Mozilla Common Voice: donate your voice to an open dataset
Mozilla says Common Voice is a public voice dataset built by volunteers. You can record or check clips without an account, but recordings may become public under CC0.
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What it is
Common Voice is a Mozilla project that collects voice recordings from volunteers to build an open dataset for speech technology. Its About page calls it "a publicly available voice dataset, powered by the voices of volunteer contributors around the world". You can donate your voice by reading sentences aloud, or check other people's clips. Developers use the dataset to train voice models. It is not a consumer app that does something for you. We included it as a free way to help build speech tools for more languages.
Is it free?
The pages we read do not use the word "free" about the site. They say the dataset is open source and "anyone can use" it, that the datasets are released under a CC-0 (public domain) licence, and that you do not need an account to use Common Voice. We saw no price or paid plan anywhere. Current terms direct public dataset access through Mozilla Data Collective (MDC). Check its access steps and terms before downloading; we did not test a download.
What you can do with it
- Donate your voice: read sentences aloud so speech tools learn more accents and languages.
- Validate clips: listen to other people's recordings and mark them right or wrong.
- Download the dataset: the datasets page lists language/version releases. Current terms direct public dataset access through Mozilla Data Collective (MDC); check its access steps and terms before downloading. We did not test a download. These datasets are for people building voice tools.
- Help add a language: Mozilla describes steps for translating the site and collecting sentences.
What to watch out for
- Dataset access and redistribution. Current terms say Mozilla makes Common Voice datasets available to the public exclusively through MDC under CC0, unless otherwise specified. Mozilla asks users not to post, distribute or mirror any dataset, in whole or in part, on other platforms or services, and to direct access through MDC.
- Your voice becomes public. Mozilla's notice says voice recordings may be available in the Common Voice databases for public use under a CC0 licence. Think before you record.
- Age rule. The terms say Common Voice is open to anyone over 19. If you are 19 or under, you need a parent or guardian's consent and supervision.
- Not every language is ready. Mozilla says a language launches only after the site is translated and enough sentences are collected. We could not read the full list of open languages, so we cannot say which Indian languages you can record in today. The site's language menu shows Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Bengali, Marathi, Punjabi, Odia, Assamese, Urdu and others, but a menu entry does not prove recording is open.
Privacy and data
- Account: Mozilla's Privacy Notice says you do not need an account to use Common Voice. If you make one, it uses a Mozilla account and Mozilla receives your username and avatar. Your email is linked to your demographic and interaction data but is not shared publicly.
- Optional details: you can add accent, age and gender. Mozilla says it uses these to help improve speech-to-text.
- Public data: your recordings, any optional demographics sent with them, and sentences you submit may be in the public databases under CC0. The notice says typed sentences are not linked to your demographic data.
- Tracking: Mozilla says it uses Google Analytics and cookies for de-identified usage data, and also collects location and browser language settings.
- Leaderboards: optional. The terms say that if you opt out, recordings stay public but are not shown against your username.
- The notice is dated "Effective October 31, 2025" and points to Mozilla's own policies. We did not read those in full.
India
- Common Voice is a website open to people everywhere, as far as we could tell. We did not find an India-specific page. No price is involved.
Frequently asked questions
Is Common Voice free?
We saw no charge. The pages say the dataset is open and public domain (CC0) and that no account is needed.
Will my voice be public?
Mozilla says recordings may be available in the public databases under CC0.
Who can take part?
The terms say people over 19, or 19 and under with parent or guardian consent.
Sources: About, Datasets, Terms, Privacy Notice, Languages. Checked 16 October 2026.
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