1. Text To Speech
  2. Best Text To Voice Software Reviews
  3. Free Speech To Text Software Review
  4. Speech To Text Software Reviews 2018
  5. Text To Voice Software Reviews
  6. Mac Speech To Text Software Reviews

Text to speech software has become an integral part of contemporary eLearning courses. Text to speech software provides the answer to a considerable number of learning issues including learning difficulties and literacy skills development. It also constitutes a tool that makes the life of auditory learners much easier. Panopreter Basic is a free text to speech software. It has Read file tab where you can open TXT, RTF, DOC, HTML, and MHT files and it can read them easily. It also has Input and Speak tab where you can type text or paste text from clipboard to read aloud. Software review: TextAloud text to speech tool By Corinne McKay June 6, 2019 Technology 6 Comments Important disclaimer: I received a free review copy of TextAloud for the purpose of writing this review, but the links to purchase TextAloud are not affiliate links and I do not receive any commission from TextAloud. Mac OS X’s Text To Speech Feature. If your OS of choice is Mac OS X, and all you need is basic but extremely solid text to speech (TTS) functionality, you don’t even have to bother with a third party software application, as the OS’ native Text to Speech feature has you covered. Verbose Text to Speech Software Converts text to voice or saves as mp3 Verbose is an easy and convenient text to speech converter that can read aloud or save spoken text to mp3 files. Reads any text on your computer out loud; Convert text to mp3 and save to listen to later; Installs and ready to read text in just minutes.

HomeTechSoftware9 Best Text To Speech (TTS) Software

Quite a hefty chunk of our daily “computer” time is spent reading some sort of digital textual content, whether it’s online (e.g. blogs, news articles), or offline (ebooks, general documents). However, proper reading (and hence, understanding) not just takes considerable time, but effort as well. This is where text to speech software (popularly known as TTS software) applications can help, as they make consuming even the most voluminous textual content super easy, by reading it aloud. Not only that, these programs can also be immensely useful in other diverse fields, such as (second) language acquisition, and assisting the differently abled in learning.

As you might’ve guessed by now, that’s what this article is focused on. So let’s jump in, and take a look at 9 of the best text to speech (TTS) software.

1. NaturalReader

NaturalReader supports a diverse array of (textual) file types from which it can read aloud textual content; and can also read the text on webpages. Just enter the source webpage URL, and NaturalReader will take it from there. However, even more impressive is its ability to read aloud text from images and scanned documents, thanks to built-in OCR functionality. NaturalReader includes multiple natural sounding voices, and you can purchase additional voices in different languages (e.g German, Italian, Japanese). With a number of other notable features like voice speed & pitch control, batch conversion of multiple documents to MP3 files NaturalReader, as a TTS software, ticks all the right boxes.

Platform Availability: Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP; Mac OS X 10.9 and later

Price: Paid versions start from $69.50, Free version with limited feature set available

2. Balabolka

For those of you who do a lot of reading on the computer, and that too from a variety of files, Balabolka is a must have. What immediately sets it apart is its ability to read aloud from a huge number of file types, with DOCX, DJVU, PDF, EPUB, and RTF just being a few of them. Standard voice parameters like speech, pitch and volume can be adjusted in real-time. Balabolka can directly read aloud the text copied to clipboard, and more importantly, it comes with numerous tools, and these can be used to batch convert files, extract text from audio files, and do a lot more. Apart from English, some of the many languages it supports include Finnish, Greek, Romanian, and Spanish.

And did we mention it’s available as a portable application as well?

Platform Availability: Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP

Price: Free

3. TextAloud

In more ways than one, TextAloud stands out from the rest of the TTS software applications on this list. Apart from text to speech (TTS) prowess, it also includes features that make it a sort of textual content aggregator.

TextAloud lets you either read a single textual piece, or collect a number of them together and build a reading playlist. It can automatically grab copied textual content from clipboard. Multiple format support is there, as is the ability to save text as audio. The application comes with an extensive collection of natural sounding voices, and more can be purchased online. Other than that, TextAloud includes a plethora of options such as custom audio tags, insertion and skipping prompts for sections, hotkeys, spell checking, and then some more. In summation, TextAloud scores big with its robust text management options, which make reading out text a breeze.

Platform Availability: Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP

Fully compatible with Windows 10DisclaimerVisual Basic 6 Runtime Files is a product developed by Microsoft. Vb6 runtime files windows 10. This site is not directly affiliated with Microsoft.

Price: Paid version costs $29.95, 20 days free trial available

4. Verbose

It may not be teeming with all sorts of fancy features, but Verbose is one of the better TTS software available out there.

Thanks to an extremely straightforward UI, getting started with Verbose is a cakewalk. It can read aloud text from a variety of file formats, like PDF, DOCX, RTF, TXT, and HTML. It can read aloud text from just about anywhere, including email programs (e.g. Outlook), and even websites. Voice pitch and speed control functionality, though present, is fairly limited.

However, with all said, Verbose is fairly limited when compared to applications like NaturalReader. Then there’s the jarring voice prompt that reminds you to purchase the software every few seconds, when it’s used in unregistered mode.

Platform Availability: Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP

Price: Paid version costs $60.00, 14 days free trial available

5. SwiftTalker

Essentially, SwiftTalker is a basic text editor (pretty much like Notepad) that can be used to read out aloud either freshly created text documents, or already existing ones. The application can either read selected blocks of text, or the entire document, and comes with general options like play/pause etc. Along with basic tweaking, there are also some really cool and funky sound effects that can be applied to the voices. Other than that, the text can be saved as audio, and you can also customize output settings such as bit-rate. Language support includes US/UK English, French, German, and Italian.

In essence, SwiftTalker is quite good, with the added advantage of being cross platform. However, it’s not without its limitations, such as a hefty install size, and limited input format support.

Platform Availability: Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP; Mac OS X 10.6-10.8; Linux

Price: Paid voice packs start from $10.00, Free trial available

6. eSpeak

Capable software applications don’t really have to be colossal, and eSpeak is the perfect example of that. Measuring in at under 1 MB in size, it’s an insanely featherweight text to speech (TTS) utility that, while not exactly being the most feature loaded, works pretty well for what it is.

eSpeak has a fairly limited file format support from which it can read aloud text, being limited to just TXT and XML. It comes with a handful of selectable voice choices, and you can alter the pitch and volume. In addition to that, and includes all the basic voice control/reading options, such as pause, skip, and reset. Despite being lightweight, eSpeak surprisingly supports a wide array of languages, such as Cantonese, Estonian, Latvian, Norwegian, and Swedish; and can even work as a command line tool, for all you keyboard nerds out there.

Platform Availability: Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP; Mac OS X

Price: Free

7. Zabaware TTS Reader

The core functionality of Zabaware TTS Reader involves reading out aloud textual content that’s copied and pasted into the application itself, and can accept textual files as input too. Zabaware TTS Reader comes with quite a collection of voices, and more can be purchased online. Other than that, it can monitor and read clipboard, as well as emails and webpages. Read text can be saved as WAV files. A unique feature of Zabaware TTS Reader is that it can automatically read standard window dialogs such as pop-up boxes, alerting you when they need attention. This makes Zabaware TTS Reader a sort of personal assistant, which is pretty neat if you ask me. That said, format support is fairly limited.

Platform Availability: Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP

Price: Free

8. Adobe Acrobat Reader

Text To Speech

You might be wondering why is Adobe Acrobat Reader being included in the listing of TTS software, as it’s a PDF reader, an entirely different type of software application. While that’s true, Adobe Acrobat Reader also has some basic text to speech (TTS) goodness built in.

If all you need is a text to speech solution that can handle reading out aloud of PDF files occasionally, Adobe Acrobat Reader fits the bill perfectly. Thanks to its “Read Out Loud” feature, PDF files can be read either on a per page basis, or in their entirety. All you have to is open up the PDF file you want to be read out, and select the View > Read Out Loud option. That’s all there’s to it!

Platform Availability: Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP; Mac OS X 10.5 and later

Price: Free

9. Mac OS X’s Text To Speech Feature

If your OS of choice is Mac OS X, and all you need is basic but extremely solid text to speech (TTS) functionality, you don’t even have to bother with a third party software application, as the OS’ native Text to Speech feature has you covered.

Enabling Text to Speech in Mac OS X is simple, and takes no more than a few minutes. Here’s how to do it:

  • Go to System Preferences > Dictation & Speech, and select the Text to Speech tab.
  • Enable the Speak selected text when the key is pressed option.

That’s just about it! Other (optional) settings are available as well, and these can be used to select (after downloading) additional voices, change the speed of speaking, and stuff like that. Once Text to Speech has been configured, you can select any chunk of text and use the configured key combination (Option+Escape) to have the text read out aloud. You can even use it to learn pronunciations of those difficult words. Cool, right?

Note: For those who use Windows, the built-in Microsoft Narrator utility can be used for achieving some similar functionality as well. However, it’s pretty clunky, and in our testing, failed to work most of the times.

Platform Availability: Mac OS X

Price: Free

SEE ALSO: 10 Best Audio Recording Software

Less reading, more listening!

Text to speech (TTS) software take almost all the hassle out of consuming digital textual, making the entire thing faster and more convenient. And as seen above, there are plenty of such solutions available. Looking for the absolute best in speech synthesis? Go for NaturalReader, Balabolka, or TextAloud. Don’t want all the bells and whistles and would prefer just basic text to speech features? Use eSpeak or Verbose. Try all for the above, and holler which one(s) work out the best for you in the comments below.


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Best text to speech software

Read on for our detailed analysis of each app

The use of audio for commands has become popular for use with assistants such as Alexa and Siri, and audio is increasingly being used for search and other tools. It's also becoming much more common for audio to be used to convert text-to-speech for a number of reasons.

The traditional one is for helping people with additional sight needs. However, as with audio assistants, users commonly find that audio can be much easier to work with. This is especially the case where multitasking is required, with audio allowing the user to also direct their attention on some other physical task.

This is especially highlighted by the rise of audiobooks, which allow the user to drive, walk, or otherwise engage in a physical activity that would preclude using a text-version as impractical.

Therefore it's no wonder that text-to-speech and other voice software is becoming more commonly used, allowing the user to engage in other activities at the same time, whether it be walking, gardening, household chores, or similar.

Text-to-speech software is also popular in business environments, with people utilizing it to boost productivity. Here then are the best in text-to-speech synthesis software and apps.

  • We've also highlighted the best speech to text apps
  • Want your company or services to be added to this buyer’s guide? Please email your request to desire.athow@futurenet.com with the URL of the buying guide in the subject line.

1. Amazon Polly

Affordable
Supports multiple file types

Alexa isn’t the only artificial intelligence tool created by tech giant Amazon; it also offers an intelligent text to speech system called Polly. Employing advanced deep learning techniques, the software turns text into lifelike speech. Developers can use the software to create speech-enabled products and apps.

It sports an API that lets you easily integrate speech synthesis capabilities into ebooks, articles and other media. What’s great is that Polly is so easy to use. To get text converted into speech, you just have to send it through the API, and it’ll send an audio stream straight back to your application.

You can also store audio streams as MP3, Vorbis and PCM file formats, and there’s support for a range of international languages and dialects. These include British English, American English, Australian English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Danish and Russian.

Polly is available as an API on its own, as well as a feature of the AWS Management Console and command line interface. In terms of pricing, you’re charged based on the amount of text characters you convert into speech. The Free Tier allows for up to 5 millions characters per month for twelve months, but if you need more than that it costs $4 per million characters for speech.

2. Voice Reader Home

A trusted text-to-speech app

Comes with 67 voices
Speech
Multiple language options

Based in Germany, Linguatec is another company that’s been creating text to speech applications for a number of years, and its flagship Voice Reader software can quickly convert text into audio files.

With the standard edition costing €49 (£42/$57) per voice, it’s a little on the expensive side - but you’re able to convert text such as Word documents, emails, EPUBs and PDFs into audio streams quickly. You can then listen to them on a PC or mobile device. What’s more, you can choose from 67 different voices, and there’s support for up to 45 languages such as French, Spanish, Italian, Danish and Turkish.

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The aim of this software is to improve productivity. For instance, you can get the application to read out manuscripts for speeches, lectures or presentations to look out for incorrect word ordering or missed-out words. Overall, the user interface is sleek and easy to use. You can quickly adjust the speed, pitch or volume of audio files, and each export option is clearly listed.

When it comes to technical requirements, the software works with Window Vista, Windows 7, 8 and 10. Each voice will take up to 1GB of disk space, and it works best if your device has at least 2GB of RAM.

3. Capti Voice

Tailored for learning
Integration with cloud platforms

Speech synthesis applications are also popular in the education world, where they’re used to improve comprehension among other things. Capti Voice is one such effort, letting you listen to anything you want to read. With it, you can personalize learning and teaching, as well as overcome language barriers.

Positioned as an offline and online reading support solution, Capti Voice is used by a range of schools, colleges, businesses and professionals across the world. Supporting more than 20 languages, the app can be used to improve vocabulary and as part of active reading strategies. It can narrate a range of content, including ebooks, articles and web pages.

You can also use the software with cloud storage platforms such as Google Drive, OneDrive and Dropbox, and it’s universally accessible across a plethora of devices, content formats and age groups.

There's a free version for personal use, which allows for a lot of features but not the higher-end ones, such as higher-quality voice samples. You got those with the Pro version, which is billed at either $1.49 per month or $17.99 annually. The Educator level is advertised as from $0.50 per student per year, but for larger schools this means the software could become quite expensive to license.

4. Natural Reader

A quality cloud-based offering

Wide file support

If you’re looking for a cloud-based speech synthesis application, you should definitely check out Natural Reader Online. Aimed more at personal use, the solution allows you to convert written text such as Word and PDF documents, ebooks and web pages into human-like speech.

Because the software is underpinned by cloud technology, you’re able to access it from wherever you go via a smartphone, tablet or computer. And just like Capti Voice, you can upload documents from cloud storage lockers such as Google Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive.

Currently, you can access 56 natural-sounding voices in 9 different languages, including American English, British English, French, Spanish, German, Swedish, Italian, Portuguese and Dutch. The software supports PDF, TXT, DOC(X), ODT, PNG, JPG, plus non-DRM EPUB files and much more, along with MP3 audio streams.

There are three plans available, with the most basic Web Free allowing for unlimited use of basic voices, and up to 20 minutes use of Premium Voices. Web Premium unlocks these and up to one million characters of speech per month, priced at $9.99. Premium plus allows all features for $15.99 per month.

5. Voice Dream Reader

A mobile-optimized option

Multilingual
Text to speech software comparison

There are also plenty of great text to speech applications available for mobile devices, and Voice Dream Reader is an excellent example. It can convert documents, web articles and ebooks into natural-sounding speech.

Best Text To Voice Software Reviews

The app comes with 186 built-in voices across 30 languages, including English, Arabic, Bulgarian, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese and Korean.

Free Speech To Text Software Review

You can get the software to read a list of articles while you drive, work or exercise, and there are auto-scrolling, full-screen and distraction-free modes to help you focus. Voice Dream Reader can be used with cloud solutions like Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud Drive, Pocket, Instapaper and Evernote.

Pricing for the app is $14.99 for the app for iOS, with further in-app purchases to unlock additional voices. For Android, the app costs $7.99, also with additional in-app purchases to unlock additional voices.

Other text to speech software to consider

There are a number of other software applications you can try or buy for converting text to speech (TTS), each one tending to focus on a different aspect. For example, some specialize in one area, such as providing speech for documents, or providing narration for ebooks. Then there are other software solutions that aim to be as comprehensive as possible. Each one has its own advantages and benefits, according to different user needs. We'll list some of the other speech-to-text options below:

Speech To Text Software Reviews 2018

iSpeech is especially good at providing text-to-speech in different audio formats. It can read text from most any document format and even chat apps, and save to Wav, MP3, ogg, wma, aiff, alaw, ulaw, vox, MP4 and other audio formats. What's even better is that it provides mobile apps for use not just for Android or iOS devices, but also Blackberrys.

Zabaware Text-to-Speech Reader has a range of voice options available to read any text, and there's a free version in which you can access the basic synthesized voice. However, there are upgrade packages available to use more realistic-sounding voices, not least the Cerevoice and AT&T voice packages, both starting at $24.95 as a one-off purchase.

Text To Voice Software Reviews

Audio Book Reader is one of the more simple offerings, intended to help read ebooks aloud on your existing device. While it's capabilities are more limited than offers, it's Freeware and therefore costs nothing to try and use. You can also customize how the voice sounds by changing pitch and speed to suit your personal tastes.

Read4Me TTS Clipboard Reader is another simple but surprisingly versatile text-to-speech application that uses a pre-installed SAPI5 TTS voice to read the contents of your clipboard when a hotkey is pressed. This is where Read4Me TTS comes into its own, as you can set different hotkeys for different voices, and even languages. It can even auto-detect which language is to be read from. Better still, it's free to download, install and use.

Mac Speech To Text Software Reviews

T2S: Text to Voice is an Android app that uses Google's own text-to-speech software. You can open or import a text file to be read, and save the output as an MP3 file. It also has a feature called Type Speak, which will provide audio for text as you speak, which could be especially helpful for people with communication problems. It's free to use, but does contain ads.