Free Text to Speech Software (TTS)
An easy way to convert text to voice that’s fast and straightforward – it’ll make your message more catchy and inclusive., listen to any text, book, email, or pdf you need to read to save hours of time & understand more with speechify.
Why do you need narration in your videos?
If you’re planning on creating a demo or explainer video , you should consider adding a voiceover to your video.
Adding narration to your videos will help you to gain and maintain the viewer’s attention. This will, in turn, help you to make the message of your video easier to understand, and you´ll be able to drive action with your content
So boost your marketing videos ´ performance by adding a voice-over narration with the free text-to-speech technology.
How does text to speech software work?
Write your message directly into the box below or upload a text file from your computer, choose the voice you like most, pick the speed, and that’s it!
The online voice generator will make do its magic. Click play to listen to your message and download it as an mp3 file.
It’s simple and free.
BONUS: Learn how to add subtitles to your video using the same script from the text-to-speech solution.
What is Wideo?
Wideo is an online animated video maker with more than 2.5 million registered users around the world. Create promo videos, explainer videos, demo videos, presentations, etc. No experience is needed. Anyone can create professional videos using Wideo. If you are looking to scale your video content creation process, explore Wideo´s Video Automation Solution
We decided to share a text to speech option integrated with Google text to speech API after many requests from our clients. Now you can convert text to voice, download it as an mp3 file, upload the audio file to the video editor and make your videos more dynamic with a professional voiceover.
Tutorial Video
Promo Video
App Demo Video
Need help creating your videos, talk to our wideo pros and get a quote on an editable video of your own..
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Text to speech
A Speech service feature that converts text to lifelike speech
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Bring your apps to life with natural-sounding voices
Build apps and services that speak naturally. Differentiate your brand with a customized, realistic voice generator, and access voices with different speaking styles and emotional tones to fit your use case—from text readers and talkers to customer support chatbots.
Lifelike synthesized speech
Enable fluid, natural-sounding text to speech that matches the intonation and emotion of human voices.
Customizable text-talker voices
Create a unique AI voice generator that reflects your brand's identity.
Fine-grained text-to-talk audio controls
Tune voice output for your scenarios by easily adjusting rate, pitch, pronunciation, pauses, and more.
Flexible deployment
Run Text to Speech anywhere—in the cloud, on-premises, or at the edge in containers.
Access a wide variety of voices for every scenario
Engage global audiences by using 400 neural voices across 140 languages and variants . Bring your scenarios like text readers and voice-enabled assistants to life with highly expressive and human-like voices. Neural Text to Speech supports several speaking styles including newscast, customer service, shouting, whispering, and emotions like cheerful and sad.
Try Text to Speech with this demo app, built on our JavaScript SDK
Note: Your data will not be stored.
Tailor your speech output
Fine-tune synthesized speech audio to fit your scenario. Define lexicons and control speech parameters such as pronunciation, pitch, rate, pauses, and intonation with Speech Synthesis Markup Language (SSML) or with the audio content creation tool .
Deploy Text to Speech anywhere, from the cloud to the edge
Run Text to Speech wherever your data resides. Build lifelike speech synthesis into applications optimized for both robust cloud capabilities and edge locality using containers .
Build a custom voice for your brand
Differentiate your brand with a unique custom voice . Develop a highly realistic voice for more natural conversational interfaces using the Custom Neural Voice capability, starting with 30 minutes of audio. Here are a few examples of organizations that are doing AI voice generation today:
Swisscom improves customer experiences with multilingual voice assistant
Swisscom used Speech service to create a natural sounding custom text-to-speech voice assistant with voice personas that are unique to Swisscom across English, French, German, and Italian.
- Read the story
AT&T delights customers with immersive experiences
AT&T is showcasing the power of its 5G network with an immersive experience that allows its customers to talk directly to Bugs Bunny*.
*LOONEY TUNES and all related characters and elements © & ™ Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (s21)
Watch the video
Progressive brings Flo directly to its customers
Progressive used custom neural voice to build a natural-sounding, virtual version of Flo to help customers with everything from getting a free car insurance quote to general insurance questions.
Fuel App Innovation with Cloud AI Services
Learn five key ways your organization can get started with AI to realize value quickly.
Comprehensive privacy and security
- The Speech service, part of Azure Cognitive Services, is certified by SOC, FedRAMP, PCI DSS, HIPAA, HITECH, and ISO.
- Your data remains yours. Your text data isn't stored during data processing or audio voice generation.
- View and delete your custom voice data and synthesized speech models at any time. Your data is encrypted while it’s in storage.
- Backed by Azure infrastructure, the Speech service offers enterprise-grade security, availability, compliance, and manageability.
Flexible pricing gives you the power and control you need
Pay only for what you use, with no upfront costs. With Text to Speech, you pay as you go based on the number of characters you convert to audio.
Guidelines for building responsible synthetic voices
Learn about responsible deployment.
Synthetic voices must be designed to earn the trust of others. Learn the principles of building synthesized voices that create confidence in your company and services.
Obtain consent from voice talent
Help voice talent understand how neural text-to-speech (TTS) works and get information on recommended use cases.
Be transparent
Transparency is foundational to responsible use of computer voice generators and synthetic voices. Help ensure that users understand when they’re hearing a synthetic voice and that voice talent is aware of how their voice will be used. Learn more with our disclosure design guidelines.
Documentation and resources
Get started.
Read the documentation
Take the Microsoft Learn course
Get started with a 30-day learning journey
Explore code samples
Check out the sample code
See customization resources
Customize your speech solution with Speech studio . No code required.
Built with Text to Speech
BBC innovates how it delivers trusted content
The BBC used Azure Cognitive Services and Azure Bot Service to create an end-to-end, customized digital voice assistant that captures its brand identity and establishes a conversational relationship with its broad audience.
Swisscom improves customer experiences with multi-lingual voice assistant
Swisscom used Speech service to create a natural sounding custom voice assistant with voice personas that are unique to Swisscom across English, French, German and Italian.
Motorola helps first responders access vital data
Motorola Solutions is helping police officers and other emergency first responders gain access to important information more quickly with a voice-powered virtual assistant.
Universal Electronics powers connected smart homes
Universal Electronics is helping manufacturers deliver voice-enabled navigation and control capabilities that work across smart home devices.
Cheetah Mobile expands international translation
Cheetah Mobile, a mobile internet company with app users in more than 200 countries and regions, is using Text to Speech to expand accessibility of its translation device and app to international markets.
Ready when you are—let's set up your Azure free account
Speechify is available to all Star Tribune users through Star Tribune's Listen feature.
Speechify is available to all MoneyWise users through MoneyWise's Listen feature.
Text to Speech Online
Type, paste, or upload a document & convert text to speech for free., install speechify text to speech anywhere, free.
Turn almost any text into natural sounding audio, instantly
Chrome Extension
Android App
Safari Extension
- How it works
What is text to speech
Get even more productive with text to speech, if there's text online, it can be read aloud.
Listen at any speed
Speechify text to speech software can read aloud up to 9x faster than the average reading speed, so you can learn even more in less time.
Take your offline, online
Use the app to snap a pic of a page in any book and hear it read aloud to you in the best text to speech voices.
The most natural-sounding voices
Our text to speech voices sound more fluid and human-like than any other TTS AI reader so you can understand and remember more.
Benefits of Text to Speech
There's a better way to read online with high fidelity speech
Read almost anything
Speechify works seamlessly with google docs and almost anything you see in chrome..
Maximize your productivity
Read aloud your email, lengthy documents and more in natural sounding voices.
Do more at once
Listen to chrome wherever you go. every web page, email, or document is now a podcast., how text to speech online works.
Using Speechify breeze. It takes only a few minutes and you'll be off. Turn text into high-quality, natural-sounding text to speech voices instantly.
- Install it for free on any device
- Select a voice & listening speed
Text to Speech
Speechify is the leading text to speech app in all app stores. With about about 20M+ downloads and 150K+ reviews, it is one of the fastest growing apps in its category.
Our text to online text to speech converter produces the most natural sounding voices. You can 5x your reading speed.
You can try it free today!
Text to speech is also known as TTS, read aloud, or even speech synthesis. It simply means using artificial intelligence to read words aloud be; it from a PDF , email, docs, or any website. There isn’t a voice artist recording phrases or words, or even the entire article. Speech generation is done on-the-fly, in real time, with natural sounding AI voices.
And that’s the beauty of it all. You don’t have to wait. You simply press play and artificial intelligence makes the words come alive instantly, in a very natural sounding voice. You can change voices and accents across multiple languages.
Listen to any article. Easily scan any printed material and convert the image to audio.
Get Text to Speech Today
And begin removing barriers to reading online.
Try for free
Text to speech features
Text to speech use cases.
Speechify was first built to serve a single purpose; to help with dyslexia. But the use case for text to speech app with the best sounding voice exploded. If you love to read, need to read, or struggle with reading, Speechify is for you.
The use cases are plenty. Try Speechify free and see how it can help you in your use case. Tell us, we’d love to know how.
Speechify pricing.
Upgrade to Speechify Premium and power through your reading with our most advanced tools and features. See pricing .
- 30+ natural, human-like voices
- 15+ exclusive languages
- 5x faster listening speeds
- Advanced highlighting, notetaking, and importing tools
Speechify text to speech online reviews
Text-to-speech software goes by a few names. Some refer to it as TTS, read aloud, or even speech synthesis ; for the more engineered name. Today, it simply means using artificial intelligence to read words aloud be; it from a PDF , email, docs, or any website. There isn’t a voice artist recording phrases or words, or even the entire article. Speech generation is done on-the-fly.
Google test to speech is built more for developers. They can employ Google to convert text to audio via API in their apps. Speechify also offers the same option. In addition, Speechify also offers text to speech as an app or a Chrome extension that anyone can just install and hit play.
- Text to speech online
- Text to speech for business
- Text to speech for schools
- Text to speech for iOS
- Text to speech Chrome extension
- Text to speech for Android
- Audiobooks for business & schools
- Voiceover generator
- Custom voices
- Speechify API
- Speaking time calculator
- Terms & Conditions
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Text to Speech Sony
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Free Text To Speech Reader
Reads out loud webpages, texts, pdfs & ebooks with natural sounding voices. no need to download or install. simply paste the text (link, or file) and click play..
Reading part /
Support development & get better experience 💎 Click to learn more.
What do you think? Would love to hear your feedback .
Exporting synthesized speech to audio files
Short demo on how recording audio works:
See more here .
Main Features
Ttsreader is a free text to speech reader that supports all modern browsers, including chrome, firefox and safari..
Includes multiple languages and accents. If on Chrome - you will get access to Google's voices as well. Super easy to use - no download, no login required. Here are some more features
Fun, Online, Free. Listen to great content
Drag, drop & play (or directly copy text & play). That’s it. No downloads. No logins. No passwords. No fuss. Simply fun to use and listen to great content. Great for listening in the background. Great for proof-reading. Great for kids and more. Learn more, including a YouTube we made, here .
Multilingual, Natural Voices
We facilitate high-quality natural-sounding voices from different sources. There are male & female voices, in different accents and different languages. Choose the voice you like, insert text, click play to generate the synthesized speech and enjoy listening.
Exit, Come Back & Play from Where You Stopped
TTSReader remembers the article and last position when paused, even if you close the browser. This way, you can come back to listening right where you previously left. Works on Chrome & Safari on mobile too. Ideal for listening to articles.
Better than Podcasts
In many aspects, synthesized speech has advantages over recorded podcasts. Here are some: First of all - you have unlimited - free - content. That includes high-quality articles and books, that are not available on podcasts. Second - it’s free. Third - it uses almost no data - so it’s available offline too, and you save money. If you like listening on the go, as while driving or walking - get our free Android Text Reader App .
Read PDF Files, Texts & Websites
TTSReader extracts the text from pdf files, and reads it out loud. Also useful for simply copying text from pdf to anywhere. In addition, it highlights the text currently being read - so you can follow with your eyes. If you specifically want to listen to websites - such as blogs, news, wiki - you should get our free extension for Chrome
Export Speech to Audio Files
TTSReader enables exporting the synthesized speech with a single click. This is available currently only on Windows, and requires ttsreader’s premium - get it here .
Recent Posts
Read about our different products, get the news & tips from our developers. Click here to see more posts.
New ways to contact me, Ronen Rabinovici, developer
By Ronen Rabinovici, developer on February 6, 2023
Nice to e-meet you. I am Ronen Rabinovici, TTSReader’s developer. I would like to thank you all for your support! Whether it is joining our premium plan, sending us feedback to make it better, telling friends about it, sharing on social media, or simply using this tool time after time - this gives me great motivation to continue developing it. Since I would like to have more interactions with you, hear from you, and share new developments with you, I opened a new Twitter account where you can follow me and contact me directly.
Continue reading
Read out loud any website directly on TTSReader.com
This is very exciting. Only a few weeks ago we first introduced our new web player - which reads out loud websites - simply by pasting in the website’s url. Since then - it has regular users using it daily to listen to online novels, wiki articles, news, professional materials and more. We are very excited, and thank you very much! If you haven’t seen it already, here’s a link to the webplayer, and here’s a screenshot of it reading the Wiki article on the Beatles:
Exciting News! Use Custom SAPI5 Voices on TTSReader
By Ronen Rabinovici, developer on February 5, 2023
Use ANY voice installed on your computer with TTSReader! I was so excited when I found out about this! You can use ANY custom SAPI5 voice installed on your Windows PC with ttsreader.com! 1) Use any voice to enhance the reading experience Why is this exciting? Since you may now use many more voices, including custom / tailored / high fidelity voices you purchased and installed with our simple to use, light weight effective player.
Exciting! New Mobile App
on January 16, 2020
Our best text reader for mobile device Reads out loud written content, plain text, files and web pages. For people who like to listen. Read eyes and hands free. iOS natural sounding voices. Super easy to use. To start simply tap the ‘Play’ button. That’s it. Main features: Editable text Import web pages Shows images Multiple languages and voices
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PRIVACY: We respect your privacy - your text is not sent to us unless you chose to use cloud sync. We do use cookies and your local storage to enhance your experience & targeted ads. Read more about privacy here. Copyright (c) 2015 - 2023, Ronen Rabinovici ; all rights reserved. Based on template by Bootstrapious . Ported to Hugo by DevCows . Icons by glyphicons and by font-awesome . Reader BG image includes modification of image by Norman Bruderhofer - Collection of John Lampert-Hopkins, CC BY-SA 2.5 , Link .
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Paste or type text / files into the text-box and click play. That's all the basics.
Select language / voice using the language-voice select options.
Change speech-rates using the rates select options. Speech can be in defferent degrees between very fast and very slow.
Record audio - see more here .
File types: you can upload to ttsreader online text files, pdf files and ebooks of epub format.
File upload - use the upload button or drag files to the box.
Edit text - feel free to edit the text in the box.
Questions? See our FAQ page , or contact us at [email protected]
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The 8 Best Speech to Text Software of 2023
These speech to text solutions will save you hours of transcribing.
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Best Overall: Dragon Professional Individual
"Packed with various features and extensive customization capabilities, Dragon is the gold standard of speech recognition programs."
Best for Windows 11: Built-In Dictation
"For a reliable Windows talk-to-text solution, you don't even need to look elsewhere, as Microsoft's newest OS already comes with one"
Best for MacOS: Built-In Dictation
"The built-in program for macOS makes converting your spoken words to text a walk in the park."
Best for Enterprises: Dragon Professional Group
"The best speech to text software for enterprises allows employees to create documentation 3x faster and 99% recognition accuracy."
Best with Virtual Assistant Features: Braina
"Powered by Artificial Intelligence, Braina is a unique speech to text software that boasts extensive virtual assistant features."
Best Online: Google Voice Typing
"All you need is a Google account, Chrome Web browser, and a reliable Internet connection."
Best for iOS: Built-In Dictation Functionality
"If you want a dependable speech to text solution for your iPhone and iPad, you've got one integrated right into iOS. "
Best for Android: Gboard Voice Typing
"With Gboard, you can use your voice for everything from writing e-mails to responding to text messages."
Dragon Professional Individual
Dragon has always been the gold standard of speech recognition programs, which continues to be the case even today. Packed with a truckload of features and extensive customization capabilities, Dragon Professional Individual is undeniably the best speech-to-text software available. Its next-generation speech engine uses "Deep Learning" technology, thereby allowing the program to adapt to the user's voice and environmental variations—even when they're dictating.
Thanks to the "Smart Format Rules" feature, users can easily configure how they want specific items (e.g. dates, phone numbers) to appear. Dragon Professional Individual's advanced personalization features allow it to be tailored for maximum efficiency and productivity. You can import or export custom word lists for acronyms and unique business-specific terms. Plus you can configure custom voice commands for quickly inserting frequently used content (e.g. text, graphics) in documents and even create time-saving macros to automate multi-step tasks with simple voice commands.
Microsoft Logo
For a reliable Windows talk-to-text solution, you don't even need to look elsewhere, as Microsoft's newest OS already comes with one. Introduced as part of the October 5th update, the improved Dictation feature lets you capture all your thoughts and ideas using just your voice, quickly and accurately. Since it's deeply integrated into the operating system, Dictation works flawlessly with just about any text field in Windows 11 . To get started, select a text field (e.g. Microsoft Word document, E-mail compose box), use the "Windows" logo key with the "H" key to launch the dictation toolbar, and begin speaking.
You can easily dictate most letters, numbers, punctuation marks, and symbols by just saying their names (e.g. to insert $, say "dollar sign"). Dictation also supports numerous voice commands that allow you to select/edit text, move the cursor to a specified location, and more. Windows 11 supports a variety of different languages for dictation, and your computer needs to be connected to the Internet and have a working microphone to use it.
Apple's dictation feature is built right into the desktop operating system , there's no need for third-party solutions. The built-in program for macOS makes converting your spoken words to text a walk in the park.
To set up Dictation, navigate to Apple Menu > System Preferences > Accessibility > Voice Control and then select "Enable Voice Control." Here, you can select the dictation language and configure other options. Being a native component of the operating system, Dictation works well with any text field in macOS .
To use it, place the cursor in any text field (e.g. Apple Pages document, E-mail compose window), press the "Fn" key twice to activate, and start speaking. Since this feature learns your voice's characteristics and adapts to your accent, it gets better with continued use. Dictation supports multiple voice commands for all standard operations (e.g. selecting/formatting text, moving the cursor to a specific position, entering punctuation marks/symbols), and allows you to create your own as well.
For more Mac programs, check out our guide to the best video editing software for Macs and the best Mac desktop publishing software .
Dragon Professional Group
Get a free USB headset when you purchase Dragon Home or Dragon Professional Individual using the code USB2022 at checkout.
Even though documentation is a crucial part of any organization's day-to-day workflow, it usually takes up a lot of valuable time and resources. However, it doesn't have to be that way, thanks to Dragon Professional Group. The best speech-to-text software for enterprises allows employees to create documentation 3x faster (compared to typing) and 99% recognition accuracy. This is made possible by the program's next-generation speech engine, which uses "Deep Learning" technology to achieve high recognition accuracy while dictating, even for users with accents or those working in open office spaces.
Dragon Professional Group also makes it simple to automate repetitive tasks and streamline multi-step processes. You can configure custom voice commands which is helpful when quickly adding frequently used items (e.g. signatures) into documents. The system also allows you to create time-saving macros , or add industry-specific terms to the software's vocabulary to share with other employees.
The program also comes with "Nuance Management Center," a centralized user administration console that allows for easy management of everything from user profiles to custom command databases.
Speech recognition programs are great for converting your voice to text, but what if you could also use one to set alarms and maybe even search files on your computer? With Braina, you can do just that and a heck of a lot more. Powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI), Braina is a unique speech-to-text software with extensive virtual assistant features.
The multi-functional program lets you use natural language commands to control your computer and perform different tasks, all from a convenient single-window environment. Braina can be helpful when searching for information online, performing complex mathematical calculations, playing your favorite songs, taking down notes, opening specific files/programs/websites, and getting weather information.
It also supports custom voice commands and macros, which make it easy to automate repetitive tasks. As far as the speech-to-text functionality is concerned, the program supports voice dictation in over 90 different languages and accents (e.g. English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Russian, Japanese), with up to 99% accuracy.
Google Docs
Google Docs includes many features, such as multi-user collaboration, add-on compatibility, and version history. However, the Web-based word processor also supports Google's Voice Typing functionality, making it among the best online speech to text solutions available. All you need is a Google account, Chrome web browser, and a reliable Internet connection.
To get started with speech to text, open a document in Google Docs , and select "Voice typing..." from the "Tools" menu. After allowing the browser to access your computer's microphone, click the microphone box to start speaking, and Voice Typing will convert your words to text in real-time.
For best results, you must speak clearly, and at an average pace. Google Voice Typing allows dictation in many languages (e.g. English, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, or Thai), and you can select one via the microphone box before you start speaking. All standard operations such as selecting or editing text, applying formats, or moving the cursor to a specified point in the document, can be done using voice commands.
Apple's iOS is renowned for its out-of-the-box nature. All the features in the mobile operating system are readily usable, and voice typing is no exception. If you want a dependable speech-to-text solution for your iPhone and iPad , you've got one integrated right into iOS. The voice dictation feature can be accessed via the default iOS keyboard, and it works great with apps that accept text input. Using Apple's speech-to-text feature allows you to do everything from composing emails to taking notes using your voice.
To dictate text in any app, tap the microphone icon on the iOS keyboard, and start speaking. When you're dictating, an animated waveform is displayed to indicate that your speech is being processed. If there are any errors such as spelling mistakes while dictating, they can be fixed manually. Dictation in iOS works offline (for selected languages), and there's voice command support for the majority of operations (e.g. formatting text, adding punctuations).
Courtesy of Google Play
Of the many keyboard apps available for Android , Gboard is arguably the most popular. Google's keyboard comes with a lot of nifty features, such as glide typing and one-handed mode. But apart from these, it also includes reliable speech recognition capabilities. You can use your voice for everything from writing e-mails to responding to text messages, as Gboard's Voice Typing works with any Android app that accepts text input. To use the feature, all you have to do is tap the microphone icon and start dictating when "Speak now" is displayed.
You can also use Gboard's Voice Typing functionality to replace words in any document or message. For this, select the target word, and tap the microphone icon. Once "Speak now" is displayed, say the new word to replace the existing term. Gboard supports voice dictation in multiple languages and can be used offline, as well.
Our Process
Our writers spent 7 hours researching the most popular speech-to-text software on the market. Before making their final recommendations, they considered 15 different software overall, screened options from 8 different brands and manufacturers, read over 100 user reviews (both positive and negative), and tested 4 of the software themselves. All of this research adds up to recommendations you can trust.
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The Best (Free) Speech-to-Text Software for Windows
Looking for the best free speech-to-text software on Windows? We compare speech recognition options from Dragon, Google, and Microsoft.
Looking for the best free speech to text software on Windows?
The best speech-to-text software is Dragon Naturally Speaking (DNS) but it comes at a price. But how does it compare to the best of the free programs, like Google Docs Voice Typing (GDVT) and Windows Speech Recognition (WSR)?
This article compares Dragon against Google Docs Voice Typing and Windows Speech Recognition for three typical uses:
- Writing novels.
- Academic transcription.
- Writing business documents like memos.
Comparing Speech Recognition Software: Dragon Vs. Google Vs Microsoft
We will look at the nuances between the three below, but here's an overview on their pros and cons which will help you quickly make a decision.
1. Dragon Speech Recognition
Dragon Naturally Speaking beats Microsoft's and Google's software in voice recognition.
DNS scores 10% better on average compared to both programs. But is Dragon Naturally Speaking worth the money?
It depends on what you're using it for. For seamless, high-accuracy writing that will require little proof-reading, DNS is the best speech-to-text software around.
2. Windows Speech Recognition
If you don't mind proofreading your documents, WSR is a great free speech-recognition software.
On the downside, it requires that you use a Windows computer. It's also only about 90% accurate, making it the least accurate out of all the voice recognition software tested in this article.
However, it's integrated into the Windows operating system, which means it can also control the computer itself, such as shutdown and sleep.
3. Google Docs Voice Typing
Google Docs Voice Typing is highly limited in how and where you use it. It only works in Google Docs, in the Chrome Browser, and with an internet connection.
But it offers several options on mobile devices. Android smartphones have the ability to transcribe your voice to text using the same speech-to-text engine that also works with Google Keep or Live Transcribe.
And while Dragon Naturally Speaking offers a mobile app, it's treated as a separate purchase from the desktop client.
Dragon and Microsoft work in any place you can enter text. However, WSR can execute control functions whereas Dragon is mostly limited to text input.
Download : Live Transcribe for Android (Free)
Speech-to-Text Testing Methods
In order to test the accuracy of the dictation with the tools, I read aloud three texts:
- Charles Darwin's "On the Tendency of Species to Form Varieties"
- H.P. Lovecraft's "Call of Cthulhu"
- California Governor Jerry Brown's 2017 State of the State speech
When a speech-to-text software miscapitalized a word, I marked the text as blue in the right-column (see graphic below). When one of the software got a word wrong, the misspelled word was marked in red. I did not consider wrong capitalizations to be errors.
I used a Blue Yeti microphone which is the best microphone for podcasting and a relatively fast computer. However, you don't need any special hardware. Any laptop or smartphone transcribes speech as well as a more expensive machine.
Test 1: Dragon Naturally Speaking Speech-to-Text Accuracy
Dragon scored 100% on accuracy on all three sample texts. While it failed to capitalize the first letter on every text, it otherwise performed beyond my expectations.
While all three transcription suites do a great job of accurately turning spoken words into written text, DNS comes out way ahead of its competitors. It even successfully understood complicated words such as "hitherto" and "therein".
Test 2: Google Docs Voice Typing Speech-to-Text Accuracy
Google Docs Voice Typing had many errors compared to Dragon. GDVT got 93.5% right on Lovecraft, 96.5% correc t for Brown, and 96.5% for Darwin. Its average accuracy came out to around 95.2% for all three texts.
On the downside, it automatically capitalized a lot of words that didn't need capitalization. It seems the engine also hasn't improved in accuracy since I last tested GDVT three years ago.
Test 3: Microsoft Windows Speech Recognition Text-to-Speech Accuracy
Microsoft's Windows Speech Recognition came in last. Its accuracy on Lovecraft was 84.3% , although it did not miscapitalize any words like GDVT. For Brown's speech, it got its highest accuracy rating of around 94.8% , making it equivalent to GDVT.
For Darwin's book, it managed to get a similarly high score of 93.1% . Its average accuracy across all texts came out to 89% .
Related: The Best Free Text-to-Speech Tools for Educators
Are Free Transcription Services Worth Using?
- Dragon Naturally Speaking got a perfect 100% accuracy for voice transcription.
- Microsoft's free voice-to-text service, Windows Speech Recognition scored an 89% accuracy.
- Google Docs Voice Typing got a total score of 95.2% accuracy.
However, there are some major limitations to free text-to-speech options you should always keep in mind.
GDVT only works in the Chrome browser. On top of that, it only works for Google Docs. If you need to enter something in a spreadsheet or in a word processor other than Google Docs, you are out of luck.
Our test results indicate it is more accurate than WSR, but you have to keep in mind that it only works in Chrome for Google Docs. And you will always need an internet connection.
WSR can make you more productive with its hands-off computer automation features. Plus, it can enter text. Its accuracy is the weakest out of the services that I tested.
That said, you can live with its misses if you are not a heavy transcriber. It's on par with Google Docs Voice Typing but limited to Windows.
For most users, the free options should be good enough. However, for all those who need high levels of transcription accuracy, Dragon Naturally Speaking is the best option around. As an occasional user, if you need a free service, Google Docs Voice Typing is a viable alternative.
These tools prove that your voice can make you more productive. Now, try out Google Voice Assistant which is the best voice-control assistant you can use right now to manage everyday tasks.
Plus, be sure to check out these free online services to download text to speech as MP3 .
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Type To Speech Software Statistics 2018
Jan:484 Feb:746 Mar:714 Apr:383 May:47 June:829 July:666 Aug:463 Sept:639 Oct:379 Nov:424 Dec:889
Type To Speech Software Statistics 2017
Jan:553 Feb:835 Mar:466 Apr:84 May:853 June:449 July:983 Aug:338 Sept:272 Oct:545 Nov:747 Dec:233
Type To Speech Software Statistics 2016
Jan:411 Feb:47 Mar:404 Apr:952 May:168 June:404 July:967 Aug:653 Sept:150 Oct:681 Nov:36 Dec:197
Type To Speech Software Statistics 2015
Jan:509 Feb:702 Mar:660 Apr:147 May:80 June:84 July:35 Aug:633 Sept:919 Oct:502 Nov:718 Dec:771
Type To Speech Software Statistics 2014
Jan:952 Feb:700 Mar:109 Apr:223 May:244 June:857 July:457 Aug:656 Sept:905 Oct:861 Nov:607 Dec:72
Type To Speech Software Statistics 2013
Jan:264 Feb:574 Mar:725 Apr:414 May:254 June:762 July:612 Aug:763 Sept:463 Oct:272 Nov:911 Dec:543
Type To Speech Software Statistics 2012
Jan:356 Feb:947 Mar:176 Apr:275 May:449 June:895 July:46 Aug:400 Sept:594 Oct:156 Nov:624 Dec:839
Type To Speech Software Statistics 2011
Jan:12 Feb:80 Mar:494 Apr:917 May:942 June:101 July:990 Aug:205 Sept:675 Oct:715 Nov:620 Dec:930
Type To Speech Software Statistics 2010
Jan:476 Feb:231 Mar:693 Apr:939 May:504 June:603 July:482 Aug:860 Sept:550 Oct:659 Nov:134 Dec:1000
Type To Speech Software Statistics 2009
Jan:553 Feb:180 Mar:400 Apr:146 May:336 June:23 July:986 Aug:349 Sept:104 Oct:480 Nov:265 Dec:45
Type To Speech Software Statistics 2008
Jan:581 Feb:254 Mar:251 Apr:255 May:969 June:872 July:184 Aug:444 Sept:103 Oct:877 Nov:383 Dec:607
Joyous Outlook - Gregory Hill Developed with help from Thomas Taylor, Scott Smith, William King, Daniel Perez, Timothy Baker, George Martinez, Raymond Collins, Michael Scott, Alexander Lewis, Gregory Perez, Andrew Martin, Timothy Smith, Gregory Green, Thomas Edwards, Brian Williams, Alexander Turner, Alexander Moore, Kenneth Robinson, Andrew Campbell, Jacob Jackson.
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99.5% Accurate!
LilySpeech is powered by Google Chrome’s amazing speech to text service which is 99.5% accurate. If you’ve been sending text messages with your voice on your Android phone, then you already know how well it works.
Watch the video below to see a demonstration of just how accurate LilySpeech is.
Custom Words
You can customize LilySpeech to recognize custom words. This might be business names, web addresses, the correct spelling of peoples names, industry specific terms. Anything you wish.
Even for people in specialized Industries, LilySpeech shines with its ability to recognize unusual vocabulary.
Lightweight
LilySpeech is an extremely lightweight application which will not slow down your computer or hog your computer’s memory.
This is made possible by the fact that the actual speech-to-text conversion occurs in the cloud and does not use your local machines resources.
Our Free* version of LilySpeech is fully functional with no limitations. Read more about how this free version is possible.
Our premium version is available for an annual cost $29.99. Purchase the premium version here .
See it in Action!
LilySpeech Speech Recognition Demo
LilySpeech is truly a joy to use. Click or press Ctrl+D and start dictating absolutely anything on your computer in real time.
In this demonstration we see:
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The ease of use is amazing and the time savings will have you jumping for joy!
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Best speech-to-text apps of 2023
Free, paid and online voice recognition apps and services
The best speech-to-text software makes it simple and easy to convert speech into text, and can be available for both desktop and mobile devices.
Speech-to-text used to be regarded as very niche, specifically serving either people with accessibility needs or for dictation. However, speech-to-text is moving more and more into the mainstream as office work can now routinely be completed more simply and easily by using voce-recognition software, rather than having to type through members, and speaking aloud for text to be recorded is now quite common.
While the best speech to text software used to be specifically only for desktops, the development of mobile devices and the explosion of easily accessible apps means that transcription can now also be carried out on a smartphone (opens in new tab) or tablet (opens in new tab) .
This has made the best voice to text applications increasingly valuable to users in a range of different environments, from education to business. This is not least because the technology has matured to the level where mistakes in transcriptions are relatively rare, with some services rightly boasting a 99.9% success rate from clear audio.
Even still, this applies mainly to ordinary situations and circumstances, and precludes the use of technical terminology such as required in legal or medical professions. Despite this, digital transcription can still service needs such as basic note-taking (opens in new tab) which can still be easily done using a phone app, simplifying the dictation process.
However, different speech-to-text programs have different levels of ability and complexity, with some using advanced machine learning to constantly correct errors flagged up by users so that they are not repeated. Others are downloadable software which is only as good as its latest update.
Here then are the best in speech-to-text recognition programs, which should be more than capable for most situations and circumstances.
Jump straight to:
- Best paid for speech to text apps
- Best free speech to text apps
Mobile speech to text apps to consider
We've also featured the best voice recognition software .
The best paid for speech to text apps of 2023 in full:
Why you can trust TechRadar Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test .
1. Dragon Anywhere
Our expert review:
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid.
Dragon Anywhere is the Nuance mobile product for Android and iOS devices, however this is no ‘lite’ app, but rather offers fully-formed dictation capabilities powered via the cloud.
So essentially you get the same excellent speech recognition as seen on the desktop software – the only meaningful difference we noticed was a very slight delay in our spoken words appearing on the screen (doubtless due to processing in the cloud). However, note that the app was still responsive enough overall.
It also boasts support for boilerplate chunks of text which can be set up and inserted into a document with a simple command, and these, along with custom vocabularies, are synced across the mobile app and desktop Dragon software. Furthermore, you can share documents across devices via Evernote or cloud services (such as Dropbox).
This isn’t as flexible as the desktop application, however, as dictation is limited to within Dragon Anywhere – you can’t dictate directly in another app (although you can copy over text from the Dragon Anywhere dictation pad to a third-party app). The other caveats are the need for an internet connection for the app to work (due to its cloud-powered nature), and the fact that it’s a subscription offering with no one-off purchase option, which might not be to everyone’s tastes.
Even bearing in mind these limitations, though, it’s a definite boon to have fully-fledged, powerful voice recognition of the same sterling quality as the desktop software, nestling on your phone or tablet for when you’re away from the office.
Nuance Communications offers a 7-day free trial to give the app a try before you commit to a subscription.
Read our full Dragon Anywhere review .
2. Dragon Professional
Should you be looking for a business-grade dictation application, your best bet is Dragon Professional. Aimed at pro users, the software provides you with the tools to dictate and edit documents, create spreadsheets, and browse the web using your voice.
According to Nuance, the solution is capable of taking dictation at an equivalent typing speed of 160 words per minute, with a 99% accuracy rate – and that’s out-of-the-box, before any training is done (whereby the app adapts to your voice and words you commonly use).
As well as creating documents using your voice, you can also import custom word lists. There’s also an additional mobile app that lets you transcribe audio files and send them back to your computer.
This is a powerful, flexible, and hugely useful tool that is especially good for individuals, such as professionals and freelancers, allowing for typing and document management to be done much more flexibly and easily.
Overall, the interface is easy to use, and if you get stuck at all, you can access a series of help tutorials. And while the software can seem expensive, it's just a one-time fee and compares very favorably with paid-for subscription transcription services.
Also note that Nuance are currently offering 12-months' access to Dragon Anywhere at no extra cost with any purchase of Dragon Home or Dragon Professional Individual.
Read our full Dragon Professional review .
Otter is a cloud-based speech to text program especially aimed for mobile use, such as on a laptop or smartphone. The app provides real-time transcription, allowing you to search, edit, play, and organize as required.
Otter is marketed as an app specifically for meetings, interviews, and lectures, to make it easier to take rich notes. However, it is also built to work with collaboration between teams, and different speakers are assigned different speaker IDs to make it easier to understand transcriptions.
There are three different payment plans, with the basic one being free to use and aside from the features mentioned above also includes keyword summaries and a wordcloud to make it easier to find specific topic mentions. You can also organize and share, import audio and video for transcription, and provides 600 minutes of free service.
The Premium plan also includes advanced and bulk export options, the ability to sync audio from Dropbox, additional playback speeds including the ability to skip silent pauses. The Premium plan also allows for up to 6,000 minutes of speech to text.
The Teams plan also adds two-factor authentication, user management and centralized billing, as well as user statistics, voiceprints, and live captioning.
Read our full Otter review .
Verbit aims to offer a smarter speech to text service, using AI for transcription and captioning. The service is specifically targeted at enterprise and educational establishments.
Verbit uses a mix of speech models, using neural networks and algorithms to reduce background noise, focus on terms as well as differentiate between speakers regardless of accent, as well as incorporate contextual events such as news and company information into recordings.
Although Verbit does offer a live version for transcription and captioning, aiming for a high degree of accuracy, other plans offer human editors to ensure transcriptions are fully accurate, and advertise a four hour turnaround time.
Altogether, while Verbit does offer a direct speech to text service, it’s possibly better thought of as a transcription service, but the focus on enterprise and education, as well as team use, means it earns a place here as an option to consider.
Read our full Verbit review (opens in new tab) .
5. Speechmatics
Speechmatics offers a machine learning solution to converting speech to text, with its automatic speech recognition solution available to use on existing audio and video files as well as for live use.
Unlike some automated transcription software which can struggle with accents or charge more for them, Speechmatics advertises itself as being able to support all major British accents, regardless of nationality. That way it aims to cope with not just different American and British English accents, but also South African and Jamaican accents.
Speechmatics offers a wider number of speech to text transcription uses than many other providers. Examples include taking call center (opens in new tab) phone recordings and converting them into searchable text or Word documents. The software also works with video and other media for captioning as well as using keyword triggers for management.
Overall, Speechmatics aims to offer a more flexible and comprehensive speech to text service than a lot of other providers, and the use of automation should keep them price competitive.
Read our full Speechmatics review .
6. Braina Pro
Braina Pro is speech recognition software which is built not just for dictation, but also as an all-round digital assistant to help you achieve various tasks on your PC. It supports dictation to third-party software in not just English but almost 90 different languages, with impressive voice recognition chops.
Beyond that, it’s a virtual assistant that can be instructed to set alarms, search your PC for a file, or search the internet, play an MP3 file, read an ebook aloud, plus you can implement various custom commands.
The Windows program also has a companion Android app which can remotely control your PC, and use the local Wi-Fi network to deliver commands to your computer, so you can spark up a music playlist, for example, wherever you happen to be in the house. Nifty.
There’s a free version of Braina which comes with limited functionality, but includes all the basic PC commands, along with a 7-day trial of the speech recognition which allows you to test out its powers for yourself before you commit to a subscription. Yes, this is another subscription-only product with no option to purchase for a one-off fee. Also note that you need to be online and have Google’s Chrome browser installed for speech recognition functionality to work.
Read our full Braina Pro review .
7. Amazon Transcribe
Amazon Transcribe is as big cloud-based automatic speech recognition platform developed specifically to convert audio to text for apps. It especially aims to provide a more accurate and comprehensive service than traditional providers, such as being able to cope with low-fi and noisy recordings, such as you might get in a contact center (opens in new tab) .
Amazon Transcribe uses a deep learning process that automatically adds punctuation and formatting, as well as process with a secure livestream or otherwise transcribe speech to text with batch processing.
As well as offering time stamping for individual words for easy search, it can also identify different speaks and different channels and annotate documents accordingly to account for this.
There are also some nice features for editing and managing transcribed texts, such as vocabulary filtering and replacement words which can be used to keep product names consistent and therefore any following transcription easier to analyze.
Overall, Amazon Transcribe is one of the most powerful platforms out there, though it’s aimed more for the business and enterprise user rather than the individual.
8. Microsoft Azure Speech to Text
Microsoft's Azure cloud service offers advanced speech recognition as part of the platform's speech services to deliver the Microsoft Azure Speech to Text functionality.
This feature allows you to simply and easily create text from a variety of audio sources. There are also customization options available to work better with different speech patterns, registers, and even background sounds. You can also modify settings to handle different specialist vocabularies, such as product names, technical information, and place names.
The Microsoft's Azure Speech to Text feature is powered by deep neural network models and allows for real-time audio transcription that can be set up to handle multiple speakers.
As part of the Azure cloud service, you can run Azure Speech to Text in the cloud, on premises, or in edge computing. In terms of pricing, you can run the feature in a free container with a single concurrent request for up to 5 hours of free audio per month.
Read our full Microsoft Azure Speech to Text review (opens in new tab) .
9. IBM Watson Speech to Text
IBM's Watson Speech to Text works is the third cloud-native solution on this list, with the feature being powered by AI and machine learning as part of IBM's cloud services.
While there is the option to transcribe speech to text in real-time, there is also the option to batch convert audio files and process them through a range of language, audio frequency, and other output options.
You can also tag transcriptions with speaker labels, smart formatting, and timestamps, as well as apply global editing for technical words or phrases, acronyms, and for number use.
As with other cloud services Watson Speech to Text allows for easy deployment both in the cloud and on-premises behind your own firewall to ensure security is maintained.
Read our full Watson Speech to Text review .
The best free speech to text apps:
1. google gboard.
If you already have an Android mobile device, then if it's not already installed then download Google Keyboard from the Google Play store and you'll have an instant text-to-speech app. Although it's primarily designed as a keyboard for physical input, it also has a speech input option which is directly available. And because all the power of Google's hardware is behind it, it's a powerful and responsive tool.
If that's not enough then there are additional features. Aside from physical input ones such as swiping, you can also trigger images in your text using voice commands. Additionally, it can also work with Google Translate, and is advertised as providing support for over 60 languages.
Even though Google Keyboard isn't a dedicated transcription tool, as there are no shortcut commands or text editing directly integrated, it does everything you need from a basic transcription tool. And as it's a keyboard, it means should be able to work with any software you can run on your Android smartphone, so you can text edit, save, and export using that. Even better, it's free and there are no adverts to get in the way of you using it.
2. Just Press Record
If you want a dedicated dictation app, it’s worth checking out Just Press Record. It’s a mobile audio recorder that comes with features such as one tap recording, transcription and iCloud syncing across devices. The great thing is that it’s aimed at pretty much anyone and is extremely easy to use.
When it comes to recording notes, all you have to do is press one button, and you get unlimited recording time. However, the really great thing about this app is that it also offers a powerful transcription service.
Through it, you can quickly and easily turn speech into searchable text. Once you’ve transcribed a file, you can then edit it from within the app. There’s support for more than 30 languages as well, making it the perfect app if you’re working abroad or with an international team. Another nice feature is punctuation command recognition, ensuring that your transcriptions are free from typos.
This app is underpinned by cloud technology, meaning you can access notes from any device (which is online). You’re able to share audio and text files to other iOS apps too, and when it comes to organizing them, you can view recordings in a comprehensive file.
3. Speechnotes
Speechnotes is yet another easy to use dictation app. A useful touch here is that you don’t need to create an account or anything like that; you just open up the app and press on the microphone icon, and you’re off.
The app is powered by Google voice recognition tech. When you’re recording a note, you can easily dictate punctuation marks through voice commands, or by using the built-in punctuation keyboard.
To make things even easier, you can quickly add names, signatures, greetings and other frequently used text by using a set of custom keys on the built-in keyboard. There’s automatic capitalization as well, and every change made to a note is saved to the cloud.
When it comes to customizing notes, you can access a plethora of fonts and text sizes. The app is free to download from the Google Play Store , but you can make in-app purchases to access premium features (there's also a browser version for Chrome).
Read our full Speechnotes review .
4. Transcribe
Marketed as a personal assistant for turning videos and voice memos into text files, Transcribe is a popular dictation app that’s powered by AI. It lets you make high quality transcriptions by just hitting a button.
The app can transcribe any video or voice memo automatically, while supporting over 80 languages from across the world. While you can easily create notes with Transcribe, you can also import files from services such as Dropbox.
Once you’ve transcribed a file, you can export the raw text to a word processor to edit. The app is free to download, but you’ll have to make an in-app purchase if you want to make the most of these features in the long-term. There is a trial available, but it’s basically just 15 minutes of free transcription time. Transcribe is only available on iOS, though.
5. Windows 10 Speech Recognition
If you don’t want to pay for speech recognition software, and you’re running Microsoft’s latest desktop OS, then you might be pleased to hear that Windows 10 actually has some very solid voice recognition abilities built right into the operating system.
Windows Speech Recognition, as it’s imaginatively named – and note that this is something different to Cortana, which offers basic commands and assistant capabilities – lets you not only execute commands via voice control, but also offers the ability to dictate into documents.
The sort of accuracy you get isn’t comparable with that offered by the likes of Dragon, but then again, you’re paying nothing to use it. It’s also possible to improve the accuracy by training the system by reading text, and giving it access to your documents to better learn your vocabulary. It’s definitely worth indulging in some training, particularly if you intend to use the voice recognition feature a fair bit.
This speech recognition capability is actually in previous versions of Windows as well, although Microsoft has honed it more with the latest OS. The company has been busy boasting about its advances in terms of voice recognition powered by deep neural networks, and Microsoft is certainly priming us to expect impressive things in the future. The likely end-goal aim is for Cortana to do everything eventually, from voice commands to taking dictation.
Turn on Windows Speech Recognition by heading to the Control Panel (search for it, or right click the Start button and select it), then click on Ease of Access, and you will see the option to ‘start speech recognition’ (you’ll also spot the option to set up a microphone here, if you haven’t already done that).
Aside from what has already been covered above, there are an increasing number of apps available across all mobile devices for working with speech to text, not least because Google's speech recognition technology is available for use.
iTranslate Translator (opens in new tab) is a speech-to-text app for iOS with a difference, in that it focuses on translating voice languages. Not only does it aim to translate different languages you hear into text for your own language, it also works to translate images such as photos you might take of signs in a foreign country and get a translation for them. In that way, iTranslate is a very different app, that takes the idea of speech-to-text in a novel direction, and by all accounts, does it well.
ListNote Speech-to-Text Notes (opens in new tab) is another speech-to-text app that uses Google's speech recognition software, but this time does a more comprehensive job of integrating it with a note-taking program than many other apps. The text notes you record are searchable, and you can import/export with other text applications. Additionally there is a password protection option, which encrypts notes after the first 20 characters so that the beginning of the notes are searchable by you. There's also an organizer feature for your notes, using category or assigned color. The app is free on Android, but includes ads.
Voice Notes (opens in new tab) is a simple app that aims to convert speech to text for making notes. This is refreshing, as it mixes Google's speech recognition technology with a simple note-taking app, so there are more features to play with here. You can categorize notes, set reminders, and import/export text accordingly.
SpeechTexter (opens in new tab) is another speech-to-text app that aims to do more than just record your voice to a text file. This app is built specifically to work with social media, so that rather than sending messages, emails, Tweets, and similar, you can record your voice directly to the social media sites and send. There are also a number of language packs you can download for offline working if you want to use more than just English, which is handy.
Also consider reading these related software and app guides:
- Best text-to-speech software (opens in new tab)
- Best transcription services (opens in new tab)
- Best Bluetooth headsets (opens in new tab)
Which speech-to-text app is best for you?
When deciding which speech-to-text app to use, first consider what your actual needs are, as free and budget options may only provide basic features, so if you need to use advanced tools you may find a paid-for platform is better suited to you. Additionally, higher-end software can usually cater for every need, so do ensure you have a good idea of which features you think you may require from your speech-to-text app.
How we tested the best speech-to-text apps
To test for the best speech-to-text apps we first set up an account with the relevant platform, then we tested the service to see how the software could be used for different purposes and in different situations. The aim was to push each speech-to-text platform to see how useful its basic tools were and also how easy it was to get to grips with any more advanced tools.
Read more on how we test, rate, and review products on TechRadar (opens in new tab) .
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Brian has over 30 years publishing experience as a writer and editor across a range of computing, technology, and marketing titles. He has been interviewed multiple times for the BBC and been a speaker at international conferences. His specialty on techradar is Software as a Service (SaaS) applications, covering everything from office suites to IT service tools. He is also a science fiction and fantasy author, published as Brian G Turner.
Dictate your documents in Word
Dictation lets you use speech-to-text to author content in Microsoft 365 with a microphone and reliable internet connection. It's a quick and easy way to get your thoughts out, create drafts or outlines, and capture notes.
Start speaking to see text appear on the screen.
How to use dictation
Tip: You can also start dictation with the keyboard shortcut: ⌥ (Option) + F1.
Learn more about using dictation in Word on the web and mobile
Dictate your documents in Word for the web
Dictate your documents in Word Mobile
What can I say?
In addtion to dictating your content, you can speak commands to add punctuatation, navigate around the page, and enter special characters.
Scroll down to see a list of commands available in other languages.
Punctuation
Navigation and selection, creating lists and tables, dictation commands, other languages.
Select from the list below to see commands available in each of the supported languages.
- Select your language
Arabic (Bahrain)
Arabic (Egypt)
Arabic (Saudi Arabia)
Croatian (Croatia)
Gujarati (India)
- Hebrew (Israel)
- Hungarian (Hungary)
- Irish (Ireland)
Marathi (India)
- Polish (Poland)
- Romanian (Romania)
- Russian (Russia)
- Slovenian (Slovenia)
Tamil (India)
Telugu (India)
- Thai (Thailand)
- Vietnamese (Vietnam)
Mathematics
Emoji/faces, creating lists, adding comments, more information, spoken languages supported.
By default, Dictation is set to your document language in Microsoft 365.
We are actively working to improve these languages and add more locales and languages.
Supported Languages
Chinese (China)
English (Australia)
English (Canada)
English (India)
English (United Kingdom)
English (United States)
French (Canada)
French (France)
German (Germany)
Italian (Italy)
Portuguese (Brazil)
Spanish (Spain)
Spanish (Mexico)
Preview languages *
Chinese (Traditional, Hong Kong)
Chinese (Taiwan)
Dutch (Netherlands)
English (New Zealand)
Norwegian (Bokmål)
Portuguese (Portugal)
Swedish (Sweden)
Turkish (Turkey)
* Preview Languages may have lower accuracy or limited punctuation support.
Dictation settings
Click on the gear icon to see the available settings.
Spoken Language: View and change languages in the drop-down
Microphone: View and change your microphone
Auto Punctuation: Toggle the checkmark on or off, if it's available for the language chosen
Profanity filter: Mask potentially sensitive phrases with ***
Tips for using Dictation
Saying “ delete ” by itself removes the last word or punctuation before the cursor.
Saying “ delete that ” removes the last spoken utterance.
You can bold, italicize, underline, or strikethrough a word or phrase. An example would be dictating “review by tomorrow at 5PM”, then saying “ bold tomorrow ” which would leave you with "review by tomorrow at 5PM"
Try phrases like “ bold last word ” or “ underline last sentence .”
Saying “ add comment look at this tomorrow ” will insert a new comment with the text “Look at this tomorrow” inside it.
Saying “ add comment ” by itself will create a blank comment box you where you can type a comment.
To resume dictation, please use the keyboard shortcut ALT + ` or press the Mic icon in the floating dictation menu.
Markings may appear under words with alternates we may have misheard.
If the marked word is already correct, you can select Ignore .
This service does not store your audio data or transcribed text.
Your speech utterances will be sent to Microsoft and used only to provide you with text results.
For more information about experiences that analyze your content, see Connected Experiences in Microsoft 365 .
Troubleshooting
Can't find the dictate button.
If you can't see the button to start dictation:
Make sure you're signed in with an active Microsoft 365 subscription
Dictate is not available in Office 2016 or 2019 for Windows without Microsoft 365
Make sure you have Windows 10 or above
Dictate button is grayed out
If you see the dictate button is grayed out
Make sure the note is not in a Read-Only state.
Microphone doesn't have access
If you see "We don’t have access to your microphone":
Make sure no other application or web page is using the microphone and try again
Refresh, click on Dictate, and give permission for the browser to access the microphone
Microphone isn't working
If you see "There is a problem with your microphone" or "We can’t detect your microphone":
Make sure the microphone is plugged in
Test the microphone to make sure it's working
Check the microphone settings in Control Panel
Also see How to set up and test microphones in Windows 10
On a Surface running Windows 10: Adjust microphone settings
Dictation can't hear you
If you see "Dictation can't hear you" or if nothing appears on the screen as you dictate:
Make sure your microphone is not muted
Adjust the input level of your microphone
Move to a quieter location
If using a built-in mic, consider trying again with a headset or external mic
Accuracy issues or missed words
If you see a lot of incorrect words being output or missed words:
Make sure you're on a fast and reliable internet connection
Avoid or eliminate background noise that may interfere with your voice
Try speaking more deliberately
Check to see if the microphone you are using needs to be upgraded
Need more help?
Want more options.
Explore subscription benefits, browse training courses, learn how to secure your device, and more.
Microsoft 365 subscription benefits
Microsoft 365 training
Microsoft security
Accessibility center
Communities help you ask and answer questions, give feedback, and hear from experts with rich knowledge.
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The Best Text-to-Speech Apps and Tools for Every Type of User
Reading is great, but sometimes you want or need to listen. Let your computer or phone read aloud to you with the top text-to-speech tools for accessibility, productivity, and enjoyment.
- Related Software & Service Picks:
- Best Speech-to-Text Tools
- Best Transcription Services
Some people struggle with reading text on a screen, or physically can't. Others might want their computer to read something to them aloud while they do something else. There are plenty of reasons to use a text-to-speech tool, also called a screen reader. For example, I like listening to my computer read my writing while I edit because I tend to miss fewer mistakes that way. If you want your computer or phone to read to you, we have the best tools for the job.
We recommend a few standalone text-to-speech apps here, sure, but you probably don't need them. That's because every operating system, and several well-known pieces of software, offer a text-to-speech feature, and they're all quite good. Similarly, most devices and some writing apps also include speech-to-text tools so that you can dictate rather than type. In this list of the best text-to-speech tools, we show you where to find these features while also pointing out a few of the best standalone apps.
Recommended by Our Editors
Best Text-to-Speech App for Windows
Balabolka (Opens in a new window) is a free downloadable app for Windows (I tested on Windows 11; it works in Windows XP or later) with all kinds of options. You can paste text into the app or open almost any document file format directly, such as text files, Word documents, and even ebooks. You can then press play to start listening to the app read aloud, or you can export an audio file if you prefer. Balabolka doesn't have many voices by default, granted, and the ones it does have are fairly robotic. You can add more voices, though, and customize the application in all kinds of ways.
Best Text-to-Speech Tool for Microsoft Office and Edge
Immersive Reader
Microsoft Office applications have a built-in text-to-speech feature but it's a little hard to find. In any document, click the Immersive Reader tab. If you don't see it, search for it, and from then on it should appear in your interface permanently. Then select Read Aloud to hear your document read back to you with the corresponding word highlighted as it goes. Immersive Reader is perfect for copy editing and reviewing long documents. Microsoft Edge has this feature, too (it's one of the best Microsoft Edge tricks ). Just click the Read Aloud button in the toolbar to listen to all the text of the current website.
Best Text-to-Speech Browser Extension
Read Aloud (Opens in a new window) is an extension for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge that can read whatever website you currently have open. Just click the button in the toolbar to start listening. You can control playback and follow along with the text in the pop-up window. A wide variety of voices are in the settings, including premium ones from Amazon and Google. It's the best tool I could find for listening to Google Docs, and there's also support for PDF files and Kindle books. I tried the PDF feature and it worked better for those documents than the other apps I tested.
Best Text-to-Speech Tool for Android
Select to Speak
Android's Select to Speak feature can be found in the settings under Accessibility. Turn it on and you can have it read text in any app when you either swipe up from the bottom of the screen with two fingers or press both of the volume keys at once, depending on how you configure it. Controls show up toward the bottom of the screen, allowing you to start and control playback. Select to Speak is simple to use and supports a variety of voices, which you can configure in the settings. There's even experimental support for reading the text inside images.
Best Text-to-Speech Tool for macOS
Spoken Content
Every Apple device comes with Spoken Content, a feature that uses Siri's high-quality voices to read text out loud. On a Mac, you can enable the feature by heading to System Preferences > Accessibility > Spoken Content and checking the Speak Selection option, which allows you to trigger the current document or selected text in any application using a keyboard shortcut (Control-Esc). As the tool reads the text, it highlights the corresponding words on the page in most applications, allowing you to read along. On-screen buttons give you control to speed up, slow down, pause, and so forth. It's the fastest way to listen to text I found on any platform.
Best Text-to-Speech Tool for Apple Mobile Devices
The iPhone's text-to-speech feature is very similar to the one on macOS and it even has the same name. You can turn it on in the Settings app under Accessibility. Once Spoken Content is enabled, any text you highlight in any application will have a Speak option, which you tap to activate. There are also options for reading all text on the current screen, with an optional always-on control button.
Best Text-to-Speech Web Reader
Natural Reader
I'm recommending Natural Reader (Opens in a new window) for its ease of use alone. Just head to NaturalReaders.com/online (note the plural in the URL) and paste some text to hear it read. You can also drag documents into your browser window, if you prefer. Natural Reader has a variety of voices, and you can control the speed of reading. You can upgrade for features like a Chrome extension, OCR for scanned documents, higher quality voices, and the ability to create MP3 files—these features cost $9.99 a month. The paid version also supports uploading documents, including Microsoft Word, Apple’s Pages, and even image files with text on them. The free version is perfect for quickly listening to a few paragraphs, though, and that’s why I’m including it.
Dig deeper into this topic by reading up on the best transcription services .
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Pcmag stories you’ll like, about justin pot, contributor.
Justin Pot believes technology is a tool, not a way of life. He writes tutorials and essays that inform and entertain. He loves beer, technology, nature, and people, not necessarily in that order. Learn more at JustinPot.com .
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The best dictation software in 2023
These speech-to-text apps will save you time without sacrificing accuracy..
If you didn't experience the early days of dictation software, consider yourself lucky. It was tedious and imprecise. I was an early adopter and remember thinking this feels like way more work than reward . But that's the nature of technology—we're all guinea pigs at some point.
Fortunately, we now get to experience dictation technology that actually pays off. While not perfect, it's accurate more than 90% of the time. You can speak at your natural cadence, which was unheard of back in the 1990s. And with voice commands, you'll be more productive while doing it.
Here, I'll walk you through the different types of speech-to-text software and provide tips for getting the most out of what you use. And, of course, I'll share my selections for the best dictation software with detailed reviews for each app.
The best dictation software
Windows 10 Speech Recognition for free dictation software on Windows
Dragon by Nuance for a customizable dictation app
Google Docs voice typing for dictating in Google Docs
Gboard for a free mobile dictation app
SpeechTexter for occasional use
What is dictation software?
As you search online for dictation software, keep in mind that it can include all different types of apps and services. The terms dictation software, speech-to-text, voice recognition, voice-to-text, and speech recognition can all mean a program that converts your voice to text on a screen in real-time. But sometimes lumped into a search for these terms are products that provide something else entirely.
For example, some products will transcribe audio files to text , but they don't transcribe your voice to text in real-time. Others market themselves as personal AI assistants (performing all computer tasks using speech) and may include a dictation component. And you may run across companies that provide human transcription services—using real people to transcribe your voice files to text.
Then there are those AI assistants built into many of the devices we use each day: Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa, and Microsoft's Cortana. These are fine for scheduling meetings, playing music, and finding a place to eat, but they aren't designed to transcribe your articles, meetings, and other documents.
For this review, I'm focused on software, whether standalone or embedded in a device, meant for transcribing speech to text.
Why would you want to do that? For starters, dictation software provides accessibility to those with disabilities—both physical and language-based—to access technologies and be more productive. For example, if you're unable to use your hands, you can still operate a computer, create documents, and access the web with dictation technology. And those with chronic conditions such as carpal tunnel syndrome can prevent the repetitive stresses that come with typing, simply by using their voice.
But as the technology has improved over the last 20 years and costs have come down, dictation software is now accessible to everyone as a tool to increase productivity almost instantly. Students can write papers and transcribe lectures into notes depending on the software's capabilities. And the casual user can dictate notes, a shopping list, a text, or a reminder while performing other tasks, making multi-tasking a reality. Think: taking a walk while "writing" your next novel.
What makes a great dictation app?
How we evaluate and test apps.
All of our best apps roundups are written by humans who've spent much of their careers using, testing, and writing about software. We spend dozens of hours researching and testing apps, using each app as it's intended to be used and evaluating it against the criteria we set for the category. We're never paid for placement in our articles from any app or for links to any site—we value the trust readers put in us to offer authentic evaluations of the categories and apps we review. For more details on our process, read the full rundown of how we select apps to feature on the Zapier blog .
Whether sending a text message or dictating your TPS report, getting your words right should be the highest priority. Software that accurately captures your speech inspires confidence, letting you focus on what you say and less on how you say it. That's not to say you shouldn't try to enunciate your words (you should), but the best dictation software can usually correctly roll with the minor flubs and stumbles of everyday speech. Accuracy was the first quality I looked for when deciding which software to choose.
In addition to accuracy, here's what I was looking for:
Ease of use , which wasn't a high hurdle as most options are basic enough that anyone can figure them out in seconds.
Availability of voice commands. These let you add "instructions" while you're dictating, such as adding punctuation, starting a new paragraph, or more complex commands like capitalizing all the words in a sentence.
Availability of the languages supported. All the picks here support a decent (or impressive) number of languages.
Tips for using voice recognition software
Though dictation software is pretty good at recognizing different voices, it's not perfect. Here are some tips to make it work as best as possible.
Speak naturally (with caveats). Dictation apps learn your voice and speech patterns over time. And if you're going to spend any time with them, you want to be comfortable. Speak naturally. If you're not getting 90% accuracy initially, try enunciating more.
Punctuate. When you dictate, you have to say each period, comma, question mark, and so forth. The software isn't smart enough to figure it out on its own.
Learn a few commands . Take the time to learn a few simple commands, such as "new line" to enter a line break. There are different commands for composing, editing, and operating your device. Commands may differ from app to app, so learn the ones that apply to the tool you choose.
Know your limits. Especially on mobile devices, some tools have a time limit for how long they can listen—sometimes for as little as 10 seconds. Glance at the screen from time to time to make sure you haven't blown past the mark.
Practice. It takes time to adjust to voice recognition software, but it gets easier the more you practice. Some of the more sophisticated apps invite you to train by reading passages or doing other short drills. Don't shy away from tutorials, help menus, and on-screen cheat sheets.
Advice on microphones for dictation
With dictation software, your voice is captured by a microphone, which is included on your device (computer, tablet, mobile) or as part of a specific software suite (e.g., Microsoft Office). For the occasional dictation user capturing notes and shopping lists, the built-in microphone should work fine. But if you're using it more intensely—consistently writing content, dictating meetings, sending emails—consider something that more effectively nabs the sound waves from your voice.
For under $100, there are lots of options for headsets with mics or external microphones used by podcasters and YouTube interviewers. For this test, I used a mid-priced USB headset from Jabra for all but the mobile apps. It's lightweight, very comfortable, and has reasonably good sound/voice quality. If you prefer not being tethered to your device, wireless options like the Jabra Elite 45h ($100) might be more your speed. And the highly-rated Blue Snowball USB microphone ($70) has a cool retro look and its own adjustable stand.
How we tested dictation apps
To test accuracy, I used the same 209-word script for all the apps. It contained five paragraphs, various sentence lengths, multiple punctuation marks, numbers, and a proper noun for good measure. There were also a few compound adjectives (e.g., third-party) that gave all but one app trouble—not inserting the hyphen unless commanded to. I didn't penalize an app if they missed automatically inserting the hyphen. For all but the mobile-specific candidates, I used my Jabra headset. There was little to no background noise in my office testing space.
I dictated the script into each app I tested. Then I stopped, recorded the accuracy and any impressions (e.g., "capitalized random words throughout third sentence"), and repeated this step two more times. Because my dictations were never flawlessly delivered, I used an average of the three attempts to determine accuracy. I also tried the various commands, and where offered, tried other features, such as adding a difficult word to the app's vocabulary to ensure accuracy.
Keep in mind that many of these apps will become more accurate the more times you use them, so the accuracy numbers mentioned will likely improve with continued use. Also, because I was reading from a "script," my speech tempo was likely faster than the average person who's dictating their thoughts.
Best free dictation software for Apple devices
Apple Dictation (iOS, iPadOS, macOS)
Look no further than your Mac, iPhone, or iPad for one of the best dictation tools. Apple's built-in dictation feature, powered by Siri (I wouldn't be surprised if the two merged one day), ships as part of Apple's desktop and mobile operating systems. On iOS devices, you use it by pressing the microphone icon on the stock keyboard. On your desktop, you turn it on by going to System Preferences > Keyboard > Dictation , and then use a keyboard shortcut to activate it in your app.
If you want the ability to navigate your Mac with your voice and use dictation, try Voice Control . By default, Voice Control requires the internet to work and has a time limit of about 30 seconds for each smattering of speech. To remove those limits for a Mac, enable Enhanced Dictation, and follow the directions here for your OS (you can also enable it for iPhones and iPads). Enhanced Dictation adds a local file to your device so that you can dictate offline.
You can format and edit your text using simple commands, such as "new paragraph" or "select previous word." Tip: you can view available commands in a small window, like a little cheat sheet, while learning the ropes. Apple also offers a number of advanced commands for things like math, currency, and formatting.
Apple Dictation price: Included with macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and Apple Watch.
Apple Dictation accuracy: For this test, I used a borrowed iPhone 14 with the basic Dictation feature. For my 209-word test, it flubbed an average of eight words for the three tests, giving it an accuracy rating of 97%. Like Gboard, it also correctly transcribed a few (but not all) of the difficult compound modifiers. And also like Gboard, it easily kept up with my speech cadence.
Recommendation: For the occasional dictation, I'd recommend the standard Dictation feature available with all Apple systems. But if you need more custom voice features (e.g., medical terms), opt for Voice Control with Enhanced Dictation. You can create and import both custom vocabulary and custom commands and work while offline.
Apple Dictation supported languages: Enhanced Dictation supports 20 languages. Apple's default Dictation supports 31 languages: Arabic, Catalan, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese.
Best free dictation software for Windows
Windows 10 Speech Recognition (Windows)
Windows 11 has been out for over a year, but for this test, I used what I had: Windows 10. When I attempted to "upgrade" to 11, I got an error message about a " safeguard hold " preventing the download. There are some feature differences (e.g., languages supported), which you can read about here , and Windows 10 refers to it as "speech recognition" while Windows 11 calls it "voice typing." Both are included in their respective operating systems with nothing additional to install.
To start, first, check that online speech recognition is on by going to Settings > Privacy > Speech . To begin dictating, in either OS, open an app, and on your keyboard, press the Windows logo key + H. A microphone icon and gray box will appear at the top of your screen. Make sure your cursor is in the space where you want to dictate.
When it's ready for your dictation, it will say Listening . You have about 10 seconds to start talking before the microphone turns off. If that happens, just click it again and wait for Listening to pop up. To stop the dictation, click the microphone icon again or say "stop talking."
As I dictated into a Word document, the gray box reminded me to hang on, we need a moment to catch up . If you're speaking too fast, you'll also notice your transcribed words aren't keeping up. This never posed an issue with accuracy, but it's a nice reminder to keep it slow and steady.
It includes about three dozen commands for punctuation, symbols, and for completing actions within a document. Windows 10 includes six dictation languages, but commands are only available in U.S. English. Windows 11 boosts the number of languages recognized to 36 plus a handful of dialects and commands for all these languages.
Windows 10 Speech Recognition price: Included with Windows 10; Speech Recognition included in older versions of Windows and also with the new release of Windows 11.
Windows 10 Speech Recognition accuracy: For the 209-word transcription test, Speech Recognition had a combined accuracy rating of 97% after the three tests. It missed adding a dash, an apostrophe for possession, and several others. Windows Speech Recognition was one of the best out-of-the-gate for accuracy with only Gboard equaling it.
Recommendation: It worked in any app or browser I tried, which makes it a handy tool to have around. If you're a Windows 10 user and don't mind a voice "training" period, you'll get good use out of this feature.
Windows 10 Speech Recognition languages supported : Not counting different dialects separately, Windows Speech Recognition supports these languages: Chinese Simplified, English, French, German, Italian (Italy), Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish.
Best customizable dictation software
Dragon by Nuance (Android, iOS, macOS, Windows)
In 1990, Dragon Dictate emerged as the first dictation software. Thirty years later, we have Dragon by Nuance , a leader in the industry and a distant cousin of that first iteration. With a variety of software packages and mobile apps for different use cases (e.g., legal, medical, law enforcement), Dragon can handle specialized industry vocabulary, and it comes with excellent features, such as the ability to transcribe text from an audio file you upload.
For this test, I used Dragon Anywhere, Nuance's mobile app, as it's the only version—among otherwise expensive packages—available with a free trial. It includes lots of features not found in the others, like Words, which lets you add words that would be difficult to recognize and spell out. For example, in the script, the word "Litmus'" (with the possessive) gave every app trouble. To avoid this, I added it to Words, trained it a few times with my voice, and was then able to transcribe it accurately.
It also provides shortcuts. If you wanted to shorten your entire address to one word, go to Auto-Text , give it a name ("address"), and type in your address: 1000 Eichhorn St., Davenport, IA 52722, and hit Save . The next time you dictate and say "address," you'll get the entire thing. Press the comment bubble icon to see text commands while you're dictating, or say "What can I say?" and the command menu pops up.
Once you complete a dictation, you can email, share (e.g., Google Drive, Dropbox), open in Word, or save to Evernote. You can perform these actions manually or by voice command (e.g., "save to Evernote.") Once you name it, it automatically saves in Documents for later review or sharing. Accuracy is good and improves with use: my first test produced nine errors, seven for the second, and six for the final run.
Dragon by Nuance price: $15/month for Dragon Anywhere (iOS and Android); from $200 to $500 for desktop packages
Dragon by Nuance accuracy: Dragon Anywhere averaged a 97% accuracy rate for three tests for the 209-word script.
Recommendation: Because Dragon is a relatively large investment, you should be seriously committed to using dictation regularly. I recommend trying Dragon Anywhere free for seven days to see how you like it first.
Dragon by Nuance supported languages: Dragon Anywhere is available in English (US, UK, Canada), French, and German. Dragon desktop products are available in several languages, which vary by version, and include Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish.
Best free mobile dictation software
Gboard (Android, iOS)
Google's excellent Gboard app, which includes dictation, works with both Android and iOS. To use it, go anywhere you can type (email, browser, text, document), and the keyboard will pop up. Tap the microphone icon at the top-right of the keyboard, and start speaking when prompted. It will very quickly capture your voice into text as fast as you're able to talk. It's scary how fast it transcribes. Not only that, it's highly accurate. It was the only app that captured any of the compound modifiers (e.g., customer-centric) without me having to insert a hyphen manually. (Note: If you stop speaking for about 10 seconds, the microphone turns off, so you'll have to tap it again.)
You have the option to personalize the app, which allows Gboard to recognize your voice usage patterns and improve on them, increasing accuracy over time. I've dictated texts in the car with the radio on, and it's still nearly perfect. It's also good at not including stammers, likely as a result of learning my speech patterns.
Keep in mind: I've been using Gboard for about seven years. It has learned my voice and speech patterns, so it's not surprising that it was the most accurate in my tests.
Gboard price : Free
Gboard accuracy: In transcribing a 209-word passage, Gboard's accuracy averaged 98%, which was the highest in the test.
Recommendation : Gboard spits out your words on screen as fast as you can say them. For faster talkers, it will feel just right, but for others, it may take getting used to. If you want to dictate texts, emails, or any other short note, use Gboard.
Gboard supported languages: Not counting different dialects separately, Gboard supports 69 languages: Afrikaans, Arabic, Azerbaijani, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hausa, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Macedonian, Malay, Maltese, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Welsh, Zulu, and more.
Best dictation software for typing in Google Docs
Google Docs voice typing (Web on Chrome)
Google Docs includes a dictation feature that's both highly accurate and easy to use, called Google Docs voice typing —but you have to be using Chrome to access this feature. Just go to Tools > Voice typing , and a microphone icon will appear on the left. Click on it, and start talking. If you're idle for about 30 seconds, the microphone automatically stops, though it still shows as red or "on." Click on it again to resume. You can use the same process to dictate speaker notes in a Slides presentation.
If you need help or you want a list of commands, click the question mark within the microphone icon. Help will pop up on the right where you can scroll or search to find voice commands such as punctuation, text formatting, editing, and even moving around your document.
Google Docs voice typing price : Free
Google Docs voice typing accuracy: Out of 209 words dictated, average accuracy for the three attempts was 95%. It capitalized some words in the middle of sentences (e.g., "Brands" and "Prospects") and misspelled the proper noun Litmus about half the time. It did, however, correctly hyphenate half the compound modifiers.
Recommendation : If you're a Google Docs power user and want dictation capability, voice typing is an excellent choice for its accuracy and many voice commands.
Google Docs voice typing supported languages: Voice typing works in these languages and a number of dialects: Afrikaans, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Bahasa Indonesia, Basque, Bengali (India), Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Farsi, Filipino, Finnish, French, Galician, Georgian, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Italian (Italy), Japanese, Javanese, Kannada, Khmer, Korean, Laotian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Malayalam, Malaysian, Marathi, Nepali, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Slovenian, Serbian, Sinhala, Spanish, Spanish, Sundanese, Swahili, Swedish, Tamil, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese, Zulu.
Google Docs integrates with Zapier , which means you can automatically do things like save form entries to Google Docs, create new documents whenever something happens in your other apps, or create project management tasks for each new document.
Best free dictation software for occasional use
SpeechTexter (Web on Chrome, Android)
SpeechTexter is supported only using the Chrome browser or with the Android mobile app. Many free dictation sites have an annoying number of ads, but this one keeps it to a manageable one or two. And they do have a privacy policy that states that, while they don't store any of your text, it is processed by Google's servers. Just keep that in mind.
To start, select your language. (For English speakers, there are an impressive 16 different dialects from countries such as Ghana, Hong Kong, and Pakistan and a total of 73 different languages.) Then in the top-left corner, click Start , and begin. As you're talking, your speech is captured in a pop-up window briefly and then quickly transcribed on the screen with little delay. As you talk, a word count displays in real-time at the bottom-right.
Voice commands are placed handily to the right of the main window. If you want to create your own command, click the pencil icon, then the plus sign and add a command. At first, I added a command for "em dash," and it didn't recognize this, so I changed it to just "dash," which did the trick. You can edit your speech like you would in any basic word processing program, then save it as a .txt or Word file. Enabling the auto-save feature prevents you from losing work if your browser or window is closed inadvertently. If that happens, just bring the site back up, and your previous dictation will appear on the screen.
SpeechTexter price: Free
SpeechTexter accuracy: In a 209-word passage, SpeechTexter averaged 95% accuracy for my three dictations, so about 11 mistakes each time. The most common mistakes were randomly capitalizing words in the middle of sentences, which is unsurprising, as it runs on the same speech engine as Google Docs (see its accuracy results above). Also, for some reason it had trouble creating new paragraphs during my tests. Then I went back later, and it was working.
Recommendation : If you use Chrome and occasionally need dictation, SpeechTexter is a good choice for its accuracy and ease of use.
SpeechTexter supported languages : SpeechTexter supports speech-to-text in 73 languages, plus dozens of dialects.
Enterprise dictation options
If your dictation requires additional capabilities not covered by the programs listed here, consider some of the platforms targeted to specific industries and larger use cases. Dragon , for example, has pricier platforms aimed at industries such as legal, law enforcement, and education, while Amazon Transcribe contains features (e.g., HIPAA compliance, HCP and patient conversations) for medical professionals. And Microsoft Azure offers speech-to-text whether you need live transcription or conversion from existing audio files.
Is voice dictation for you?
Dictation software isn't for everyone. It will likely take practice learning to "write" out loud because it will feel unnatural. But once you get comfortable with it, you'll be able to write from anywhere on any device without the need for a keyboard.
And by using any of the apps I listed here, you can feel confident that most of what you dictate will be accurately captured on the screen.
Related reading:
The best transcription services
Catch typos by making your computer read to you
Why everyone should try the accessibility features on their computer
This article was originally published in April 2016 and has also had contributions from Emily Esposito and Jill Duffy. The most recent update was in December 2022.
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Chris is a writer and business professional with 25 years of experience in a variety of roles. He likes books, bikes, brews, birds, and travel. He and his wife live in an old mining town north of Denver.
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8 Voice-to-Text Software That'll Help You Work Faster
Updated: June 11, 2021
Published: September 04, 2018
In marketing, efficiency is crucial for success. The faster you produce results, the longer you can focus on refining your overarching strategy and capturing more of your audience’s attention than your competitors can.
But the physical act of typing out personal notes, your own ideas, and other documents is much slower than your brain’s actual processing speed . The fact that you type slower than you can think means you’re probably wasting a good chunk of time on something that could be automated.
Fortunately, though, there’s technology that lets you type without your hands.
It’s called voice-to-text software, and it lets you use your voice to create documents faster than typing , expedite your workflow, and improve your efficiency. But before we delve into the best voice-to-text or dictation software for content creation and productivity, let’s go over what it exactly is.
What is voice-to-text software?
Voice-to-text software is speech recognition technology that turns spoken words into written words. It can also identify and understand human speech to carry out a person’s commands on a computer.
Now that you know what exactly voice-to-text or dictation software is, here are some of the best available today.
The 8 Best Dictation Software to Help You Work Faster
1. google docs voice typing.
As the most popular dictation software in its space, Dragon Professional Individual allows you to do the majority of your job without even touching a keyboard.
By leveraging its Deep Learning technology that adapts to your specific voice, jargon, and work environment, you can create and edit documents with 99% accuracy, quickly and accurately transcribe recordings into text, and use voice commands to control your computer's actions on programs and web browsers, like sending an email or creating a report.
Dragon also integrates with Microsoft Office, iWork, and other popular business applications, so you can do hands-free work without leaving your favorite programs.
Available On: Mac and Windows
Price: $300
3. Braina Pro
Braina Pro is more than speech recognition software -- it’s a personal virtual assistant powered by artificial intelligence. Other than its ability to dictate over 100 languages, Braina Pro can automate various computer tasks, set alarms and reminders, give you updates on current events, serve as dictionary and thesaurus, play songs and videos, read eBooks out loud, search files on folders on your computer, and more.
Braina Pro also supports most laptops’ built in microphones and has a mobile app, so you can work headset free and away from your computer.
Available On : Windows
Price: $239
4. Speechnotes
Built on Google’s speech-recognition engines, Speechnotes is a simple, clean, online dictation tool that helps users transcribe their speech into text with over 90% accuracy. And since you don’t have to download, install, or register for Speechnotes, it’s one of the most accessible dictation tools out there.
Speechnotes is incredibly user-friendly too -- it automatically capitalizes the beginning of your sentences, autosave your documents, and allows you to dictate and type at the same time. When you’re finished dictating on Speechnotes, you can email or print your documents, export them to Google Drive, or download them onto your computer.
Available On: Google Chrome
Price: Free
5. e-Speaking
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The Best Text to Speech (TTS) Software Programs and Online Tools
Lori Kaufman is a technology expert with 25 years of experience. She's been a senior technical writer, worked as a programmer, and has even run her own multi-location business. Read more...
Text to Speech (TTS) software allows you to have text read aloud to you. This is useful for struggling readers and for writers, when editing and revising their work. You can also convert eBooks to audiobooks so you can listen to them on long drives.
We’ve posted some websites here where you can find some good TTS software programs and online tools that are free or at least have free versions available.
NaturalReader
NaturalReader is a free TTS program that allows you to read aloud any text. The free version of the software converts Microsoft Word files, webpages, PDF files, and emails into spoken words. It includes Microsoft Voices and allows you to change voices and adjust the reading speed. Simply select any text and press one hotkey to have NaturalReader read the text to you. There are also paid versions that offer more features and more available voices.
Ultra Hal TTS Reader
Ultra Hal TTS Reader is a program that will read text out loud in one of its many high quality voices. The free version includes many high quality computerized voices and reads text files out loud, as well as instant messages, standard Windows dialogs, and text from the clipboard, which allows the program to read text from webpages and emails. You can also use Ultra HAL TTS Reader to convert a document into a WAV audio file, which can be burned to a CD or converted to an MP3 file.
ReadClip is a TTS reader that also offers a rich text editor that can read and spell check any text document, and allows you to manage several text and picture clips on the clipboard, and generate MP3 files. The TTS reader part of the software is free and will never expire. However, the other features are “try before you buy” features and you must buy the software to continue using them. You can keep the TTS reader hidden or it can display the text it’s reading in the clipboard and highlight each word as it’s read aloud. Besides monitoring the clipboard, you can also copy and paste text into the program, or type the text into the program, or load the text from a file.
Read4Me TTS Clipboard Reader
The Read4Me TTS Clipboard Reader allows you to read the contents of the clipboard aloud using a pre-installed SAPI5 TTS voice when you press a hotkey. Multiple hotkeys can be set for different languages, voices, speech rates, and volumes. Read4Me can also convert text files to MP3 files.
Kyrathasoft Text To Speech
Kyrathasoft Text To Speech is a portable program that allows you to use the default installed Microsoft Voice and SAPI to convert text files to the spoken word, that it saves into a WAV audio file. It is completely free and fully functional. There is no evaluation period and no crippled features.
FeyRecorder
FeyRecorder is a TTS conversion tool with natural voices that allows you to listen to any text document spoken aloud. You can also use the software to convert other sound sources into audio files, such as CDs, tapes, DVDs, online radio, and video games. The formats FeyRecorder can generate include MP3, WMA, OGG, VOX, AU, and AIFF. The audio files can be transferred to any portable device that handles them for on-the-go listening.
yRead3 allows you to load a plain text (TXT) file in a resizable window to be read out loud using human speech. Use yRead to listen to eBooks, your own writing, or any other piece of text.
yRead3 is an updated version of the software that runs on XP, Vista, and Windows 7, and requires at least .NET Framework 3.0 to run. You can also download yRead2 and run both versions on the same computer.
The free version of Panopreter Basic will read a text file, an RTF file, an MS Word document, or an HTML webpage to you aloud. You can also input text into the program window to be read aloud. It supports a variety of languages and voices and allows you to create WAV audio files and MP3 audio files from the text.
Text2Speech
Text2Speech is a free program that converts text into audible speech. You can play the text at a custom rate and volume, have the text be highlighted as it’s read, and export the text into a WAV file or an MP3 file. The program required .NET Framework 2.0 to run.
DeskBot is a free program that includes a clipboard reader, text reader, and time announcer for Windows. Select text in any application and press Ctrl + C to have it read aloud. For available commands and options, right-click on the DeskBot icon in the system tray. DeskBot will also read the contents of the clipboard when it changes.
DeskBot adds a “Read with DeskBot” item to the Internet Explorer context menu, when you right-click on a webpage.
PowerTalk is a free program that allows you to have your Microsoft PowerPoint presentations spoken out loud. When you open a PowerPoint presentation and let it run as usual, PowerTalk speaks the text on the slides as it appears, and also hidden text attached to images. The speech in PowerTalk is provided by synthesized computer voices that come with Windows 7, Vista, and XP.
ClipSpeak is a small, portable, TTS tool that speaks text copied or cut to the clipboard. It’s compatible with all SAPI5 speech synthesizers. You can also use ClipSpeak to convert text to MP3 files for listening to on CDs, computers, smartphones, and portable media players. If you want other languages, look at eSpeak , which is a compact, open source speech synthesizer for English and other languages that works in Windows and Linux.
DSpeech is a free, portable TTS program that can read written text files in different formats aloud (such as TXT, RTF, DOC, DOCX, and HTML files) and also has Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) functionality. The ASR allows you to use DSpeech to convert your own voice to text.
DSpeech allows you to save the output as a WAV, MP3, AAC, WMA, or OGG file. You can select different voices, or combine them to create dialogs among different voices for books or scripts, and DSpeech is compatible with all the vocal engines (SAPI4 and SAPI5 compliant). You can also have the content of the clipboard read to you.
Balabolka is a TTS program that allows you to read clipboard content and text from several types of files, such as DOC, EPUB, HTML, MOBI, LIT, CHM, PRC, PDF, and RTF files. The program uses various versions of the Microsoft Speech API (SAPI). This allows you to change a voice’s parameters, including rate and pitch.
To use the Microsoft SAPI4 voices, download and install the Microsoft Speech API file. You can also download the MS Speech Control Panel for the Windows Control Panel that allows you to easily list the compatible TTS engines installed on your system and customize their settings.
Balabolka also allows you to create digital audio files from text, including MP3, WMA, OGG, WAV, AAC, and AMR (Adaptive Multi-Rate) .
One interesting feature of Balabolka is that you can save subtitled text in the LRC format or in the metadata of the audio file. This allows you to follow along with the text as the audio plays.
ReadTheWords.com
ReadTheWords.com is an online TTS tool that can generate a clear sounding audio file from almost any written material. Simply copy text from your file into their text box, or upload a Microsoft Office document, PDF file, TXT file, or HTML document. You can also enter a web address, or RSS feed URL, and ReadTheWords.com will read the text from that webpage or RSS feed out loud.
ReadTheWords.com allows you to save what it’s reading. You can download it to your computer or portable music player or smartphone. You can even embed the file in your website.
Odiogo allows you to create TTS podcasts from RSS feeds that can be downloaded to a PC, iPods/MP3 players, and mobile phones. People wanting to listen to your content can subscribe to your podcasts through iTunes, iPodder, or other similar services. You can also promote your audio content on podcast directories.
If you run a blog, you can have your blog posts turned into high quality audio files. Odiogo is compatible with all blog engines that publish RSS feeds, such as WordPress, Typepad, and Blogger. They generate MP3 files that are stored on their servers, and they let you know when the audio version of your blog is ready.
You can also make money from embedded ads in the audio versions of your blog posts and RSS feeds.
NOTE: As of the writing of this article, Odiogo was upgrading their service and they were not accepting new signups .
TTSReader is a free, TTS program that allows you to read TXT files or RTF files aloud and save them to WAV or MP3 files. It highlights the text being currently read and allows you to skip sentences or paragraphs while reading. TTSReader supports rich text formatting and both SAPI4 and SAPI5 voices. It can automatically read what’s in the clipboard and you can convert multiple documents to audio at a time.
TTS Add-ons for Browsers
You can also read text using add-ons or extensions in web browsers.
- SpeakIt! – SpeakIt for Google Chrome reads selected text using TTS technology with language auto-detection. It can read text in more than 50 languages.
- FoxVox – FoxVox for Firefox allows you to turn your blogs and articles into podcasts. It speaks any text you highlight in a webpage, and it can create audiobooks from the text in MP3, OGG, and WAV formats.
- SpokenText – The SpokenText Firefox extension allows you to easily record any text on public webpages simply by clicking a Record Web Page button on the toolbar. This extension is also available for Chrome .
- SpeakingFox – The SpeakingFox add-on for Firefox for Mac OS X converts text to audible speech.
Simultaneous Stanza Reader – For Mac
Simultaneous Stanza Reader for Mac OS X is a free, TTS reader that reads text files aloud and displays the text stanza-after-stanza. You can easily use this program to read books from Project Gutenberg aloud.
If you’ve found any other useful TTS readers, let us know.
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Best Text-To-Speech Software 2023
By Mark . Updated: February 25, 2023 . Reading Time: 15 minutes .
19 best text-to-speech software to convert text to audio content
It’s vital to process information fast in the information age and make it useful whether the information is available in a text, audio, or video format. Text-to-speech technology (TTS), also known as voice processing, is a groundbreaking advancement meant to make information accessible to everyone. Even to those who can’t read and write.
In this article, we will review 19 best text-to-speech software programs (TTS software) that are suitable for both professional and educational use cases. We look at their core features, pros, and cons as well as what makes each one stand out.
Text-To-Speech Software – Overview
Many of us love to hear more than we like to read. However, creating speech content is usually expensive and requires a lot of time. Text-to-speech software can change all that.
Usage – For example, you don’t need expensive equipment to start a podcast. Just create a script, and let TTS software convert it to voice. You may want to adjust some finer points, though but it’s still a lot easier and faster. Using voice computing offers great benefits for eLearning and online businesses as it makes written content accessible through voice.
Accessibility – While some people experience reading and learning difficulties and others prefer audio as their preferred way of learning and accessing information, text-to-speech software can help make knowledge and data accessible for many more people worldwide.
Businesses – In the world of business, you need to leverage anything and everything to reach potential customers. If they’re too busy to read your ads, then let the ads speak to them. This is a use case that becomes quickly more relevant with advances in this area. Below, I now discuss the best text-to-speech software to give a curated overview.
Best Text-to-Speech Software 2023 – Top Picks
*Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. Read the full disclosure at the end of this post.
Note: Our list of the best text-to-speech software aims to provide a starting point to find the best program. However, it cannot cover all the text-to-voice software available online.
Murf ( visit website ) is an AI-based text-to-speech software to create studio-quality voice-over for videos, presentations, and text-based eLearning content. It also converts blog posts into a podcast. Murf offers up to 100 AI voices and accents in 15 languages.
What makes Murf one of the best text-to-speech software is the option to record your voice, upload it to Murf and convert it into a studio-quality AI voice-over for your content. Murf also converts voice-overs into editable text – similar to a word processor – and will trim the deleted parts automatically.
Murf Studio comes with an easy-to-use editor and also offers adjustable templates to get started quickly. Just type your script, upload text, images, or video, and select voices, styles, speed, pauses, emphasis, and royalty-free background music.
Users can choose between the Free, Basic, Pro, and Enterprise subscriptions. These differ in the number of users, amount of hours of voice generation, and the number of voices. Unlimited downloads, commercial usage, chat support are available for premium plans.
System: Web, Desktop, Mobile | Review: 4.9 ★★★★★ Pricing: Basic $13/month billed annually. Pro $26/month. Info: Visit website . Pricing: View plans .
2. Synthesys
Synthesys ( visit website ) is a popular text-to-speech software to produce professional audio and video content for marketing, business, and educational purposes. Synthesys Studio is a cloud-based software and offers two different versions.
With the AI text-to-speech software, you can convert text to voice in three clicks. Synthesys Audio gives users a choice between different voice-over artists each of which has a different voice quality. This is perfect if you need to customize intonations for different use cases such as audiobooks, podcasts, trailers, radio ads, commercials, or storytelling.
AI text-to-video software is another unique feature that allows users to convert text to a realistic video. Without a camera, microphone, or third-party software, you can choose a spokesperson (a face) that fits your business needs, choose a voice and tone, add your script, select background, and create the video.
Synthesys Human Studio offers tens of AI avatars to play the spokesperson in your AI-generated videos. You can create explainer videos, commercials, training videos, audio instructions, podcasts, online courses, or tutorials. This is one of the best text-to-speech software if you want to create marketing content without the need for an in-house team.
System: Web, Desktop, Mobile | Review: 4.7 ★★★★★ Plans: Audio $29/month. Human Studio $39/month. Both $59/month. Info: Visit website .
Play.ht is an AI-based online text-to-speech software to create MP3 files using over 260 realistic AI voices from Google, Amazon, IBM, and Microsoft. The generator provides speech synthesis and SSML controls. You can alter pitch, volume, rate, and add pauses to the text. Create an RSS feed for the converted audio file.
On top of that, Play.ht offers a listen button you can embed on blogs to increase accessibility and reach more audiences. It’s an excellent tool for bloggers and businesses. Choose a monthly or yearly subscription-based pricing plan to use it. In the annual plan, the first two months are free. Play.ht has been featured on Appsumo.
Systems: Web, Desktop, Extensions, WordPress | Rating: 4.6 ★★★★☆ Plans : Personal $171/year. Professional $351/year. Growth $891/year. Info: Visit website .
4. Speechify Text-to-Speech Software
If you dislike spending hours reading but also don’t want to miss out on all that amazing content out there, then Speechify could be the right text-to-speech software for you.
You can go through your content 2-3x faster than reading. Additionally, users can adjust their speed to listen to content at their own pace.
Speechify is quite a unique and versatile text-to-speech software. It is available via a web browser and Google Chrome extension but you can also access it on Apple or Android devices in over 30 voices or languages. On top of reading plain old text, enjoy listening to your emails, text messages, PDFs, social media content, or the content on any web page by snapping a picture on the app.
On top of features, Speechify also features excellent customer support that helps and guides customers along the way. Furthermore, Speechify is among the best text-to-speech software for people who suffer from neurological conditions like epilepsy and dyslexia.
System: Web, Mac, iOS, Android, Chrome Extension | Rating: 4.7 ★★★★★ Plans: $140 annual plan. Web software, mobile, and browser extensions. Info: Visit website .
Lovo ( visit website ) is text-to-speech software for audiobooks, voice-overs, eLearning platforms, and voice ads. Choose from a collection of 33 languages and 150+ voices. What we liked about Lovo is that the voices not only sound natural but also have an emotional touch.
A great feature of Lovo, a premium available in the best text-to-speech software only, is custom voices. It takes only 10 minutes for Lovo’s cloning technology to create a customized voice skin for the target voice. This way, voices will get a more personal touch and sound more like you.
There are four pricing plans available in Lovo along with an Enterprise plan. The free plan is good for personal use with unlimited text-to-voice conversions but downloads limitations. The other plans include free, starter, personal, freelancer, and enterprise.
System: Web, Desktop, Mobile | Review: 4.7 ★★★★★ Price : Personal $17.49/month. Freelancer $49.99/month. Info: Visit website . Pricing: See all plans .
6. Notevibes
Notevibes adds some great features to online text-to-speech software. It’s available in 18 languages and can convert your text to over 170 natural-sounding voices along with a free download. The free version is for testing purposes with a limit of 5000 characters. After which, there are two pricing plans available, personal and commercial.
Personal – This plan provides one license and is good for casual usage. Convert up to 1,200,000 characters per month from text to voice. The audio files can also be downloaded in MP3 format. For $7 a month, particularly freelancers and entrepreneurs get access to features the best text-to-speech programs usually offer at a higher price.
Commercial – The $70 per month subscription gives businesses 12,000,000 characters per month along with multiple advanced features. The team license can be used by more than one person is great for small organizations. The extra features include an advanced voice editor, Wav file download, SSML support, audio files history, and more.
System: Web, Desktop, Mobile | Review: 4.7 ★★★★★ Pricing: Personal $7/month. Commercial $70/month.
7. NaturalReader
NaturalReader by NaturalSoft Ltd is one of the best text-to-speech software for both personal and professional use. You can access a range of their text-to-speech program through a free edition if you want to have read text aloud. For professional uses, two paid versions provide access to premium voices and tools for advanced processing and customization.
The free version provides unlimited free voices but only 20 minutes of premium voices. Using this TTS software is quite simple. Just copy and paste the text or upload a document (Docx, PPT, PDF, ePub, etc.) and listen to it. If you want to convert text into a downloadable MP3 format, you can upgrade to Premium.
NaturalReader offers a monthly subscription for their pro versions. With that, you will get unlimited access to premium voices and conversion to MP3 files which you may embed into your website. The software can also read text from images using OCR technology.
NaturalReader has over a hundred natural-sounding voices in sixteen languages. It’s available as a Chrome extension, desktop software, and mobile apps (iOS, Android). Subscriptions start at $9.99/month for Premium and $19/month for Plus.
Systems: Web, Desktop, Mobile, Chrome Extension Pricing: Premium 9.99/month. $60/year. | Plus 19/month. $110/year. Rating: 4.6 ★★★★★
Reading tips: TTS software is part of a group of technologies that includes dictation software , typing software , voice to text apps , or the Dragon software suite. Click the links to browse our top lists if you are interested in these types of tools.
Wideo is a free online video creation platform with over 2.5 million registered users. It’s an excellent tool to create videos with voice-overs and also offers a text-to-speech software program.
The tool offers options to integrate Google’s Text-to-Speech API to easily convert text to speech and download the result as an MP3 file. You can select a voice from the given options and preview it to make an informed choice.
To use the Wideo text-to-speech software, simply type a message into the text box or upload a text file from your computer. After that, choose the voice you like and your voice note is ready! Wideo offers three pricing plans along with a free option.
System: All platforms Pricing: $19 Basic, $39 Pro, $79 Pro+. Free version available. Rating: 4.6 ★★★★☆
9. WellSaid
WellSaid voice narration by WellSaidLabs is a great voiceover text-to-speech software to create interactive content. It offers a library of fifteen voiceover talents. You can customize the voices, create your own unique tone, and connect the WellSaidLabs API to your in-house services.
The range of languages and voices in WellSaid is pretty narrow. They offer only 15 different male and female voices in American English at the moment. However, the AI voices are among the best and most natural-sounding ones in the industry.
In the free one-week trial version, in which you can access up to four AI voices, create one project, and 50 audio files. The paid packages include Maker, creative, producer, and team with various features. WellSaidLabs offers a 10 percent discount on all annual plans.
Platform: Web, Desktop | Price: Maker $49/month. Creative $99/month. Rating: 4.7 ★★★★★
10. Descript
Descript is not just a text-to-speech software converter. It’s a collaborative audio/video editor that offers features like editing, recording, transcription, and sharing. The various features in Descript set it apart from other relevant programs.
Descript is affordable and a good choice for small businesses and podcasters. It also offers a free option with limited screen recording and editing features. The paid plans include Creator, Pro, and Enterprise. Users can choose between monthly and annual subscriptions but an annual plan saves about 20 percent.
System: Web, Desktop, Browser | Pricing: Creator $15/month. Pro $30/month. Rating: 4.7 ★★★★★
11. Kukarella
Kukarella processes both voice-to-text and text-to-speech, with transcribing audio and converting text-to-voice being the main services. It offers 390 realistic voices in 60 languages. You can experiment with different effects and accents to customize a voice.
Kukarella offers monthly subscriptions but also has a free plan with usage limitations. Monthly plans start from $4.99 for text-to-voice and voice-to-text conversions. You may also prepay for their services. Kukarella charges $4.99 for every 100,000 characters in text-to-voice and $4.99 for 60 minutes of voice transcriptions. Credits never expire.
In the free plan, you can use the text-to-voice feature for up to 2,000 characters per month and audio to text feature for about 5 minutes of audio per month. No credit card is required to sign-up for the free plan of this popular online text-to-speech software.
System: Web, Desktop, Mobile | Subscription : Free plan. Pro $4.99/month. Rating: 4.6 ★★★★☆
12. iSpeech
iSpeech is a free online text-to-speech software. The website UI is quite simple, just go to the home page, paste the text you want to convert into a field, convert and download it in various formats. To download the audio files, you will need to register an account.
The text-to-speech program supports over 30 languages. Users can choose the language from the dropdown and select from three different speeds, slow, regular, and fast.
The specialized speech solutions are for developers, eLearning, IVR (Interactive Voice Response), publishers, voice cloning, and web reader. Those services are not free, but rather expensive. However, they offer benefits for professional use cases.
System: Web, Desktop | Pricing: Free plans. Premium available. Rating: 4.5 ★★★★☆ | Information: Visit Website .
13. Google Text To Speech
The Google Text to Speech API is a reliable tool for both Playstore and Google Cloud. You need to sign up for a Google Cloud account to access this service. This step may take some time for the first-time user, but it’s an all-in-one solution for regular users.
With Google Text to Speech, you can select from over 220 voices across 40+ languages. It’s powered by Google’s AI technologies and is improving by the hour. Custom voice is also a tool to watch out for. With this feature, you can train a custom speech synthesis model with your voice recordings for smoother and more natural voices.
The Google Cloud platform is not exactly free. However, it offers a free cloud program with a credit of $300 for 90 days. This gives new users enough time and credit to explore the platform and get used to the services. After 90 days, you could still use a free tier with usage limits (Google TTS software: 60 minutes per month).
System: All platforms | Pricing: Free + Premium Cloud plan. Reviews: 4.5 ★★★★☆ | Information: Google Cloud
14. Spik.AI
Spik.ai is free online text-to-speech software produced by Oveit. It uses a mix of machine learning algorithms to generate realistic audio from text.
The program is free and easy to use with usage limitations. As a non-registered user, you can convert up to 300 characters to voice files. For registered members, this limit extends to 1000 characters.
To add a human touch to the robotic voice, you can use markups in your text. Voice transcriptions are not yet available in Spik.ai, but it’s the next big feature.
System: Browser | Availability: Free Rating: 4.5 ★★★★☆ | Info: Visit Website .
15. ReadSpeaker
ReadSpeaker is a text-to-speech program for professional users. It offers a variety of solutions such as text-to-speech online, webReader, docReader, formReader, speechCloud API, and TextAid. It’s a complete speech solution for your online business.
The online text-to-speech software solution is quite popular. It adds speech functionality to your apps and websites in order to make content available to a larger type of audience.
To see a demo of how it works, go to their website, double-click to select a block of content, and choose ‘listen’ from the options menu. The website will automatically start reading the block of content in a very clear and precise voice.
ReadSpeaker offers a variety of pricing models, and also offers bulk discounts. However, the pricing plans are not available on their official website. You need to contact the ReadSpeaker team for pricing information.
System: All platforms | Pricing: Various Plans. Contact support. Rating: 4.5 ★★★★☆
16. Amazon Polly
Amazon is another popular name in Speech technologies. With smart assistants like Alexa, it rivals Google’s smart assistant. Amazon Polly is a service that turns text into natural life-like speech. It helps you create applications that speak to the user and build an exciting new category of speech-enabled services.
Amazon Polly uses advanced deep learning technologies to synthesize speech close to the human voice. With a broad range of languages, Polly offers two kinds of voices, Standard TTS and Neural TTS.
Standard TTS can be used to build speech-enabled applications that work in many countries. On the other hand, Neural TTS uses machine learning to improve speech quality. Like the Google Text-to-Speech software service, Amazon Polly also offers a free tier (with limited usage) and a pay-as-you-go pricing model.
Platform: All systems | Pricing: Free plan. Pay as you go plans. Review: 4.5 ★★★★☆
17. Resemble AI
Resemble AI is a professional-grade text-to-voice software. It uses AI to clone and build realistic voices within minutes. With Resemble, you can create a custom voice for your games or a smart assistant in various languages. The voices sound just like you with only 5 minutes of data. It’s a great tool for game developers, entrepreneurs, and podcasters.
The best feature is the Speech Gradient. It allows the users to control the emotion of every word in a sentence. Each sample can be customized separately to find one that works best for you. For developers, Resemble offers powerful APIs to improve the workflow. It’s easier to create new voices on the go.
Resemble is not a free tool but you can start for free and clone up to 2,000 characters. Afterward, choose from the three pricing plans Entry, Build, or Enterprise. It’s a pay-as-you-go scheme. Contact their support team for large-scale custom deployment needs.
Platform: All systems | Price: Entry $30/month. Build + Enterprise Plans Rating: 4.7 ★★★★★
18. Balabolka
For personal use, Balabolka is still a great free text-to-speech software option. It’s a lightweight application (19.6 MBs) that is installed on your computer system.
To use the text-to-speech functionality, you can type text, read the clipboard content, and upload various file formats. You can also adjust the voice parameters such as pitch and rate. The audio file is then saved into the computer as MP3 tags and external LRC files.
When you later play the audio file, the synchronous text is displayed on-screen like lyrics. Balabolka uses the Microsoft Speech API as well as built-in operating system utilities like the spell checker.
For: Desktop | Availability: Free. Rating: 4.4 ★★★☆☆ | Info: Visit Website .
19. TextAloud 4
TextAloud is a desktop text-to-speech software by Nextup. Convert text from websites, documents, and emails into audio available in various languages and accents. Notable features include tools to increase productivity and for proofreading or transcription.
This text-to-speech program is easy to use, and you can integrate it with other software like MS Word. TextAloud can be used as standalone TTS software to import documents and listen to audio and a browser plugin or be started from the MS Word toolbar.
TextAloud offers a free trial and a different pricing structure similar to most other best text-to-speech software. You can purchase the single-user license for $34.95 with a 30-day warranty. However, you will need to buy the latest version upgrade for $19.95. Plans for multiple users are available too.
For: Web, Desktop | Subscription: Single $34.95. Upgrades $19.95. Rating: 4.4 ★★★☆☆
20. CereWave AI
CereWave AI is one of the best text-to-speech software for businesses and developers. It uses machine learning techniques to generate natural voices. The deep learning model creates the waveforms from scratch using a neural network that is trained with a lot of data.
What’s different about CereWave AI is that not only are the voices very realistic, but the system also enables complete editing. Convert the speech to another language, accent, gender, or age. You can download various versions of voices in different accents. Pricing for voices starts from $25.99 for personal use and 299.99 for commercial use.
System: Web, Desktop, Mobile | Pricing: Various Plans. Contact support. Rating: 4.5 ★★★★☆
How to Choose The Best Text-to-Speech Software?
Choosing the right and best text-to-speech software depends on your specific needs. One software cannot be perfect for everyone. Apart from pricing, the sound of the voices, limitations in data usage or download options are the features that will matter the most.
Bloggers, podcasters – The technology is evolving quickly, so expect significant progress in the next years. Hence, if you’re a podcaster, then AI voice computing tools like Murf, Descript, Lovo, Spik.ai, and Resemble.ai are an excellent pick.
For small to large businesses and eLearning projects, NaturalReader, Murf or Notevibes, are great options to implement the benefits text-to-speech software has to offer. Furthermore, businesses can further reduce access barriers with this technology.
As for personal use , free services such as Balabolka and Spik.ai are the way to go. However, if you use such tools only occasionally then the free plans of some of the premium text-to-speech programs might offer great value for you too.
Tip: Here is our round-up of text-to-speech apps which focus on mobile use and have different, more personal rather than professional use cases.
Best Text-to-Speech Software 2023 – Verdict
What is the best text-to-speech software? Text-to-voice technology is changing the world in ways that were unseen before. Computers can recite not only a piece of text but also mimic humans. To an extent, that even we can’t guess if it’s a machine talking.
Voice computing technology still has a long way to go. However, with deepfakes advancing at an exponential rate, we’re all excited to see what’s next!
If you’re thinking of how to get started, then a good place to begin is shortlisting and reviewing the best text-to-speech software suitable for your goals and needs. Weight the pros, cons, usage limitations, features, and pricing to find one that best fits your needs.
What Is The Best Text-to-Speech Software 2023?
- Murf | ★★★★★
- Synthesys | ★★★★★
- Speechify | ★★★★★
- Notevibes | ★★★★★
- Lovo | ★★★★☆
- Play.ht | ★★★★☆
- NaturalReader | ★★★★★
- Wideo | ★★★★☆
- iSpeech | ★★★★☆
- Kukarella | ★★★★☆
- WellSaidLabs | ★★★★★
- Spik.AI | ★★★★☆
- Descript | ★★★★★
- ReadSpeaker | ★★★★☆
- Resemble AI | ★★★★★
- Google Text To Speech | ★★★★☆
- Amazon Polly | ★★★★☆
- Balabolka | ★★★★☆
- TextAloud 4 | ★★★★☆
- CereWave AI | ★★★★☆
Thanks for reading this review. What is the best text-to-speech software 2023? Let us know how you work with this technology and which TTS software you use on a day-to-day basis.
Additional best text-to-speech software programs and conversion tools
- Nuance Voice
- Replica Studios
- Sonantic text-to-speech software
- Deepzen TTS
- Oddcast TTS
- Trinity Audio
Sources: What is AI? – Wikipedia | What are deepfakes? – Wikipedia | What is machine learning? – Definition | What is SSML Controls? – Definition | What is voice cloning? Definition
My name is Mark and I am a freelance web designer, journalist and content marketing expert with a passion for learning, traveling, photography, sports and nutrition.
courselounge is a blog and curated course directory to encourage people to teach themselves new skills online.
Punjabi Voice Typing (Speech To Text)
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Online Punjabi Voice Typing (Speech to Text)
This is the best and easy to use free online Punjabi voice typing (Punjabi Web Speech) software. In Punjabi Speech to text recognition system spoken voice of the user is recognized and then translated into Punjabi text. That is why it is also known as Punjabi Voice Typing.
Convert Punjabi Speech into Text (Voice Typing)
Here you have to use desktop Chrome browser with proper internet connection and connect your microphone with the computer. Microphone should be of good quality and placed near to your mouth.
Then just click on the microphone button available above the text box and speak slowly and clearly. You will see whatever you are speaking is automatically get recognized by the software and written in the text box.
Software converts your voice in digital codes which will be matched with the pre-set characters, words and sentences within the system in nano seconds. Hence you get the almost exactly same text output which you had spoken.
That’s why this speech to text is also called voice typing and as well as dictation typing.
This kind of speech recognition software is immensely important to anyone who needs to create a lot of written content without a lot of manual typing. It is also helpful for people with disabilities that make it difficult for them to use a keyboard.
From the technology viewpoint, speech to text recognition has a long history with several major innovations. The field has gained from AI in Big Data & Deep Learning.
You can perform copy, print, delete, download as MS word file or send it to another person via Gmail according to your requirement.
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The best text-to-speech software of 2023 in full (Image credit: NaturalReader) 1. NaturalReader Best text-to-speech software for home and work Today's Best Deals VISIT SITE Reasons to buy +...
Text-to-speech (TTS) software is capable of processing and reading content - AI may be deployed, but the programs don't typically understand the context. They understand how to say those words...
Text to speech with AI Powered natural sounding voices. Supports PDF, office documents, ebooks, webpages, Convert text to audio files.
A More Powerful Speech-to-Text App Dragon $200.00 at Nuance See It Dragon by Nuance is one of the most sophisticated speech-to-text tool you'll find. Dragon also lets you operate your computer...
Free Text to Speech Software (TTS) An easy way to convert text to voice that's fast and straightforward - it'll make your message more catchy and inclusive. Listen to any text, book, email, or PDF you need to read to save hours of time & understand more with Speechify! Try Now Why do you need narration in your videos?
Neural Text to Speech supports several speaking styles including newscast, customer service, shouting, whispering, and emotions like cheerful and sad. Try Text to Speech with this demo app, built on our JavaScript SDK Text SSML Note: Your data will not be stored. Learn how to build this
Text to Speech 117,800+ 4M+ users Speechify is the leading text to speech app in all app stores. With about about 20M+ downloads and 150K+ reviews, it is one of the fastest growing apps in its category. Our text to online text to speech converter produces the most natural sounding voices. You can 5x your reading speed.
TTSReader is a free Text to Speech Reader that supports all modern browsers, including Chrome, Firefox and Safari. Includes multiple languages and accents. If on Chrome - you will get access to Google's voices as well. Super easy to use - no download, no login required. Here are some more features Fun, Online, Free. Listen to great content
List of Top Text to Speech Software Comparison of Best Text to Speech Solutions #1) Murf #2) Speechify #3) Speechelo #4) Synthesys #5) Panopreter #6) Nuance Dragon #7) Notevibes #8) Natural Reader #9) Linguatec Voice Reader #10) Capti Voice #11) Voicedream #12) Wideo #13) From Text to Speech #14) Nextup #15) Azure Text To Speech
To get started with speech to text, open a document in Google Docs, and select "Voice typing..." from the "Tools" menu. After allowing the browser to access your computer's microphone, click the microphone box to start speaking, and Voice Typing will convert your words to text in real-time.
The best speech-to-text software is Dragon Naturally Speaking (DNS) but it comes at a price. But how does it compare to the best of the free programs, like Google Docs Voice Typing (GDVT) and Windows Speech Recognition (WSR)? This article compares Dragon against Google Docs Voice Typing and Windows Speech Recognition for three typical uses:
With voice typing, you can enter text on your PC by speaking. Voice typing uses online speech recognition, which is powered by Azure Speech services. How to start voice typing Install a voice typing language Switch voice typing languages Supported languages Voice typing commands Punctuation commands
Type To Speech Software Just press Ctrl+D to instantly start typing with your voice anywhere on your Windows Desktop or Laptop. Dictate, emails, documents, web searches... anything! Powered by Google's 99.5% accurate Chrome speech to text service and the AutoHotkey language.
Otter is a cloud-based speech to text program especially aimed for mobile use, such as on a laptop or smartphone. The app provides real-time transcription, allowing you to search, edit, play, and...
It's a quick and easy way to get your thoughts out, create drafts or outlines, and capture notes. Windows macOS. Open a new or existing document and go to Home > Dictate while signed into Microsoft 365 on a mic-enabled device. Wait for the Dictate button to turn on and start listening. Start speaking to see text appear on the screen.
Balabolka. $0.00 at Cross+A. See It. Balabolka is a free downloadable app for Windows (I tested on Windows 11; it works in Windows XP or later) with all kinds of options. You can paste text into ...
To start, first, check that online speech recognition is on by going to Settings > Privacy > Speech. To begin dictating, in either OS, open an app, and on your keyboard, press the Windows logo key + H. A microphone icon and gray box will appear at the top of your screen. Make sure your cursor is in the space where you want to dictate.
5. e-Speaking. Using Microsoft's Speech Application Program Interface and .Net Framework, e-Speaking lets you use your voice to control your computer's actions, dictate documents and emails, and make your computer read text out loud. The software has over 100 built-in commands, like "open internet" or "open excel".
NaturalReader is a free TTS program that allows you to read aloud any text. The free version of the software converts Microsoft Word files, webpages, PDF files, and emails into spoken words. It includes Microsoft Voices and allows you to change voices and adjust the reading speed.
To use the Wideo text-to-speech software, simply type a message into the text box or upload a text file from your computer. After that, choose the voice you like and your voice note is ready! Wideo offers three pricing plans along with a free option. System: All platforms Pricing: $19 Basic, $39 Pro, $79 Pro+. Free version available.
Online Punjabi Voice Typing (Speech to Text) This is the best and easy to use free online Punjabi voice typing (Punjabi Web Speech) software. In Punjabi Speech to text recognition system spoken voice of the user is recognized and then translated into Punjabi text. That is why it is also known as Punjabi Voice Typing.