# Speech Central vs Text to Speech Reader

The clearest difference is rating: Speech Central at 4.6 against Text to Speech Reader's 4.3. Speech Central also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks) and ratings volume (1.6K vs 240). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Speech Central sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Text to Speech Reader sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Speech Central holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Speech Central has 1.6K ratings behind it against 240, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 70% of Speech Central's written reviews are positive against 74% of Text to Speech Reader's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

Speech Central ships an update weekly, Text to Speech Reader every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 17, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Speech Central | Text to Speech Reader |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.6 (1.6K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/speech-central-voice-reader/id1127349155/reviews)** | [4.3 (240 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/text-to-speech-reader-readbit/id1545366628/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **1.6K** | 240 |
| Positive reviews | 69.6% of reviews | **73.9% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Weekly** | Every 3 weeks |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 34 MB | 51 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch** | iPhone, iPad, Vision Pro |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Labsii](https://appshunter.io/developer/1127349154) | [Virtual Collaboration Research Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/1455753337) |

## 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


### Text to Speech Reader

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/text-to-speech-reader-readbit/id1545366628)

This app converts text from various sources into natural-sounding audiobooks. It supports numerous file formats, offers advanced AI voices in multiple languages, and includes features like word-by-word highlighting and text summarization to enhance comprehension and save time.

**Highlights:** Convert text to audiobooks with AI voices, Supports PDFs, web articles, and scanned documents, 120+ natural-sounding voices in 27 languages, Word-by-word text highlighting, Summarizes text and extracts keywords, Adjustable speech rate, Personal reading habit tracker

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases (8)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Weekly Premium | $5.99 | per 7 days |
| Monthly Premium | $11.99 | per month |
| 6 Months Premium | $59.99 | per 6 months |
| Yearly Premium | $95.99 | per year |
| 50.000 Words | $14.99 | one-time |
| 75.000 Words | $19.99 | one-time |
| 150.000 Words | $19.99 | one-time |
| 150.000 Words | $29.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🎙️ Natural, human-like AI voices
- 👍 Free version with good functionality
- 📚 Excellent for students and dyslexic readers
- 🚀 Fast reading speed and multitasking capability
- 📱 User-friendly interface and easy to use

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezing
- ⏸️ Random pausing and stopping during playback
- 📄 Poor handling of PDFs and documents with images
- 🔤 Skips words, sentences, and entire paragraphs
- 💰 Expensive subscription model

**Reported bugs**

- App crashes when opening or loading large libraries
- Random data loss and document disappearance
- Text syncing issues causing data to vanish
- OCR misreads words and scrambles sentence order
- App freezes when adding multiple books

**Requested features**

- One-time lifetime purchase option instead of subscription
- Offline download capability for entire books
- Chrome browser extension
- Custom pronunciation settings for character names
- Option to skip footnotes, page numbers, and citations


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Speech Central free?

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

### Is Text to Speech Reader free?

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

### Which has better reviews, Speech Central or Text to Speech Reader?

Speech Central is rated higher. Speech Central averages 4.6 out of 5 from 1.6K ratings, while Text to Speech Reader averages 4.3 from 240 ratings.

### Do Speech Central or Text to Speech Reader have ads?

Neither Speech Central nor Text to Speech Reader shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Speech Central or Text to Speech Reader?

Speech Central ships an update weekly, and Text to Speech Reader every 3 weeks. Most recently, Speech Central was updated on September 24, 2026 and Text to Speech Reader on September 17, 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.*