Speech Central
An app that reads articles, PDFs and ebooks without a subscription.
What Speech Central does
Speech Central is a text to speech reader for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac and Android from a small studio. It reads web articles, RSS feeds, PDFs, EPUBs, Word and PowerPoint files using your device's voices, and Pro is a one-time purchase instead of a subscription.
Speech Central is the reader to look at if you're tired of subscriptions. The free version lets you listen to a few articles a day, and a one-time $9.99 Pro upgrade on iPhone and iPad removes the limit.
It reads a long list of formats: web articles shared from Safari, RSS feeds, PDFs (including scanned two-column ones), EPUB, Word, PowerPoint, Markdown and more. By default it uses Apple's built-in voices, which work offline. If you want AI voices, you can connect your own account with OpenAI, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud or xAI, but those services bill you separately.
The app is updated often and has been around since 2016. Per its App Store listing, Pro is free for blind listeners who use VoiceOver. It doesn't scan photos of pages, so if you mostly read printed books, pair it with a scanner app.
Alternatives to Speech Central
Who it's for
Skip it if: People who mostly listen to printed pages. Anyone who wants natural AI voices with zero setup.
Pricing
Free planThe free version limits how many articles you can listen to each day. Speech Central Pro is a one-time $9.99 purchase on iPhone and iPad, and also a one-time purchase on Android. The Mac app needs its own license, and AI voice services are billed by those providers.
Prices can vary by country. Checked 19 Oct 2026.
What people like
- Pro is a one-time $9.99 purchase
- Huge list of supported file types
- Works offline with built-in voices
- Free for blind VoiceOver listeners and schools, per the listing
Watch out for
- Built-in voices sound less natural than paid AI readers
- AI voices need your own paid API account
- Mac needs a separate license
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Questions people ask
Is Speech Central free?
It's free to try with a daily article limit. A one-time $9.99 Pro upgrade gives you unlimited listening.
Does Speech Central need a subscription?
No. Pro is a one-time purchase. Only optional AI voice services cost extra, billed by those services.
Can it read PDFs?
Yes, including scanned PDFs with two columns. It also reads EPUB, Word, PowerPoint and web articles.