In this Murf AI review, I’ll cover my deep dive into the popular voice-generation AI tool.
I’ve compared it with other industry-leading AI apps based on pricing, features, pros, and cons to understand how it measures up to its competition.
This review of Murf AI will help you determine whether this is the right AI voice generator for your needs or whether an alternative might suit you better.
What is Murf AI Used for?
Murf AI is predominantly used to create natural-sounding voice overs with AI for a range of use cases, including marketing videos like TV and radio adverts, YouTube videos, and social media posts.
It also offers some extra functionalities on its Enterprise plan, such as AI translation, voice dubbing, and voice cloning.
Murf AI Pricing
Murf AI offers four pricing plans: Free, Creator, Business, and Enterprise. I’ll unpack each plan’s features in the table below.
Starting Price (billed annually) | Projects | Free Version | Templates | Plagiarism Checker | Art Generator | Voice Cloning | Voices | Languages | AI Models | Integrations | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Free | 0 | 2 | ❌ | 10+ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | 120+ | 20+ | Generative AI | Trial everything in Business |
Creator | $19/month | 5-30 | ❌ | 10+ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | 120+ | 20+ | Generative AI | Canva |
Business | $66/month | 50-200 | ❌ | 10+ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | 120+ | 20+ | Generative AI | 11, including Canva and Google Slides |
Enterprise | Custom | Custom | ❌ | 10+ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | 120+ | 20+ | Generative AI | Everything in Business |
Murf AI Key Features
Murf AI’s flagship feature is its text-to-speech voice generation, but it also offers a range of other features that I’ll discuss in detail below.
Voice Generation
Murf offers text-to-speech (TTS) generation, allowing you to import an existing script or write directly into the voice blocks. Unlike Lovo‘s Genny tool, Murf does not have an integrated AI writing feature — it only converts text to speech.
There are 120+ voices on offer in 20+ languages. Some voices are restricted to the Business plan, but there are 13 available with the free plan.
What I found great about Murf was the level of detail and customization options available to help create professional-quality voice overs that come close to a human voice.
You can fine-tune the emphasis the AI voice puts on different words, alter the mood with which they speak, and add pauses where necessary.
If you have an existing audio file that you’d like to change the voice of, perhaps to conceal your own voice or to change the gender, language, mood, or tone of the voice, you can use Murf’s voice changer tool.
Simply upload the file, choose the language, and the tool will transcribe the audio. You can then customize and edit the voice blocks.
Murf offers artificial intelligence (AI) dubbing as an additional feature, but this can only be found on its Enterprise plans. This is a helpful tool for filmmakers, musicians, marketers, and educators who want to dub their existing content.
Dubbing with human voice actors can be expensive and time-consuming, but this tool can help smaller businesses and solopreneurs enter international markets.
Voice cloning has attracted considerable attention, but it can also help you save time by eliminating the need to record your own voiceovers.
Instead, you can use TTS to create audio files and then apply your own cloned voice over the top. Murf only offers this feature on its Enterprise plans.
I was disappointed that it’s not available to experiment with in the Free plan because a similar tool is available on Lovo’s tool, Genny. To access this feature, you need to contact Murf’s sales team directly.
Another Enterprise-only feature is the AI translator, which allows users to quickly translate their existing voice-overs into 20+ languages without the need to find a voice actor.
It utilizes the same customization options as the normal TTS generator, allowing you to choose the mood of the voice. This ensures you maintain control over the tone of your content — even in another language.
In early 2024, Murf AI released its ‘Gen 2’ edition. The next-gen version of the platform includes extra tones of voice, multiple generations to increase variation in results, speech-to-speech synthesis, and word-level emphasis.
Overall, these added features should give you greater control over the output of your voice generation and help you achieve your desired results in a shorter time.
Murf AI Performance
In terms of performance, I was impressed with the range of control Murf allows users over the mood, tone, and emphasis of the AI voices. The in-depth emphasis editor allows you to fine-tune each word, a feature I’ve encountered with similar AI voice generation platforms like ElevenLabs.
During testign, I found that Murf AI’s deep customization options allow you to create lifelike voiceovers, which is of a higher quality than with other platforms.
Additionally, I found the platform to be extremely user-friendly, and the processing time was quick. I didn’t encounter any bugs or hiccups, nor did I have to consult a manual during my user testing, which speaks volumes for the UX/UI design.
Murf AI Integrations
Murf offers a range of integrations to help with the creation of voice content and adding it to larger projects. These integrations include Articulate 360, Google Slides, Canva, Adobe, Notion, Squarespace, Wix, and WordPress.
Integrating with Canva helps with the production of creative projects while adding voice content to your Google Slides will allow you to easily add narration to your presentations.
Integrations with web builders, such as Squarespace, Wix, and WordPress, allows you to embed voice overs directly into your websites.
Not all integrations are available on all plans, so if you have your heart set on a particular integration, then it’s best to check before you choose your plan.
At the moment, only the Canva integration is supported with the Creator plan, while the Business plan allows you to use Canva, Google Slides, and Adobe integrations as well.
Murf AI Customer Reviews
On independent review sites, Murf AI attracts generally positive reviews. It earns a high score of 4.5/5 on Capterra. This is slightly higher than competitor Lovo (4.4) and slightly lower than ElevenLabs (4.8).
Positive reviews cited the wide range of languages and accents on offer as super helpful for authentically representing regional audiences. Users were particularly happy with the African-American accents and French-Canadian translations. However, one review noted that it was not possible to change the mood of all the voices.
“I used Murf Text to speech tool for adding voiceovers to marketing videos and presentations. They have a free plan which I tested and I was amazed at the quality of the voices and easy-to-use UI of the TTS editor. I purchased a plan for my official use and now I stick to Murf for any AI voiceover requirements.“
— User review collected from Trustpilot
Other users encountered complications when trying to overcome pronunciation issues with certain voices or lost time trying to make voices sound natural and human-like.
Murf AI vs Top Competitors
Now that we’ve seen what Murf AI has to offer, let’s analyze how it performs against some of the most popular AI tools on the market.
AI Tools | Best For | Starting Price | Free Version | Built-In Plagiarism Checker | Top 3 Features |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Murf AI | In-depth voice editing | $19/month | Free for 2 projects and 10 minutes of voice generation | ❌ | Audio and video templates, voice emphasis control, various tones of voice |
Lovo AI | All-in-one video production | $24/month | 14-day free trial of the Pro version | ❌ | Video editing, art generator, text-to-speech |
ElevenLabs | Realistic voices | $5/month | Free for 10,000 characters and 10 minutes of audio per month | ❌ | Professional voice cloning, generous free plan, natural-sounding voices |
ClosersCopy | Marketing and sales copy | $49.99/month | N/A | ✅ | SEO tools, 700+ templates, in-house AI |
Rytr | Affordable copywriting | $7.50/month | Free Forever plan — 10,000 characters per month | ✅ | Keyword generation, outlines, rewriting |
Jasper AI | AI co-pilot for creating marketing content | $39/month | 7-day free trial | ✅ | Copywriting, brand voice adherence, Grammarly, and SurferSEO integration |
Speechify vs Murf
Murf and Speechify are both AI voice generators with some cross-over. Speechify is predominantly a reading app that can work in-app or on your browser.
You can select from a range of voices, including celebrity voices like Gwyneth Paltrow and Snoop Dogg.
Speechify also offers an AI voice generator feature. I found the interface and app user-friendly and liked that it offers a range of templates to inspire you.
You can import your own script or type directly into the editor. Then, you can play with the speed, pitch, and pronunciation. A wide range of preset voices is available, or you can clone your own voice.
In terms of pricing and value for money, I found that Speechify’s generous free plan was great for experimentation and offers more features than Murf.
I was also really impressed with the results I received with Speechify, and appreciated that its Free plan allows users to clone their voice.
ElevenLabs vs Murf
ElevenLabs gained unicorn status after its recent fundraising effort. It does offer many of the same AI voice synthesis features as Murf, including text-to-speech, speech-to-speech, dubbing, and voice cloning.
ElevenLabs’ pricing is more accessible than Murf’s, with its Starter plan beginning at just $1 per month for the first month. On this plan, users can experiment with voice cloning. Comparatively, Murf users have to contact their sales team to try voice cloning because it’s not included in the lower plans.
We found that Murf’s voice editor tool is more in-depth and sophisticated than that of ElevenLabs because it provides users with more control over emphasis.
However, even though ElevenLabs offers less degree of control and fewer customization options of the preset voices, I was impressed by ElevenLabs’ human-sounding results.
For these reasons, I’d recommend Murf to users who want to fine-tune their results, but ElevenLabs is a quick, user-friendly tool with more natural-sounding voice overs for little effort.
Murf vs Lovo
Murf and Lovo are both AI-powered TTS generators with slightly different offerings. Murf is limited to voice generation, while Lovo is a multimedia content generator.
Murf offers a wider range of editing and customization options to fine-tune your voice output, such as control over-emphasis and, arguably, a better range of voices. Ultimately, you may be able to achieve more natural-sounding voices with Murf.
Lovo can help you write AI-generated scripts, TTS, voice clones, art, and subtitles—all within its user-friendly video editing platform.
To use Murf’s voice cloning feature, you must get in touch with its sales team directly. With Genny, you can experiment with voice cloning on the free trial, which I thought was generous.
That being said, Lovo’s free trial is limited, and there is no ‘free forever’ plan. Murf does offer a free plan, with 10 minutes of voice generation time — except you can’t download the output.
How to Use Murf AI Voice Generator
To maximize your Murf AI potential, I've created a quick guide on using Murf AI.
Create Account
You’ll need to create an account. You can create an account directly with Murf or sign up with your Google, Slack, or Microsoft account. You don’t need to enter any credit card information because first-time users are automatically directed to the free plan.
Start Project
You’ll be directed to the project view and can start adding your voice blocks. I found the interface easy to navigate as it’s relatively self-explanatory. That being said, there is no automatic walkthrough (such as with Lovo), so if you haven’t used a TTS tool before, it could be less obvious on how to get started.
Import Script
You can import a premade script directly into Murf — Murf does not create scripts and doesn’t offer an AI writing feature. If you want AI to generate the content of your script, you can utilize one of the top AI writing tools like Jasper, Copy.ai, or QuillBot.
Create Voice Blocks
Alternatively, you can write directly into Murf. You can also copy and paste a whole paragraph of text, which will automatically be broken down into sentences for digestible speech fragments.
Select a Voice
Once you’ve loaded in your text blocks, select a voice that suits your project. There is a wide variety of voices based on gender, accent, video style, language, and accent. I found it really easy to navigate the bank of voices, thanks to the filters.
Edit Voice Mood
You can also add a tone to your chosen voice to further customize the output to your video style. Murf allows you to fine-tune your voice to the genre of your project.
Edit Voice Emphasis
The customization options include adding emphasis to voice blocks. Emphasis is key in achieving a voice that can pass as a real human, so I loved that this is possible. This is a real stand-out feature of Murf because this wasn’t included with Lovo and not in as much detail with ElevenLabs.
Add Music
You can add background music to your voice over, which gives it a professional touch. There is a range of options to choose from to ensure you have the ideal track for your project. The music can be edited in the timeline when you return to the editing screen.
Invite Team Members
It’s possible to invite members to your project for a second opinion on your voiceover, or to share it with your team members. The number of members you can invite may be capped as per the plan you are on.
Export Project
Once you’re happy with your final product, you can export it in the format of your choice. Thanks to Murf’s range of integrations, it’s also possible to link the tool with Canva, Google Slides, WordPress, Squarespace, and Wix.
How to Choose the Best AI Voice Generation Tool
With so many options available, searching for the right AI tool can be difficult. These are some of the factors that you should take into account:
Consider whether the tool meets your specific needs and objectives. Are you looking to create a voiceover for ads, educational content, or YouTube? Check the features on offer against your intended purpose.
Not all AI tools produce high-quality content as some can be unreliable. Secure a free trial or demo and read reviews to understand how other users feel about the tool’s performance.
Look for customization and integration options because tools that work alongside your existing software can save you time. If you have coding experience, you can also check for API access to use the output on your own apps or websites.
If an AI tool isn’t user-friendly, it’s going to be tough to maximize its potential. If there’s a free trial or plan, this can be a great chance to test the product before committing to a contract.
When working with sensitive information, security features are crucial with AI tools. Look out for robust security measures like data encryption, access control, and compliance with standards such as GDPR or HIPAA.
Does the tool offer good value for money, or is there a free option available? It’s important to consider if it can grow with your demands over time without becoming too expensive.
Before making your final call, examine the specific features offered by each pricing tier of the platform to ensure it offers the tools you need to achieve your goals.