Comparison

PDF Reader, Read Aloud vs Leola

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

Head to head
About

PDF Reader, Read Aloud

Features
Read full description

PDF Reader helps you open, read, listen to, search, and manage PDF documents from one place. Features: • Open and read PDF files. • Listen to readable PDF text using text-to-speech. • Start listening from the page you are viewing. • Follow the spoken text with word highlighting. • Automatically continue to the next page while listening. • Search for words and phrases inside PDF documents. • Add annotations, highlights, and drawings. • Save your PDF changes. • Keep recently opened PDFs for quick access. • Add PDFs to Favorites. • Use light and dark appearance modes. PDF Reader provides a simple way to work with pdf documents whether you prefer reading on screen or listening to their text aloud. Some PDF files may contain scanned pages or images without readable text. Text-to-speech and search features require readable text in the PDF.

About

Leola

Features
Read full description

Everything you saved to read, read aloud. Leola puts articles, PDFs, pasted text and notes in a library with a queue and playlists, like a music app. The voices are generated on your iPhone: no cloud, no account, no credits. NO AI TOKEN COSTS Leola's voices come from a neural text-to-speech model that runs on the chip in your iPhone. No cloud service bills per word, so there are no credits to buy and no word limits. It downloads the voice model once; after that, Leola works in airplane mode. What it uses is your battery and storage. ADD IT IN A TAP Share an article from Safari, paste text or import a PDF. LISTEN LIKE MUSIC A queue, playlists, a mini player and lock screen controls. Each item remembers the exact sentence where you stopped, and the queue keeps going when it ends. Sleep timer included. LISTEN OFFLINE (PLUS) Download a reading and it plays with no connection and no wait for the voice: on a plane, on the subway, anywhere. A download icon in the row shows what is downloaded, and the Downloaded filter in your library finds it. See and free up the space it uses in Settings › Voices and storage. FOLLOW EVERY SENTENCE The sentence being read is highlighted, so you can look down and find your place. 0.75Ɨ to 2Ɨ free, up to 3Ɨ with Plus. PDFS, CLEANED UP (PLUS) Footnotes, citation brackets, page headers and page numbers are skipped, so you hear the text, not the layout. KEEP IT AS AUDIO, FOR YOU (PLUS) Save a reading as an M4A file to Files or AirDrop it, and listen without the app: in the car, on a walk, on an old player. Downloads are for your personal use: please don't share audio of other people's writing. Each file says in its metadata that the voice is machine-generated. YOUR TEXT STAYS ON YOUR iPHONE What you add is never sent to us or to any server. No sign-up, no email, no password. VOICES AT LAUNCH English, Spanish and Portuguese (Brazil). Free includes one voice per language; Plus, all of them. FREE • On-device neural voices, one per language • Articles, pasted text and notes • A queue of up to 3 items and 1 playlist • Resume, lock screen controls, sleep timer, 0.75–2Ɨ • 1 trial audio download, up to 10 minutes • 1 trial offline download, up to 10 minutes LEOLA PLUS • Offline downloads with no cap • Audio downloads (M4A) with no cap • Every voice • PDFs that skip footnotes, headers and page numbers • Library, queue and playlists with no cap; speed up to 3Ɨ SUBSCRIPTION Leola Plus is available as a yearly subscription with a 7-day free trial ($34.99/year after the trial), a monthly subscription ($5.99/month, no trial) or a one-time Lifetime purchase ($59.99). Prices are in US dollars and may vary by country. Payment is charged to your Apple Account when you confirm the purchase, or when the free trial ends. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the period ends. We remind you 2 days before your trial ends. Manage or cancel anytime in your Apple Account settings. Voices by Supertonic 3 (Supertone), used under the OpenRAIL-M license. Terms of Use: https://leola.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://leola.app/privacy Questions: hello@leola.app

Screenshots

PDF Reader, Read Aloud4 screens
Leola4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: PDF Reader, Read Aloud at none against Leola's 3. PDF Reader, Read Aloud also leads on iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.0). On price, update cadence, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Both are free to download. Leola sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. PDF Reader, Read Aloud asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly daily. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences Ā· 4 level
PDF Reader, Read Aloud versus Leola: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPDF Reader, Read AloudLeola
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyDailyDaily
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS16.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size10 MB104 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperNamik ErsunSantiago Gonzalez Fernandez

In-app purchases

None

PDF Reader, Read Aloud

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Leola

Subscriptions2
  • Leola Plus Ā· Monthly$5.991 Month
  • Leola Plus Ā· Yearly7 Days trial$34.991 Year
One-time1
  • Leola Plus Ā· Lifetime$59.99

Questions

Is PDF Reader, Read Aloud free?
PDF Reader, Read Aloud is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Leola free?
Leola is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do PDF Reader, Read Aloud or Leola have ads?
Both PDF Reader, Read Aloud and Leola show ads.
Which is updated more often, PDF Reader, Read Aloud or Leola?
PDF Reader, Read Aloud ships an update daily, and Leola daily. Most recently, PDF Reader, Read Aloud was updated on October 29, 2026 and Leola on October 31, 2026.

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