VoiceForge Reader vs ToBe SAID
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
VoiceForge Reader
Convert text, documents, and scanned pages into speech. Listen to spoken words, follow along with translations, and customize your reading experience with various voices and playback speeds.
- Text-to-speech conversion
- Document and PDF import
- On-device translation
- Customizable voices and playback speed
- Action Button integration
- Background listening with Lock Screen controls
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Turn text, printed pages and PDFs into speech. VoiceForge Reader helps you listen to what you choose, follow the words as they are spoken, and read alongside a translation. READ WITH THE ACTION BUTTON On a compatible iPhone, follow the in-app guide to add the VoiceForge Reader shortcut. Tap Open Action Button Settings, choose Shortcut, then select VoiceForge Reader. Copy text, then press and hold the Action Button to begin reading in the background. The step-by-step guide is available in Settings and Help. CHOOSE YOUR VOICE Use Microsoft Edge voices online or installed Apple system voices on your device. Save language and voice choices separately for each source, preview voices, and find guidance for downloading more Apple voices in iOS Settings. BRING YOUR OWN TEXT Paste text, share it from another app, import a PDF or text file, or scan a printed page. Crop, rotate and recognize text locally with the document scanner. TRANSLATE AND FOLLOW ALONG Translate supported language pairs with Apple's on-device translation services. View original and translated text in synchronized panes, follow karaoke highlights, and tap words to move through the reading. Longer documents can translate progressively as reading continues. STAY IN CONTROL Adjust playback from 0.5x to 2.0x, pause, seek and restart. Continue listening in the background, with Lock Screen and Dynamic Island controls on supported devices. The interface is available in English, French, Russian, Ukrainian, Arabic, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Turkish and Chinese. Speech voices and translation languages have their own availability. Microsoft Edge voices require an internet connection and send the selected text to Microsoft for speech generation. Installed Apple voices render speech on your device. OCR is local. Apple voices and translation resources may need downloading, and supported languages vary. Action Button and Dynamic Island features require compatible hardware and iOS versions. Edge data transfer requires your permission, which you can withdraw in Settings. No account is required. VoiceForge does not include advertising or app analytics SDKs. Open-source notices and LGPL source/relink materials: https://risvoice.github.io/voiceforge-legal/support.html#open-source
ToBe SAID
This app provides a high-performance, offline AI voice generator and system-wide Text-to-Speech engine for enhanced privacy. It transforms documents and books into natural-sounding audiobooks, integrating seamlessly with your existing reading and productivity applications.
- Offline AI voice generation
- System-wide Text-to-Speech engine
- Convert EPUB/PDF to audiobooks
- Seamless integration with other apps
- Clone and create personal voices
- 100% local processing for privacy
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Your Voice. Your Device. Your Privacy. ToBe SAID gives your iPhone, iPad, and Mac natural AI voices that run on the device itself. It is a system-wide Text-to-Speech (TTS) engine: once installed, its voices appear in your system voice list, so VoiceOver, Spoken Content, and any app that can use system voices can speak with them. No servers. No ads. No in-app purchases. No tracking. ToBe SAID is a voice provider, not a reading app. It works together with the apps you already use: your e-book reader, your PDF viewer, your AAC communication app, or the system's own Speak features. TRY IT IN SECONDS Open the app, type some text, and hear it instantly. The English voices are ready the moment you install. Other languages need a one-time voice download, and after that they work fully offline: on a plane, on a train, or anywhere without a signal. WHAT YOU GET, FREE • 4 natural English voices • 2 natural voices in each of 23 other languages • All voices work system-wide, in every app that lists system voices • Works offline after the one-time voice download • No ads and no in-app purchases HEAR YOUR OWN VOICE Voice cloning preview: import a short audio file (MP3, WAV, OGG, and other popular formats, any length: ToBe SAID trims it automatically; 15 seconds is all it needs) and hear your clone speak inside the app. In this free app, the clone is a preview and stays inside the app. WANT TO KEEP YOUR CLONES? ToBe SAID Pro is a separate app with the same voices, plus an unlimited voice library: save as many cloned voices as you like and use them in every app that uses system voices. 24 LANGUAGES English, Chinese, Czech, Dutch, Egyptian, Estonian, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Kannada, Korean, Malayalam, Marathi, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tamil, Telugu and Turkish. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Everything runs on your device. Your text and your audio files stay with you. Only clone your own voice or voices you have permission to use.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: ToBe SAID at every 4 days against VoiceForge Reader's every 3 months. On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for VoiceForge Reader against 5.0 for ToBe SAID. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 2 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
VoiceForge Reader ships an update every 3 months, ToBe SAID every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | VoiceForge Reader | ToBe SAID |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 2 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 11 MB | 237 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | ROMAN SERPER | Bakhtiar Lukman |
Customer experience
VoiceForge Reader
ToBe SAID
In-app purchases
VoiceForge Reader
No in-app purchases
ToBe SAID
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is VoiceForge Reader free?
Is ToBe SAID free?
Which has better reviews, VoiceForge Reader or ToBe SAID?
Do VoiceForge Reader or ToBe SAID have ads?
Which is updated more often, VoiceForge Reader or ToBe SAID?
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