Comparison

聽閱 ReadAloud vs PlotReader

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

Head to head
About

聽閱 ReadAloud

Transform any text into a hands-free audiobook. Supports EPUB, PDF, and TXT files, offering multiple reading modes and multilingual voices. Customize your reading experience with adjustable fonts, themes, and playback speeds.

Highlights
  • Text-to-speech conversion
  • EPUB, PDF, TXT support
  • Multiple reading modes
  • Multilingual voices (Cantonese, Mandarin, English)
  • Traditional/Simplified Chinese conversion
  • Customizable reading experience
  • Background audio playback
Features
Read full description

Turn any text into a hands-free audiobook. ReadAloud reads EPUB, PDF, and TXT files in Cantonese, Mandarin, or English using Apple's high-quality on-device voices — perfect for commuting, exercising, or resting your eyes. READING + LISTENING, TOGETHER Two reading modes that adapt to how you want to consume content: • Voice + Reading — see the full text with the current sentence highlighted as it's being read. • Listen-Only — distraction-free karaoke view showing the previous, current, and next sentences in large text. Ideal for closing your eyes and just listening. SUPPORTED FORMATS • EPUB (2 & 3) — automatic chapter detection • PDF — text extraction with chapter inference • TXT — plain text with smart chapter splitting • Clipboard — paste any article instantly • Printed pages — photograph a book or document and ReadAloud recognises the text on your device, then reads it aloud. Scanned PDFs with no text layer can be recognised the same way. Nothing is uploaded. MULTILINGUAL VOICES Switch between three voice languages — each remembers its own speed: • Cantonese (zh-HK) — 阿成, 善怡, and more • Mandarin (zh-CN / zh-TW) — 冬梅 (Liaoning), 浩浩 (Shaanxi), 盼盼 (Sichuan), 美嘉 (Taiwan), and others • English (en-US / en-GB / en-AU / en-IN) — Samantha, Daniel, Karen, and any installed English voice TRADITIONAL — SIMPLIFIED Built-in OpenCC engine converts between scripts at the word level — much more accurate than character-by-character mapping. Switch instantly without re-importing your book. SMART READING EXPERIENCE • Sentence-level highlighting that follows the voice • Auto-scroll keeps the spoken text in view • "Return to reading position" floating button when you scroll away • Tap-and-hold any text: read from here, look it up in the dictionary, translate it, highlight it, or fix how a word is pronounced • Highlights in four colours, with notes, exportable as Markdown • Edit a chapter's text when an import needs proofreading • Search within books with jump-to-result • Auto-detected chapters with table of contents • Background audio: keep listening with the screen locked • Built-in sleep timer (15 / 30 / 45 / 60 / 90 min) with soft fade-out CUSTOMISE EVERYTHING • Font size, line spacing, font family (serif, rounded, monospaced) • Three themes: dark, light, sepia • Orientation lock (auto / portrait / landscape) • Per-language playback speed • Voice gender preference (auto, male, female) 100% PRIVATE ReadAloud was built around a simple principle: your reading is none of our business. • No accounts, no sign-up, no login. • No analytics, no tracking, no ads. • Nothing you import, read, or listen to is ever sent anywhere. • All books and progress stay on your device. Delete the app and everything is gone. • The app only uses the network when you open the optional free book library and choose a book to download. BUILT FOR CHINESE READERS Many TTS apps cater only to Mandarin. ReadAloud is built by a Hong Kong developer with Cantonese readers in mind. Optimised tokenisation for traditional Chinese, comma-level phrase highlighting that keeps up with natural Cantonese rhythm, and a dedicated voice picker that surfaces "粵語 (香港)" voices first if your default is Cantonese. FREE, NO ADS, NO CATCH No ads. No subscription. No analytics, no tracking, no account. There is no "pro" tier — every reading and listening feature described above is free for everyone, permanently. That also means the app earns nothing on its own, while hosting the free book library and its downloads costs real money. If ReadAloud is useful to you, Settings has a completely optional "Support the developer" section. Supporters get an exclusive app icon and a thank-you mark — that is all it unlocks. Nothing else is ever locked, and the app will never interrupt you to ask. Developed and maintained by Heion Technologies — feedback welcome at terence@heiontech.com. Privacy Policy & Support: https://heiontech.com/readaloud

About

PlotReader

Features
Read full description

PlotReader is a private ebook reader for macOS. Import TXT, EPUB, PDF, and MOBI books, keep reading progress locally, add bookmarks and notes, and customize your reading experience with themes, font size, line spacing, scroll mode, and system read-aloud voices. When you want a faster overview of a chapter, PlotReader offers optional AI reading tools, including plot summaries and relationship maps. AI features are not enabled by default. You provide your own API key and model service endpoint, and chapter content is sent only when you request generation and allow chapter sharing in Settings. PlotReader also supports optional iCloud backup and restore. Backup data is stored in your private iCloud database. API keys are stored in macOS Keychain and are never included in iCloud backups. Key Features: - Import local TXT, EPUB, PDF, and MOBI books - Local bookshelf, reading progress, bookmarks, notes, and reading statistics - Custom font size, line spacing, themes, and scroll mode - Optional AI plot summaries - Optional AI relationship maps - Read aloud with system voices - Optional on Mac, iPhone, and iPad, with reading progress and your library synced across devices via iCloud. - No app account system

Screenshots

聽閱 ReadAloud4 screens
PlotReader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: PlotReader at every 2 weeks against 聽閱 ReadAloud's monthly. PlotReader also leads on device support (4 vs 2) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). On price, 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

聽閱 ReadAloud ships an update monthly, PlotReader every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 5 level
聽閱 ReadAloud versus PlotReader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameter聽閱 ReadAloudPlotReader
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews—
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS17.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB29 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKa Hei MAK伟 叶

In-app purchases

None

聽閱 ReadAloud

No in-app purchases

None

PlotReader

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is 聽閱 ReadAloud free?
聽閱 ReadAloud is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is PlotReader free?
PlotReader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do 聽閱 ReadAloud or PlotReader have ads?
Neither 聽閱 ReadAloud nor PlotReader shows ads.
Which is updated more often, 聽閱 ReadAloud or PlotReader?
聽閱 ReadAloud ships an update monthly, and PlotReader every 2 weeks. Most recently, 聽閱 ReadAloud was updated on October 7, 2026 and PlotReader on September 24, 2026.

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