Confusion over text to speech fees

[KeithWood1]

I'm sorry if this isn't in the correct forum, but I've been going round in circles. 

Text-to-speech is promoted as "free up to 1 million characters per month" - I'm not going to use anything like that much, so I signed up assuming it would be completely free. When I come to the page to activate this service, under "pricing" it says there is a monthly fee of £2307. For obvious reasons, I decided not to press the "enable" button.

I found an online support, but this was for sales. They said I needed to contact billing, they sent me a link. I can't use this link unless I sign up for a paid account. I don't want to enable this, as it is not clear what charges I would incur by enabling this.

Maybe it is free, and the problem is simply that the various pages they display are really confusing. But I am a naturally cautious type, I'm not going to sign up for, or enable, anything - if it appears there is a risk of a charge (particularly such a large one).

Does anyone know the truth on this subject, or where I might be able to contact for clarification?

[ruthseki]

Hi @KeithWood1,

Welcome to Google Cloud Community!

Google Cloud offers $300 in free credits for new customers to try out Text-to-Speech and other Google Cloud products. This credit can be used over the first 90 days. However, once you exceed the free credit limit, charges may apply.

Additionally, you may refer to this link to see the pricing table which shows a tiered pricing system where users get a certain number of free characters depending on the chosen voice, after which usage is charged at a per-character rate that varies based on voice quality and features.

It also mentioned there that:

Text-to-Speech is priced based on the number of characters sent to the service to be synthesized into audio each month. You must enable billing to use Text-to-Speech, and will be automatically charged if your usage exceeds the number of free characters allowed per month.

If you use other Google Cloud resources in tandem with the Text-to-Speech, such as Google App Engine instances, then you will also be billed for the use of those services. See Google Cloud's pricing calculator to determine other costs based on current rates.

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[KeithWood1]

This answer doesn't address why I see the following when I go to the page to enable text-to-speech: 

[nhatng01]

The $2,900 is for custom voice model hosting time. When you click on other items below it, it will show the price accordingly.
I had the same issue and just randomly clicked through and was surprised by the confusing UI for pricing.

[TheDadBot]

@ruthseki Is a Chirp 3 Instant Clone voice considered a "Custom Voice" and subject to the $2,900/mo model hosting fee? Or is it limited to the character-based pricing only?