Find out why you may need a text to voice converter and which text to speech apps can help you the most.

Text to voice converter

A text to voice converter is an app that reads text and turns written words into spoken words or speech. Given what it can accomplish, it’s no surprise that people have tons of uses for this technology. Using voice technology to read screens can make mobile and desktop devices accessible to people who can’t see. It can also help those who struggle to read to increase their proficiency.

Likewise, text to voice converters can create voiceovers. It’s a great way to create compelling content if you can’t use your own voice or afford voice artists. But what powers a text to voice converter? Behind every such app, you’ll find text to speech technology.

What is text to speech and how does it work?

Text to speech (TTS) technology uses dedicated algorithms to process and understand words in written form. Then, it uses computer-generated speech synthesis (also known as speech synthesis markup language, or SSML) to create a voice that speaks the words aloud in real-time or recordings.

TTS often leverages machine learning and artificial intelligence to create AI voices or natural-sounding voices that closely mimic human speech patterns, intonation, pitch, and other characteristics.

Text to speech apps can work with almost any workstation, computer, and mobile device. Depending on the software, the app can read anything from Microsoft Word documents to text files to PDFs to illustrations and JPEG files. The latter only works when the TTS tool has optical character recognition (OCR.) OCR can process locked text, like words featured in comic book strips, photos, and scanned images of hard-copy documents.

The benefits of converting text to voice

There are several advantages to using word-for-word text to voice conversions.

Accessibility

Not everyone has superior reading skills. Many people deal with reading disabilities or visual impairment. Converting text to voice can help more people use online information resources and personal devices, from non-native speakers to slow readers or the vision-impaired.

Better information retention

Some people can’t concentrate or retain information easily from written materials. Those who thrive as auditory learners can convert educational materials from traditional written text to narration. It also helps users study faster and more efficiently.

Greater reach

Converting text to voice isn’t only for the end user’s personal use. Downloading audio files can help content creators and educators create materials in languages other than English. For example, you can use the same video but target Spanish, Korean, or Italian audiences with appropriate voiceovers generated by text to speech software. The same applies to e-Learning courses, tutorials, podcasts, and more.

Convenience and productivity

Just because people spend hours each day on their mobile devices doesn’t mean they’re productive. If more people could listen to the information they want instead of reading it, they could save time and multitask more efficiently.

Text to speech software you can try today

Today’s TTS software selection is amazing whether you want free text to speech or subscription-based apps better suited for professional and commercial use.

Amazon Polly

Amazon Polly is a popular tool if you want TTS voices with a human-like quality. The cloud-based service offers some of the best text to speech conversions for content creators, app builders, and web developers. Although mostly marketed as a business solution with a robust API and many available TTS voices, Amazon Polly is also suitable for personal use, educational, and leisure applications.

The text to speech tool is a capable voice generator with flexible pricing. Additionally, Amazon’s focus on its cloud service is an excellent incentive to keep improving the platform.

Murf.ai

Classifying Murf.ai as a text to speech tool would be an understatement. Murf.ai is a complex TTS service. However, that’s a good thing because it caters primarily to content creators and businesses. People can use Murf.ai to create text to speech robots, similar to Amazon Polly, but it allows more control over the speech output.

The app comes with advanced audio and video editing tools. Users can create entire YouTube videos or shorts using only Murf.ai and online text. Like others, the app supports a few languages and lets users download audio tracks in various formats.

Panopreter

Panopreter is one of the most efficient ways to convert text to voice on desktop computers and laptops. It comes as a Chrome or Firefox extension or an add-on for Internet Explorer and Microsoft Word. If you use mostly Word documents, this could be the right TTS reader for you.

Moreover, Panopreter uses Microsoft’s built-in TTS voice library available on Windows operating systems, including those as old as Vista. Windows 10 and 11 users naturally benefit from greater voice and language variety. One of its most impressive features is the ability to convert to multiple audio formats like WAV, Ogg, FLAC, and MP3 files.

Speechify

Speechify is another great text to speech converter you can use as an online tool or locally on your device. It has dedicated Android and iOS apps and web browser extensions for converting text to speech online. With Speechify, you can access AI-generated text to speech voices in many languages, including Portuguese, Hindi, Dutch, Turkish, and dozens more.

The app has over 100 natural-sounding speech options and is an excellent natural reader for people with reading difficulties, visual impairment, and content creators. You can use Speechify to learn, improve language skills, create business content, or even record messages for interactive voice response systems (IVR). Additionally, Speechify helps users read physical text from physical documents or digital text locked inside pictures and illustrations with the same high-quality voiceovers.

Try Speechify for free

Text to speech conversions offer nothing but benefits. Conversion apps enhance the reading experience, help bridge language gaps, and let users download MP3 versions of text for content creation. The possibilities depend only on your imagination. Try Speechify today and see what unique uses you can find for this amazing text to speech software.