Comparison

Ghost Reader Live vs Local TTS

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

Head to head
About

Ghost Reader Live

This app transforms documents and web content into spoken audio using on-device voices. Listen privately while following along with highlighted text, with options to adjust speed, navigate, and use lock-screen controls. A free tier offers limited daily listening, with premium options for unlimited access.

Highlights
  • On-device TTS narration
  • Focus mode with highlighting and auto-scroll
  • Adjustable listening speed (0.5x to 2x)
  • Document navigation and resume playback
  • Lock-screen and headphone controls
  • Sleep timer and MP3 export
  • Privacy-focused, no account required
Features
Read full description

Turn reading into listening — privately. Ghost Reader narrates PDFs, EPUBs, web articles, Markdown, and plain-text files with natural on-device voices. Import a document or paste a link, then listen while following the text in Focus mode. YOUR DOCUMENTS STAY WITH YOU Narration is generated on your iPhone. Your documents, extracted text, and audio are not sent to our servers. No account is required. MADE FOR LISTENING • Follow along with sentence highlighting and auto-scroll • Pick a voice and adjust listening speed from 0.5× to 2× • Navigate to any part of a document and resume where you stopped • Use lock-screen and headphone play/pause controls when narration is ready • Set a sleep timer or export narration as an MP3 FREE TO START Enjoy 30 minutes of narration each day for free. Upgrade through the App Store for unlimited listening with Monthly or Lifetime Access. Requires iPhone 12 or newer. Privacy Policy: https://bighippolabs.com/page-ghostreader/privacy.html Terms of Use: https://bighippolabs.com/page-ghostreader/terms.html

About

Local TTS

This app converts text into lifelike speech using on-device processing. It supports various file formats, including PDFs and Word documents, and allows scanning printed pages. Enjoy offline playback with customizable voices and background audio controls.

Highlights
  • 100% offline text-to-speech
  • Import PDF, EPUB, Word, TXT, Markdown
  • Scan printed pages with camera (OCR)
  • Background playback with lock screen controls
  • iCloud sync across devices
  • Adjustable playback speed
  • Word-by-word highlighting
Features
Read full description

Local TTS turns any text into natural speech with 38 neural voices, powered by the open-source Kokoro-82M and Supertonic 3 engines — 100% offline, right on your iPhone or iPad. Listen to PDFs, e-books, articles, scans, and notes with no internet, no account, and no tracking. Nothing ever leaves your device. TWO OPEN-SOURCE NEURAL ENGINES • Kokoro-82M: 28 natural American and British English voices • Supertonic 3: multilingual voices that read 31 languages, with automatic language detection • Every voice runs entirely on your device — it even works in airplane mode ALL 31 LANGUAGES English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Slovenian, Croatian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Hungarian, Greek, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian, Turkish, Arabic, Hindi, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Japanese, and Korean. READ FROM ALMOST ANYTHING • Files: import PDF, EPUB, Word (DOCX), TXT, and Markdown • Paper: scan a printed page with the camera, or read text from a photo — on-device OCR • Everything else: paste text or type your own notes A READING VIEW THAT FOLLOWS ALONG • Word-by-word highlighting synced to the audio • Immersive mode: the toolbar and player tuck away while you listen — or pin the player • Make it yours: choose the reading font and text size • Search inside a document, jump from the PDF table of contents, and pick up right where you left off • Natural delivery: dates, units, and Roman numerals are read the way people actually say them MADE FOR LISTENING • Background playback with lock screen and Control Center controls • Adjustable playback speed • A different voice for each note, plus tags to keep things organized • Private iCloud sync across iPhone and iPad FREE PLAN • One Supertonic 3 multilingual voice that reads all 31 languages • Three premium Kokoro-82M English voices • Read up to 500 characters per note • No account required — and no ads, ever GO PRO — UNLOCK EVERYTHING • Unlimited text: paste or import with no 500-character cap • The full catalog of all 38 neural voices • Export speech as M4A audio files to play anywhere, on any device • Full multi-page PDF import • Still 100% offline and private, even with Pro SUPPORTED DEVICES On-device neural speech needs a recent chip, so Local TTS requires: • iPhone 12 or later • iPad (10th generation) or later • iPad Air (4th generation) or later • iPad mini (6th generation) or later • iPad Pro (M1, 2021) or later • iOS / iPadOS 18.6 or later Download Local TTS and turn every screen into your personal narrator. • Contact: support@richsoft.app • Privacy Policy: https://richsoft.app/tts/privacy • Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Ghost Reader Live4 screens
Local TTS4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Ghost Reader Live at 5.0 against Local TTS's 4.6. Local TTS's advantage is ratings volume (9 vs 1). On price, update cadence, 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. Ghost Reader Live sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.49 per month and Local TTS sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Ghost Reader Live holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Local TTS has 9 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Ghost Reader Live ships an update every 11 days, Local TTS weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Ghost Reader Live versus Local TTS: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGhost Reader LiveLocal TTS
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better4.6 (9 ratings)
Positive reviews—80.0% of reviews
Number of ratings19 — better
Update frequencyEvery 11 daysWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFreemium
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS18.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size340 MB529 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJan AncajasRich Soft Co., Ltd

Customer experience

Ghost Reader Live

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Local TTS

All ratings9 ratings
Positive88.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative11.1%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive80.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative20.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Ghost Reader Live

Subscriptions1
  • Ghost Reader7 Days trial$0.491 Month
One-time1
  • Lifetime Access$14.99
2 purchases

Local TTS

Subscriptions1
  • Local TTS Pro Monthly$4.991 Month
One-time1
  • Local TTS Pro Lifetime$19.99

Questions

Is Ghost Reader Live free?
Ghost Reader Live is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Local TTS free?
Local TTS is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Ghost Reader Live or Local TTS?
Ghost Reader Live is rated higher. Ghost Reader Live averages 5.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while Local TTS averages 4.6 from 9 ratings.
Do Ghost Reader Live or Local TTS have ads?
Neither Ghost Reader Live nor Local TTS shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Ghost Reader Live or Local TTS?
Ghost Reader Live ships an update every 11 days, and Local TTS weekly. Most recently, Ghost Reader Live was updated on October 13, 2026 and Local TTS on October 19, 2026.

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