In years gone by, text to speech software was rather expensive, but these days there are excellent text to speech tools available free of charge. We're here to help you find the very best tools that will make converting written documents to audio files as easy as possible.
Text to speech software can be enormously helpful for anyone who's visually impaired, or has a condition like dyslexia that makes reading on screens tricky. It can also help overcome language barriers for people who read a language but don't speak it, or are in the process of learning.
Text to speech software is also ideal if you want to listen to a document while doing something else, if you find it easier to retain information you've heard, or if you want to sense-check something you've written.
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. Mar 25, 2018 Best Text to Speech Software. If you are wondering how this software is built, then you have to know this that after a very long tremendous and laborious job of voice artist was pronouncing every sound of respective language in dubbing studio.
Here's our pick of the best free text to speech software for reading either individual paragraphs or whole documents aloud.
1. Balabolka
Save text as a spoken audio file, with customizable voices
There are a couple of ways to use Balabolka's free text to speech software: you can either copy and paste text into the program, or you can open a number of supported file formats (including DOC, PDF, and HTML) in the program directly. In terms of output you can use SAPI 4 complete with eight different voices to choose from, SAPI 5 with two, or the Microsoft Speech Platform if you download and install the necessary files. Whichever route you choose, you can adjust the speech, pitch and volume of playback to create custom voice.
In addition to reading words aloud, this free text to speech software can also save narrations as audio files in a range of formats including MP3 and WAV. For lengthy documents you can create bookmarks to make it easy to jump back to a specific location and there are excellent tools on hand to help you to customize the pronunciation of words to your liking.
With all these features to make life easier when reading text on a screen isn't an option, Balabolka is best free text to speech software around.
2. Natural Reader
Free text to speech software with its own web browser
Natural Reader is a free text to speech tool that can be used in a couple of ways. The first option is to load documents into its library and have them read aloud from there. This is a neat way to manage multiple files, and the number of supported file types is impressive, including ebook formats. There's also OCR, which enables you to load up a photo or scan of text, and have it read to you.
The second option takes the form of a floating toolbar. In this mode, you can highlight text in any application and use the toolbar controls to start and customize text to speech. This means you can very easily use the feature in your web browser, word processor and a range of other programs. There's also a built-in browser to convert web content to speech more easily.
3. Panopretor Basic
Easy text to speech conversion, with WAV and MP3 output
As the name suggests, Panopreter Basic delivers free text to speech conversion without frills. It accepts plain and rich text files, web pages and Microsoft Word documents as input, and exports the resulting sound in both WAV and MP3 format (the two files are saved in the same location, with the same name).
The default settings work well for quick tasks, but spend a little time exploring Panopreter Basic's Settings menu and you'll find options to change the language, destination of saved audio files, and set custom interface colors. The software can even play a piece of music once it's finished reading – a nice touch you won't find in other free text-to-speech software.
If you need something more advanced, a premium version of Panopreter is available for US$29.95 (about £20, AU$40). This edition offers several additional features including toolbars for Microsoft Word and Internet Explorer, the ability to highlight the section of text currently being read, and extra voices.
4. WordTalk
An extension that adds text to speech to your word processor
Best Voice To Text Software For Mac 2018
Developed by the University of Edinburgh, WordTalk is a toolbar add-on for Word that brings customizable text to speech to Microsoft Word. It works with all editions of Word and is accessible via the toolbar or ribbon, depending on which version you're using.
The toolbar itself is certainly not the most attractive you'll ever see, appearing to have been designed by a child. Nor are all of the buttons' functions very clear, but thankfully there's a help file on hand to help.
There's no getting away from the fact that WordTalk is fairly basic, but it does support SAPI 4 and SAPI 5 voices, and these can be tweaked to your liking. The ability to just read aloud individual words, sentences or paragraphs is a particularly nice touch. You also have the option of saving narrations, and there are a number of keyboard shortcuts that allow for quick and easy access to frequently used options.
5. Zabaware Text-to-Speech Reader
A great choice for converting text from websites to speech
Despite its basic looks, Zabaware Text-to-Speech Reader has more to offer than you might first think. You can open numerous file formats directly in the program, or just copy and paste text.
Alternatively, as long as you have the program running and the relevant option enables, Zabaware Text-to-Speech Reader can read aloud any text you copy to the clipboard – great if you want to convert words from websites to speech – as well as dialog boxes that pop up. Zabaware Text-to-Speech Reader can also convert text files to WAV format.
Unfortunately the selection of voices is limited, and the only settings you can customize are volume and speed unless you burrow deep into settings to fiddle with pronunciations. Additional voices are available for a US$25 fee (about £20, AU$30), which seems rather steep, holding it back from a higher place in our list.
You are doing work, but you want to read your favorite book also. The only way to do both is using Text to Speech Software. This tool is a boon for people with reading disabilities. The quantity of time spends on reading online or offline is quite much. To read a long book, a great amount of time is required. To save time, TTS (Text to Speech) software is very crucial. The most recent use of Text to speech software is in the field of eLearning. Also, those learning language need to use the Best Text to Speech Software to make their pronunciation correct.
People with visual disability and problems like dyslexia find the huge problem to read the text. The text to speech software is a boon to these people. This not only helps them in reading but also makes them feel more normal. We know the things we hear are more remembered than those read in texts. Moreover, when you hear what you write, might help you to proof write it better.
Text to Speech Software have utilities in diverse fields. These software used to be very few and quite pricey. Nowadays, you will find a ton of these in the market, and most of them are free of cost. But to get more features, you should pay up. So, I have created a list of the best text to voice software.
Contents
- 1 Top 10 Text to Speech Software to Get in 2018
Top 10 Text to Speech Software to Get in 2018
Ivona
Ivona is a part of the Amazon group of companies. It is the best available Text to Speech software in the market. Ivona collaborates with RedSpeaker. This collaboration helps Ivona to run on all devices, i.e., it is compatible with almost all devices. This also helps in Ivona to integrate with other applications.
Ivona contains 47 humans like voices both male and female. It covers 24 languages and is available at various prices. These subscriptions depend on the kind of voice and language the user requires. There are 13 packages, and prices start from $29.95 to $159.
Natural Reader
Natural Reader is another Text to Speech recognition software which comes with Optical Character Recognition (OCR). The software is another great software which is compatible with most of the document types like, PDF, DOC, etc.
There is a vast collection of voices in the software which you can use. It has another great feature which is – “highlight as you listen“. This feature is a boon for people with visible disability and those suffering from dyslexia.
After conversion from text to speech, you can download it for future use. There are four subscription packages. But you can use it for free but with certain limitations.
Zabaware Text to Speech Reader
Zabaware Reader is another great text to audio Software. The software has great features like its siblings. The text reader can read multiple types of data. Emails, documents, clipboard content, websites, etc. are assessable. Zabawane can even tackle concentration problems.
The original software is a paid version, but users can use a free version. In the free version, only non-human voices are available.
Acapela Group Virtual Speaker
Acapela Group Virtual Speaker is an example of the best Text to Speech software in the market. With more than 70 voices in 30+ languages, this software is a bomb. In addition to these, you can also add emotions like sad, happy, joy, etc. in the speech. The Virtual Speaker can be regulated with various frequencies.
The Speech output in the software that you can control and change from one voice to another. Acapela Group Virtual Speaker is completely free of cost with all the above-mentioned features.
TextSpeech Pro
TextSpeech Pro is a download only free text to voice converter. It has AT&T natural voice also. The software can change speed, frequency, clarity of the speech. The software allows you to read out emails and other web pages. TextSeech Pro provides great support to visually impaired people.
The software is free but to access all features; you need to subscribe to a package with a subscription fee. Price ranges from $19.99 to $149 according to features.
AudioBook Maker
AudioBook Maker is a great reliable text to speech reader. The tool supports various languages, and the interface is multi-lingual. The Speech text is highlighted simultaneously, which is a great feature for the visually disabled people and online learners with disability. The audio speed, volume, and pitch can be varied.
The software runs completely on donations and is free.
TextAloud 3
TextAloud 3 has been developed by NextUp and is one of the most professional Best Text to Speech Software available in the market. The software is up with various other sibling software.
This enables the software the ability to bring various voice options and accents. It has great features, and it supports 29 languages. You can download and use the software for free, but for a trial period. The software offers many subscriptions offers.
Read the Words
Read the Words is an online Text to Speech tool. There are three language options available – English, French, and Spanish. Users can hear any RSS feed by using the links in the feed directly. Users can also create audio files.
Free Speech To Text Software For Windows
There are 15 voices to choose from. The software is free of cost and users can avail paid services for additional features.
Voice Reader 15
Voice Reader 15 has been produced by Linguatec. Also, this one of the Best Text to Speech Software has lots of great functional features. It supports nearly 45 languages depending on the subscription to read text out loud.
The software can cater according to corporate and individual needs. The prices start from $49 and grow with the additional features.
Balabolka
Balabolka is one of the most basic Best text to voice converter. It uses Microsoft Speech API (SAPI). The number of voices is low but quite sufficient. Moreover, this windows text to speech converter can read almost all text documents. You can also save the speech for future use.
The most important thing is that the software is free.
Conclusion
Text to Speech Software is not new, but they are quite essential. The visually disabled and those with reading problems also get to read by these tools. All in All, the above list is the top 10 tools I have found suitable for use. Any addition to the list always welcome. Enjoy reading and listening!