The answer is yes. And not only are, but in QUANTITIES. Without a doubt, this is very useful, since we can choose which of these programs works best for us; however, at the same time, it can be tedious and overwhelming to find one that is of good quality. Therefore, we will try to make your task a little easier with some recommendations for Text-To-Speech Software Alternatives to Amazon, Apple, and Google.
What Exactly Is Text-To-Speech?
Text-to-speech programs allow you to listen to text by reading it aloud instead of reading it the traditional way. These programs are especially useful for eLearning courses, for those who have difficulty reading or writing. In addition, they can help promote conversation skills, and build knowledge, and an extremely useful feature is that they allow you to “read” while doing other tasks. For example, while you are on a long trip, you can take the e-books in the form of audiobooks to listen to them. Isn’t that an interesting concept? Although there are tools available online, there are also programs that you can download and use offline.
Text to speech solutions offers a seamless way to read text documents from smartphones and computers. These solutions are becoming popular these days as they provide a high level of convenience to readers for both personal and professional use.
That said, human voice narration makes readers emotionally connect with a textual documents such as PDFs, books, novels, and e-learning courses, to name a few. Text-to-speech solutions are also perfect for busy professionals to multitask.
It’s no wonder why there are a plethora of text-to-speech solutions on the market. Also, the demand for audiobooks is increasing for the same reasons.
Best Text-To-Speech Software Alternatives
1. Woord
Woord is a free online Text-To-Speech with several useful features. It’s available in over 50 languages, including various dialects; it allows you to choose between a masculine, female, or gender-neutral voice. All of these capabilities are available for free, allowing you to evaluate the service before purchasing the premium version. Premium voices, a Chrome plugin, an SSML editor, an MP3 download, and up to 20,000 characters each month are all included in the free version. This software also allows you to adjust the voice’s pace and format.
Woord’s Online Reader is a unique tool that aims to create a wide range of Artificial Intelligence enabled services and products such as text to speech. With this software, you can easily convert your text into professional speech for free. It’s not only helpful for converting a simple text into audio, but also for people with dyslexia, kids who are starting to read, e-learning, presentations, YouTube videos, and increasing the accessibility of a website. It is certainly a great acquisition for your business.
2. eSpeak
It is a free open-source TTS program with an interface that is simple and easy to navigate. eSpeak is a neat and compact program that can read your TXT and XML documents out loud in many different voices. While it allows you to enter or copy text into its window, it can also convert text to WAV files that can be opened and played. In addition, you can adjust the speed and volume of speech effortlessly.
eSpeak is available as:
- A command line program (Linux and Windows) to speak text from a file or from stdin.
- A shared library version for use by other programs. (On Windows this is a DLL).
- A SAPI5 version for Windows, so it can be used with screen-readers and other programs that support the Windows SAPI5 interface.
- eSpeak has been ported to other platforms, including Android, Mac OSX and Solaris.
3. Speakonia
With over 20 computerized voices, Speakonia is a freeware in the text-to-speech category Speakonia comes with about 20 voices (all with strong robotic accents) and lets you quickly change the reading speed and pitch. It’s also little trouble to correct the pronunciation of words (proper names, for instance). Speakonia can save the text in WAV files for playback when you’re driving or jogging, but unfortunately, it can’t save sound files in MP3 format, so you may need a third-party conversion utility. The program interface is clear and straightforward; you simply select text in any document and press Ctrl C to read it aloud. However, Speakonia lacks control for skipping to the next sentence or paragraph. In spite of those drawbacks, its decent performance and free price make it a reasonable choice for the vision-impaired or people who’d rather do their reading with their ears than their eyes.
If This Was Useful To You, Check…
Is There Any Free SSML Voice Editor For TTS?
Chrome Extensions That Read Website Aloud
Also published on Medium.