Read Aloud is a text-to-speech application that behaves just as its name implies. The software will take text from web pages, documents, or any text entered into its transcription engine and read it aloud.

Read Aloud TTS Pricing

Text-to-speech software is on the rise to meet the needs of individuals and industries alike. Using API and machine learning technology, TTS software is useful for companies seeking to define a brand voice or for teachers to voice over instructional or educational videos for e-learning needs.

Text-to-speech software is also a common resource for those who are living with learning or reading disabilities, such as dyslexia or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or visual impairments. With text-to-speech software, reading troubles are a thing of the past and are no longer a barrier to learning. 

There are many TTS software options to choose from, some of which offer a free version for basic features while others are paid for more extensive features. One common option, Read Aloud, is an open-source application that offers 100,000 free characters per month of TTS use.

About Read Aloud

Read Aloud is a text-to-speech application that behaves just as its name implies. The software will take text from web pages, documents, articles, or any text entered into its transcription engine and read it aloud. 

While text-to-speech softwares can be utilized in industries or for assisting with learning disabilities, many subscribers find it useful for reading while on the go. For those who lead busy lives with long commutes or rushing from event to event, the time to read is not necessarily available. Software applications such as Read Aloud allow these users to get their reading in while they continue with their busy to-do lists. 

This feature is especially useful for students who rush from school to work to social events, lacking the time to read or study. With TTS software, textbook reading and online research can be read aloud to them while they go about their lives, allowing them to continue to succeed in their studies without sacrificing time to sit and read.

Some of the features that Read Aloud offers its users are:

• Easily operable with a simple and intuitive interface
• Pulls readable content from web browsing
• Supports a variety of documents such as EPUB, PDF, DOC, DOCX, and TXT formats
• Dictionary functions
• Follow-along highlighting and automatic page scrolling
• Ability to customize fonts, letter size, and color scheme
• Custom control of volume, pitch, and rate of speech
• Adjustment of word pronunciation
• Support for multiple languages

Supporting over 40 languages, it is commonly used as an extension for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge web browsing that reads the content of whatever website the user may choose to surf. The extension offers the use of a toolbar that allows the start, stop, and playback of listening while showing the text being read in a pop-up window. 

Many voices are available to choose from in the application’s settings, including premium voices provided by Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and IBM Watson. Premium voices allow users to choose the voice that may be more native to them, enhancing their ease of listening and comprehension. However, some cloud-based voices may require a purchase for premium features and additional characters. Compatible with google docs, PDFs, and more.

Read Aloud is easily operated by selecting the application from the installed extensions menu on the browser that is in use. Additionally, keyboard shortcuts such as ALT-P, ALT-O, ALT-comma, and ALT-period can be accessed to play or pause, stop, rewind, and fast forward. Text can also be selected before launching the extension to give a preferred starting point for reading. In addition, a simple right-click on selected text provides another option to activate the features in the Read Aloud app or use the keyboard shortcut ALT-P. 

To adjust any customizable options in the application such as the voice, reading speed, pitch or text-highlighting, settings can be accessed by clicking the Read Aloud icon on the browser’s extension menu and clicking on the settings gear. A pop-up box will provide the listener with voice, pitch, volume, and speed settings that can all be adjusted to the listener’s preference.

Integrations

Read Aloud offers several integrations for individuals and businesses depending on the specific needs of the user. While the most common use of the application is the browser extension options, others are available as well. 

Read Aloud is a browser extension application that enables TTS features to read web pages for those surfing the web. This can be used in a wide variety of applications from assisting those who are navigating a reading or learning disorder to the multitasking mom keeping up with the latest parenting blog while getting in her time at the gym. It has extensions compatible with Chrome, Firefox, and Edge. With over 4 million downloads in the Chrome Webstore, it is one of the more popular TTS options for Chrome users. 

Read Aloud also offers a feature for website owners to embed a Read Aloud widget into their website, which will automatically read the browser aloud to anyone who comes across the webpage. These features increase the website’s reach by reading the content aloud, whereas the average web surfer may just skim the copy on the web page. 

In addition to the more common uses of the software, Read Aloud offers a voice-over feature that allows businesses to create a custom brand voice to voice over their marketing materials. This feature is also commonly used in instructional demos or videos, e-learning, or training applications. 

Read Aloud is an open-source application that allows users to contribute bug fixes or translations, which is a feature not commonly found in many applications. 

Pricing table for Read Aloud

To expand the features of Read Aloud, some users may desire to make purchases to get the app to perform within their specific preferences. 

Read Aloud offers many voices for free, but the higher quality, more neural-sounding voice options will require an in-app purchase. Different voices have different prices and Read Aloud has disclosed recently why that is:

• Google Voices: These voices are free because they are built into the Chrome browser.
• Google Translate Voices: These voices are not free and Google had not intended them to be used by 3rd party applications such as Read Aloud. However, because the software is open-source, they can be offered but Google could revoke their access at any point in the future. 
• Google Standard and Google Wavenet Voices: These voices are not free. The standard voices cost a rate of $4 for 1 million characters whereas the Wavenet voices cost $16 per 1 million characters.
• Google offers a free tier if the user has a Google Cloud Platform account. Read Aloud can offer these voices for the time being with Google’s promotion, but that could end at any time and the voices could be revoked. 
• IBM Watson Voices: These voices are not free. Watson voices cost $20 for 1 million characters. Read Aloud can offer these voices for the time being with IBM’s promotion, but that could end at any time and the voices could be revoked. 
• Amazon Polly Voices: These voices are not free. Amazon Polly voices cost $4 for 1 million characters. 
• Amazon offers a free tier if the user has an Amazon Web Services account. Because the software is open-source, Read Aloud can offer them from cloud servers at a significant discount. They can be accessed via the Premium Voices in-app purchase.
• Microsoft Desktop Voices: These voices are free for users who have Windows computers. For those with a different operating system, they can be accessed the Premium Voices in-app purchase.

Those who are happy with the standard voices offered by the free version of Read Aloud can enjoy 100,000 free characters a month, which is roughly the length of a short novel. An additional 2 million characters can be purchased for the low price of $1, which is enough for more than an additional 30 hours of reading. 

For those who are utilizing paid characters, the free 100,000 characters offered each month are used before any purchased characters. For instance, if there is a purchase made of 2 million characters, 100,000 free characters will be used each month before any are deducted from the purchased 2 million. 

For those needing a little extra repetition in their Read Aloud needs can rewind and replay without worry. Speech that is synthesized in the Read Aloud engine will be cached in the software for 1 hour, allowing it to be played multiple times without going against the character count. 

The Custom Voices feature offered by Read Aloud allows users to utilize their own Google Cloud Platform (GCP) or Amazon Web Services (AWS) account to pay for their use of the Google Wavenet and Amazon Polly voices for educational or business voice-over needs. 

Why users need alternatives to Read Aloud

Because Read Aloud is an open-source application, it may lack some of the better maintenance and bug fixes that other applications offer. While Read Aloud is the preferred TTS tool for some, several other options are comparably priced and better maintained without the buggy interruptions noted in some of the less-favorable reviews of the application.

5 Pricing for other TTS Chrome extensions

Read Aloud is one of the most popular TTS options for Chrome users. However, for those seeking a competitively priced Chrome extension for their text-to-speech needs, there are plenty to choose from. Many extensions come with a limited free version that offers more features with different pricing packages. 

Amazon Polly

Amazon Polly allows its subscribers to only pay for the features that they use and certain features are free for 12 months under the Amazon Polly Free Tier. Similar to Read Aloud, Amazon Polly stores synthesized speech as a cache and can be replayed at no additional cost.

With Amazon Polly’s pay-as-you-go model, subscribers are billed monthly for the number of characters that were processed into speech. Standard Polly voices are priced at $4 for 1 million characters and neural voices are priced at $16 for 1 million characters.

Under Amazon Polly’s free tier, standard voices come with 5 million characters per month for the first 12 months starting from the first synthesized speech use. The free tier also includes 1 million characters per month for neural voices.

Murf

Murf is primarily used for voiceovers for advertising, promotions, tutorial videos, distance learning, and podcasts. Murf offers multiple packages for users who may only need basic features or for those who need more involved features. 

Murf’s Free package comes with access to all 120 offered voices for 10 minutes of voice operation and 10 minutes of transcription as well as a share link for the video’s content. The features are only limited to one user and do not allow any downloads of content that is created. 

Murf’s Basic package charges $13 per month ($156 annually) and offers unlimited downloads of created content. It comes with 24 hours of voice generation for the year and access to 60 voices in 10 different languages. If users need to extend the reach of their videos, the basic plan includes commercial usage rights and chat and email support if needed. It is intended for a single user and is the most popular plan that is offered. 

Murf’s Pro Package is intended for professionals and charges $26 per month ($312 annually). This package also offers unlimited downloads and gives 96 hours of voice generation and 48 hours of transcription for the year with access to over 120 voices in 20 languages. It offers extensive features such as commercial usage rights, recorded voice editing, and voice changer while supporting up to 3 users who can access priority support if needed. 

Murf’s Enterprise package is built with team usage in mind, supporting 5 or more users and charging $167 per month ($1999 annually). This package offers unlimited voice generation and transcription as well as access to custom voices. A dedicated account representative is assigned to the team with additional features for collaboration and access control, deletion recovery, and unlimited storage.

Speechify

Speechify is the number one rated text-to-speech app. The free option is Speechify Limited and it offers 10 standard reading voices and unlimited text-to-speech usage - no character limits, no time caps. 

Speechify Premium is billed annually at $139 a year which breaks down to $11.58 monthly. This package gains access to over 30 high-quality, natural-sounding reading voices in over 20 languages.

The Speechify Premium allows external text to be read as well. Whereas Read Aloud and many other speech processors are limited to text that they can access from files or on web browsers, Speechify’s app can transcribe scanned materials into speech. With the premium plan, the reading speed can be adjusted up to 5 times the normal reading rate and is accompanied by advanced skipping and importing tools as well as highlighting and note-taking tools for learning purposes. 

Play.ht

Play.ht is an AI voice generator that is a popular choice for voiceover and brand identity and offers multiple packages for different business types. 

Play.ht’s Personal package is billed at $171 annually which breaks down to $14.25 monthly and is created for personal TTS use for learning, proofreading, and school projects. It allows 240,000 words of synthesized speech in standard voices with unlimited previews and downloads of speech. 

Play.ht’s Professional package is billed at $351 annually which breaks down to $29.25 monthly and is intended for content creators, bloggers, and freelancers who have commercial intent in their businesses. It allows 600,000 words of synthesized speech and access to premium voices and commercial rights. Subscribers to the Professional package gain access to podcast hosting and customizable audio players. 

Play.ht’s Growth package is billed at $891 annually which breaks down to $74.25 monthly and is intended for teams and small companies looking to grow with audio. It allows 2,400,000 words of synthesized speech and access to all features of the Professional package. Additional features gained by the Growth package include team access, automated audio creation, a pronunciation library, and white-labeled audio players. 

Play.ht’s Business package is billed at $1791 annually which breaks down to $149.25 monthly and is intended for companies and agencies looking to create audio at scale. It allows 6,000,000 words of synthesized speech and access to all features of the Growth package. Additional features gained by the Business package include multiple teams and websites, multiple podcast hosting, bulk audio creation, re-brand and re-sell features, and access to priority technical support. 

NaturalReader

NaturalReader is an API text-to-speech solution that is good for everyday use but also offers commercial features. The extension is free to use, but there are more voice options with the Premium and Pro plans that start at $10 a month.

NaturalReader’s free plan gives unlimited use with free voices and a pronunciation editor as well as free downloads. The Personal plan charges a one-time payment of $99.50 and gains access to two natural voices with mp3 audio file conversion.  

NaturalReader’s Professional plan charges a one-time payment of $129.50 and gains access to 4 natural voices, whereas the Ultimate plan charges a one-time payment of $199.50 and gains access to 6 natural voices and allows scanning of 5000 images per year.

The #1 Text to Speech Reader

With so many choices for text-to-speech tools, it can be difficult to narrow the selection down to the one that best fits the individual needs of a specific consumer. 

With over 150,000 5-star reviews and millions of downloads, Speechify is the best option on the market, hands down.

Audio text reader Speechify

Speechify is a powerful text-to-speech tool that allows reading materials to go wherever the user may be. With compatibility on Chrome, iOS, and Android, Speechify helps you save time, maximize understanding and focus, and synthesize speech from virtually anything you can read. 

With natural-sounding male and female voices in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and over 30 other languages, Speechify will read aloud docs, articles, audiobooks, PDFs, emails, textbooks, and any scanned content (OCR) such as bills or flyers on both desktop and mobile devices. 

Highlighting in real-time as the words a read aloud, Speechify can help increase retention of materials read by simultaneously reading and hearing. This is also a useful tool for those who are dyslexic.

Speechify is the #1 rated text-to-speech app in its category with over 150,000 5 star review

Speechify is the #1 text-to-speech program that turns any written text into spoken words in natural-sounding spoken language. Offering both free and paid subscription options, it can be used directly from speechify.com/online or downloaded as a google chrome extension, iOS mobile app, or Android mobile app. 

Speechify also offers its users the interactive feature of sending audio versions of anything that is typed to their friends, classmates, or colleagues to allow them the ability to listen to a message as opposed to reading it. 

Students looking to save time studying or working professionals leading a hectic lifestyle can benefit from integrating Speechify into their daily lives to accomplish their reading while on the go. With over 20 million users, Speechify is the preferred text-to-speech engine on the market. 

The premium subscription gains access to several new voices and the ability to adjust the reading speed to the preference of the user. Speechify even offers Gwyneth Paltrow’s voice! 

With the wide range of features and accessibility, Speechify is on a mission to ensure that reading is never a barrier to learning for anyone, anywhere. 

Free Text To Speech Reader

Most free text-to-speech readers have a cap on a certain word or character count every month. With Speechify, there is no cap. Users can listen to an unlimited amount of synthesized speech without ever worrying about exceeding a certain maximum character count.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does a text-to-speech app cost?

Some apps offer a free version with limited features. For more extensive TTS features, paid plans vary from $2 to $200 depending upon the platform provider, features used, and character counts synthesized into speech. 

Is TTS reader free?

TTS Reader does have a free version as well as a paid version with more extensive features.

Can I use Google TTS commercially?

There are no restrictions against using Google TTS for commercial use case purposes. 

What is the most realistic TTS voice?

NaturalReader, Speechify, and Amazon Polly have the most lifelike, natural-sounding voices of all text-to-speech applications.

What is a TTS voice?

TTS is short for text-to-speech. A TTS voice is a voice used to synthesize sounds from written text and read words aloud. Some marketing and business will formulate a custom TTS voice to identify their brand and allow for a cohesive brand voice using TTS software.

What is the difference between TTS and ASR?

Automatic Speech recognition data (ASR) is the process of converting voice data into text data whereas speech synthesis (TTS, Text To Speech) converts text information data (such as text file content, WORD file content, and other text information) into Speech.

What is the best text-to-speech app?

Some of the top-rated text-to-speech apps are Speechelo, Speechify, and Amazon Polly.

What is the best free TTS reader?

The top-rated free TTS readers available include Speechify, Balaboka, and NaturalReader.