text to speech software for students

The 7 Best Free Text-to-Speech Tools for Educators

Students and teachers can both benefit from text-to-speech programs. Here are some of the best to consider.

Text-to-speech tools can be beneficial to students of all ages. Hearing your text out loud can help you catch mistakes you may have made and spot phrases that don't fit the writing as well as you thought.

Often, when writing a paper, you might reach a point when reading it doesn't make a big difference. That's where a text-to-speech tool can help. Below you will find the best free text-to-speech tools to help you write a paper or grade one.

1. Announcify

Announcify is an easy-to-use and free text-to-speech tool. It is a Chrome extension from Google that lets you listen to websites aloud. The Announcify app is readily available in the Chrome Web Store.

Once you install the application, you have to click the Announcify button to hear the website's text. The program has an easy-to-use interface.

It works well for students cramming for a test. Reading the information on the screen gets tricky after a while. Annoucify will read aloud the site you're on and simplify your study process.

2. Free Natural Reader

As the name suggests, Free Natural Reader is a free text-to-speech reader. You can use it to convert any written text into spoken words. These include Microsoft Word and PDF files, as well as web pages and even emails.

You can see how helpful the tool can be for students, but it doesn't end there. Free Natural Reader is easy to use and designed for the user. What's more, it's even got a dyslexia font for extra convenience.

Teachers who are tired of reviewing their students' papers can find this useful, too. Instead of reading out their manuscripts before marking, they can listen aloud and give their eyes at least a little rest.

3. Balabolka

With Balabolka text-to-speech software, you can convert text to speech using Microsoft's patented Speech Application Programming Interface (SAPI).

Known as one of the best text-to-speech tools out there, Balabolka works to improve the quality and clarity of speech. The platform can convert text to speech and check the text for grammar and spelling errors.

Balabolka also lets you alter the voice, pitch, and volume for specific texts, a feature unavailable in most software. Currently, it supports English and German, but is working on adding more. Users can also customize the font and the background.

Teachers can use Balabolka in reading exercises to practice pronouncing some words within texts. The application can also be helpful for teachers dealing with students with learning disorders.

4. SpeakIt!

SpeakIt is a text-to-speech tool available for Chrome. It allows you to select the text you want to read and then listen to it. SpeakIt can read texts in more than 50 languages.

You only have to select what you want to hear and click on the icon to begin listening. If you need a break, you can always pause it.

SpeakIt is available on Windows (using SAPI 5), macOS, and Chrome OS, allowing you to use it regardless of platform.

Since SpeakIt supports a variety of languages, it’s excellent for students learning a new language. Students can select a new text and listen to its correct pronunciation. You can use it to articulate different words and correct your accents.

Related: The Best (Free) Speech-to-Text Software for Windows

5. Speakabo

The Speakabo tool enables you to convert text-to-speech and download it in MP3 format . It’s not the only tool that allows you to do this, but that doesn't make it any less convenient.

The text-to-speech service offers the largest collection of realistic-sounding voices, in over 100 variations and 20+ languages. An ever-growing library powered by AI.

Moreover, you can use SSML tags to the audio, which will help you create audio for your videos or educational materials.

Students can use this service the next time they have a group project and need to make a presentation. You can record questions or dialogue in advance and play it while you're making video essays, as well.

6. PowerTalk

PowerTalk is a great tool to help you with presentations. It's a free program that automatically reads out your presentation aloud or the slideshow you're playing in Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows.

Install it, then open up the application, and run your presentation as usual. PowerTalk will begin to narrate your presentation right away.

To set up PowerTalk, you need PowerPoint 2000 or later. It can speak not only the visible text, but also 'alternative text' for images, graphics, and shapes. That makes a great presentation tool.

7. Select and Speak

As the name suggests, Select and Speak helps you pick out the text you want to hear and speaks it aloud. The text you choose can come from any website online.

Select and Speak uses iSpeech's human-sounding text-to-speech to read your selections. It utilizes several iSpeech voices in various languages. It continues to add new ones to its dictionary—the most recent being Greek and Arabic, among others.

Additionally, you can request additional languages through the customer service section, thus increasing the number of available languages.

To use the service, you have to enter and select the text, click the icon to start listening, and if you want to stop, press stop. It's simple and easy to use, and you can manage the voice and speed via the settings.

Much like with SpeakIt, Select and Speak is excellent for students trying to learn a new language. Also, it's handy for teachers trying to show different accents speaking the same text.

Related: The Best Android Dictation Apps for Easy Speech-to-Text

How Students and Teachers Benefit From Text-to-Speech Programs

A text-to-speech application is a useful addition to the educational sector. There are countless benefits and no disadvantages, at least none that are relevant.

As a result of programs like these, educators have an easier time communicating with students with dyslexia. Besides, students are better able to complete assignments and handle their homework.

Using these tools has become an increasingly popular practice for writers of all kinds. It would be best if you never made mistakes while writing something that gets closely examined and graded.

Furthermore, text-to-speech software is not limited to your PC, laptop, or tablet. Various applications for your phone can also provide the same benefits.

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10 Helpful Text-to-Speech Readers for Back to School

As school approaches, parents and students alike should be aware of the resources available to them as they prepare to tackle a new grade, new year, and new learning challenges. Text-to-speech software is often a vital resource for students with dyslexia—to aid reading, promote comprehension, and enhance overall literacy skills. Here are 10 helpful text-to-speech software and applications that are great assistive technology tools to have at the start of the school year.

For reading on your desktop computer or laptop

NaturalReader , self-proclaimed as the most powerful text-to-speech reader, can turn PDFs, web pages, e-books, and even printed material into spoken word. Available for both Mac and PCs, this software can convert and save any text-filled document into an audio file. Audio features such as speed and voice are adjustable, and once an audio file is saved it can be transferred to other devices, such as a cell phone, so the user has the file wherever he or she goes.

TalkButton , available for Macs and Microsoft Word, is text-to-speech software that can be controlled through a toolbar at the top of the computer screen. Text that is read out loud can be adjusted to slow down, speed up, paused, or replayed back a few seconds with the help of the accessibility toolbar. Audio files created from the text-to-speech software can be saved and downloaded to iTunes.

Browsealoud is a web page navigation software available for most versions of Windows that is designed to help those with dyslexia and second-language learners browse the internet. The software strips the web page down to its essential text so the user can focus on the text alone. Its text-to-speech feature also comes with a magnifying glass icon that follows the text as it is read aloud.

ReadSpeaker is a screen reader software for Mac or PC that allows documents, web pages, and e-books to be read aloud. The resource is entirely web-based, so users can access it from any internet-connected computer with their log-in information. Saved documents and images can be made accessible on any device, though. ReadSpeaker comes in a variety of packages to accommodate for individual, business, classroom, and student needs.

For reading on your tablet or phone

Voice Dream Reader is a text-to-speech assistive application for both Apple and Android devices that converts PDFs, web pages, Microsoft Word, and other document formats into spoken word, while also offering additional features such as bookmarking, note-taking, and a built-in dictionary.

CapturaTalk offers text-to-speech assistance alongside many other reading and writing resources, making it a useful resource for tasks that require both reading, writing, and research. The app’s web browser removes ads and rearranges a site’s formatting to present the user with a decluttered and simple text page. The application also has a dyslexia friendly font that can be turned on or off. You can find this app at the AppStore and Google Play store.

Read & Write , created by the same company as Browsealoud, is available for tablet and Chrome browsers. This application has both text-to-speech and “Speak As I Type” abilities. Its alternative keyboard and features help users read and write common tablet tasks such as emailing, typing, and reading.

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10 Helpful Text To Speech Readers For Students and Educators

The education landscape has changed for good in recent years. The advent of text to speech (TTS) powered by artificial intelligence has had a notable impact on education by providing innovative and inclusive ways for students and educators to consume and create efficient learning materials.

In essence, text to speech tools can convert written text, articles, Microsoft Word docs, and even PDF files into spoken words. These tools are a game-changer, especially for students with blindness, dyslexia, and visual impairments. By reading the written content out loud, text to speech tools help a user understand their lessons better.

Today, the requirements of accessible education have moved beyond the limited task of simple text transcription. Perhaps, the biggest breakthrough is the newer abilities of text to speech platforms to highlight words being read, create audio-based notes, proofing, and more. TTS tools are also capable of creating audio descriptions of visual materials and support configurable reading speeds, which further helps with reading comprehension and fluency. 

TTS software not only assist students but also enables educators to produce more engaging and accessible eLearning and smart learning courses. They allow teachers to convert online text into an audio file that can subsequently be added to explainer videos, online courses, and other digital learning resources. Compared to hiring a voice actor to record the voiceovers manually, text to speech is a fantastic alternative because it saves time and money while creating the perfect voiceover learning courses.

Table of Contents

Benefits of text to speech readers for students , benefits of text to speech readers for educators, wellsaid labs, natural reader, google text to speech, amazon polly, ibm watson text to speech, voices, languages, and downloadable formats, add music and background sounds, add pause, pitch, speed, and emphasis, create a unique custom voice, voice over video , voice changer , voice cloning , what is the best text to speech software for students, what is the best text to speech software for educators, how can students benefit from text to speech tools.

Giving students access to text to speech technology offers numerous benefits. Students can: 

Listen to reading materials at their own pace and improve understanding as well as passive learning.

Make audio recordings of lectures instead of physically writing them down. 

Improve their pronunciation and articulation by listening to words and sentences, especially those with learning impairments like Autism and Dyslexia. These individuals usually have trouble comprehending and using language.

Enhance their reading comprehension by having a speech converter speak to them, which enables them to understand the topic in articles and other online content better.

Develop better word recognition and reading fluency.

Alleviate eye strain and fatigue caused by prolonged hours of reading.

Customize the voiceovers using different accents or tones for easier comprehension. 

Increase engagement by accessing personalized content in multiple accents and voices.

The days of choosing between recording studios, voice actors, or mechanical voices are long gone. Educators can now use text to speech tools to bring new dynamics in imparting knowledge to students. They can use text to speech tools to:

Create audio versions of teaching resources, including textbooks, articles, and quizzes, to make them more accessible to students.

Eliminate language barriers by offering content in multiple languages.

Develop immersive learning opportunities for students by integrating with other educational technologies like virtual and augmented reality.

Create interactive multimedia presentations, such as podcasts and movies, to assist students in getting more invested in learning. 

Top 10 Text to Speech Readers 

Murf AI is an easy-to-use text to speech software that makes creating voiceovers a piece of cake. With Murf AI, students can quickly and easily produce studio-quality voiceovers for their presentation projects. The software offers over 120 male and female AI voices to choose from to create human-like voicovers across 20 languages and multiple accents. With Murf Studio, students can also create flawlessly synced voice over videos with images, videos, and background music from scratch. 

On the other hand, educators can benefit immensely from Murf AI by making professional audiobook versions of the teaching resources such as textbooks, worksheets, quizzes, and reading materials. They can also add a little bit of a fun element to their voiceovers by adjusting the pitch, pause, emphasis, and speed, as well as switching between male and female voices to make the elearning module more engaging.

Speechify is an intuitive text to speech tool that reads any textual content out loud for you. It's perfect for students who have trouble reading. The tool has a unique feature that enables it to convert text to audio using optical character recognition. This means students or educators can simply take a picture of their Google Docs or any other printed material, and the software will speak the words out loud for them. 

Speechify text to speech offers over 30 voices in 15 languages, allowing for customization of accent and tempo, and can be used by educators to provide audio study materials in multiple languages. Additionally, the software underlines the words as they are spoken, making it simple for students to follow along. This helps enhance their literacy skill and absorb complex information more easily.

WellSaid Labs is a SaaS text to speech tool that uses deep learning to produce voiceovers. WellSaid offers an intuitive user interface and high-quality TTS API endpoints for both personal and professional use. The ability to create and personalize voice avatars enhances the overall online experience of both students and educators. How?

WellSaid Labs provides unique features that can tremendously help educators enhance their students' learning experience. One such feature is the team collaboration, which enables a group of students to work on a voiceover project together and share ideas, feedback, and suggestions. Moreover, students can bring in versatility to their learning process, thanks to features like voice sorting, audio-by-sentence rendering, and the use of quotation marks to underline particular words. 

Natural Reader is a text to speech software that can read your text aloud. A notable aspect of Natural Reader that benefits students is that it can read PDF files, docs, as well as other files of any format out loud. The software can convert text, PDF, and 20+ formats into spoken audio, enabling students to listen to their documents, ebooks, and educational materials anytime, anywhere. Natural Reader is also available as a floating widget, which makes it easier for users to read text from any web pages without integrating a third-party tool.

When it comes to educators, Natural Reader helps them in a number of ways. One of the unique features that benefits educators and administrators is that they can create a library of documents that the entire class can access. It is perfect for assignments.

TTS Reader is a free text to speech tool that can be used on all modern browsers. This intuitive tool can be used by both educators and students. Simply copy and paste the text into the tool or enter the URL of a web page, and the tool will handle the rest. TTS Reader is ideal for anyone looking for an accessible and convenient way to access information without the hassle of downloading files or navigating through apps. 

Students can benefit from using Lovo AI, a text to speech tool that enables the creation of natural-sounding voiceovers with over 30 different emotions. Because of its ease of use and customization in terms of adding pauses and altering speed, voiceovers sound professional. Lovo gives learners a wide range of choices to pick from, guaranteeing that they can discover the ideal voice for their voiceover needs with more than 200 distinct "voices" available in 33 languages. This saves costs by eliminating the need to spend on buying expensive recording equipment or hiring voice actors. 

Google Text to Speech offers over 220 voices in 40+ languages and variants, enabling teachers to create study materials in a wide range of languages. With Google TTS , students can consume content on the go, moving content away from the computer screen and into whichever environment is most convenient for them. That said, the tool allows users to tweak elements like pitch, tone, and even change the voices. This is game-changer that improves everyone's listening experience.

Amazon Polly is a text to speech system that uses advanced deep-learning techniques to turn text into lifelike speech. Amazon Polly is a cost-effective speech reader option for voice generation, especially for students with limited resources, as users only pay for the text they translate. Both teachers and students can cache and reuse speech without paying extra fees, as well as save audio streams in several file formats, including mp3, Vorbis, and PCM.

IBM Watson Text to Speech is a cloud-based API service that allows students to turn written text into realistic audio in different languages and voices. This can be done within existing applications or through Watson Assistant. For educators, this tool helps add a voice to any educational content, enhancing the teaching experience and student engagement. With male and female voices in 13 languages, the AI technology used by IBM Watson Text to Speech creates natural-sounding speech. Educators can leverage this feature to create instructional chatbots, audiobooks for visually impaired students, and more.

The Read Aloud chrome extension enables students to transform written digital content into audio format, which makes it easier to retain what they are studying. The tool is compatible with a number of text file formats, including PDF, EPUB, Amazon Kindle, and Google applications such as Docs, Sheets, Classroom, and Maps. Supporting over 36 different languages, Read Aloud helps students select from a range of synthetic voices, alter the reading speed, and manage volume and reading pace. A student can also add a widget for on-demand reading to any web page and type in any text to have Read Aloud read it to them. 

Why Choose Murf Over Other Text to Speech Software?

While there are numerous text to speech tools that help educators and students improve their productivity, Murf has a clear edge because of the wide variety and realism of voices, customization features, ability to add media and background music, voice cloning, voice changer, voiceover editing, and more. Unlike traditional text to speech readers, Murf does more than just read the screen and digital text aloud from various sources.

Whether it is giving a voice to their study materials or adding voiceovers to YouTube educational videos, Murf AI allows educators to create voiceovers that are perfectly tailored to their audiences. The platform already has a wide selection of AI voices that span different languages and dialects. These voices can be downloaded in various formats, including mp3. WAV, FLAC, and more, making it simple for educators to incorporate them into numerous projects.

Murf allows users to create a unique text to speech experience that keeps users hooked up and engaged. Using endless customization options to add music and background sounds, students and educators can enhance their raw recordings to professional studio-quality AI voice at a fraction of the cost of hiring a voice actor. 

With Murf, students have a text to speech tool that they may personalize to suit their preferences for the voiceover. In contrast to conventional TTS software with a robotic tone, Murf lets users change the pitch, speed, and accent of the voiceover, adding more depth to the narration.

With Murf's innovative AI technology, students and educators can create a unique and customizable voices for their audio projects. They can produce an AI voice clone that replicates lifelike diction, a wide spectrum of emotions, and all the subtleties of human speech using Murf’s voice cloning functionality. 

What else can you do with Murf?

Murf makes creating voice over videos a breeze. With Murf's easy-to-use editing tools, you can create studio-quality voice over videos from the comfort of your own home, neighborhood park, or favorite coffee shop. All you have to do is open the studio, import your script or video, make the necessary changes, choose an AI voice, and render. Murf also helps you get rid of any unwanted background noise, audio errors, and interruptions by editing them out of the audio. 

Whether you're unsatisfied with your voiceover or want to add a little extra flair to your project, Murf's voice changer feature is here to help. Without hiring a voice actor and in just a few clicks, you can change your voice to one of the many AI-generated options or even create a custom voice that perfectly matches your style. 

Are you looking to make your video content stand out with its own unique voiceover? Look no further, as Murf's voice cloning is the solution you need. You can create content that stands out and defines your style. To make your audio more appealing, you can clone a voice and give it different emotions, such as happiness, sadness, or anger. Plus, you can use it in various scenarios and applications, like customer support, game development, audiobooks, and podcasts. Clone once, use forever.

Today, text to speech tools have become a 'go-to' solution for consuming content on the website. While it has numerous advantages for all, students and educators particularly benefit the most by simplifying, creating, and learning educational content in various languages through audio files. Students and educators can use several speech tools available in the market to optimize their learning and teaching, respectively.

Murf AI, Natural Reader, Speechify, and WellSaid Labs are among the best text to speech tools for students.

Murf AI, Speechify, Google Text to Speech,  IBM Watson TTS are some of the best text to speech tools for educators.

Text to speech tools help students with word recognition, retaining information, learning pronunciation, practicing fluency, and more.

You should also read:

An Essential Guide to using Text to Speech on Google Docs

How to create engaging videos using TikTok text to speech

An in-depth guide on how to use Text to Speech on Discord

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FAQs about Text to Speech in Education

What is accessibility in education.

Accessibility in education focuses on providing equitable and inclusive education learning for all . It is about presenting material in a way that any learner can access it, removing any barriers that may limit the user’s ability to consume content.

Accessibility isn’t just concerned with physical impairments, but also addresses the large population of those with learning disabilities . Whether it be using education technology or designing courses using universal design for learning (UDL) concepts, accessibility is about being inclusive and providing the best education for all students.

Why is accessibility technology important in education?

Often used in special education and for students and children with learning disabilities , accessibility technology services level the playing field for ALL students by using technology to eliminate the mechanics of acquiring knowledge so that the content and the meaning of the content can be focused on and assimilated.

What are the benefits of accessibility technology in education?

Accessibility technology has many benefits such as giving struggling students autonomy, improving learning results, encouraging reluctant readers, improving self esteem and motivation, levelling the playing field, as well as supporting teachers as they educate a diverse population of learners.

How to make content accessible for students?

Making content accessible for students entails firstly designing courses properly to ensure they are accessible from the outset. This may include tagging, using alt texts, providing simple text formats or closed captioning videos.

Secondly it’s about providing education technology tools that enable those with physical impairments, or learning disabilities to access the content, such as text to speech , screen readers , and speech synthesis tools .

What is speech synthesis for education?

Not to be confused with speech to text, speech synthesis for education, or text to speech (TTS), converts text into spoken voice output . Speech synthesis is a key component of assistive technologies that offer a computer-generated spoken voice to ‘read’ text to the student.

How to integrate speech synthesis software for learning?

Speech synthesis is surprisingly easy to provide to students. There are free assistive technology tools on most devices. However, for it to really help students,it is important to find a high quality paid for service.

Not only as technology in the classroom , these services can be used by individuals or by entire organizations by integrating speech synthesis in the Learning Management System .

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Personal use signifies that solely you, the individual buyer, may utilize the product for your own private listening pleasure. Audio files generated with personal-use versions are not permitted for public usage (such as on websites or YouTube videos), commercial purposes, or any other form of distribution. You alone are authorized to create audio files exclusively for your personal enjoyment, and they must not be employed or shared with any other systems or individuals.

Kindly note that even 'internal' or 'non-profit' applications (such as messaging systems or educational videos) necessitate obtaining a commercial license to authorize the distribution of the audio material.

For purposes beyond personal use, consider exploring NaturalReader Commercial, a distinct application designed for such requirements.

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Text to Speech for Public Schools: An Essential Education Technology

Table of contents.

Text-to-speech (TTS) technology has emerged as a transformative tool in the realm of education technology, benefiting countless students and educators alike. But how does this tool integrate into classrooms? And what are the best text-to-speech software options for students and teachers?

How can text to speech be used in a classroom?

Text-to-speech, often abbreviated as TTS , converts digital text into spoken words. In the classroom, this assistive technology can be used to:

• Read aloud digital text from e-books, web pages, and docs.
• Assist learners with learning disabilities like dyslexia, ADHD, or reading disabilities.
• Aid language learners in improving reading and word recognition.
• Offer alternative reading methods for struggling readers to enhance reading comprehension.
• Turn written quizzes and reading materials into auditory forms, catering to auditory learners.

What is the best text to speech for students?

The “best” TTS software hinges on the specific needs of learners. However, high-quality TTS tools should provide clear human voice synthesis, support multiple languages, especially English, and be adaptable to various platforms like Windows, Chrome, and Android.

Is Speechify free for students? Is Speechify free for teachers?

As of my last update in September 2021, Speechify does offer free plans. It’s designed with dyslexic and ADHD students in mind. Students and teachers might have access to basic functionalities without a fee. However, for advanced features or premium voices, there may be associated costs. Always consult the official Speechify website or FAQs for the latest details.

Difference between text to speech and speech recognition software:

Text-to-speech (TTS) tools convert text into spoken words, while speech recognition software translates spoken language into written text. In essence, TTS reads aloud to users, while speech recognition listens and transcribes.

Pros and Cons of Text to Speech:

• Boosts literacy skills, especially for dyslexic students.
• Enhances reading comprehension.
• Aids in decoding for students with reading difficulties.
• Facilitates learning for auditory learners.
• Helps in improving language and reading skills for English language learners.
• Might cause dependency, hindering the development of reading skills.
• Not all TTS software delivers a natural reader experience.
• Some students may find it distracting.

Top 8 TTS Software or Apps for Public Schools:

• Speechify : Designed for students, especially those with dyslexia or ADHD. Can convert text from web pages, docs, and even pictures.
• Natural Reader : Reads aloud any text with a human-like voice. Supports various text files, including EPUB and Microsoft Word.
• Microsoft Immersive Reader : Integrated into Microsoft’s suite, beneficial for improving reading comprehension.
• Google Read&Write : Chrome extension for reading digital text aloud, with additional learning tools.
• Speak : A simple TTS tool for web pages.
• Kurzweil 3000 : Special education software enhancing reading, writing, and comprehension.
• Audiobook Maker : Converts text into audiobooks.
• CereProc : Known for its high-quality voices and ability to create custom voice profiles.

The integration of text-to-speech technology into the special education spectrum, and across general classroom settings, can drastically improve the learning experiences of students. Whether it’s used for decoding or as a speech reader, the potential of TTS tools in enhancing literacy and comprehension cannot be understated.

• Previous Best PDF Reader for iPad: Comprehensive Guide for 2024
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Cliff Weitzman

Cliff Weitzman is a dyslexia advocate and the CEO and founder of Speechify, the #1 text-to-speech app in the world, totaling over 100,000 5-star reviews and ranking first place in the App Store for the News & Magazines category. In 2017, Weitzman was named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list for his work making the internet more accessible to people with learning disabilities. Cliff Weitzman has been featured in EdSurge, Inc., PC Mag, Entrepreneur, Mashable, among other leading outlets.

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Best free text-to-speech software of 2024

Find the best free text-to-speech software for free text to voice conversion

• Best overall
• Best custom voice
• Best for beginners
• Best Microsoft extension
• Best website reader
• How to choose
• How we test

1. Best overall 2. Best custom voice 3. Best for beginners 4. Best Microsoft extension 5. Best website reader 6. FAQs 7. How to choose 8. How we test

In the digital era, the need for effective communication tools has led to a surge in the popularity of text-to-speech (TTS) software, and finding the best free text-to-speech software is essential for a variety of users, regardless of budget constraints. 

Text-to-speech software skillfully converts written text into spoken words using advanced technology, though often without grasping the context of the content. The best text-to-speech software not only accomplishes this task but also offers a selection of natural-sounding voices, catering to different preferences and project needs.

This technology is invaluable for creating accessible content, enhancing workplace productivity, adding voice-overs to videos, or simply assisting in proofreading by vocalizing written work. While many of today’s best free word processors , such as Google Docs, include basic TTS features that are accurate and continually improving, they may not meet all needs.

Stand-alone, app-based TTS tools, which should not be confused with the best speech-to-text apps , often have limitations compared to more comprehensive, free text-to-speech software. For instance, some might not allow the downloading of audio files, a feature crucial for creating content for platforms like YouTube and social media.

In our quest to identify the best free text-to-speech software, we have meticulously tested various options, assessing them based on user experience, performance, and output quality. Our guide aims to help you find the right text-to-speech tool, whatever your specific needs might be.

The best free text-to-speech software of 2024 in full:

Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

Below you'll find full write-ups for each of the entries on our best free text-to-speech software list. We've tested each one extensively, so you can be sure that our recommendations can be trusted.

The best free text-to-speech software overall

1. Natural Reader

Our expert review:

Reasons to buy

Reasons to avoid.

Natural Reader offers one of the best free text-to-speech software experiences, thanks to an easy-going interface and stellar results. It even features online and desktop versions. 

You'll find plenty of user options and customizations. The first is to load documents into its library and have them read aloud from there. This is a neat way to manage multiple files, and the number of supported file types is impressive, including eBook formats. There's also OCR, which enables you to load up a photo or scan of text, and have it spoken to you.

The second option takes the form of a floating toolbar. In this mode, you can highlight text in any application and use the toolbar controls to start and customize text-to-speech. This means you can very easily use the feature in your web browser, word processor and a range of other programs. There's also a browser extension to convert web content to speech more easily.

The TTS tool is available free, with three additional upgrades with more advanced features for power-users and professionals.

Read our full Natural Reader review .

• ^ Back to the top

The best free custom-voice text-to-speech software

2. Balabolka

There are a couple of ways to use Balabolka's top free text-to-speech software. You can either copy and paste text into the program, or you can open a number of supported file formats (including DOC, PDF, and HTML) in the program directly. 

In terms of output, you can use SAPI 4 complete with eight different voices to choose from, SAPI 5 with two, or the Microsoft Speech Platform. Whichever route you choose, you can adjust the speech, pitch and volume of playback to create a custom voice.

In addition to reading words aloud, this free text-to-speech software can also save narrations as audio files in a range of formats including MP3 and WAV. For lengthy documents, you can create bookmarks to make it easy to jump back to a specific location and there are excellent tools on hand to help you to customize the pronunciation of words to your liking.

With all these features to make life easier when reading text on a screen isn't an option, Balabolka is the best free text-to-speech software around.

For more help using Balabolka, see out guide on how to convert text to speech using this free software.

The best free text-to-speech software for beginners

3. Panopreter Basic

Panopreter Basic is the best free text-to-speech software if you’re looking for something simple, streamlined, no-frills, and hassle-free. 

It accepts plain and rich text files, web pages and Microsoft Word documents as input, and exports the resulting sound in both WAV and MP3 format (the two files are saved in the same location, with the same name).

The default settings work well for quick tasks, but spend a little time exploring Panopreter Basic's Settings menu and you'll find options to change the language, destination of saved audio files, and set custom interface colors. The software can even play a piece of music once it's finished reading – a nice touch you won't find in other free text-to-speech software.

If you need something more advanced, a premium version of Panopreter is available. This edition offers several additional features including toolbars for Microsoft Word and Internet Explorer , the ability to highlight the section of text currently being read, and extra voices.

The best free text-to-speech extension of Microsoft Word

4. WordTalk

Developed by the University of Edinburgh, WordTalk is a toolbar add-on for Word that brings customizable text-to-speech to Microsoft Word. It works with all editions of Word and is accessible via the toolbar or ribbon, depending on which version you're using.

The toolbar itself is certainly not the most attractive you'll ever see, appearing to have been designed by a child. Nor are all of the buttons' functions very clear, but thankfully there's a help file on hand to help.

There's no getting away from the fact that WordTalk is fairly basic, but it does support SAPI 4 and SAPI 5 voices, and these can be tweaked to your liking. The ability to just read aloud individual words, sentences or paragraphs is a particularly nice touch. You also have the option of saving narrations, and there are a number of keyboard shortcuts that allow for quick and easy access to frequently used options.

The best free text-to-speech software for websites

5. Zabaware Text-to-Speech Reader

Despite its basic looks, Zabaware Text-to-Speech Reader has more to offer than you might first think. You can open numerous file formats directly in the program, or just copy and paste text.

Alternatively, as long as you have the program running and the relevant option enables, Zabaware Text-to-Speech Reader can read aloud any text you copy to the clipboard – great if you want to convert words from websites to speech – as well as dialog boxes that pop up. One of the best free text-to-speech software right now, this can also convert text files to WAV format.

Unfortunately the selection of voices is limited, and the only settings you can customize are volume and speed unless you burrow deep into settings to fiddle with pronunciations. Additional voices are available for an additional fee which seems rather steep, holding it back from a higher place in our list.

The best free text-to-speech software: FAQs

What are the limitations of free tts software.

As you might expect, some free versions of TTS software do come with certain limitations. These include the amount of choices you get for the different amount of voices in some case. For instance, Zabaware gives you two for free, but you have to pay if you want more. 

However, the best free software on this list come with all the bells and whistles that will be more than enough for the average user.

What is SAPI?

SAPI stands for Speech Application Programming Interface. It was developed by Microsoft to generate synthetic speech to allow computer programs to read aloud text. First used in its own applications such as Office, it is also employed by third party TTS software such as those featured in this list. 

In the context of TTS software, there are more SAPI 4 voices to choose from, whereas SAPI 5 voices are generally of a higher quality. 

Should I output files to MP3 or WAV?

Many free TTS programs give you the option to download an audio file of the speech to save and transfer to different devices.

MP3 is the most common audio format, and compatible with pretty much any modern device capable of playing back audio. The WAV format is also highly compatible too.

The main difference between the two is quality. WAV files are uncompressed, meaning fidelity is preserved as best as possible, at the cost of being considerably larger in size than MP3 files, which do compress.

Ultimately, however, MP3 files with a bit rate of 256 kbps and above should more than suffice, and you'll struggle to tell the difference when it comes to speech audio between them and WAV files.

How to choose the best free text-to-speech software

When selecting the best free text-to-speech software is best for you depends on a range of factors (not to mention personal preference).

Despite how simple the concept of text-to-speech is, there are many different features and aspects to such apps to take into consideration. These include how many voice options and customizations are present, how and where they operate in your setup, what formats they are able to read aloud from and what formats the audio can be saved as.

With free versions, naturally you'll want to take into account how many advanced features you get without paying, and whether any sacrifices are made to performance or usability. 

Always try to keep in mind what is fair and reasonable for free services - and as we've shown with our number one choice, you can get plenty of features for free, so if other options seem bare in comparison, then you'll know you can do better.

How we test the best free text-to-speech software

Our testing process for the best free text-to-speech software is thorough, examining all of their respective features and trying to throw every conceivable syllable at them to see how they perform.

We also want to test the accessibility features of these tools to see how they work for every kind of user out there. We have highlighted, for instance, whether certain software offer dyslexic-friendly fonts, such as the number two on our list, Natural Reader.

We also bear in mind that these are free versions, so where possible we compare and contrast their feature sets with paid-for rivals.

Finally, we look at how well TTS tools meet the needs of their intended users - whether it's designed for personal use or professional deployment. 

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Daryl had been freelancing for 3 years before joining TechRadar, now reporting on everything software-related. In his spare time, he's written a book, ' The Making of Tomb Raider '. His second book, ' 50 Years of Boss Fights ', came out in June 2024, and has a newsletter, ' Springboard '. He's usually found playing games old and new on his Steam Deck and MacBook Pro. If you have a story about an updated app, one that's about to launch, or just anything Software-related, drop him a line.

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Create Your Course

The best text to speech tools in 2024 (free & paid), share this article.

Thanks to incredible advancements in AI technology, text to speech software in 2023 is now sounding less and less like a robot – and more like a human reader.

This is great news for any Creator Educators looking to make their content creation process more efficient, without compromising on quality.

Text to speech apps can take your content from dull to dynamic in just one step, helping to transform boring text into natural-sounding audio that improves accessibility, productivity and engagement for learners.

Use text to speech software to open up new revenue streams for your business by transforming your existing content into videos and audio, as well as helping to make your content accessible for everyone. With these tools, you can create professional-sounding audio content in a fraction of the time you’d spend recording yourself. It’s a win-win!

Here’s our top list of the best text to speech software to help grow your business in 2023.

Click the links below to skip ahead:

• Standard TTS vs Neural TTS

The best text to speech software in 2023

Amazon polly, google cloud text-to-speech, microsoft azure speech, natural reader, voiceovermaker, why use text to speech software.

If you’re a Creator Educator looking to convert your text content into audio for videos, audiobooks, social media and more, it’s time to find text to speech software for your business.

Here are some of the top use cases for businesses:

• Enhance accessibility: Use text to speech software across all your content to boost accessibility for all learners and customers
• Convert education content to audio: Make your educational content accessible for learners who are visually impaired, dyslexic, or who learn better with audio
• Add voiceovers to presentations: Bring your content alive by adding professional voiceovers to slides and animations
• Create audiobooks: Open up a new revenue stream by capturing sales from learners who prefer to listen rather than read
• Make content more engaging: Enhance your existing content with more video elements to improve the learner experience
• Repurpose blogs: Turn blog content into narration for engaging videos on YouTube, social media, and more

Turn text into speech to instantly repurpose your existing content into new formats and make sure your content is accessible to all.

Standard TTS vs. Neural TTS

Before diving into the world of text to speech, here’s a quick look at the difference between standard and neural text to speech tools.

• Standard TTS is the older approach to text to speech software. If you think of artificial, stiff-sounding text to speech audio, you’re thinking of standard TTS.
• Neural TTS draws on neural network technology or AI to generate more natural-sounding, humalike speech. Don’t let that creep you out, though – neural TTS can create truly lifelike and listenable audio that cuts out a major chunk of time for businesses and creators, helping you reach more people with your content.

Check out these best text to speech apps in 2023 to create stunning audio content – while saving you essential time and energy.

Best paid text to speech software

The best all-round cloud-based text to speech software for Creator Educators

Pricing Options

• Standard TTS: Up to 5 million characters per month for 12 months
• Neural TTS: Up to 1 million characters per month for 12 months
• Standard TTS: $4 per 5 million characters
• Neural TTS: $16 per 1 million characters

Reasons to buy

• Choose from 100+ voices across 36 languages
• Stream converted speech audio on the go, without downloading files
• Use Speech Marks to sync text and audio

Consistently ranked by users as the best option for text to speech software, Amazon Polly is one of the best TTS tools for generating natural-sounding audio content. Thanks to advanced AI and deep learning technology, Amazon Polly helps creators get high-quality, human-like audio that can be rolled out to a global audience. Choose from both standard and neural services to create your audio – and since it’s pay-as-you-go, there’s no need to worry about subscription fees draining your bank account when it’s not being used. 

Amazon Polly also includes the handy Speech Marks feature, a tool that allows you to match your AI-generated audio with text so learners can follow along with your voiceover. 

Try Amazon Polly

The best alternative with wide range of voices and languages to choose from

• 60 minutes per month
• Standard TTS: $4 per 4 million characters
• 380+ voices in 50+ languages and variants
• Personalize pitch with 20 semitones
• Option to create a one-of-a-kind voice

As a close competitor to Amazon Polly, Google Cloud Text-to-Speech offers a comprehensive range of features as part of its text to speech software that lets you customize and control every aspect of your audio. Use voice tuning to personalize the pitch of your selected voice and use SSML tags to add pauses, numbers, and other pronunciation notes to create content that flows.

Google’s text to speech software makes use of their DeepMind speech synthesis expertise to deliver over 380 human-quality voices across a wide range of languages – ideal for tapping into a global audience with your content. Google’s TTS tool also has a custom voice generator that lets you create a unique voice for your brand – that no one else can use.

Try Google Text-to-Speech

The best choice for better data security and compliance

• Neural TTS: Up to 0.5 million characters per month
• Standard TTS: 5 audio hours per month
• Custom TTS: $24 per 1 million characters
• Better data security and privacy than other TTS apps
• Zero code options available
• Create and adapt custom voices for your brand

Take advantage of Microsoft’s AI-driven text to speech software and use their wide range of in-built features to help your content stand out from the crowd. Build your own custom voice and choose between different emotions and speaking styles to craft the perfect personality for your brand. This tool is also ideal for adapting your speech content to different use cases like customer support chatbots and educational content. Their no code tools also mean you don’t need to be a tech expert to take advantage of their top features.  

There’s good news if you’re concerned about data security too – Microsoft’s text to speech tool comes in top for security and compliance. You don’t need to worry about speech inputs being logged during processing and you can breathe easier knowing Microsoft invests heavily in cybersecurity and privacy.

Try Azure Speech Services

The best choice for AI-powered video voiceovers

• Up to 10 mins of voice generation per month
• Starting at $39/month for 4 hours of voice generation per user/month
• Create AI video voiceovers in minutes
• 120+ voices in 20+ languages
• Convert home recordings to professional voiceovers

Specially tailored to video voiceovers, Murf offers text to speech software that lets users create studio-quality audio in minutes. Murf has a wide range of AI-voices to suit every context, with categories ranging from Educator to Corporate Coach to Educator to Marketer and more. Use Murf to convert any text to speech or to turn your home-recorded audio into professional, studio-quality content that’s ideal for videos, podcasts, presentations, and more.

Murf’s in-built video editor lets you add images, music and videos to your audio so you don’t need to switch between multiple platforms and apps to create your content. You can also tweak your AI voiceover to add different pitches, emphasis, and interjections. If you want to add more users and collaborate with multiple members of your team or across different organizations, opt for Murf’s Enterprise plan.

The best stripped-down text to speech software for creators who want simplicity

• 20 minutes of voice per day
• Starting at $9.99/month for personal use
• Starting at $49/month for commercial use

Reasons to Buy

• Over 100 voices on paid plans
• Works on mobile devices for editing on-the-go
• Supports multiple text formats and includes OCR scanning

Designed for small businesses and Fortune 500 companies alike, Natural Reader is known for being extra user-friendly. With a simple user interface and pricing packages free of API frills, Natural Reader is a top choice for generating audio for YouTube videos, social media and education purposes. Simply paste your text into the text to speech tool and export the audio file – it’s instant and code-free.

If you want to make your voiceovers more engaging, experiment with adding extra emotions and effects in the app and use the studio editor to easily alter your audio without switching platforms. There’s one key drawback to note though – thanks to its usability, Natural Voice is popular with YouTube creators so you run the risk of choosing a voice option that’s been heard many times before.

Try Natural Reader

The best for creating multilingual voiceover content fast

• Up to 800 characters per month
• Starting from 9€/month (approx $9 USD/month) for 60,000 characters
• Built-in easy-to-use video editor
• Automatic translation into 30 languages
• Uses Google’s WaveNet technology

If you’re just getting started with video, VoiceOverMaker is a quick and easy text to speech tool to help you get realistic-sounding audio content for your videos. The service uses Google’s neural WaveNet technology to create humanlike voices – and gives you a single, cloud-based app to edit your voice track and videos together. The software includes useful features like automatic translation, background music, and a built-in screen recorder tool. Plus, take advantage of VoiceOverMaker’s pay-as-you-go pricing to keep costs to a minimum.

Try VoiceOverMaker

Best free text to speech software

The best option for free text to speech software for commercial use

• 10,000 characters per month
• Starting from $19/month for 1,000,000 characters

Reasons to use

• Higher character limit than competitors
• Download audio as mp3 in seconds
• Powered by Google machine learning

With no registration or sign-up required, you can start using FreeTTS immediately to convert up to 10,000 characters each month – and it’s completely free! FreeTTS prides itself on being super fast, helping Creator Educators easily convert scripts into mp3 audio files in seconds, so it’s ideal for producing video voiceovers quickly and efficiently. FreeTTS uses Google’s machine learning technology to deliver decent quality results across 50+ languages and the free version is suitable even for commercial use – but it’s important to note that you can only convert 500 characters of text at a time, so it’s best for short videos.

Try FreeTTS

Straightforward, free text to speech software with mobile app

• Unlimited text reading for personal use
• $2/month for commercial use
• Straightforward, no frills tool
• Upload files, PDFs, ebooks,and more
• Use online or download the iOS and Android app

On the surface, the TTSReader free text to speech software may look dated, but their free tool includes an impressive range of features. The TTSReader tool is about as utilitarian as it gets – it’s pared back but powerful, accepting a wide variety of file types that can be converted into simple audio files to listen to in your browser or save for later. The free version supports multiple languages and includes basic editing tools too. To unlock more features, you’ll need to purchase the premium plan – but at just $2 per month it won’t break the bank.

Try TTSReader

Use these top text to speech tools to engage your audience

Once you’ve started using text to speech software, there’s no going back. It’s so easy, efficient, and delivers impressive results – especially thanks to the range of new AI-driven tools on offer. To help you find the best text to speech apps for your needs, take advantage of the free plans and tools in this list and take some time to experiment with different options. Don’t forget, you can even create a unique voice for your brand!

If you’re a Creator Educator looking to earn more from your content, try Thinkific for free .

This post was originally created in 2022, it’s since been updated in June 2023.

Colin is a Content Marketer at Thinkific, writing about everything from online entrepreneurship & course creation to digital marketing strategy.

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The Benefits of Speech-to-Text Technology in All Classrooms

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During in-person instruction, Vikram Nahal would correct console grips in his role as a Resource Specialist Program (RSP) teacher in Northern California. Learning console grips helps students develop the hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills necessary to correctly form shapes on a page. He could provide grip tools for pencils or guide students’ hands with his own, familiarizing them with the strokes. 

During virtual education, he relied on reference materials and parent assistance when available. An adult in the room could help demonstrate grips, steer hands and inform Nahal when additional resources were needed.

Despite the difficulties of offering support remotely, Nahal found that virtual learning allowed him to experiment with new technologies that supported his students with learning disabilities. Speech-to-text technology allowed them to more easily transfer their ideas onto the page. This especially helped his students with ADHD and processing-related disabilities, such as auditory processing disorder or working memory deficits.

Speech-to-text tools also saved time, which is helpful for students who might forget their ideas once they try to write or students who struggle with getting any words on the page at all, feeling unable to transfer their thoughts. For some, this was because of the intimidation of writing academically, with spelling and grammar anxieties prohibiting them from starting. For others, the time taken to write out initial thoughts caused them to forget later conclusions and analyses, given the lack of immediacy in writing.

“Coming into the distance learning, I was really worried about these kids. But what I found was through using the speech-to-text feature, they were able to get their ideas on paper. They didn’t have that physical transfer where they had to go and write it out and lose what they were thinking about in the process. And they really evolved as writers,” said Nahal.

The process of vocalizing their ideas and watching their words simultaneously appear on the screen relieved much of the stress around writing. Students could watch their thoughts fill a page, proving for some that they were capable of doing so. They could then go through and revise their grammar and ideas, correcting anywhere the technology misheard them and getting practice editing their own writing.

The initial skill required of students wasn’t spelling or grammar, but the ability to transfer their ideas to the page. Natalie Conway is a teacher who works with students with disabilities in grades Kindergarten through 3rd at a statewide online charter school in Oregon. She has been teaching online for seven years. She said that specifically identifying which standard is being assessed, and providing accommodations for the standards not presently up to bat, can help make school more accessible for all students.

“Those accommodations are going to benefit kids who are unidentified (in disability) and who just would enjoy learning that way,” said Conway. “So if you make it available to everyone, it’s not stigmatizing to anyone. And students are going to self-select what’s going to work for them. They know themselves, too, especially the older they get.”

Writing is Rewriting

Nahal eventually transitioned his students off speech-to-text, encouraging them to write phonetically in a subsequent phase but with the same initial indifference to spelling and grammar encouraged by a first draft from speech-to-text. Then, once the ideas were on the page, Nahal and his students could comb through their work, updating spelling and modifying their language to meet academic conventions. 

“Through the process of correcting their work and typing, they’ve become better writers,” he said.

He spotlighted spell check as a simple way students could see that they misspelled words, with the automatic underline quickly notifying students of a mistake. That helped make editing for spelling and grammar less difficult online. Speech-to-text technology accelerated his students’ writing skills during virtual learning. 

“These gains would have not happened had we been in person. I mean, it would have happened, but not so rapidly in my estimation,” Nahal said.

Voice Practice 

Conway spotlighted speech-to-text technology as liberating for kids with writing disabilities and fine motor needs. Beyond writing homework assignments, the technology can also be used for quick in-class responses. If a teacher asks all students to put an answer in the virtual class’ chatbox, for instance, a student who might not feel confident in their ability to write their thoughts can use transcription software to still participate. And for chat boxes with microphone transcription enabled, they can participate even more quickly. 

“It’s giving students independence, instead of having to have a scribe all the time or having to have someone read to them all the time,” said Kathleen Kane Parkinson, a diverse learner teacher in Chicago. 

In the past, many students would only be able to practice their pronunciations in a classroom setting. Now, this technology and related technologies allow for pronunciation practice to be incorporated into at-home work. Some teachers, like Parkinson, may choose to continue using some form of voice-recognition software for out-of-class assignments moving forward. 

Parkinson mentioned, however, that the technology does not yet fully accommodate students with speech and language impairments. The transcription of their speech may not accurately reflect what students said into their microphones, which can cause confusion and frustration. 

Repeated Read Alouds

The related but inverse technology of text-to-speech, also known as read-aloud technology, helped Nahal’s students improve their reading skills. The process of hearing text read aloud ensured that words or lines weren’t skipped, improving comprehension. Students could also highlight new words to hear pronunciations or learn definitions, strengthening vocabularies.

For students who might not feel confident reading grade-level material, or who process information better when listening, read-along features for books and articles can be pivotal. Students with attention deficits might benefit from the ability to pause a story to process or take notes, and then press play to resume reading without losing their place.

“[For] kids who might have working memory deficits or trouble recalling information, the ability to listen to something over and over or listen to it as they read it, following along — that can be really powerful,” Conway said. 

Jodi Dezale, a speech language pathologist at Jefferson Community School in Minneapolis pointed to online books as a key resource brought about during virtual learning. The read-along audio feature provided students the autonomy to read books on their own. Tie-in videos from publishers like Scholastic gave students an additional level of engagement for books, encouraging new modes of interaction with familiar images and stories.  

“One of the tools that we use to build comprehension is repeated readings of the same thing. So getting comfortable with seeing something in different ways and using it multiple times was very helpful,” said Dezale.

Accessibility Opportunities

Engagement with both audible and visual modes of learning can also be achieved through closed captioning in class video software. Offered on both Google Meet and Zoom, closed captioning can have benefits for all students. It can make virtual classrooms that don’t have sign language translators more accessible for students who are deaf and hard of hearing. Students with unimpaired hearing can also utilize captions as a secondary cue for their minds, allowing for another way to perceive the material. 

“You’re pairing verbal input with visual input and it’s just more likely to stick in your brain and make sense to you,” Conway said. 

Access to technology is an equity issue. Students gained technological skills during virtual learning that they might not have otherwise gleaned. Many schools engaged with new learning and accessibility tools they didn’t have the bandwidth or funding to try during in-person learning.

Increased familiarity with online platforms and technologies may lessen the digital divide between the schools that had embedded technology before the pandemic and those that newly engaged with modes of digital education over the past year. This offered more students digital skills that may be needed after graduation. 

“They’ve got to be computer literate,” Nahal said. “It’s a literacy issue for me.” 

Teachers who work with students with disabilities specifically can supply their students with tools and methods of enabling accessibility technologies that they can take with them into general education classes.

“When they’re in, say, a humanities class or a science class, that’s where those tools are going to come in handy. And it’s a matter of teaching them how to use the tools,” Parkinson said. 

This not only makes education more accessible, it encourages students to take agency in their learning, spurring greater independence.

For teachers who work with students with disabilities, the instantaneous nature of online assignments’ feedback saves time. Sandra Zickrick works with middle schoolers with disabilities. She shared that before virtual education, she would take each student aside to assess their skills and determine where additional support was needed. Now, she can have all of her students complete simultaneous virtual assessments and immediately receive the results, allowing her to spend more class time providing specific support or doing activities with the entire class.

Beyond the new technologies learned, a number of students with disabilities preferred learning online. For some, doing school from home induced less social anxiety, which led to increased academic confidence.

Attending school from home was less optimal for many students, with many facing challenges of family distractions, Wi-Fi connection issues or an inability to find a quiet place to work. Yet some students were better able to concentrate on schoolwork at home, whether from reduced distractions in virtual school compared to social classroom settings, or from decreased social stress. Online education can allow for greater control over a student’s environment, which can limit external distractors or overbearing external stimuli, benefiting some students with autism, ADD and ADHD. 

“A lot of the physical distractors that happened in a building, that happened in a physical classroom, aren’t the same at home,” Conway said. 

Conway also pointed to the ability for students to revisit lectures, to rewind, rewatch and take their time, as another accessibility tool. The more methods teachers offer for students to access the material and demonstrate that they’ve learned it, the more accessible school becomes for all students.

When students can select how to best prove their knowledge — be it in an essay, video, PowerPoint, Google Doc or other tool — they not only take agency in their learning, but can unlock new creativity. This creativity will be an asset in higher education and in the workforce, Conway said. 

“They now have skills to communicate in a variety of ways, collaborate with other kids and be creative and think critically about what they’re doing and how they’re doing it,” she said.

The specific tools and technologies a school may take on during virtual education may depend on the school’s location, technology team and budget. Yet the fact that more students received technological devices and more schools explored assistive technologies during virtual education helped in the movement to make education more accessible.

“I think the biggest takeaway of this online experience is just that there are things out there for free that we can use,” Conway said. “The sky’s the limit and you just need to Google whatever it is you want.”

MindShift is part of KQED, a non-profit NPR and PBS member station in San Francisco, CA. The text of this specific article is available to republish for noncommercial purposes under a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license, thanks to support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

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Text-to-Speech (and Speech-to-Text) Tools to Address Reading and Writing Challenges

Text-to-speech and speech-to-text tools can assist students with reading and writing challenges. learn how these technologies work, and understand how available programs and tools can make all the difference in your child’s education..

Students with ADHD who struggle academically often benefit from using Text-to-Speech and Speech-to-Text tools. But how do these technologies work?

• Text-to-Speech (TTS) converts text into automated speech
• Speech-to-Text (STT) enables speech to be converted to text

These tools can improve your student’s reading comprehension , reading fluency, vocabulary, and writing skills .

TTS and STT free up working memory — an executive function essential for writing essays and remembering what is read — by allowing the student to focus on the task at hand and not be overwhelmed with too much information.

Because schools continue to upgrade and focus on technology, many helpful TTS and STT tools are readily available to help students with reading and writing challenges.

Speech-to-Text for Writing Challenges

Students who are strong in verbal expression but have difficulties organizing their thoughts on paper , or struggle with slow processing speed, can use STT to demonstrate their knowledge.

[ Free Download: 9 Teaching Strategies for ADHD Learning Hurdles ]

For students who are frustrated by the task of written work, STT can aid with the complex skills of writing essays or reports.

In addition, when students have trouble paying attention in class, STT can be used to record the lecture and convert it to text. That way, students can process the information by hearing and seeing the words simultaneously.

STT Tools and Programs

• Google Docs Voice Typing allows dictation on Google Docs and Google Slides, Google’s online word processor and presentation apps. To use it, you must be connected to the Internet with Google Chrome on Windows, MacOS, or Chromebook devices.
• Windows Speech Recognition enables dictation on PCs running Windows Vista or more recent operating systems.
• Dictation Keyboard allows dictation on iPad and IOS devices (configured in settings).
• Google Gboard Keyboard enables dictation on Android devices.
• Dragon Anywhere offers fully formed dictation powered via the cloud. Pricing varies.
• Otter is a cloud-based program that offers real-time transcription for lectures. The free plan includes 600 minutes/month, while the “Pro” paid plan includes 6,000 minutes/month.

Text-to-Speech for Reading Challenges

Reading academic material can be challenging, whether it’s due to difficulties with holding attention/interest, with remembering important facts, or with reading fluency. Having the ability to read and listen to the material can aid in increasing comprehension and interest. Text-to-speech tools do just that.

Beyond converting text to audio, these tools also offer other assistive features – like highlighting, text and background changes, and underlining text for focus — to personalize and meet individual needs.

[ Read: The “Write” Assistive Tech Tools for Kids with ADHD ]

TTS Tools and Programs

• Immersive Reader is a reading enhancement tool available in Office 365 that works with Word, OneNote, and Outlook.
• Voice Dream Reader is an app that converts PDFs, Web pages, Microsoft Word documents, and other formats to spoken word. It also offers book marking, note taking, and a built-in dictionary.
• Read&Write is a Google Chrome extension that provides comprehensive support for Google Docs and the Web.
• Speak Screen is built-in screen reader software that can read aloud the contents of the screen on iPad and iOS devices.
• Voice Assistant/TalkBack is a Google screen reader included on Android devices.
• Bookshare is a service that’s free for students with qualifying disabilities. It offers textbooks, bestsellers, children’s books, and career resources. Non-eligible students and individuals may purchase the service for $50/year.
• Learning Ally offers test prep, popular fiction, classic literature, textbooks, and study aids for $135/year.
• Libby App is a free app that allows the reader to borrow ebooks, digital audiobooks, and magazines.

Online libraries or your library system’s website may also provide access to audio books, textbooks, and magazines.

STT and TTS tools can be used in a variety of ways. For example, students can create and share voice recordings with classmates as part of a group project. They can also send quick verbal reminders to themselves or keep track of their thoughts.

Text-to-Speech and Speech-to-Text can also be written into your child’s IEP or 504 Plan to help build skills. Prioritize your child’s needs and focus on one area at a time that needs strengthening. Practicing these skills will increase confidence and reduce your child’s frustration.

Text-to-Speech & Speech-to-Text: Next Steps

• Free Download: Learning Tools That Improve Productivity, Reading and Writing Skills
• Read: 18 Assistive Technology Apps and Extensions for Struggling Students
• Self-Test: Could My Child Have a Learning Disability?

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Speech To Text For Students With Disabilities ,Apps, Tools, and Software

Speech to Text tools are available on your computer through your device, browser or extensions. This technology premiered in 1936 with the first text to speech device and over time continued to develop with more advanced and improved technology. Speech technology installed on computers or devices with different apps and software help anyone with dyslexia or other learning disabilities. 

Table of Contents

History of Speech to Text Technology 

1936 – First Text to Speech Tools 

Believe or not the first speech to text was the world’s first voice electronic synthesizer created in 1936 by Homer Dudley in the Bell Telephone Laboratory in Murray Hill, New Jersey. The speech-to-text- , the first electronic device that could generate continuous human speech electronically became the first text to speech device.

Although, not as efficient as our present-day text to speech the Voder was audible.  According to Smithsonian.com   the Voder “could create 20 or so different buzzes and chirps, which the operator could manipulate using 10 keys, a wrist plate, and a pedal.” 

From the 1950s to ’60s

In the history of speech recognition software technology, this was the era of ‘baby talk’; only numbers and digits could be comprehended. In 1952, ‘ Audrey ’ was invented by Bell Laboratories which could only understand numbers. But in 1962, the ‘shoebox’ technology was able to understand 16 words in English. Later, voice recognition was enhanced to comprehend 9 consonants and 4 vowels.

The U.S. Department of Defense contributed heavily towards the development of speech recognition systems and from 1971 to 1976, it funded the DARPA SUR (Speech Understanding Research) program. As a result, ‘ Harpy ’ was developed by Carnegie Mellon which had the ability to comprehend 1011 words. It employed a more efficient system of searching for logical sentences. There were also parallel advancements in technology such as the development of a device by Bell Laboratories that could understand more than one person’s voice.

Speech to Text Technology grew throughout the 1970s through the 1990’s

There were several breakthroughs in the Speech to Text technology. Contributions from the U.S. Department of Defense supported speech recognition technology from 1971 to 1976 with the development of DARPA SUR ‘s (Speech Understanding Research) program. According to Total Voice Technologies web site, “Harpy” developed by Carnegie Mellon was able to comprehend 1011 words.

Searching for logical sentences was also an ability of Harpy’s. Bell’s technologies were not to be left behind, the company developed a device that could understand more than one person’s voice. 

According to Total Voice Technologies web site timeline, the 1980s proved to be a promising time for Speech to Text technology. Using statistics to determine the probability of a word originating from an unknown sound the hidden Markov model did not rely on fixed templates or speech patterns. This technology was mostly used in industries and business applications. 

In the 80s speech recognition was not flawless, for the speech recognition system to be successful there needed to be a break between each spoken word. 

In the 90’s faster computers and processors helped Speech to Text technology advance. In 1994 Nuance was founded. Nuance deployed its first commercial large-scale speech application in 1996. This application was a call center’s automated answering center.

Marketing call center automation would reduce the staff of call center staff.

Today’s Speech to Text Technology

Today speech technology is everywhere and can recognize spoken words and convert them to text. We interact with speech recognition tools when we call companies with automated customer service. Voice assistants can reply with accuracy in response to answers supplied by the caller.

Currently, all major technology companies have invested heavily in the development of speech recognition. Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri, and Google Home are used in homes and speech recognition which can control devices in smart homes. Speech recognition is also used in cars with navigation, making cell phone calls and getting information on restaurants, movie theaters, and stores. 

Speech to text tools for Dyslexia and Dysgraphia

It is very empowering to young dysgraphia or dyslexia students that have a very hard time writing simple sentences when they want to write a bigger story. Speech to Text can be very useful for students when searching for subjects on the internet. However, strange mistakes can happen and cause frustration.

Speech to text software is getting better all the time, but it’s not yet perfect. Sometimes, speech to text has a hard time “understanding” user intent or has a hard time understanding different accents. However, this can be resolved with playback functionality so that your words can be read back to users. This tool helps to ensure the text says what you intended. 

In middle school and high school and college, using speech to text to successfully write something as complex as a paper requires quite a bit of preparation. Planning out the sequence of your ideas, and speaking in complete, fluent sentences is difficult. There will be a lot of redoing and adjusting for the student but if an outline and ideas are well thought out there might be less adjustment. 

Popular Speech to Text Technology Tools

There are multiple popular speech technology tools are currently available on the market. speech-to-text a speech to text software used in schools helps students write and perform to their abilities.

The software takes what they are saying and types it down for the student. They can edit it for more accuracy and clarity and the process is faster as well as gives the student confidence and the ability to get their ideas down in a productive manner. According to the Dragon Speech Recognition Resolution website students to business professionals use the software to enhance their work productivity by “working faster and smarter”.  

Text to Speech Browser Extensions

There are speech to text tools and extensions on your computer and devices that will also give you the ability to speak and it will type in your words. If you are wanting to read back your words enable TTS or Text to Speech, Installing the appropriate extension will enable you to highlight the text you want to read and choose to speak on your extension like chrome browsers or google chrome .  

The Elegant Themes business blog lists “ 10 Best Speech to Text Tools to Speed Up Your Writing Process”. This list includes Google docs voice to text, Window, and Apple dictation and many more. 

Today’s speech technology is creating a positive learning and writing environment for Dyslexia and Dysgraphia students and adults.  Technologies that were mostly created and designed by private industry and the U.S. Government benefit students and adults with Dyslexia and other learning difficulties. While technology improves, the learning environment for these students and adults will also improve and lead them to success.

Below are additional Speech to Text Tools and Resources

• 10 Best Speech to Text Tools to Speed Up Your Writing Process
• 8 Voice-to-Text Software That’ll Help You Work Faster
• Best speech to text app of 2019

Photo by  Alphacolor  on  Unsplash

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Best AI Tools for Students: The 11 Free Tools We Recommend

Best AI tools for students are super important now—they help with writing better and getting instant feedback on students’ presentations.

The best thing? Lots of these are free AI tools for students! That’s great news for nonprofits and folks with tight budgets.

Study the top 11 AI tools of 2024 for academic success, whether it’s writing great essays or improving communication skills.

The Main Takeaways from this Article:

• AI in education targets teaching to students’ needs, making learning easier and personalized.
• If you are in school, use Caktus.ai to solve Math and essays for your homework, let Quizgecko AI help with creating and sharing quizzes, try Upword AI for studying and learning, and consider TextToHandwriting to upgrade your handwriting.
• For college students, the ultimate AI tools include Tome AI for presentations, ChatGPT for writing help, Duolingo for language learning fun, and Otter.ai for transcribing lectures.
• For engineering students, top AI tools like Pdf.ai offer document chat capabilities, Scholarcy AI summarizes lengthy research articles, and Socratic.org provides video explanations for questions.

Table of Contents

Which ai tool is best for students.

Here is a list of free AI tools for school, college, and engineering students.

• Caktus.ai is to solve Math questions
• Quizgecko AI is for creating and sharing quizzes
• Upword is the best AI for studying and learning
• TextToHandwriting converts typed text to handwriting
• ChatGPT prompts for students
• Tome AI is for creating PPTs easily
• Duolingo is to learn languages with fun games
• Otter.ai is to transcribe lectures and meetings
• Pdf.ai to chat with documents
• Scholarcy AI summarizes long research articles
• Socratic.org is for video explanations of questions

Best AI Tools for School Students

These are the top four best AI tools for students in schools.

1. Caktus.ai

Caktus AI turns your text into complete homework answers. With Caktus, students can write essays, solve Math, and code.

This chart shows how good Caktus AI is for students.

It gets a rating of 4.2 out of 5. It costs $9.90 per month. It’s user-friendly, with a score of 4.5 out of 5. It has good features, rated 4.2 out of 5. The quality of its output is decent, at 3.8 out of 5. There’s no mobile app. Overall, it’s great for students.

Caktus.ai is similar to an AI answer generator for students.

Highlight Features

• ✅ Free trial: 5,000 characters.
• ✅ Features: Essay & code generator.
• ✅ Easy to use: Input what you need, it handles the rest.
• ✅ Semi-auto AI: Completes tasks, may need input.
• ✅ History saving: Edit previous work or request new output.

Limitations

• ❌ Slow compared to different AI content generators.
• ❌ No support/contact info is available within the tool.

Caktus AI Pricing

Caktus offers a 5,000-character free trial, equivalent to 500-1,000 words. Their Premium plan costs $9.99/month and allows unlimited word generation.

Final Thoughts

Try out Caktus AI, a cool writing tool powered by AI . It’s the future, so give it a go!

We want to stress that this AI assistant can’t always do your homework alone. It can mess up and even copy content sometimes.

AI can’t think. It’s like a smart calculator, predicting based on what it’s learned online. It doesn’t know right from wrong, just guesses that often happen to be right.

2. Quizgecko AI

Quizgecko is one of the best AI tools for students making creating and sharing quizzes super easy with AI.

It’s for teachers and students. It uses smart AI to make questions from any text, saving a lot of time and effort.

Quizgecko makes it easy for teachers to create tests and for businesses to assess their employees’ knowledge.

• ✅ Chrome Extension
• ✅ AI Question Generator
• ✅ Analytics and Reporting
• ✅ Flashcards
• ❌ Free plan is limited
• ❌ Limited question types

Quizgecko AI Pricing

• Student: $64/year
• Educator: $89/year

Quizgecko stands out because it can turn any text, webpage, or video into quizzes. It pulls out the important details and makes quizzes way easier and faster.

3. Upword AI

Upword AI assistant to make finding information easier. With GPT-4, Upword speeds up learning by 10 times!

Upword’s AI tools make research easy for students, professionals, and researchers turning the content into useful knowledge.

• ✅ Personalized ChatGPT
• ✅ AI Copilot
• ✅ Efficient Search
• ✅ Summarization
• ✅ Unlimited Storage

Upword AI Pricing

• 7 days free trial
• Paid plan: $12.50/month

Yes, Upword AI gives accurate summaries by extracting key points, so users get clear and useful information.

4. TextToHandwriting.com

The problem is that we’re missing handwritten content nowadays. TextToHandwriting swapped pens for keyboards, making things feel impersonal. It’s time to bring back that personal touch we all love.

Today, let’s discuss TextToHandwriting —one of the best AI tools for students that transforms your typed text into a handwritten document!

You can add heading text and content text on the page. Pick from 8 handwriting styles and choose sizes for both headings and content. Also, choose ink colors: black, red, or blue.

Picking colors helps you customize content easily.

Once your document’s done, you can save your content as an image. Use it for cool article layouts on your site or send a special birthday note to someone you love.

• ✅ Excellent conversion
• ✅ New fonts
• ✅ User-friendly

TextToHandwriting Pricing

This text-to-handwriting tool is fun and worth checking out. It’s an excellent way to generate fresh content for your users. The site is always free to use.

Best AI Tools for College Students

The four best AI tools for college students.

5. ChatGPT Prompts for Students

ChatGPT serves not only as an AI tool for business and marketing but also proves advantageous for students.

One of the best AI tools for students is ChatGPT using specific prompts. Let’s sort these prompts by topic to make them clear for every community.

A. ChatGPT Prompts for High School Students

If you want to write an essay with a specific topic, just type – Write a friendly essay about [topic] in 500 words and provide it in the correct format.

If you need project ideas, just ask ChatGPT by typing – Suggest some ideas on science projects and get started!

If you struggle with Math and need help understanding a concept, just ask ChatGPT! Say – Explain [idea_name] with an example in Mathematics.

If you need help with a problem, just ask ChatGPT! Ask questions like – Can you show us how to crack a Geometry problem? and give space and write the question.

B. ChatGPT Prompts for Engineering and College Students

If you’re new to development and want to make a web app, just ask ChatGPT. Just type – Create an easy web app with JavaScript.

If you need to discover bugs in some code, just ask ChatGPT using the prompt – Process to see the bug in our sample code.

If you need help adding a feature like a button or icon to your project, just ask ChatGPT! Instead of searching multiple websites, ChatGPT can give you code ideas directly. Just give the prompt, like – Create a button using JavaScript.

You can make a web app RESTAPI with Express and Node.js . Just type – Create the RESTAPI endpoint with Express and Nodejs .

Tome AI makes creating PPTs easy. It improves presentations, making them better looking and more impactful, whether for showcasing products, sharing research, or impressing clients.

You can pick templates or create your own to match your brand. It helps make one-pagers or mood boards swiftly, conveying your idea elegantly.

• ✅ Create presentations faster
• ✅ Excellent customization
• ✅ Collaboration
• ✅ AI image generator
• ❌ The free version restricts presentation sharing to PDFs. 
• ❌ The tool only supports 4 languages.

Tome AI Pricing

• Professional: $16/month

This software is different from other best AI tools for students. Its user-friendly interface guides you smoothly. AI offers refined presentation tips. Easily drag and drop tiles and templates.

7. Duolingo

Duolingo is the top education app, making learning languages a fun game.

Playing games makes learning languages more enjoyable and keeps motivation high.

Every day, 5 million people use Duolingo. It’s a huge part of the app world, with more than 500 million downloads worldwide. 

It is free on Android and iOS, and there’s a website too, bringing in 5.5 million users/month.

• ✅ The Shop: The Shop lets you spend extra gems.
• ✅ Refill Health: In Duolingo’s free plan, you get five hearts as your “health.” Lose one heart for each query you miss.
• ✅ Leagues: Duolingo boosts motivation and competition with its weekly leagues, where users compete against 30 players.
• ✅ Speaks: When you travel and wish to learn about new cultures, being able to chat is key.
• ✅ Listen: Something useful for people learning languages through audio.
• ✅ Daily Quest: In addition to reaching your daily goal, you’ll also have daily quests to finish.
• ❌ Encourages brief instructions to maintain the trend
• ❌ Speech Practices Are Not Working

Duolingo Pricing

We liked how fun it was to learn with games. It helped us pick up new words without feeling like we were studying. 

Some language applications can be really serious, which is okay sometimes. But Duolingo’s streaks kept us interested. 

Watching our streak grow every day felt exciting. And competing with friends made it even more fun (most of the time). 

But when we lost our streak, we lost our motivation too. Later on, we used Duolingo to practice Spanish alongside other methods.

8. Otter.ai

In today’s busy educational world, where classes and discussions happen quickly, having an AI tool for students to record and understand spoken words is super useful. 

That’s where Otter.ai comes in. It’s a high-tech service that uses AI to transcribe speech, making life easier for lots of students.

• ✅ Transcribes lectures and meetings
• ✅ Speaker identification
• ✅ Searchable content
• ✅ Platform integration
• ✅ Custom Vocabulary
• ❌ Otter.ai isn’t perfect.
• ❌ Real-time needs a stable internet.
• ❌ The free version has limits.

Otter.ai Pricing

• Pro : $10/month/user

Otter.ai is another one of the best AI tools for students, helping with lectures, and group work, and never missing a word spoken. It’s a must-have for any student!

Best AI Tools for Engineering Students

Here are the three best AI tools for Engineering students.

PDF.ai is an excellent AI tool for students to chat with documents. People use it for study and work.

You can request the document queries to learn more without reading it.

This is one of the best AI tools for students when learning new things like skills, projects, theories, and more.

• ✅ Accurate and fast
• ✅ Saving chats
• ❌ No ChatGPT integration
• ❌ Price plan

Pdf.ai Pricing

PDF.ai costs $10/user/month. Unlimited access begins at $20, and there’s also a free plan with some restrictions.

PDF AI helps frequent users think smarter with PDFs.

This AI tool will be liked by students, lawyers, and professionals who want to save effort and time reading long documents and learn faster.

If you’re not excited about ChatGPT, try PDF.ai for all your PDF needs.

10. Scholarcy AI

QuillBot or Quillbot alternative tools help with short articles, and Scholarcy tackles long papers. It’s simple: upload, link, or paste text, and get a quick summary.

The Scholarcy article summarizer quickly scans long research papers to pick out important details like facts, formations, and references. It then makes a summary card that you can easily save in Word or PowerPoint.

• ✅ Extensive library
• ✅ Rob-Highlighter
• ✅ Reference Summary
• ✅ Input and Export methods
• ❌ No mobile app for Scholarcy.
• ❌ Additional fees for Scholarcy Library access.
• ❌ Generated output may lack important info at times.

Scholarcy AI Pricing

• Plus: $4.99/month

The Scholarcy summarizer makes summaries of research papers, articles, or reports. It saves you time by condensing important information for you, so you can get things done faster without having to read everything yourself.

11. Socratic.org

Stuck? Socratic helps! This Google AI learning app helps with university studies and high school.

You can ask Socratic your questions, and you’ll find great online resources to help you learn school subjects.

Socratic App Topics

• Science: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Earth Science, Environmental Science
• Math: Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Precalculus, Calculus
• English/Language Arts: Fiction, Non-fiction, Drama, Poetry
• History: US History, World History
• ✅ Useful Results: Utilize camera or voice for online resource connection.
• ✅ All-in-One Learning Hub: Access videos, step-by-step guides, and more for self-paced learning.
• ✅ Expert Study Guides: Visual explanations created by experts and teachers for comprehensive understanding.
• ✅ Multi-Subject Support: Covers Algebra and more.
• ❌ Web version is not available.

Socratic.org Pricing

• Free (iOS and Android)

The Socratic application is great with VoiceOver. We could do voice and text searches easily and get results that VoiceOver could read well. Equations are read aloud, but they missed a negative symbol once. We found the missing information elsewhere in the iOS and Android app easily.

Benefits of Using These Best AI Tools for Students

• Personalized education
• Immediate response
• Increases in productivity
• Engaging education
• Insights based on data
• Inclusivity and Accessibility

To Conclude

Your mission is to check out these top 11 AI tools!

When choosing the best AI tools for students remember to focus on compatibility, effectiveness, reliability, and understanding limitations. These factors are key to making the right decision for your school or institution.

Don’t forget to consider these best AI tools for students in 2024.

Which AI is best for students?

The right AI tool depends on what you need. Upword helps with writing, Caktus.ai is great for Math, and Duolingo is for learning languages.

Is there a free AI app for students?

Quizgecko is the top free AI app for students, famous for making and sharing quizzes, and Pdf.ai lets you chat with documents.

What is the best AI tool for student assignment writing?

Upword AI is the best AI tool for student assignment writing in education. It’s designed to make research and writing easier for academics and students.

How can students use AI?

Teachers can assign Math problems for students to solve using a tool like Caktus.ai. After the AI answers, school and college students can work together in teams to make their own using the Math skills they’ve learned.

What type of AI can be used in education?

Different AI tools for education:

Adaptive learning Attention, empathy, and emotion measurement tools Virtual chatbots Automatic writing evaluation tools Personalized educational resources Apps for smart language learning Platforms for personalizing content

What is the best GPT for students?

Upword AI and Scholarcy AI are the best GPTs for students. They summarize files and extract text. Plus, Upword AI can answer your questions. Great study partners!

What is the AI writing tool for college students?

Upword AI is the best AI writing tool for college students. It automates writing and research for students and academics.

Is AI a good tool for students?

AI in education boosts student performance by giving more feedback. It evaluates progress, offers targeted advice, and spots areas needing improvement.

What is the best AI for engineering students?

Pdf.ai, Scholarcy AI, and Socratic.org are the best AI tools for engineering students.

What software do AI engineers use?

Common AI software includes Pdf.ai, Scholarcy AI, and Socratic.org.

What is AI used for in engineering?

Engineers are using AI in engineering for things like robots, materials, and designing with text. They see how valuable it is.

Sangram Sahoo

I’m a seasoned content writer with 2 years of experience. I specialize in driving organic growth for websites through engaging and informative content.