LoudReader vs KO Reader
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
LoudReader
Convert any ebook, PDF, or web article into an audiobook using natural AI voices. Enjoy unlimited, private, and offline listening with word-by-word highlighting. Offers premium features like adjustable speed and a sleep timer via subscription.
- Convert ebooks, PDFs, web articles to audio
- Natural AI voices
- 100% offline and private
- Word-by-word highlighting
- Import own files
- Background playback
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Turn any ebook, PDF, or web article into an audiobook with LoudReader — the text-to-speech (TTS) voice reader that reads your books aloud in natural AI voices. 100% offline, completely private, and free to listen with no limits. FREE FOREVER — NO LIMITS, NO QUOTAS Listen to as many books as you want, cover to cover, at no cost. No account, no sign-up, no data collection. Every premium voice is free to try for your first 8 hours of listening. LISTEN TO ANY BOOK, ANYWHERE • Download 70,000+ free classics from Project Gutenberg • Import your own EPUB and PDF files • Save and listen to any web article • A bundled collection of beautifully formatted public-domain classics to get you started LoudReader instantly converts them into an immersive audiobook with high-quality, human-sounding narration. FOLLOW ALONG AS YOU LISTEN Word-by-word highlighting keeps you engaged and improves comprehension — see exactly where you are as the narration flows. A great companion for language learners, students, and readers with dyslexia or ADHD. MAKE IT YOURS • Natural AI voices, male and female • Night mode for comfortable reading after dark • Jump to any chapter instantly • Background playback with the screen locked Premium adds adjustable speed (0.3×–3.0×), a sleep timer, ambient soundscapes, and notes & highlights. 100% OFFLINE & PRIVATE BY DESIGN All speech synthesis happens entirely on your device. Your books and reading habits never leave your phone — no cloud, no servers, no tracking. Once a book is on your device it plays with zero connectivity, perfect for flights, the subway, or anywhere off the grid. SUPPORTED FORMATS • EPUB (DRM-free) • PDF (with text extraction) • Web articles (via the Share Extension) SUBSCRIPTION LoudReader is free to use with unlimited listening, forever. Upgrade to Premium to keep every AI voice and add adjustable speed, a sleep timer, ambient soundscapes, and notes & highlights. • Monthly: $7.99 • Annual: $49.99 • Lifetime: $199.99 (one-time) 1-month free trial for eligible new subscribers. Payment is charged to your Apple ID; a subscription automatically renews unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the period. Lifetime is a one-time purchase and does not renew. Whether you're commuting, exercising, or relaxing at home, LoudReader turns reading time into listening time. Privacy Policy: https://loudreader.io/privacy Terms of Use: https://loudreader.io/terms
KO Reader
This app transforms web articles, ebooks, and PDFs into natural-sounding speech using on-device AI. Enjoy private, offline listening with customizable voices and playback speeds. Export audio for later or read anywhere without an internet connection.
- On-device text-to-speech
- Supports web articles, EPUB, PDF, and plain text
- 53 neural voices in 9 languages
- Customizable playback speed
- Audio export to m4a/m4b
- Offline functionality
- Privacy-focused, no tracking
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KO Reader turns web articles, ebooks, and PDFs into natural-sounding speech — entirely on your device. No cloud, no tracking, no subscriptions. Paste a URL or open an EPUB or PDF, and KO Reader reads it aloud with a neural AI voice. Everything runs locally, so your reading stays private and works anywhere — on the train, on a plane, or off-grid. Export your favorite articles or books to m4a or m4b files. WHAT YOU CAN READ • Web articles — Wikipedia, news sites, blogs, and Substack • Fanfiction — Archive of Our Own, Royal Road, and Wattpad, with chapter detection • EPUB ebooks with full chapter navigation • PDF documents • Plain text — paste or type any content • Safari Share Extension — send articles to KO Reader with one tap NATURAL AI VOICES • 53 neural voices across 9 languages: American and British English, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Mandarin, and Hindi • Preview any voice before selecting it • Mark favorites for quick access • Playback speed from 0.5x to 2.0x • Smart heteronym resolution — the voice knows the difference between "lead" (the metal) and "lead" (to guide), "wound" (injury) and "wound" (past of wind) • Custom pronunciation dictionary — teach the reader how to say names, jargon, or anything you like READ YOUR WAY • Reading queue — line up multiple articles and auto-advance • Bookmarks — save passages to come back to • Reading history — pick up where you left off, across books and articles • Chapter pre-generation — book chapters start instantly, no waiting between them • Audio export — save generated audio for offline listening • Adjustable article font (system, serif, monospaced, rounded) and Dynamic Type support BUILT FOR ACCESSIBILITY • Full VoiceOver support with labeled controls throughout • Haptic feedback on transport controls and sleep timer • Background audio — listen while you use other apps or with the screen off • Sleep timer — stops playback when you drift off • Works with AirPods, Bluetooth speakers, and CarPlay RUNS EVERYWHERE • Universal app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac • macOS keyboard shortcuts (Space to play/pause, Cmd+← and Cmd+→ to skip) • Optimized for Apple Silicon with optional CoreML acceleration • Adjustable CPU thread count for performance tuning PRIVACY FIRST • 100% on-device TTS — your content never leaves your phone • No accounts, no analytics, no tracking, no ads • No internet required after the one-time model download • Reading progress stored locally only KO Reader downloads a ~350 MB neural voice model on first launch. After that, everything works fully offline. Powered by the open-source Kokoro TTS model (Apache 2.0).
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: LoudReader at Free against KO Reader's $3.99. KO Reader's advantage is rating (3.7 vs 2.5) and in-app purchases (none vs 3). On ratings volume, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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
LoudReader is free to download; KO Reader costs $3.99 up front. LoudReader sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. KO Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.
KO Reader holds the better App Store score, 3.7 against 2.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 3 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 33% of LoudReader's written reviews are positive against 67% of KO Reader's.
| Parameter | LoudReader | KO Reader |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $3.99 |
| Rating | 2.5 (4 ratings) | 3.7 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 33.3% of reviews | 66.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 4 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | #88 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 — better | 18.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1.2 GB | 26 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Jeremi Podlasek | James Carrell II |
Customer experience
LoudReader
KO Reader
In-app purchases
LoudReader
- LoudReader Monthly Premium$7.991 Month
- LoudReader Annual Premium1 Month trial$49.991 Year
- Lifetime Premium$199.99
KO Reader
No in-app purchases





