Alternatives
Seagull Studio: a local Murf alternative for Mac
Murf is a cloud voiceover studio: hundreds of stock voices, a timeline, and plans billed in hours of audio. Custom cloning of your own voice is not on Creator or Business — it is an Enterprise add-on. Seagull Studio does the narrower job locally: clone from 10 seconds, generate on your Apple Silicon Mac, offline after the model downloads, for $11.99 once. If you need Murf's studio, keep Murf. If you need your voice on a machine you own, this is the comparison.
What is each product?
Murf sells a browser studio for training videos, explainers and presentations. You pick a stock voice, drop a script on a timeline, and export. That workflow is the product. Generation is metered in hours. Teams get review tools. Voice cloning of a real person is a separate Enterprise conversation with sales.
Seagull Studio is a native macOS app for local voice cloning and text-to-speech that runs entirely on Apple Silicon, with no subscription and no cloud synthesis. You record or import at least 10 seconds, pick one of 6 on-device models, generate, and export WAV or MP3. There is no stock-voice library and no slide timeline.
How do they differ?
| Seagull Studio | Murf | |
|---|---|---|
| Where synthesis happens | On your Mac | On Murf's servers |
| Works offline | Yes, after the model is downloaded | No |
| Clone your own voice | Yes, from 10 seconds, on the $11.99 unlock | Enterprise only — not on Creator or Business |
| Stock voices | No; you bring a sample | Yes, a large library is the default path |
| Price | $11.99 once after 20 free generations | Free preview; Creator $19–$29/mo; Business $66–$99/mo; Enterprise custom |
| Metering | None after unlock | Hours of voice generation per year (24 hrs on Creator annual) |
| Studio / timeline | Generate and export | Full voiceover studio, slides, team review |
| Platform | macOS 14+ on Apple Silicon | Browser, any OS |
| Privacy | Data Not Collected; samples stay local | Cloud processing under Murf's policies |
What does Murf cost?
| Plan | Price | Voice generation |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | About 10 minutes total; no downloads, no commercial rights |
| Creator | $29/mo, or $19/mo billed annually ($228/year) | 24 hours per year, commercial rights, one editor seat |
| Business | $99/mo, or $66/mo billed annually ($792/year) | 96 hours per year on annual billing, Business license |
| Enterprise | Custom | Unlimited generation, cloning, API, compliance add-ons |
Seagull Studio is $11.99 once. A year of Murf Creator at the annual rate is $228 — about nineteen times that — and still does not clone your voice. That comparison is only fair if cloning is the job. If you want Murf's stock voices and timeline, you are buying a studio, and $228 a year can be the right studio.
The usual surprise with Murf: the $19 headline is annual billing, generation is capped in hours, and "clone my voice" is not a Creator feature.
Where Murf is better
- Stock voices, immediately. No sample to record. Pick a voice and start a script. Seagull Studio has nothing like that library.
- Voiceover studio. Timing, emphasis, slides, PowerPoint add-on, Canva-style export paths. That is Murf's job.
- Any device. A browser works on Windows and Chromebooks. Seagull Studio needs an Apple Silicon Mac.
- Teams and review. Business and Enterprise are built for stakeholders watching a cut. Seagull Studio is a single-user Mac app with Family Sharing, not seats.
Where Seagull Studio is better
- Your voice, without Enterprise. Cloning is the product, not an add-on quote.
- Nothing leaves the Mac. Samples and scripts stay on disk. Data Not Collected on the App Store listing.
- Offline. After the model download, generation does not need Murf's servers.
- No hour meter. Retake a paragraph as many times as you like. Nothing is deducted from a yearly bucket.
- $11.99 once. No renewal, no plan toggle, no sales call to clone a 10-second sample.
Which should you pick?
Pick Seagull Studio if you want to clone a real voice on a Mac, keep it local, and stop paying by the hour.
Pick Murf if the deliverable is a polished stock-voice voiceover with a timeline, slides, and people who need to approve the cut.
Pick both if that maps to the week: Murf for the course module that needs a stock narrator and a slide deck, Seagull Studio for anything that should sound like you and never be uploaded.
Side-by-side generation examples are coming soon — the same script through Seagull Studio and Murf, so you can hear the difference instead of taking anyone's word for it.
What you need to run Seagull Studio
macOS 14 or later on an Apple Silicon Mac; Intel Macs are not supported. The app is 377.5 MB. Models are optional downloads from about 0.7 GB to 13 GB. Import WAV, MP3, M4A, AAC, AIFF or CAF; export WAV or MP3.
Questions, answered.
Is there a local Murf alternative for Mac?
Yes. Seagull Studio clones a voice from 10 seconds of audio and generates speech on your Apple Silicon Mac, offline after the model downloads, for $11.99 once. Murf is a cloud voiceover studio billed in hours, and custom voice cloning is an Enterprise add-on.
Does Murf include voice cloning on Creator or Business?
No. Murf's Custom Voice Clones are sold as an Enterprise engagement. Creator and Business give you Murf's stock voice library, not a clone of your own voice. Seagull Studio clones from 10 seconds on the regular $11.99 unlock.
Is Seagull Studio cheaper than Murf?
For cloning your own voice, yes: $11.99 once versus an Enterprise quote. For stock-voice voiceover, Murf Creator is $19 a month billed annually ($228 a year) for 24 hours of generation. That is a different product — a studio of ready-made voices, not a local clone of you.
Does Seagull Studio have a timeline editor like Murf?
No. Murf is built as a voiceover studio: timing, stock voices, slides and team review. Seagull Studio records a sample, generates speech, and exports WAV or MP3. If the studio workflow is the job, Murf stays the better fit.
Does Seagull Studio work offline?
Yes, after a model is downloaded. Purchase and first-time model downloads need the internet. Murf is a cloud service and needs a connection for generation.
What Mac do I need?
macOS 14 or later on Apple Silicon. Intel Macs are not supported. The app is 377.5 MB; models are optional downloads from about 0.7 GB to 13 GB.