Speechify vs. Read Aloud

If you’re wondering whether to use Speechify or Read Aloud as your TTS service of choice, here’s a detailed breakdown of both apps to help you decide.

Text to speech is a special function that reads various text formats using AI voices. People with learning disabilities, such as ADHD and dyslexia, can benefit the most from using TTS. However, anyone can benefit from TTS apps. If you enjoy listening to audiobooks or podcasts, you’ll also enjoy listening to other text read out loud for you with the help of text to speech apps. Speechify and Read Aloud are among the best text to speech apps on the market. These services have many features that may be of great use to a wide variety of users. If you’re looking for help in making a choice between Speechify and Read Aloud, this article will provide crucial information. Let’s examine the key features of Speechify and Read Aloud, compare them in detail, and recommend the best choice between the two TTS apps.

What is Speechify?

Speechify is a text to speech software with advanced AI algorithms. The service can read Microsoft Word documents, ePub, HTML, PDF files, web pages, and more. Take any text file from your hard drive, Dropbox, or Google Drive, and feed it into Speechify. You’ll get an audio version of the text immediately. The key strong points of Speechify include realistic narrator voices, ample language support, and a slew of advanced features like bookmarks and text highlighting. This TTS tool boasts powerful AI which helps create natural-sounding narration for the best listening experience. Speechify customization options include the narrator voice, reading speed, and different languages. When combined, these features allow you to tailor the narration to your liking. The app is ideal for casual readers, dyslexic people, and language learners, as well as for speed reading or speed listening training.

What is Read Aloud?

Read Aloud mainly focuses on web content, making the app less useful offline. The service functions via browser extensions, and the main website page also links to a voice narration tool. In addition, users can get a TTS widget for their site. When you go to the Read Aloud website, you’ll see a straightforward toolbar that offers shortcuts to the main features. Selecting the type of TTS service is easy and doesn’t take a lot of time. Clicking on “Browser Extensions” will present several options for the most popular browsers, while the voice narration menu will offer a link to the web-based TTS tool. Read Aloud has voice, speed, and pitch customization. Used from the browser, it can come in handy when you need a webpage read instantly.

Speechify vs. Read Aloud: The comparison

To compare Speechify and Read Aloud, we looked at the following aspects:

• Platform availability
• Number and quality of AI Voices
• Language selection
• Speed settings for voices
• Optical character recognition (OCR) technology
• Note-taking tools
• Customer support

Here are our conclusions for each app.

Platform availability

Platform availability isn’t the same between Speechify and Read Aloud. Speechify has extensive support for various platforms, while Read Aloud is somewhat limited. Speechify works on Mac and Windows computers and has iOS and Android mobile apps available in respective app stores. It’s also available from your web browser and has a Google Chrome extension. On the other hand, Read Aloud has extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge. Besides those options, there’s the online TTS tool and the previously mentioned widget.

Number and quality of AI voices

Speechify comes with many natural-sounding voices. If you opt for the app's premium version, all of these voices are included in the offer. Read Aloud comes with a selection of narrator voices with additional variants available through in-app purchases.

Language selection

Speechify has support for more than 30 different languages, including English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, and many others. Better yet, there are numerous custom voices for the mentioned and other languages. Read Aloud supports around 40 languages. However, the service doesn’t have too many voices per language, somewhat limiting its customization potential.

Speed settings for voices

With Speechify, you can adjust the reading speed on a sliding scale, from four or more times slower up to five times faster. While Read Aloud also has speed settings, those produce varying results. Some speeds may sound highly unnatural.

Optical character recognition (OCR) technology

Speechify boasts powerful OCR that can turn a printed or scanned doc into a natural-sounding audio file. This functionality works on Apple and Android devices, allowing you to listen to any printed text using your iPad, iPhone, tablet, or smartphone. Unfortunately, Read Aloud doesn’t have optical character recognition.

Note-taking tools

Note-taking features are an integral part of Speechify’s toolset. This TTS engine is the clear winner in this regard, as Read Aloud doesn’t have note-taking support.

Customer support

Speechify has extensive customer support, which users can reach via email. It’s also possible to leave the Speechify team a message on the website, and there’s an FAQ page with numerous helpful explanations. Read Aloud has a support page where users can get in touch by filling a contact form.

Try Speechify for free today

After comparing Speechify and Read Aloud, we can declare a definitive winner. Speechify boasts impressive features like top-quality voices, near-perfect OCR, and a vast selection of languages. The advantages of this service over Read Aloud are substantial. Speechify is a great tool for language learners and voracious readers. As a screen reader, it can help people with dyslexia and other learning disabilities. The premium plan has the full set of features, but the free variant can be very useful, too. Users can also use text to speech with Speechify to boost productivity and give their eyes a break from reading screens all day long. Try Speechify for free today.

FAQ

What are the alternatives to Speechify and Read Aloud?

Certain text to speech tools function similarly to Speechify and Read Aloud, but might not have the same functionality. Examples include Natural Reader, TextAloud, Amazon Polly, and Voice Dream Reader.

What is the best app to read out loud?

While you can find many apps that provide limited text to speech functionality, Speechify has some of the most advanced options available. This makes the app the best choice if you want written text read out loud.

What is the most realistic text to speech app?

To be as realistic as possible, a text to speech app should have high-quality natural voices and advanced AI text to speech features. The goal is to make the AI narration indistinguishable from human narration. Speechify can do just that.

Is Speechify the best?

Yes. With Speechify, you get fluent narration that sounds natural. The user experience is seamless regardless of the platform. Since Speechify has so much to offer, it’s hard to find another TTS program that can match it in terms of quality and versatility.

Is the Speechify app free?

Speechify has a free version with certain limitations compared with the premium variant. Still, you can use Speechify for free and get very good results.

What is the best text to speech app for Android?

Most Android-exclusive speech synthesis software can’t compare with the more robust TTS apps. Speechify for Android will easily outperform any text to speech engine built solely for smartphones.

What is the difference between read vs read?

Read (pronounced like “reed”) is the present tense of the word, while read (pronounced “red”) is the past tense of the word.