Comparison

Libratory vs FreeReader | Text to Speech

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

Head to head
About

Libratory

Features
Read full description

Libratory plays an audiobook over the real pages of the book, lighting up the sentence and the word being spoken as it reads. Double-tap a sentence to hear it again. Books are made on your Mac with the free Libratory desktop tool, which pairs a book with its narration and saves both as one synced EPUB. Send that file to your iPhone or iPad with AirDrop or the Files app, tap + on the shelf, and press play. Nothing is streamed, no account is needed, and everything works offline. The app comes with a short three-chapter guide already on the shelf. It is itself a synced book, so reading it is the fastest way to see what the app does. READ AND LISTEN • The voice plays over the printed page, with the sentence and the word highlighted as they are spoken • Double-tap a sentence to hear it from there • Three views of a synced book: Page shows the whole sheet with its pictures and tables, Column crops to the printed words, Text reflows the words at a size you choose • Playback continues with the screen locked, with the chapter, cover and controls on the lock screen • Change the speed and the highlight keeps up READ IN TWO LANGUAGES • A book exported with a translation opens with the original and the translation together, each with its own voice • Tap a word to hear the book from there, or to see what it means in the other language • Sentence pairs reads each sentence and then its translation; each language keeps its own speed, plays each sentence up to five times, and can pause to let you say it back • The original can stay on its printed page beside the translation JUST READ, OR JUST LISTEN • Open an EPUB ebook you already own and read it in Text view • Open an M4B audiobook, pick a chapter, and listen with the screen off PICK UP WHERE YOU LEFT OFF • The app remembers your place in every book and shows which parts you have heard • Hold a word to save it, put it in a group, and add a note; find it again in Marks • Search the book and your saved words, then jump back to read or listen KEEP YOUR LIBRARY IN ORDER • Folders and tags for your books, and a search across the whole library • Each book says which chapters light up word by word and which sentence by sentence SHELVES • Pair your phone with the desktop app by scanning the code on its Phone page, and every book it has made is a tap away over your own Wi‑Fi or Tailscale • A public shelf of free, narrated classics is built in, with a two-language Frankenstein among them • Each book says what it offers — read + listen, two languages, words or sentences lit — with its voice, length and a description PRIVATE BY DESIGN • No account, no sign-in, no tracking. The app talks only to the shelves you add and the public shelf, to list and download books; what you read stays on your device. Works on iPhone and iPad with iOS 15.6 or later. On iOS 15 and 16, a simpler reader includes Pages and Text, playback, highlighting, chapters, saved progress, and two-language books in two panes. Bookmarks, search, folders and tags require iOS 17 or later. Synced books are made with the Libratory desktop app for Mac, free at libratory.dev. Plain EPUB ebooks and M4B audiobooks open as they are.

About

FreeReader | Text to Speech

Convert various document and web link formats into audiobooks using natural-sounding voices. This free application supports over 30 languages and offers unlimited use without signup. It's designed to assist users with reading difficulties like dyslexia or ADHD.

Highlights
  • Convert EPUB, PDF, DOCX, TXT, and more to audio
  • Read web links aloud
  • 30+ natural-sounding languages
  • Unlimited free use
  • No signup required
  • Access Gutenberg Project books
Features
Read full description

Turn your EPUBs, PDFs, DOCX, and TXT files into audiobooks for free. You can upload files or any web link and VoiceReader text-to-speech will turn it into an audiobook. This app is completely free and you can use it to read anything out loud. There are no limits or signup required. 30+ languages are supported with natural, human-sounding voices. Supported file types: - EPUB (.epub) - PDF (.pdf) - Plain Text (.txt) - Word (.docx) - Rich Text (.rtf, .rtfd) - HTML (.html, .htm) - Markdown (.md, .markdown) - OpenDocument Text (.odt) You can even browse free books from Gutenberg Project and indie authors to start listening to books right away. We believe that free text-to-speech should be available for everyone. This app is sponsored by FreeReader, a project dedicated to providing free TTS to everyone, especially those who have dyslexia or ADHD. Our TTS helps people focus and read more easily by reading words out loud to them while they read. Enjoy TTS in English, Chinese (Mandarin), Hindi, Spanish, French, Arabic, Portuguese, Indonesian, Russian, German, Japanese, Vietnamese, Turkish, Korean, Italian, Polish, Ukrainian, Dutch, Romanian, Greek, Czech, Hungarian, Swedish, Bulgarian, Danish, Finnish, Slovak, Croatian, Lithuanian, Slovenian, Latvian, Estonian Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ FreeReader Gold offers a 7-day free trial for eligible new subscribers. After the trial ends, your subscription will automatically renew unless canceled. Payment will be charged to your Apple Account when the free trial ends. Subscriptions automatically renew unless canceled. To avoid being charged, cancel at least 24 hours before your free trial ends.

Screenshots

Libratory4 screens
FreeReader | Text to Speech4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Libratory at none against FreeReader | Text to Speech's 2. Libratory also leads on iOS requirement (15.6 vs 18.0). On price, update cadence, ads 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. FreeReader | Text to Speech sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Libratory asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Libratory ships an update every 4 days, FreeReader | Text to Speech every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
Libratory versus FreeReader | Text to Speech: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLibratoryFreeReader | Text to Speech
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—2 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 5 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.6 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB29 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPetar SabevPrism App Labs

In-app purchases

None

Libratory

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

FreeReader | Text to Speech

Subscriptions2
  • FreeReader Gold$4.991 Month
  • FreeReader Gold Yearly7 Days trial$39.991 Year

Questions

Is Libratory free?
Libratory is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is FreeReader | Text to Speech free?
FreeReader | Text to Speech is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Libratory or FreeReader | Text to Speech have ads?
Neither Libratory nor FreeReader | Text to Speech shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Libratory or FreeReader | Text to Speech?
Libratory ships an update every 4 days, and FreeReader | Text to Speech every 5 days. Most recently, Libratory was updated on October 24, 2026 and FreeReader | Text to Speech on October 31, 2026.

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