openedai-speech vs Xinference
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted self-hosted ai options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | openedai-speech | Xinference |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 13 · At risk | 93 · Excellent |
| Status | Archived | Actively maintained |
| Category | Self-Hosted AI | Self-Hosted AI |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Python | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 8,192 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, kubernetes, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 857 | ★ 9,592 |
| First released | 2024 | 2023 |
| Replaces | OpenAI API, ElevenLabs | OpenAI API, Hugging Face Inference Endpoints |
What are openedai-speech and Xinference?
openedai-speech
openedai-speech is a self-hosted text-to-speech server that mimics the OpenAI audio speech API. It uses local models such as Piper and Coqui XTTS to generate audio without sending data to the cloud.
- OpenAI speech API compatible
- Piper and XTTS backends
- Custom voice mapping
- Drop-in replacement
Xinference
Xorbits Inference (Xinference) is a framework for serving language, embedding, image, audio, and rerank models with a single command. It exposes OpenAI-compatible APIs and supports distributed deployment across multiple machines.
- Serve LLMs, embeddings and images
- OpenAI-compatible API
- Distributed cluster support
- Built-in model registry
openedai-speech vs Xinference: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: openedai-speech's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Xinference is actively maintained. Both projects are written in Python. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for openedai-speech versus Apache-2.0 for Xinference. Openedai-speech is the lighter option, starting around 2,048 MB of RAM against 8,192 MB for Xinference. Xinference has the considerably larger community, at 9,592 GitHub stars versus 857.
Why pick each one
Choose openedai-speech if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Python
Choose Xinference if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 9.6k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is openedai-speech or Xinference better?
Neither is universally better. Xinference has the larger community, while openedai-speech is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are openedai-speech and Xinference free and open-source?
Yes. openedai-speech is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Xinference under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run openedai-speech and Xinference with Docker?
openedai-speech: yes. Xinference: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, openedai-speech or Xinference?
openedai-speech has the smaller minimum footprint at 2,048 MB of RAM, compared to about 8,192 MB for Xinference. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.