Azure HD 2.5 text-to-speech model
MicrosoftReleased Mar 2026.
Azure HD 2.5 is a text-to-speech (TTS) model from Microsoft. It ranks #30 of 98 on the Artificial Analysis TTS arena with Elo 1143 (95% CI ±11, 3,024 samples). List price is about $22 per 1M characters. Released Mar 2026.
Key facts
- Provider
- Microsoft
- AA rank
- #30 / 98
- AA Elo (95% CI)
- 1143 ±11
- AA samples
- 3,024
- TTS Arena Elo (uncertainty)
- –
- TTS Arena votes
- –
- TTS Arena win rate
- –
- Price (per 1M chars)
- $22
- Released
- Mar 2026
- Open weights
- –
- License
- –
- Voices tested by AA
- 8
- Languages
- –
- Voice cloning
- –
"–" means the upstream sources do not provide this value; we do not guess.
Nearby models
By AA Elo; this model highlighted| # | Model | AA Elo | Arena Elo | Price $/1M chars | Open weights |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 |  Speech 2.8 Turbo MiniMax | 1156 | 1517 | $60 | – |
| 28 | GGradium TTS (Aug 2026) Gradium | 1154 | – | $47.2 | – |
| 29 |  SpaceXAI TTS SpaceXAI | 1152 | – | $15 | – |
| 30 | Azure HD 2.5 Microsoft | 1143 | – | $22 | – |
| 31 | AAsync Flash v1.5 async | 1141 | – | $10.1 | – |
| 32 |  Step TTS 2 (Mar 2026) StepFun | 1140 | – | $40 | – |
| 33 | Speech 2.6 HD MiniMax | 1130 | 1498 | $100 | – |
Alternatives · Cheaper with AA Elo ≥ 1113
| # | Model | AA Elo | Arena Elo | Price $/1M chars | Open weights |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 |  Qwen-Audio-3.1-TTS-Plus Alibaba | 1307 | – | $19.3 | – |
| 5 |  Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS Google | 1280 | – | $16.5 | – |
| 6 | IRealtime TTS-2 Inworld | 1270 | – | $20.8 | – |
| 7 | Qwen-Audio-3.0-TTS-Plus Alibaba | 1266 | – | $19.3 | – |
| 8 | Gemini 3.8 Flash-Lite TTS Google | 1252 | – | $11 | – |
Alternatives · More from Microsoft
| # | Model | AA Elo | Arena Elo | Price $/1M chars | Open weights |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 74 | Azure Neural Microsoft | 1034 | – | $15 | – |
| 77 | MAI-Voice-1 Microsoft | 1030 | – | – | – |
| 83 | VibeVoice 1.5B Microsoft | 956 | – | – | Open |
Alternatives · Top 5 open-weight by AA Elo
| # | Model | AA Elo | Arena Elo | Price $/1M chars | Open weights |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 |  Fish Audio Drama 3 Preview Fish Audio | 1248 | – | $15 | Open |
| 11 | BBreeze TTS 2 BreezeBlue | 1230 | – | $34 | Open |
| 19 |  Ming-3.0-tts Ant Group | 1191 | – | – | Open |
| 38 | Fish Audio S2 Pro Fish Audio | 1110 | – | $15 | Open |
| 41 | Step Audio EditX (Mar 2026) StepFun | 1100 | – | – | Open |
FAQ
Where does Azure HD 2.5 rank among TTS models?
As of Oct 25, 2026, Azure HD 2.5 ranks #30 of 98 on the Artificial Analysis TTS leaderboard with Elo 1143 (±11).
Is Azure HD 2.5 open source?
The sources do not list Azure HD 2.5 as open-weight; it is generally used through the Microsoft API.
What is the best Chinese TTS model?
By AA Elo, the top model from a Chinese provider is Qwen-Audio-3.1-TTS-Plus by Alibaba (Elo 1307, #3 overall).
Which top-10 TTS model is cheapest?
Among the AA top 10, the lowest list price is Simba 3.2 (SpeechifyAI) at $6.6 per 1M characters, Elo 1246.
What is the best open-source TTS model?
By AA Elo, the top open-weight model is Fish Audio Drama 3 Preview by Fish Audio (Elo 1248, #9 overall); 18 open-weight models have an AA score.
Sources
"–" means the upstream sources do not provide this value; we do not guess.