Text to Speech: read text aloud
Paste your text, choose a voice and press Read aloud: the free text to speech tool reads it sentence by sentence at a speed from 0.5× to 2.0× and highlights the spoken word where the voice supports it. It uses the speech engine of your device and browser, needs no sign-up and also reads .txt files of up to 2 MB.
Source: MDN Web Docs – SpeechSynthesis (Web Speech API). Updated: .
How it is calculated
This free text to speech tool reads any text aloud – right in your browser, with nothing to install and no sign-up. It uses the Web Speech API (speechSynthesis), the speech output built into Chrome, Edge, Safari and Firefox. The voices therefore come from your device and browser, not from this website. Which voices you see and how natural they sound depends on your operating system and browser: the list on a Windows PC with Edge looks different from the one on an iPhone or an Android phone.
How to use it
- Paste or type your text. Paragraphs and line breaks are read as pauses.
- Choose a voice. Voices in the language of this page are listed first, all others below, grouped by language. A local voice is selected by default.
- Set speed and pitch: speed runs from 0.5× to 2.0× in steps of 0.1; 1.0× is the normal rate of the voice. Pitch runs from 0 to 2 (1.0 = normal). Changes apply from the next sentence.
- Press Read aloud. The current sentence appears in the box below with the spoken word highlighted. Pause stops, Resume restarts the interrupted sentence, Stop ends playback.
Text from a file: use “Load text file” or drag a file onto the text box to bring in a .txt, .md, .srt or .vtt file of up to 2 MB. The file is only read in your browser; for subtitle files, numbers and time codes are dropped. “Previous sentence” and “Next sentence” let you jump sentence by sentence while listening.
Local voices vs. online voices
For every voice the browser reports whether it runs locally on your device or is generated by a remote service (the localService property of the Web Speech API, as documented on MDN in 2026). With an online voice, the browser sends the text to the voice provider and receives the audio back. Typical examples are the “Google …” voices in desktop Chrome and the “Microsoft … Online (Natural)” voices in Edge. They often sound more natural, but they need an internet connection – and your text leaves your device. That is decided by the browser, not by this page.
Online voices are marked “Online” in the list. The tool always picks a local voice first on its own. For contracts, health information, job applications and other confidential text, stick with a local voice.
How to get more and better voices
Because the tool uses your system voices, new voices are added in your device settings. Restart the browser afterwards so it reloads the list. Menu names vary slightly between versions.
- Windows 11: Settings → Time & language → Language & region → “Language options” next to the language → install the speech pack. More voices: Settings → Time & language → Speech → “Manage voices”.
- macOS: System Settings → Accessibility → Spoken Content → System voice → “Manage Voices…”. You can download more voices there, often in higher quality (“Enhanced” or “Premium”).
- iPhone and iPad: Settings → Accessibility → Spoken Content → Voices → pick a language → download a voice. All browsers on iOS use the same system voices.
- Android: Settings → System → Languages (or “Languages & input”) → Text-to-speech output → gear icon next to the preferred engine (e.g. “Speech Services by Google”) → install voice data. The exact path depends on the manufacturer.
Worked example: how a text is split before reading
Chrome is known to cut off very long speech segments in the middle of the text. The tool therefore never hands over the whole text at once but goes piece by piece: first at sentence ends, and any sentence longer than 220 characters is split again at a comma or space. A side effect: you always see which piece is being read and can follow along. This is what happens to a text of 385 characters:
- The text is split into sentences at full stops.
- The second sentence has 321 characters – more than 220 – so it is cut after the last comma that fits (“…the updated travel policy,”).
- Result: 5 pieces, read one after another; “Next sentence” jumps from row to row.
| Piece | Characters | Text |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Dr. |
| 2 | 34 | Smith arrived at 9 a.m. on Monday. |
| 3 | 168 | The meeting covered the budget for the coming year, the new hiring plan for the sales team, the move to the larger office on the third floor, the updated travel policy, |
| 4 | 152 | and a long list of smaller questions that had been collected by every department over the past three months before anyone could finally agree on a date. |
| 5 | 24 | Then everyone went home. |
Rows 1 and 2 show a limit: the sentence detection treats the full stop after “Dr.” as a sentence end, so the voice pauses briefly after it. Writing “Dr Smith” avoids the pause.
Limitations
- No MP3 download: the Web Speech API plays the sound directly through your speakers and gives the web page no audio data. You cannot save an audio file with it – for that you need a text to speech program with an export function.
- Word highlighting: not every voice reports which word it is speaking. In that case the tool shows only the current sentence.
- Pronunciation: every voice handles abbreviations, numbers, foreign words and names differently. A voice that matches the language of the text almost always sounds better.
- Background: on phones, reading may stop when the screen turns off or you switch tabs.
Common mistakes
- Reading confidential text with an online voice: voices marked “Online” send the text to Google, Microsoft or another provider. Choose a voice without the label.
- A voice in the wrong language: an English voice reads German or Spanish text with English pronunciation. Pick a voice in the language of the text.
- Expecting exactly double speed at 2.0×: 1.0× is the normal rate of the chosen voice, and some speech engines limit the range further (MDN: SpeechSynthesisUtterance.rate). The same setting can sound faster or slower with another voice.
- Copying text straight from a PDF: hard line breaks in the middle of sentences are read as pauses. Clean them up first.
- Waiting for an MP3 download: browser speech output plays directly and cannot be saved as a file.
More text tools: pull text out of a photo with the image to text converter and have it read aloud, count words and reading time with the word counter, and remove stray line breaks from copied PDFs with the text cleaner, and fix text typed in capitals with the case converter.
Frequently asked questions
Is this text to speech free?
Yes. Speech output is part of your browser or operating system; the tool just controls it. There is no sign-up and no character limit.
Is my text sent anywhere?
This page does not store or send your text. But if you choose a voice marked “Online”, your browser sends the text to the voice provider (e.g. Google or Microsoft), because the audio is generated there. With a local voice, everything stays on your device.
Can I download the speech as an MP3?
No. The Web Speech API plays the audio directly and does not give the web page any audio data. For an audio file you need a text to speech program with an export function.
Why do I see only a few voices, or none at all?
The list comes from your device and browser. Install more voices in your system settings (instructions for Windows, macOS, iPhone and Android above) and restart the browser. Some browsers load the list only after a second or two.
Why do the voices sound different on my phone and my PC?
Every operating system ships its own voices, and browsers such as Chrome or Edge add some online voices of their own. The same text therefore sounds different on an iPhone than in Edge on Windows.
Why is no word highlighted?
Highlighting relies on the boundary event, which a voice uses to report the word it is speaking. Not every voice provides it. In that case you only see the current sentence.
Why does “Resume” start the sentence again?
The built-in pause function behaves differently depending on browser and device. The tool therefore interrupts the current sentence and reads it again when you resume – so it works the same everywhere.
Can I have text read in another language?
Yes. Choose a voice in the language of the text; the list is grouped by language. An English voice will read German text, but with English pronunciation.
Sources and legal basis
- MDN Web Docs – SpeechSynthesis (Web Speech API)
- MDN Web Docs – SpeechSynthesisVoice.localService (local or remote voice)
- MDN Web Docs – SpeechSynthesisUtterance: boundary event (word and sentence boundaries)
- W3C Audio Working Group – Web Speech API (specification, formerly WICG), section SpeechSynthesisVoice
As of: · Editorial policy
Related tools
- Word Counter and Character CounterCharacter counter: characters with and without spaces, words, sentences, reading and speaking time, top words – live, with limits for X, Instagram and SMS.
- Text CleanerRemove line breaks, extra spaces, empty lines and invisible characters, delete duplicate lines and sort lists. Free, instant and private in your browser.
- Case ConverterConvert text to UPPERCASE, lowercase, Title Case, Sentence case, camelCase, snake_case or kebab-case. Free, instant and private – runs in your browser.
- Text Compare: Find Differences Between Two TextsText compare online: see differences side by side or inline, by line, word or character. Jump between changes, save a patch. Private, in your browser.
- Lorem Ipsum GeneratorFree lorem ipsum generator: paragraphs, sentences or an exact word count, start with “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet”, optional HTML paragraph tags, one-click copy.
- Password GeneratorGenerate secure random passwords and memorable passphrases with entropy shown in bits — calculated right in your browser, nothing sent or stored.
- Fill-in-the-blank worksheet generator with word bankPaste a text, mark the words to blank out or let the tool pick them, add a word bank and an answer key – a printable cloze worksheet PDF in seconds. Free.
- Vocabulary test maker: printable test sheet from your own word listVocabulary test maker: paste a word list, pick direction and number of questions, then print a test sheet with answer lines and answer key as PDF. Free.
- Speed reading trainer: one word at a timePractice speed reading with RSVP: paste a text, pick words per minute, and words appear one by one with a focus letter and pauses at punctuation. Free.