thousands of Alexa fans use Voice Monkey to give their smart home a voice.
An official Alexa skill
Voice Monkey runs on Amazon's own skill and smart home APIs. No browser cookies, no unofficial workarounds, and you sign in with Login with Amazon, so we never see your password.
Speaks in seconds
Announcements usually play within a couple of seconds of your request, and every call returns a clear JSON response with error codes your code can act on.
Room to grow
When one announcement isn't enough, build a Flow that asks a question and acts on the answer, schedule announcements as Reminders, or design Screens for your Echo Show.
Works great & easy to use.This adds a great functionality to Alexa. Now I can have any of my IFTTT apps trigger Alexa to announce them!
Was looking for this for a long time…It is a great skill — my smart home started to talk to me. In connection with IFTTT you can make magic. Great work.
Start free, upgrade when you're hooked
Each Speaker you announce on counts as one request.
Free
- 5 Speakers
- 200 requests a month
- All 38 Alexa voices and chimes
Hobby
- 15 Speakers
- 15,000 requests a month
- Your own ElevenLabs voices
- Repeating reminders
Ultimate
- Unlimited Speakers
- Unlimited requests
- Your own ElevenLabs voices
- Repeating reminders
FAQ
Does Amazon have its own text-to-speech API for Echo devices?▾
Amazon doesn't offer a public API for making your own Echo speak whatever text you send it. Voice Monkey fills that gap with an Alexa skill: you send text over HTTP and Alexa speaks it on the Echo you choose.
Which Echo devices does it work with?▾
Any Echo you can pick as the device in an Alexa Routine, including Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Show and Echo Spot. Pictures, video and Screens appear on Echo Show, Echo Spot and Fire TV.
How quickly does an announcement play?▾
Usually within a couple of seconds of your request. The Echo needs to be online and not in Do Not Disturb.
Which voices and languages can I use?▾
There are 38 Alexa voices across English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish, chosen per announcement with the voice parameter. On the Hobby and Ultimate plans you can also use voices from your own ElevenLabs account, including a clone of your own voice.
Can I announce on several Echos at once?▾
Yes. List up to 10 Speakers in one request, or set up a multi-room Speaker that plays on as many Echos as you like.
Can I use SSML?▾
Yes, with Alexa voices. The speech text is passed to Alexa as SSML, so tags like <break time="1s"/>, <emphasis> and <say-as> work.
How much does it cost?▾
The Free plan includes 5 Speakers and 200 requests a month. Hobby raises that to 15 Speakers and 15,000 requests and adds your own voices; Ultimate is unlimited. Each Speaker you announce on counts as one request. See pricing for details.
Is it safe to connect my Amazon account?▾
You sign in with Login with Amazon, so Voice Monkey never sees your Amazon password. API tokens can be created for each app that uses them and revoked at any time.
Give your Echo something to say
Make your first announcement in a few minutes on the free plan. No credit card required.