Text to Speech
Listen to any text read aloud — voice selection, speed and pitch controls, using your browser's built-in speech engine.
Uses your browser's built-in speech engine — available voices depend on your OS. Chrome and Edge offer the widest selection. Text is never sent to any server.
About this tool
Text to speech is useful in more situations than people expect: proofreading your own writing by ear catches errors your eyes slide past; listening to an article while doing something else; checking how a script or voiceover actually sounds; and accessibility — reading text aloud for anyone who processes audio better than text. This tool puts a clean interface over your browser's own built-in speech engine, which means no upload, no quota, no account.
Voice selection, speed and pitch controls let you dial in something that works for your purpose: a slower rate for proofreading, a natural speed for listening, a higher pitch for a different voice character. The available voices come from your operating system — Windows, macOS and Android all install a range of language voices, and Chrome and Edge typically offer the widest English selection. The exact voices vary by device.
Playback supports pause and resume, so you can stop mid-paragraph and continue — important for longer content. The whole interaction uses the Web Speech API, a browser standard supported by all modern browsers. Text never leaves your device.
How to use the Text to Speech
- 1Paste or type your text.
- 2Choose a voice from your device's available options and set speed and pitch.
- 3Click Speak — pause and resume at any point.
- 4For proofreading, try 0.8× speed to catch errors your eyes miss.
Frequently asked questions
Why can't I hear anything?
First check your device volume. Then confirm you're on Chrome or Edge — these have the most reliable Web Speech API support. Safari has partial support; Firefox's implementation varies by platform. On mobile, the browser may require a user interaction before audio can play.
How do I get more voices?
Voices come from your operating system, not the browser. On Windows, Settings → Time & Language → Speech lets you add language packs with new voices. On Mac, System Settings → Accessibility → Spoken Content → System Voice. Chrome also offers enhanced voices on some platforms.
Is there a text length limit?
The Web Speech API has no hard spec limit, but browsers impose their own — Chrome typically handles several thousand words without issue; very long texts may stop mid-way on some browsers. For book-length content, paste and play in sections.
Can I download the audio?
Not with the Web Speech API — it plays through your browser's audio output but doesn't expose a download. For downloadable audio files, dedicated TTS services like Google Text-to-Speech, Amazon Polly or ElevenLabs provide that capability (they're server-based and require accounts).
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