Speechify
Visit Speechify →About Speechify
Speechify started as a tool that turns written text into spoken audio, and it is still widely used to read articles, PDFs, emails, and documents out loud. Over time it has grown well beyond a simple screen reader.
Speechify now runs on its own SIMBA 3.x family of voice models: SIMBA 3.2 is the recommended model for English on the Voice API, while SIMBA 3.0 handles six other languages. This has shifted the product from a text reader toward a broader voice-AI platform, though independent ranking claims for these models vary across sources and are not repeated here.
On the capability side, you get text-to-speech in over 1000 voices across 60+ languages, reading speeds up to 5x on paid plans, and a set of newer voice-first features: a Voice AI Assistant, AI Podcasts, Voice Typing, and voice chat. The pricing page also lists premium voices such as Snoop Dogg. For developers, the Voice API exposes the same SIMBA models, including real-time speech-to-speech and speech recognition.
The reader app has a free plan limited to 10 standard voices at up to 1.5x speed; Premium costs $29 per month or $139 per year and unlocks the full voice library, higher speeds, and premium voices. Speechify Studio is priced separately, with its own free plan (600 credits) plus paid Starter ($19/month or $100/year) and Creator ($49/month or $300/year) tiers. The Voice API has a free tier of 500,000 characters per month, then paid tiers at $10/month (about $10 per million characters), $99/month (about $8 per million characters), and $499/month (about $6 per million characters at the highest volume).
The limitations are worth noting. The free reader tier is restricted to basic, lower-quality voices and slower playback; the best voices and top speeds require the Premium plan; Studio and the API are billed and metered separately from the reader app; and the lowest per-character API rate only applies at the top $499/month usage tier.
Speechify fits people who consume a lot of written content by ear, students and professionals who want faster reading, and developers who need a TTS or speech-to-speech API without building their own model.
- Proprietary SIMBA 3.x voice models power both the consumer app and the developer API
- Very large voice library of 1000+ voices across many languages
- Reads at up to 5x speed on paid plans, useful for getting through long documents quickly
- Voice-first tools: Voice AI Assistant, AI Podcasts, Voice Typing and voice chat
- Developer Voice API exposes the same models, including real-time speech-to-speech
- Free reader tier is limited to 10 standard voices at up to 1.5x speed
- Best voices and top speeds require the $29/mo (or $139/yr) Premium plan
- Studio and the API are billed separately from the reader app, each with their own free tier and usage limits
- Lowest API per-character rate ($6 per million) only applies on the $499/month Scale plan
- Premium voice options are limited and not the core focus of the product
Choose Speechify if…
- You want to listen to articles, PDFs and documents instead of reading them
- You need faster-than-normal playback for long-form content on a paid plan
- You want access to a large, modern voice library
- You are a developer who needs a TTS or speech-to-speech API
- You are comfortable paying for Premium to unlock the best voices
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