Speechify vs. Natural Reader

Read our detailed comparison of two leading TTS apps to weigh the pros and cons and choose the right option for your needs.

Text to speech readers are useful tools that can read aloud different text formats. This functionality is most beneficial for people with learning disabilities like dyslexia, avid readers who don’t have time for their favorite books, and those who love e-learning and multitasking. Speechify and Natural Reader count among the most popular and best text to speech apps. Each service has its particular advantages that would make it the preferred option for certain users. But which one is better for you? This article will help answer that question. We’ll look at the essential features of Speechify and Natural Reader, compare the two apps, and give you a definitive recommendation.

What is Speechify?

Speechify is a text to speech tool with advanced features and seamless AI narration generation. The service can read txt, Microsoft Word, HTML files, PDF files, web pages, ePub, and practically any other form of text the user uploads. You can grab any text file from local storage, Google Drive, Dropbox, or any other storage, and Speechify will read it. Speechify has a large selection of narrator voices and offers support for more than 20 languages. The TTS engine uses powerful AI algorithms to create seamless narration and provide the most pleasant listening experience. Users can choose a custom voice, narration speed, and language for a tailored listening session. Due to all these advantages, Speechify is an excellent tool for dyslexic learners, voracious readers, and people who want to perfect their speed reading and listening skills.

What is Natural Reader?

With Natural Reader, users can generate narration from text files and listen to documents, written lectures, or books on the go. The service uses AI voices to simulate actual human voices. Natural Reader also has an extension called Web Reader that can read web pages. This TTS tool has a feature that can produce an audio recording of the narration. It creates an mp3 file that users can download and listen to text files offline. The recordings can be helpful for video narration, public use, and other purposes. The most advanced features of Natural Reader come with the Commercial plan, although the service also has private plans.

Speechify vs. Natural Reader – The comparison

When comparing Speechify and Natural Reader, we took into account the following features:

• Platform Availability
• Pricing
• Quality and Quantity of Voices
• Language Selection
• Optical Character Recognition Technology

Additional Features

Here’s how each app performed.

Platform availability

Each text to speech software covers a wide range of platforms. There are Windows and Mac versions, mobile apps for Android and iOS, and Google Chrome extensions. Of course, both apps have a web browser variant. It’s no wonder Speechify and Natural Reader have such extensive platform support. With today’s user base demanding seamless connectivity and cross-platform functionality, anything less would be a severe drawback. For that reason, the API for each app is available on every major app store.

Pricing

Speechify has two plans: Limited and Premium. The Limited plan is free and comes with 10 standard voices. The Premium plan costs $139 per year, unlocking everything the app has to offer: over 30 natural voices in 20+ languages, faster reading speeds, and more. Natural Reader has four plans: Free, Personal, Professional, and Ultimate. The free version comes with no natural voices, while the Personal, Professional, and Ultimate plans have two, four, and six premium voices respectively. The prices for these premium plans are as follows:

• Personal: $99.50
• Professional: $129.50
• Ultimate: $199.50

If users want additional voices, they’ll need to purchase them separately, with each voice costing $39.50.

Quality and quantity of voices

Speechify features numerous natural-sounding voices. The app has more English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish voices than Natural Reader. On the other hand, Natural Reader has a few more voices in niche languages like Dutch, Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian.

Language selection

Speechify offers narration in over 30 different languages, while Natural Reader has support for about 20. Speechify is in the lead here, especially in terms of voice selection for the most common languages.

Optical character recognition technology

When it comes to OCR, Speechify is the clear winner over Natural Reader. The premium version of Speechify can turn pictures and scanned docs into audio files and quite literally “read” a page of a book through the camera. If you use the app on a smart device like the Apple iPhone or iPad, or an Android phone or tablet, you can scan any book and have the app read the text immediately.

Additional features

Speechify boasts useful additional features like handy shortcuts, the ability to bookmark your text, and text highlighting. Premium features include scanning, advanced OCR, and up to five times faster speeds. Natural Reader has a crucial feature in creating audio files like WAV or mp3. This makes it ideal for recording voiceovers, podcasts, and tutorials.

Speechify – The TTS app turns any text into a audio

The comparison between Speechify and Natural Reader shows two TTS apps that are quite good at what they do. While the competition is close, Speechify still comes out on top due to the quality of narrator voices, larger language selection, and OCR functionality. Speechify can be extremely helpful for people with dyslexia, and others can use the app to read text during everyday activities. While the premium plan unlocks the full power of the app, the free text to speech variant is customizable, too. If you’re curious to try Speechify, you can do so today for free - simply visit www.speechify.com and get started.

FAQ

What are the alternatives to Speechify and Natural Reader?

Several other text to speech engines can perform similar functions to Speechify and Natural Reader, although not at the same quality level. Alternatives include Read Aloud, Voice Dream Reader, Balabolka, and Amazon Polly.

Is NaturalReader better than Speechify?

Natural Reader has plenty of useful features that make it a great TTS tool. However, Speechify boasts high-quality narrator voices, advanced AI, and excellent customization.

Is Speechify worth the money?

While you can get Speechify for free, that version won’t have all of the possibilities of the full version. With Speechify premium, you gain access to over 20 languages and more than 30 narrator voices, as well as the full suite of premium functions. Taking all that into account, the relatively inexpensive subscription is a worthwhile investment.

What is the most realistic TTS?

Ideally, a listener should struggle to differentiate between an actual person reading a text or a TTS engine. With cutting-edge AI, Speechify achieves just that.

How does Speechify compare to other TTS programs?

Speechify has fluent, natural-sounding narration that other TTS programs can’t replicate. In addition, Speechify is also versatile in terms of platforms and operating systems and provides seamless user experience on various devices.

Is Speechify easy to use?

You can set up Speechify in less than one minute and start using the service right away. There’s no need to download separate language packs or voices - simply upload the desired text and the app will start reading.