Read Aloud vs Speechify (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Read Aloud grades higher than Speechify: 3.0 against 2.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 9, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Read Aloud grades higher on value for money and the free plan. Speechify grades higher on features and platforms. They get the same grade on ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Speechify
Text-to-speech reader for listening to documents and web pages
Which one is for you
Pick Read Aloud if
- Fits if you want a free way to hear web articles read out in your browser
- Works for people comfortable bringing their own cloud voice key for better sound
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want natural voices out of the box: the free setup uses whatever voices your system has
- Not for you if you read on a phone, because there is no mobile app
- Too light for books: EPUB reading depends on a separate extension from another publisher
- Watch out: cloud voices may need an in-app purchase or your own API key, and the pages state no prices
Pick Speechify if
- Fits if you'd rather listen to articles and PDFs on your commute
- Works for students who want a chapter summarized before they listen
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you pay monthly, at $29 against $139 for a whole year
- Skip it if you want to publish voiceovers, which need Studio, a separate plan at $100 or $300 a year
- Not for you if robotic voices put you off and you won't pay: free has 10 of them at up to 1.5x
- Watch out: the 3-day Premium trial charges the yearly plan on day 3
- Tight if you want scanning or AI summaries for free, as both are Premium; Studio's free plan has no commercial rights
How we grade them
| 3.0GPARead AloudVery good | 2.8GPASpeechifyGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree and open source under an MIT license. Anyone can install it, so it counts as free and substantial. | CPremium is $139 a year or $29 a month, a little dearer than NaturalReader's Plus. For voiceovers you'd want Studio instead: $100 a year with commercial rights, which the listing says buys about 24 hours of voiceover. Paying monthly costs more than twice the yearly price. |
| Free plan and trial | AFree outright with no account. The only paid parts are optional cloud voices. | CThe free plan never ends, but it's 10 robotic-sounding voices at up to 1.5x. Natural voices, scanning and the AI tools are Premium, whose trial charges the yearly plan on day 3. Studio's free plan has no commercial rights, so it's no use for voiceovers. |
| Features | CReads pages, selected text, PDFs, Google Docs and Kindle pages, with speed, pitch and highlighting. Cloud voices need a provider key, and EPUB depends on a separate extension. | B1,000+ natural voices in 60+ languages, up to 5x speed, Scan & Listen, AI summaries, chats and podcasts, voice typing and a voice assistant. As a reader it covers the whole job. Voiceovers and cloning live in Studio and the API, sold separately. |
| Ease of use | BNo store rating on record. Install it and click the toolbar icon, with nothing to set up. | B4.66 from 526,597 App Store ratings, just short of an A. Open a PDF or a web page and press play. |
| Platforms and integrations | CBrowser extension only: Chrome, Edge and Firefox. No phone or desktop app, though it can plug into Polly, Azure, OpenAI and other voice providers. | AiPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, Windows and the web, Chrome and Edge extensions, imports from Google Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive, and an API. |
| Best for | reading web pages aloud in the browser | listening to anything you'd otherwise read |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Read Aloud and Speechify. How we grade
Price against what you get
Read Aloud has no paid plan and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Speechify starts at $29 a month and scores 3.3.
Speechify scores higher, and starts $29 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other AI voice generators on the chart, none scores higher than Read Aloud for less, and 1 scores higher than Speechify for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Read Aloud is open source, according to its own site.
- Speechify also covers dictation and voice cloning.
At a glance
| Read Aloud | Speechify | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free plan |
| Starts at | Free | $29 per month, billed monthly |
| Free plan | The extension is installed from the browser stores and reads pages with the browser's own voices. | Listen anywhere at up to 1.5x speed with 10 robotic-sounding voices, text to speech features only. |
| Free trial | None listed | 3-day free trial of Premium in the app; the yearly plan is charged on day 3 |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | LSD Software | Speechify Inc. |
| Price read from | chromewebstore.google.com | speechify.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 9, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Read Aloud
- Voice quality with the free setup depends on the voices your browser and operating system provide.
- Cloud-based voices may need an in-app purchase or your own provider API key; the pages do not state prices.
- It runs only as a browser extension, with no mobile or desktop app.
- EPUB reading depends on a separate extension from another publisher.
Speechify
- The free plan is limited to 10 robotic-sounding voices at up to 1.5x speed; natural voices, scanning and the AI features need Premium.
- Voiceovers for publishing need Speechify Studio, a separate plan: free with 600 credits and no commercial rights, or $100 or $300 a year with commercial rights.
- Studio credits are spent per second: 1 for voiceover, 3 for dubbing and 30 for avatars, so $100 a year buys about 24 hours of voiceover.
- Cloned voices need the voice owner to pass Speechify's verification or a written business agreement; users must be 18, and politicians' and deceased people's voices are barred.
Key features
Read Aloud
- One-click page reading
- Click the toolbar icon or use a keyboard shortcut to read the current article, or only the text you have selected.
- Browser and cloud voices
- Uses native browser voices, and the Chrome Web Store page says it can use cloud voices from Google Wavenet, Amazon Polly, IBM Watson, Microsoft Azure and OpenAI.
- 40+ languages
- The store listing says it supports more than 40 languages.
- Reading controls
- Voice, speed and pitch can be changed, text highlighting can be turned on, and the popup has a dark mode.
- Documents and books
- Reads PDF, Google Docs, Google Play Books and Kindle pages, and EPUB through a separate extension.
Speechify
- Listen to any text
- Have PDFs, documents, emails and web pages read aloud in natural voices, at speeds up to 5x on Premium.
- Scan & Listen
- Photograph a printed page or book and listen to it. Scanning is a Premium feature.
- AI summaries, chats and podcasts
- Premium can summarize what you are reading, answer questions about it and turn it into a podcast-style episode.
- Voice typing and voice assistant
- Dictate text in other apps with voice typing, and talk to the Voice AI Assistant about a website, book or anything else.
- Apps and cloud imports
- Apps for iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac and Windows, extensions for Chrome and Edge, and imports from Google Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive.
- Studio and API
- Speechify Studio, sold separately, makes voiceovers and dubbed videos with commercial rights. The API lets developers add Speechify voices and voice cloning to their apps.
Plans
Read Aloud
Extension$0
Reads pages with the browser's built-in voices. Cloud voices may need an in-app purchase or your own API key, with no prices stated.
Speechify
Free$0
Listening at up to 1.5x speed with 10 robotic-sounding voices, and text to speech features only.
Premium$29
per month, billed monthly
1,000+ natural voices in 60+ languages, 5x speed, Scan & Listen, AI summaries and chats, AI podcasts, voice typing and cloud drive imports. $139 a year billed yearly.
Ways to pay less
Read Aloud
No public discounts listed.
Speechify
- Annual discount
Premium for $139 a year
Yearly billing costs $139 against $29 a month on monthly billing; the pricing page says this saves 60%.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Read Aloud or Speechify?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Read Aloud is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $29 a month for Speechify. Read Aloud is free, and Speechify starts at $29 per month, billed monthly.
Which has a free plan, Read Aloud or Speechify?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Read Aloud and Speechify have a free plan.
Which platforms do Read Aloud and Speechify run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Speechify lists a web app and macOS, Windows, iOS and Android apps. Both list a browser extension. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.