Comparison

NaturalReader vs Timber

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

NaturalReader

This app transforms text from various sources, including documents, web pages, and images, into natural-sounding spoken audio. It offers a wide selection of AI voices and languages, with features designed to enhance the listening experience and assist users with reading difficulties.

Highlights
  • Reads aloud PDFs, web articles, and cloud documents
  • OCR text recognition for images and camera scanner
  • Over 200 AI-powered voices in 99+ languages
  • Convert text to MP3 audio files
  • Dyslexia-friendly reading tools
  • Customizable voices, speeds, and display options
Features
Read full description

Transform any text, PDF, document, cloud file, or webpage into high-quality audio with NaturalReader. Trusted by over 1 million monthly users and backed by 15 years of AI technology experience, we are the ultimate tool for productivity and accessibility. GET STARTED INSTANTLY Start for Free: No account required to start listening. No Ads: Enjoy a completely ad-free experience so you can focus entirely on your content. EXPERIENCE NATURAL TEXT-TO-SPEECH Listen to Any Text: Seamlessly support for PDF, Cloud Files (Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive), MS Word (.doc & .docx), MS PowerPoint, Mac documents, RTF, TXT, DRM-free EPUB eBooks, and image files. OCR Camera Scanner: Snap a photo of a physical book, handout, or printed notes to convert them into spoken audio instantly. Download MP3: Save audio files in MP3 format for offline listening on any device. Cross-Platform Sync: Create a free account to sync your history across devices. Start listening on your mobile device and seamlessly switch to the NaturalReader Online Reader. NATURAL READING EXPERIENCE Customizable Tones & Delivery: Use a simple prompt to customize the tone and delivery of your narrator to perfectly match your content. 200+ High-Quality Voices: Access 200+ AI voices in 90+ languages. Find the perfect narrator for any type of document. Speaker Controls: Speed up playback (up to 5x) to save time, or slow down (0.5x) for deep comprehension. Adjust the number of speakers, pause duration, and sentence repetition, perfect for language learning. AI-POWERED PRODUCTIVITY AI Podcasts: Condense long readings into engaging AI Podcasts to consume content faster. AI Recap: Instantly generate concise summaries of your documents. Voice Cloning: Create a custom AI voice that sounds just like you. AI Quizzes: Study smarter by testing your knowledge with automatically generated quizzes. ACCESSIBILITY & READING TOOLS Dyslexia Friendly: Enhanced reading support with dyslexia-friendly fonts and customizable reading modes. Visual Aids: Follow along easily with synchronized word/sentence highlighting and closed captions. Annotations: Highlight important passages and add notes to organize key information effortlessly.

About

Timber

This app transforms any text into spoken audio, allowing you to listen to articles, books, and documents. It offers a wide selection of voices and languages, with advanced features for customization and offline processing. The core reader is free and respects user privacy.

Highlights
  • Text-to-speech conversion
  • Supports links, PDFs, and photos
  • 300+ voices in 71 languages
  • On-device processing for privacy
  • Customizable reading experience
  • Offline translation and summarization
  • Export audio files
Features
Read full description

Timber turns readers into listeners. Anything you want to read, you can listen to instead. Paste a link, drop in a PDF, open a book, or snap a photo of a printed page. Timber pulls out the real text, cleanly, and reads it aloud in a voice you pick. There is a companion desktop app that moves your open browser tabs into your ears. Ever asked your phone to read a page aloud and had it stop halfway, or skip the part that mattered? That is not you missing a setting. Most reader tools are not built to get the whole article. Timber pulls the full text out first, before it ever starts speaking. What you paste is what you hear, start to finish. It was built by a teacher, after watching students struggle to read, who could not find one app that read well, respected privacy, and did not hold the basics hostage. WHAT TIMBER PROMISES • No account. No sign-up. Open it and read. • The core reader is free, and stays free. • What you read is nobody's business. Articles, books and clipboard text are processed on your device. What you read is never shared, sold, or used for ads. VOICES, PROPERLY • 300+ voices across 71 languages, free, spoken entirely on your device. • Every Apple voice on your device works, free, including Enhanced and Premium. • Every voice library includes a free male and female voice in your language. No teaser locked behind a trial. • Record a reference of your own voice and Timber can read in it. Created on device, never uploaded. A READER THAT FEELS LIKE PAPER • Warm parchment design. An open book under a reading lamp, not a tech product. • Every word lights up as it is spoken, and keeps pace whether you slow it right down or push it fast. • Tune the size, the face and the line spacing until it is comfortable. 30 palettes built in, plus a full dyslexia mode. BRING ANYTHING • Paste a link and Timber extracts the article. No ads, no popups, just the text. • Share from Safari or any browser. Import PDFs, EPUB, Word and PowerPoint. Follow RSS feeds. • Point your camera at a printed page and Timber reads it back to you. • Scanned chapters carry junk on every page. Timber spots a line that repeats and silences it across the whole document in one tap. • Browse 70,000+ free public-domain books from Project Gutenberg. • Translate an article on device, or get a quick summary on device. No cloud, no AI account. • Export any article as spoken audio to take with you. • Optional iCloud sync keeps your library on all your devices. FOR CLASSROOMS AND STUDY • Mark passages while you listen, then hand out what you marked as a worksheet. • MLA and APA citations built in. • A chapter becomes a lesson in the time it takes to listen to it. TIMBER PRO (optional, subscribe or pay once) The free reader is complete. Pro unlocks the full neural voice catalog beyond each library's free pair, the whole speed range, every palette, and ongoing personal-voice listening after the free 24-hour trial. Monthly, yearly, or lifetime. The trial simply lapses. It never auto-charges. Privacy Policy: https://timberreader.com/privacy.html Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Timber was made for the kid in the back row who hears a story better than they can read it, and for everyone whose eyes are tired, busy, or somewhere else. If that is you, welcome.

Screenshots

NaturalReader4 screens
Timber4 screens

Verdict

The call

NaturalReader and Timber both sit at 4.6 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of Timber's written reviews are positive against 71% of NaturalReader's. Timber also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs every 3 weeks). NaturalReader's advantage is ratings volume (9.2K vs 3) and chart position (#137 vs unranked). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. NaturalReader sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and Timber sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for NaturalReader against 4.7 for Timber. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: NaturalReader has 9.2K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 71% of NaturalReader's written reviews are positive against 100% of Timber's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

NaturalReader ships an update every 3 weeks, Timber every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
NaturalReader versus Timber: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNaturalReaderTimber
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (9.2K ratings)4.7 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews71.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings9.2K — better3
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#137 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS16.4 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size67 MB287 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNaturalSoft LimitedTruth in the Machine LLC

Customer experience

NaturalReader

All ratings9,105 ratings
Positive90.0%
Neutral3.2%
Negative6.7%
Written reviews1,309 reviews
Positive71.0%
Neutral7.6%
Negative21.4%

Timber

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

NaturalReader

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Inconsistent performance across devices
  • Issues with reading content in locked mode
  • Unexpected changes to user settings and subscriptions

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to organize files in subfolders
  • Longer sleep timer option
  • Improved handling of italicized text
  • Option to add cover images for files
  • Offline mode for accessing saved content

Timber

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

6 purchases

NaturalReader

Subscriptions6
  • Premium Plan - Monthly$9.991 Month
  • Plus Plan - Monthly$20.901 Month
  • Pro Plan - Monthly$25.901 Month
Show 3 more
  • Premium Plan - Yearly$59.991 Year
  • Plus Plan - Yearly$119.001 Year
  • Pro Plan - Yearly$159.001 Year
4 purchases

Timber

Subscriptions2
  • Timber Pro Monthly$5.991 Month
  • Timber Pro Yearly$39.991 Year
One-time2
  • Your Own Voice$14.99
  • Timber Pro Lifetime$99.99

Questions

Is NaturalReader free?
NaturalReader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Timber free?
Timber is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, NaturalReader or Timber?
Timber is rated higher. NaturalReader averages 4.6 out of 5 from 9.2K ratings, while Timber averages 4.7 from 3 ratings.
Do NaturalReader or Timber have ads?
Neither NaturalReader nor Timber shows ads.
Which is updated more often, NaturalReader or Timber?
NaturalReader ships an update every 3 weeks, and Timber every 5 days. Most recently, NaturalReader was updated on November 7, 2026 and Timber on November 5, 2026.

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