NaturalReader is a solid text-to-speech option for most people. It has dozens of voices to choose from, with support for roughly 100 languages and a simple, user-friendly interface across its web version and its mobile apps for iOS and Android. There's a browser extension for reading online text in Chrome, too. Users have access to standard voices at no cost and with no time or character limits, or you can pay $21 per month (or $119 for an annual subscription) to use "premium" and "plus" voices and gain the ability to download audio files. 

NaturalReader supports pasted or typed text, along with document and image uploads and linked web pages. You can bump speeds up to 5x, highlight text, and set sleep timers across platforms. NaturalReader also has accessibility settings, like dark mode and fonts, as well as the ability to filter out text elements such as brackets and URLs. 

NaturalReader's standard voices don't sound as, well, natural as those on other platforms -- in testing, I encountered awkward pacing and some pronunciation mistakes. That said, you can create custom pronunciation rules as well as clone your own voice. Especially as a free service, NaturalReader has a lot to offer people seeking TTS software for personal use.

NaturalReader features: Web and mobile apps | Chrome extension | 100 languages | Voice cloning | OCR camera scanning | Support for more than 20 text formats | Downloadable audio

Speechify is a close second to NaturalReader: It offers the best mobile experience of any software I tested and some of the most natural-sounding voices, including several AI-generated celebrities. You can use Speechify's TTS feature for free, though you'll have access to just 10 voices (robotic sounding) and speeds up to 1.5x. An upgrade to a paid subscription ($29 monthly for month-to-month plans or $12 per month if billed annually) comes with 200 natural voices in more than 60 languages, 5x speeds, offline downloads, unlimited file storage, and AI summaries of uploaded content.  

Speechify is available on the web, iOS, and Android, with extensions for Chrome and Microsoft Edge. You can import files from apps like Google Drive and Dropbox, type or paste text, scan documents, or paste web links. On mobile, you can connect to your Kindle library or purchase books to listen on the go. (Speechify has a separate app for human-narrated audiobooks.) 

You can trial Speechify's premium plan for seven days before committing to a subscription or switching to the free tier.

Speechify features: Web and mobile apps | Browser extensions | More than 60 languages | AI-generated celebrity voices | AI summaries | Support for multiple import formats | Guided onboarding

Though text-to-speech is built on natural language models, not all voices actually sound natural. ElevenLabs is an exception, with some of the most realistic voices I heard in testing. There are more than 1,000 options to choose from across more than 30 languages and dozens of styles (such as TV ads, newscaster, and narrator). 

ElevenLabs starts at $5 per month for 30 minutes of TTS and includes a commercial license. The $11 per month Creator plan comes with 100 minutes and the ability to buy credits for additional time. For $99 per month, the Pro plan includes 500 minutes and higher-quality audio, a solid option for podcasters, video editors, and other content creators. There is a free tier, but it's limited to just 10 minutes per month. Note that plan "credits" can also be used for conversational AI, and the more expensive plans include voice cloning. 

ElevenLabs' web app is built for creative projects, while the ElevenReader mobile app provides TTS for content imported via file upload, links, OCR scan, or pasted text. You can also subscribe to content feeds, essentially turning newsletters into podcasts. The apps are separate services and don't share content, but ElevenReader is completely free and an excellent choice for on-the-go listening.

ElevenLabs features: Web and mobile apps | 32 languages | AI-generated celebrity voices | Voice cloning | OCR camera scanning on mobile | Support for multiple import formats | Downloadable audio

If you're a content creator or other professional in need of voice-overs for your work, Murf is worthy of consideration. Start by creating a project from scratch or using one of the existing templates for presentations, promos, and podcasts, then upload scripts, select your AI voice, add media like images and music, and export the finished product in one of several formats. There are more than 200 voices to choose from, with a range of styles, like narration, newscast, and conversational.  

Murf subscriptions start at $19 per month, which includes five projects and 24 hours of voice generation per year. The Growth tier ($66 per month) expands to 50 projects and 97 hours annually, while a Business plan ($199 per month) lets you create 200 projects and generate 240 hours of voice-overs per year. Murf integrates with a range of productivity apps -- Canva, Google Slides, PowerPoint, and ChatGPT, to name a few -- and also has collaboration tools for teams on custom enterprise plans. 

In testing, some of Murf's voices sounded less natural and more like AI compared with those on Speechify and ElevenReader, but users can get granular with voice change settings like style, pitch, pauses, and custom pronunciation. Murf is probably overkill for basic TTS functionality, especially given its price, but it has plenty of useful features for creators.

Murf features: Web app | Basic mobile features | More than 20 languages | Voice styles | Integration with productivity apps