--- title: "merlin vs BELLE" type: "comparison" canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/compare/cstr-edinburgh-merlin-vs-lianjiatech-belle" tools: ["cstr-edinburgh-merlin", "lianjiatech-belle"] --- # merlin vs BELLE *GraphCanon updated Sep 20, 2026* ## Verdict Pick merlin if merlin is an open-source Python toolkit for building Deep Neural Network models for statistical parametric speech synthesis that requires pairing with a text processor and vocoder; pick BELLE if bELLE is an open-source Chinese dialogue large model project that focuses on making high-quality instruction-following language models accessible to everyone. It provides instruction training data, models, training code,. [merlin](http://www.cstr.ed.ac.uk/projects/merlin/) reports 1.3k GitHub stars, 431 forks, and 207 open issues, last pushed Mar 3, 2020. [BELLE](https://github.com/LianjiaTech/BELLE) has 8.3k stars, 755 forks, and 106 open issues, last pushed Oct 16, 2024. Figures are from public GitHub metadata via [merlin's repository](https://github.com/CSTR-Edinburgh/merlin) and [BELLE's repository](https://github.com/LianjiaTech/BELLE). | | [merlin](/tools/cstr-edinburgh-merlin.md) | [BELLE](/tools/lianjiatech-belle.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Tagline | Neural Network based Speech Synthesis System | Open-source Chinese dialogue large model | | Stars | 1,321 | 8,270 | | Forks | 431 | 755 | | Open issues | 207 | 106 | | Language | Python | HTML | | Adopt for | Merlin is an open-source Python toolkit for building Deep Neural Network models for statistical parametric speech synthesis that requires pairing with a text processor and vocoder. | BELLE is an open-source Chinese dialogue large model project that focuses on making high-quality instruction-following language models accessible to everyone. It provides instruction training data, models, training code, | | Persona | - | - | | Runtime | - | - | | License | Apache-2.0 | BELLE is licensed under Apache-2.0, allowing for free use, modification, and distribution. | | Categories | Speech & Audio | Computer Vision, Evaluation & Observability, LLM Frameworks, Model Training, Speech & Audio | ## Trust and health _Sourced signals - not a safety guarantee. No winner column._ | | [merlin](/tools/cstr-edinburgh-merlin.md) | [BELLE](/tools/lianjiatech-belle.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Days since push | 2391d | 701d | | Open issues (now) | 207 | 106 | | Stars delta | +1 (30d) | -10 (30d) | | Full report | [trust report](/tools/cstr-edinburgh-merlin/trust.md) | [trust report](/tools/lianjiatech-belle/trust.md) | ## Decision facts: merlin - **Adopt for:** Merlin is an open-source Python toolkit for building Deep Neural Network models for statistical parametric speech synthesis that requires pairing with a text processor and vocoder. ## Decision facts: BELLE - **Requirements:** Min 8 GB RAM; Requires Docker; BELLE requires Docker for running the environment.; Ensure you have sufficient computational resources for training and inference. - **Adopt for:** BELLE is an open-source Chinese dialogue large model project that focuses on making high-quality instruction-following language models accessible to everyone. It provides instruction training data, models, training code, - **License detail:** BELLE is licensed under Apache-2.0, allowing for free use, modification, and distribution. ## Choose when ### Choose merlin if… - merlin is primarily Python; BELLE is HTML. - Tags unique to merlin: deep-learning, keras, speech-synthesis, tensorflow. - Merlin is an open-source Python toolkit for building Deep Neural Network models for statistical parametric speech synthesis that requires pairing with a text processor and vocoder. ### Choose BELLE if… - BELLE is primarily HTML; merlin is Python. - Requirements: Min 8 GB RAM; Requires Docker; BELLE requires Docker for running the environment.; Ensure you have sufficient computational resources for training and inference.. - Tags unique to BELLE: bloom, chinese-nlp, gpt-evaluation, gpt-q. - Also covers Computer Vision, Evaluation & Observability, LLM Frameworks, Model Training. - Use BELLE when you need a Chinese-specific large language model that has been optimized for instruction-following tasks. ## When NOT to use merlin - Last GitHub push was Mar 3, 2020 (dormant maintenance). Validate activity before betting a new project on merlin. ## When NOT to use BELLE - Avoid BELLE if your project requires a language model that is not focused on Chinese, as it is specifically optimized for the Chinese language. - Do not use BELLE if you need a model that is trained on a diverse set of data beyond Chinese dialogue, as it primarily uses data generated by ChatGPT. - BELLE may not be suitable if you require a model that has not been fine-tuned on high-quality dialogue data, as it emphasizes instruction-following capabilities. ## Common questions ### What is the difference between merlin and BELLE? merlin: Neural Network based Speech Synthesis System. BELLE: Open-source Chinese dialogue large model. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories. ### When should I choose merlin over BELLE? Choose merlin over BELLE when merlin is primarily Python; BELLE is HTML; Tags unique to merlin: deep-learning, keras, speech-synthesis, tensorflow; Merlin is an open-source Python toolkit for building Deep Neural Network models for statistical parametric speech synthesis that requires pairing with a text processor and vocoder. ### When should I choose BELLE over merlin? Choose BELLE over merlin when BELLE is primarily HTML; merlin is Python; Requirements: Min 8 GB RAM; Requires Docker; BELLE requires Docker for running the environment.; Ensure you have sufficient computational resources for training and inference.; Tags unique to BELLE: bloom, chinese-nlp, gpt-evaluation, gpt-q; Also covers Computer Vision, Evaluation & Observability, LLM Frameworks, Model Training; Use BELLE when you need a Chinese-specific large language model that has been optimized for instruction-following tasks. ### When should I avoid merlin? Last GitHub push was Mar 3, 2020 (dormant maintenance). Validate activity before betting a new project on merlin. ### When should I avoid BELLE? Avoid BELLE if your project requires a language model that is not focused on Chinese, as it is specifically optimized for the Chinese language. Do not use BELLE if you need a model that is trained on a diverse set of data beyond Chinese dialogue, as it primarily uses data generated by ChatGPT. BELLE may not be suitable if you require a model that has not been fine-tuned on high-quality dialogue data, as it emphasizes instruction-following capabilities. ### Is merlin or BELLE more popular on GitHub? BELLE has more GitHub stars (8,270 vs 1,321). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints. ### Are merlin and BELLE open source? Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (merlin: Apache-2.0, BELLE: Apache-2.0). ### Where can I find alternatives to merlin or BELLE? GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at [merlin alternatives](/tools/cstr-edinburgh-merlin/alternatives) and [BELLE alternatives](/tools/lianjiatech-belle/alternatives) ([merlin markdown twin](/tools/cstr-edinburgh-merlin/alternatives.md), [BELLE markdown twin](/tools/lianjiatech-belle/alternatives.md)), ranked by typed relationship edges rather than popularity votes. ### Is there a machine-readable version of this comparison? Yes. The markdown twin at [this comparison](/compare/cstr-edinburgh-merlin-vs-lianjiatech-belle.md) mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers. ### Which is better maintained, merlin or BELLE? merlin: Dormant. BELLE: Dormant. Compare maintenance labels, days since push, and release cadence in the trust section below - stars alone do not measure maintenance. ### Where are the full trust reports for merlin and BELLE? GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: [merlin trust report](/tools/cstr-edinburgh-merlin/trust); [BELLE trust report](/tools/lianjiatech-belle/trust). --- **Machine-readable endpoints** - JSON: [`/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=cstr-edinburgh-merlin`](/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=cstr-edinburgh-merlin) - LLM index: [/llms.txt](/llms.txt) - Full corpus: [/llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt) _GraphCanon - The knowledge graph for AI development. https://www.graphcanon.com/_