Text to Speech Online

Hearing your text read aloud is one of the fastest ways to catch awkward phrasing, errors your eyes skip over, or pronunciation issues in names and technical terms. It's also useful for creating quick audio references or checking how something sounds before recording.

How it works

This tool uses the browser's built-in Web Speech API (SpeechSynthesis). Your text is processed entirely by the browser and operating system's speech engine — no audio is sent to a server. Available voices depend on what's installed on your device and OS.

How to use it

1. Type or paste your text into the input area
2. Choose a voice from the dropdown (options vary by device — Windows, macOS, and mobile each have different voices installed)
3. Adjust the speech rate and pitch if needed
4. Click Speak to start playback
5. Click Stop to interrupt at any time

A few things worth knowing

• Voice quality varies: Browser voices range from natural-sounding (newer neural voices on macOS/iOS/Windows 11) to robotic (older SAPI voices). The best voices are often the ones labelled with a language code and marked as the default
• No audio download: The Web Speech API streams audio through your speakers but doesn't currently support saving the output as an audio file. If you need an audio file, a dedicated TTS service (Google Cloud TTS, ElevenLabs) would be more appropriate
• Language and accent: Choose a voice that matches your text's language. Speaking English text with a French voice gives odd results
• Long text: Very long texts may be split into chunks internally by the browser's speech engine

FAQ

Why doesn't the voice list show any options? Some browsers (particularly older ones or Firefox on Linux) have limited or no installed voices. Try Chrome or Edge on Windows/macOS for the best voice selection.

Can I save the audio as an MP3? Not directly — the Web Speech API doesn't expose audio file output. Use your OS's audio recording tools if you need to capture it.

Does this work offline? Yes, for voices that are installed locally. Some premium browser voices require an internet connection.

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