Comparison

Chorus Reader vs Heard

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

Head to head
About

Chorus Reader

Transform your documents, articles, and files into natural-sounding audiobooks. Enjoy real-time streaming and studio-quality speech synthesis entirely on your device, with no internet connection required. Choose from a variety of voices or clone your own for a personalized listening experience.

Highlights
  • On-device text-to-audiobook generation
  • Real-time audio streaming
  • Supports EPUB, PDF, text, and Markdown
  • 30+ built-in voices
  • Voice cloning and recording
  • Standard and Turbo generation modes
  • Offline functionality
Features
Read full description

Turn anything you can read into an audiobook — narrated on your device, in a voice you choose. Even your own. Drop in an EPUB, PDF, or article. Chorus Reader detects chapters, generates natural AI narration right on your iPhone or iPad, and streams the audio as it is created. No account, no upload — your books and your voice never leave the device. LISTEN TO YOUR OWN LIBRARY • EPUB, PDF, plain text, Markdown, Word, and Pages files — even photos of pages • Share any article from Safari and it is waiting in your library • Follow RSS feeds and listen to their newest articles • Chapters detected automatically; skip, scrub, and set a sleep timer • Audio streams while it generates — start listening in seconds, keep listening in the background A BOOKSTORE, BUILT IN • The Chorus Library: more than a hundred hand-picked classics, free for every reader • Hear a sample of the actual book before you shelve it — narrated on the spot, on your device, in your chosen voice • A curated list of open-access research papers, organized by field, with the reason each one was chosen • One tap moves any of it into your library, ready to narrate PICK A VOICE — OR CLONE ONE • Standard engine (free): 40+ natural voices, narrating in English, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Hindi • Personal engine: clone any voice from 15 seconds of audio — yours, a friend's, a favorite narrator. English is built in; Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Portuguese download when you want them • Premium engine (on higher-memory iPhones and iPads): the most expressive narration, with multi-voice character dialogue PRIVATE BY DESIGN Narration happens on your device. There is no account, and nothing you read, record, or generate is ever uploaded — we could not see it if we wanted to. Airplane mode works fine for listening. FREE TO TRY, ONE-TIME UPGRADE The free tier includes the Standard engine, 40+ voices in six languages, audio export, the entire Chorus Library, and your first imported book. A single one-time purchase — never a subscription — unlocks every engine your device supports, voice cloning, multi-voice narration, and unlimited imports. Everything we ship later is included. WHAT READERS USE IT FOR • The half-finished novel sitting in your reading app • Textbooks and papers nobody bothered to record • Newsletters and longreads saved for "later" • Hearing drafts read back in your own voice Chorus Reader is built for the books you actually want to read.

About

Heard

Features
Read full description

Heard turns timeless books into audiobooks, narrated by a natural neural voice generated right on your device. No streaming, no accounts - just open a book and press play, for free. Because the narration is created on your phone, it works anywhere: on a plane, on the subway, or with the Wi‑Fi off. A CURATED LIBRARY, INCLUDED FREE • 56 classic works of literature — Austen, Dostoevsky, Dickens, Homer, the Brontës, Poe and more • Sourced from Project Gutenberg and in the public domain • Synced reading with Text to Speech • Speed control for speech A READER THAT GETS OUT OF THE WAY • Clean, distraction-free pages with light, dark, and sepia themes • Adjustable font size and serif, sans, or mono typefaces • Pages turn automatically as the narration reads along • Always picks up right where you left off LISTEN HANDS-FREE • Tap play and follow along, or just listen, included with free app • A pocket-safe "Lock Screen" mode dims the display and blocks accidental taps while it reads • Requires a one-time 350MB download HEARD PRO • Every neural voice — choose the narrator you like best • Import your own EPUB files and listen to any book you own • A simple subscription that supports independent, privacy-first development Heard is free to read and listen to the entire built-in library with one voice. Upgrade to Pro anytime to unlock all voices and import your own books. Books included for free: A Christmas Carol, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, A Doll's House, A Room with a View, A Tale of Two Cities, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Anna Karenina, Anne of Green Gables, Around the World in Eighty Days, Beowulf, Crime and Punishment, Don Quixote, Dracula, Emma, Frankenstein, Great Expectations, Gulliver's Travels, Heart of Darkness, Jane Eyre, Les Misérables, Little Women, Middlemarch, Moby Dick, Oliver Twist, Peter Pan, Pride and Prejudice, Robinson Crusoe, Romeo and Juliet, Sense and Sensibility, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Blue Castle, The Call of the Wild, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Enchanted April, The Great Gatsby, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Iliad, The Importance of Being Earnest, The King in Yellow, The Metamorphosis, The Odyssey, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Scarlet Letter, The Secret Garden, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Three Musketeers, The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Treasure Island, Twenty Years After, Wuthering Heights. — Heard Pro is an auto-renewing subscription, offered monthly or annually. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. The subscription renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period; manage or cancel anytime in your App Store account settings. Terms of Use: https://alana314.github.io/heard-microsite-public/#/terms Privacy Policy: https://alana314.github.io/heard-microsite-public/#/privacy

Screenshots

Chorus Reader4 screens
Heard4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Chorus Reader at weekly against Heard's every 2 weeks. Heard's advantage is iOS requirement (15.1 vs 26.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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. Chorus Reader sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Heard sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chorus Reader ships an update weekly, Heard every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Chorus Reader versus Heard: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChorus ReaderHeard
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (3 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings3 — better—
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS26.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size1.9 GB96 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperAleksander Allenalana. sh

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Chorus Reader

One-time1
  • Unlock Chorus$9.99
2 purchases

Heard

Subscriptions2
  • Heard Pro Monthly$3.991 Month
  • Heard Pro Annual$29.991 Year

Questions

Is Chorus Reader free?
Chorus Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Heard free?
Heard is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Chorus Reader or Heard have ads?
Neither Chorus Reader nor Heard shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Chorus Reader or Heard?
Chorus Reader ships an update weekly, and Heard every 2 weeks. Most recently, Chorus Reader was updated on October 24, 2026 and Heard on October 28, 2026.

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