SpeakLine vs plugdata
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SpeakLine
Transform written text into spoken audio with a variety of voices and languages. This app allows you to import documents, customize speech speed and pitch, and even export your audio. Enjoy a free, ad-free experience with optional support for ongoing development.
- Convert text to speech
- Import TXT/RTF files
- Export audio as CAF
- Multiple system voices
- Adjust speech speed and pitch
- SSML markup support
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SpeakLine lets your iPhone or iPad talk to you! Type some text, select a voice, and your iPhone or iPad reads it out loud. Enjoy your words with funny voices or read texts in native languages. FEATURES: • Import TXT or RTF files • Export your texts as an CAF audio file • Select between multiple system voices in different languages • Use your personal voices (only works on some devices) • Change the speed and pitch of the reading voice • Customize the UI with different appearance settings • Install more system voices via the system settings • Support for SSML markup to control voice properties All In-App Purchases are entirely optional. You can use SpeakLine completely free without any ads or limitations! Your tips will support the ongoing development over the last decade. *SpeakLine only uses the preinstalled system voices. They are all licensed under the Apple Software License Agreements (SLA).
plugdata
This app provides a visual programming environment for audio experimentation, prototyping, and education. It allows users to create and run audio patches on their mobile devices, enabling creative sound design on the go.
- Visual programming environment
- Audio experimentation
- Prototyping
- Educational tool
- Standalone application
- Audio plugins
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plugdata is visual programming environment for audio experimentation, prototyping and education. With plugdata for iOS, you can bring your plugdata patches with you everywhere you go. This app ships with a standalone application and audio plugins.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: plugdata at none against SpeakLine's 3. plugdata also leads on iOS requirement (12.0 vs 17.2). SpeakLine's advantage is review sentiment (75% vs 63%) and ratings volume (124 vs 17). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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
Both are free to download. SpeakLine sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. plugdata asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.4 for SpeakLine against 4.4 for plugdata. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SpeakLine has 124 ratings behind it against 17, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 75% of SpeakLine's written reviews are positive against 63% of plugdata's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SpeakLine | plugdata |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (124 ratings) | 4.4 (17 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 75.2% of reviews — better | 63.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 124 — better | 17 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 17.2 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 147 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Alexander Kaessner | Timothy Schoen |
Customer experience
SpeakLine
plugdata
Bugs and requests
SpeakLine
Reported bugs
2 issues- Crashes when accessing settings
- Inconsistent voice selection and speed changes
Requested features
4 requests- Add ability to pause and resume playback
- Implement more natural-sounding voices
- Provide option to highlight text as it's read
- Allow importing of files instead of just copy-pasting
plugdata
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
SpeakLine
- Small Tip$1.99
- Medium Tip$4.99
- Large Tip$9.99
plugdata
No in-app purchases
