Speechify Alternatives: 8 Read Aloud Apps, Free and Paid
November 10, 2026
The best Speechify alternative depends on what you actually listen to. Speechify reads PDFs, web pages, books and scans aloud on almost every device. Most people look elsewhere for one reason: the free plan only has a handful of robotic voices, and the natural voices sit behind a Premium subscription.
Match your situation to a tool:
- You want natural voices without paying: ElevenReader, which includes hours of free listening every month
- You want a free plan with unlimited basic listening: NaturalReader
- You read on iPhone, iPad and Mac and care about accessibility: Voice Dream Reader
- You already save articles to read later: Readwise Reader
- You don't want another app: the read aloud built into iPhone, Edge, Chrome and Android
A scope note before the list. This guide is about reading and listening apps: you bring text, they read it to you. If you need to produce voiceovers for videos, ads or courses, that's a different job, and our guides to ElevenLabs alternatives and Murf AI alternatives cover it.
Quick comparison
| App | Platforms | Free option | Pricing model | Reads | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Speechify | iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, Windows, web, Chrome and Edge extensions | 10 basic voices, up to 1.5x | Subscription | PDFs, web, docs, scans | Everything in one app |
| ElevenReader | iOS, Android, web, Chrome extension | 10 hours of listening a month | Subscription | PDF, DOCX, EPUB, links, scans | Natural voices for free |
| NaturalReader | Web, iOS, Android, Chrome extension | Unlimited free voices | Subscription | Docs, PDFs, web, images | Unlimited basic listening |
| Voice Dream Reader | iPhone, iPad, Mac | See App Store | See App Store | PDF, EPUB, Word, PowerPoint, web | Accessibility-first reading |
| Readwise Reader | iOS, Android, web, Mac, Windows | 30-day trial | Subscription | Saved articles, PDFs, newsletters | Read-later readers |
| iPhone Read & Speak | iPhone and iPad | Built in | Included | Anything on screen | Quick listening, zero setup |
| Edge Read Aloud | Edge on Windows and Mac | Built in | Included | Web pages | Free desktop listening |
| Chrome reading mode | Chrome on computers | Built in | Included | Web pages | Chrome users |
| Android Reading mode | Android phones | Free app from Google | Included | Articles in apps and sites | Android listening |
What Speechify does well, and where people hit limits
Credit first. Per Speechify's pricing page, Premium adds 1,000+ natural voices, 60+ languages, up to 5x speed, Scan & Listen for printed pages, AI summaries and chat, and cloud storage imports from Google Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive. It runs on iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, Windows, the web and as Chrome and Edge extensions. Few apps cover that many places.
Speechify is also growing beyond reading. Its homepage now pitches it as a voice AI assistant, with voice typing dictation, AI podcasts and a voice assistant alongside read aloud.
Where the friction shows up:
| Gripe | What Speechify offers today |
|---|---|
| The free voices sound robotic | Free has 10 voices the page itself calls robotic-sounding |
| Free speed tops out | Up to 1.5x on free; up to 5x on Premium |
| The price | Premium is a subscription, monthly or yearly |
| You only want a reader | The product now bundles dictation, podcasts and an assistant |
If you use Scan & Listen, cloud imports and the AI tools every day, Speechify is still hard to beat in one app. If you mainly want a pleasant voice reading your PDFs, the options below cost less or nothing.
ElevenReader: the closest free Speechify alternative
ElevenReader is the reading app from ElevenLabs. It reads books, Kindle content, PDFs and articles aloud, and it includes a large audiobook library too.
What sets it apart is the free plan. It includes 10 hours of text to speech every month, 1,000+ voices, syncing between web and mobile, and playback up to 4x. Those are the same natural-sounding ElevenLabs voices, not a separate robotic set.
- Reads: PDF, DOCX, EPUB, Markdown and TXT files, pasted links, pasted text, and scanned images
- Runs on: iOS, Android, the web and a Chrome extension
- Paid plan: Ultra adds unlimited listening for your own imports, offline downloads, custom voices and premium audiobooks
ElevenReader vs Speechify
| ElevenReader | Speechify | |
|---|---|---|
| Free natural voices | Yes, 10 hours a month | No, 10 basic voices |
| Desktop apps | Web and Chrome extension | Mac and Windows apps too |
| Scan printed pages | Text from images | Scan & Listen on Premium |
| Audiobook library | Included | Not its focus |
| Extra AI tools | Fewer | Summaries, chat, dictation, podcasts |
Short version: ElevenReader wins on free voice quality. Speechify wins on desktop coverage and extras.
NaturalReader: unlimited free listening
NaturalReader has two sides. The personal version is for listening to documents. The commercial version is for voiceovers, which is out of scope here.
Its web app pricing lists a free plan with unlimited listening with its free voices, plus a 5-minute daily allowance of its better "Plus" AI voices. No credit card needed. Paid plans raise the AI voice allowance and add MP3 downloads.
It reads text, PDFs, images, web pages and photos of physical books, across the web app, iOS and Android apps, and a Chrome extension.
Speechify vs NaturalReader
| NaturalReader | Speechify | |
|---|---|---|
| Free listening | Unlimited with free voices | Unlimited with 10 basic voices |
| Free natural voices | 5 minutes a day | None |
| Native desktop apps | Not listed; web app and Chrome extension | Mac and Windows |
| Commercial voiceover use | Separate commercial plans | Separate Studio product |
NaturalReader's free plan is the more generous of the two if you can live with basic voices most of the time.
Voice Dream Reader and Readwise Reader
These two suit specific kinds of readers better than general ones.
Voice Dream Reader
Voice Dream Reader turns PDFs, EPUBs, Word documents, PowerPoint files and web pages into audio, and syncs across iPhone, iPad and Mac. It was built for people who read differently, and its site says every screen, control and gesture is labeled and tested with VoiceOver. If you rely on a screen reader, that care shows.
Its site lists only iPhone, iPad and Mac, so Android users should look elsewhere. It doesn't list pricing, so check the App Store listing before you commit.
Readwise Reader
Readwise Reader is a read-later app first and a read aloud app second. You save articles, newsletters and PDFs, and it narrates them with AI voices at adjustable speed. It runs on iOS, Android, the web, and Mac and Windows desktop apps, and it works offline.
It's a subscription after a 30-day trial with no card needed. It makes sense if you'd pay for a reading app anyway; it's overkill if you only want text to speech.
Free read aloud already on your devices
Before paying for any text to speech reader app, try what you already have. These won't match ElevenReader's voices, but they're free and need no new account.
iPhone and iPad: Read & Speak
Go to Settings, then Accessibility, then Read & Speak. Per Apple's iPhone guide, turn on Speak Screen and then swipe down with two fingers from the top of the screen to hear everything on it. Speak Selection reads text you highlight, and Accessibility Reader opens text in a full-screen reading view that can read aloud automatically. You can pick the voice and speaking rate.
Microsoft Edge: Read Aloud
In Edge, press Ctrl + Shift + U on Windows or Command + Shift + U on Mac to start or stop Read Aloud, per Microsoft's Edge shortcut list. It also lives inside Edge's Reading mode, which strips clutter from a page and adds translate and summarize tools. Edge's voices are some of the best free ones around.
Chrome reading mode
On a computer, open a page in Chrome's reading mode and you can listen to the text read aloud, with a choice of voice and speed and sentence-by-sentence controls. Google's reading mode help page covers the steps.
Android: Reading mode and Select to Speak
Google's free Reading mode app reads long articles in apps and sites aloud, with adjustable voice and speed. Per Google's Android help, it needs Android 9 or later and doesn't support PDFs, emails, chat messages or social feeds. For anything else, Select to Speak reads text you select.
How to choose a read aloud app
Work through these in order:
- List what you listen to. Web articles only? The built-in options may be enough. PDFs and EPUBs? You need a dedicated app.
- Test the voices on your own material. Voice quality is the whole product. Listen to the same page in two apps for five minutes each.
- Count your hours. ElevenReader's free 10 hours a month covers a lot of casual listening. Daily heavy listeners will hit a paid plan anywhere.
- Check your devices. Voice Dream is Apple only; ElevenReader and NaturalReader have no native desktop apps in their personal plans; Speechify covers the most.
- Decide whether you want extras. Summaries, chat with your document and scanning are worth paying for if you use them, and noise if you don't.
Where Taku fits
Taku isn't a text to speech app, and it won't read your PDFs aloud like the tools above. It's an AI-native desktop workspace where you mirror and run AI apps and workflows other people already built, such as a research or summary workflow you run on your own files. It sits next to a read aloud app, not in place of one. If you'd rather speak your notes than listen to them, our Wispr Flow alternatives guide covers dictation apps.
FAQ
What is the best free Speechify alternative?
ElevenReader, for natural voices: its free plan includes 10 hours of listening a month. NaturalReader is better if you want unlimited listening and can accept basic voices. For web pages, Edge Read Aloud and Chrome reading mode are free and built in.
What are some apps like Speechify?
ElevenReader, NaturalReader, Voice Dream Reader and Readwise Reader are the closest dedicated apps. Built-in options include iPhone's Read & Speak, Edge Read Aloud, Chrome reading mode and Android's Reading mode.
ElevenReader vs Speechify: which is better?
ElevenReader if you want natural voices on a free plan and an audiobook library. Speechify if you want native Mac and Windows apps, Scan & Listen and built-in AI tools in one subscription.
Speechify vs NaturalReader: which is cheaper?
Both have free plans. NaturalReader's free plan adds 5 minutes of its better AI voices each day; Speechify's free plan has basic voices only. Compare current paid prices on each vendor's own pricing page, since both bill by subscription.
Is there a free read aloud app for PDFs?
Yes. ElevenReader reads PDFs on its free plan within the monthly hours, and NaturalReader reads them with its free voices. Edge can also open PDFs, and on iPhone, Speak Screen reads whatever is on screen.
Can I use these voices for YouTube or podcast voiceovers?
Usually not on a personal plan. NaturalReader, for example, sells separate commercial plans for voiceover use. If you're producing audio for others, look at voiceover tools instead.
The short version
- Free with good voices: ElevenReader
- Free and unlimited with basic voices: NaturalReader
- Apple devices and accessibility: Voice Dream Reader
- Read-later habit: Readwise Reader
- No new app: Read & Speak, Edge Read Aloud, Chrome reading mode, Android Reading mode
- Stay with Speechify if you use its scanning, desktop apps and AI tools daily
Listening is one way to get through more reading. Another is turning what you read into something you can act on. Taku lets you mirror an AI workflow someone already built, run it in your own desktop workspace, and keep it for next time. Taku is in Beta, and the Mac app is available now.