Text to Speech: read text aloud
Paste your text, choose a voice and press Read aloud. The tool uses the speech engine of your device and browser, reads sentence by sentence and highlights the spoken word where the voice supports it.
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 1.0× is normal, 0.5× is half as fast, 2.0× twice as fast. 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.
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). 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.
Why the text is split into sentences
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 sentence by sentence; very long sentences are split at commas or spaces. A side effect: you always see which sentence is being read and can follow along.
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.
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:
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