# Speech Central vs Voice Aloud Reader

The clearest difference is ads: Speech Central at none against Voice Aloud Reader's shown. Speech Central also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months) and review sentiment (70% vs 59%). Voice Aloud Reader's advantage is ratings volume (19K vs 1.6K). On price, rating, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Speech Central sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Voice Aloud Reader sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Speech Central against 4.6 for Voice Aloud Reader. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Voice Aloud Reader has 19K ratings behind it against 1.6K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 70% of Speech Central's written reviews are positive against 59% of Voice Aloud Reader's.

Speech Central ships an update weekly, Voice Aloud Reader every 2 months. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.

## The numbers

| Metric | Speech Central | Voice Aloud Reader |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.6 (1.6K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/speech-central-voice-reader/id1127349155/reviews) | [4.6 (19K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/voice-aloud-reader/id1446876360/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 1.6K | **19K** |
| Positive reviews | **69.6% of reviews** | 58.7% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | **Weekly** | Every 2 months |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 34 MB | 74 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | [Labsii](https://appshunter.io/developer/1127349154) | [Marcin Olawski](https://appshunter.io/developer/992268205) |

## What reviewers say

### Speech Central

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/speech-central-voice-reader/id1127349155)

This app transforms text from various documents and web pages into speech, offering a distraction-free reading experience. It supports numerous file formats and provides customizable voices, including offline and AI options. Designed for productivity and accessibility, it syncs across Apple devices and offers study tools.

**Highlights:** Optimized PDF & Web Reading, Broad Document Support (PDF, EPUB, DOCX), Offline and Cloud AI Voices, Cross-device Sync, CarPlay & Apple Watch Support, Accessibility Profiles, Annotation and Export Tools

**Features:** Family Sharing, Apple Watch app, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Speech Central Pro | $9.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Life-saving app
- 👍 Nice app
- 👍 Great app
- 👍 Affordable and full-featured
- 👍 Excellent app for accessibility

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Not great
- 🐛 Trash
- 🐛 Robotic voices
- 🐛 Terrible voices
- 🐛 Buggy

**Reported bugs**

- Crashes when changing advanced settings
- Inconsistent behavior when importing documents
- Fails to recognize some file formats
- Playback issues with high-speed mode
- Repeating chapters unexpectedly

**Requested features**

- Add more natural-sounding voices
- Improve chapter/section navigation
- Allow custom pronunciation of words
- Add support for more languages
- Integrate with Bookshare library


### Voice Aloud Reader

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/voice-aloud-reader/id1446876360)

This application transforms written text into spoken words, making it ideal for those who are busy or have difficulty reading. It supports a wide range of document types and languages, offering a customizable listening experience.

**Highlights:** Reads text aloud, Supports various document formats, Over 40 languages supported, Customizable reading speed, pitch, and volume, Customizable interface and read modes, File sharing via iCloud/iTunes

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (4)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pro + Premium Voices 1m | $9.99 | per month |
| Premium OCR 100 | $0.99 | one-time |
| Premium OCR 800 | $1.99 | one-time |
| Pro version | $8.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Easy to use
- 🚀 Reads text quickly
- 💡 Helpful for people with reading disabilities
- 🤑 Good value for the price
- 🎉 Excellent text-to-speech quality

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Inconsistent behavior when pausing/resuming
- 🤖 Robotic-sounding voices
- 💰 Subscription model too expensive
- 🔍 Difficulty finding place in long documents
- 🤷‍♀️ Limited customization options

**Reported bugs**

- Randomly jumps to different sections of text
- Struggles with formatting of multi-column documents
- Occasional crashes when switching between apps

**Requested features**

- Add bookmarking/resume functionality
- Improve voice quality and pronunciation
- Allow custom voice speed increments
- Implement a way to delete documents from library
- Add support for iBooks library integration


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Speech Central free?

Speech Central is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Voice Aloud Reader free?

Voice Aloud Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Speech Central or Voice Aloud Reader?

Speech Central and Voice Aloud Reader are both rated 4.6 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1.6K and 19K ratings respectively.

### Do Speech Central or Voice Aloud Reader have ads?

Voice Aloud Reader shows ads; Speech Central does not.

### Which is updated more often, Speech Central or Voice Aloud Reader?

Speech Central ships an update weekly, and Voice Aloud Reader every 2 months. Most recently, Speech Central was updated on September 24, 2026 and Voice Aloud Reader on September 24, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*