Office365 and Edge both let you open PDF's and use Microsoft's natural voices, that requires an Internet connection I think. If you want to go offline, some of the Piper voices are quite good for longer-form reading, although not designed for screen reader use I think. Eleven Labs seems to be the current gold standard for naturality, but of course not free. I'm sure there will be competition in terms of quality and pricing from other places soon. Answer from retrolental_morose on reddit.com
PCMAG
pcmag.com › home › best products › productivity
The Best Text-to-Speech Apps We've Tested for 2025 | PCMag
1 month ago - You can paste text into the app or open almost any document directly, including ebooks, text files, and Word documents. You can then press play to start listening to the app read aloud or export an audio file if you prefer. Balabolka doesn't have many voices by default, and the ones it does have are fairly robotic. You can add more voices, though, and thoroughly customize the application. Even though the app is a bit clunky, it’s the best Windows-specific app I’ve found outside of the one built into Edge and Microsoft Office (which I prefer).
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Office365 and Edge both let you open PDF's and use Microsoft's natural voices, that requires an Internet connection I think. If you want to go offline, some of the Piper voices are quite good for longer-form reading, although not designed for screen reader use I think. Eleven Labs seems to be the current gold standard for naturality, but of course not free. I'm sure there will be competition in terms of quality and pricing from other places soon.
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online and Free Text-to-speech Converter Same as Speechify and Most Paid Converters https://youtu.be/RORvb1lA6fM
Videos
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What is the best text-to-speech software for Windows?
The best native text-to-speech software for Windows is Balabolka, which provides support for a wide range of file types, full control over pronunciation rules and compatibility with any installed SAPI voice. For direct integration with Office and other Microsoft software, check out Immersive Reader, which offers real-time reading assistance, adjustable voice speed and grammar tools designed for accessibility.
business.com
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The Best Free Text-to-Speech Software
What is the best text-to-speech software for Android?
Select-to-Speech, available via the Accessibility menu in Settings, is the best native text-to-speech app on Android, providing you with a way to hear selected text or image content read aloud. Natural Readers is the best third-party text-to-speech software for Android, offering a large library of AI voices and languages with the ability to read various document types and text from images.
business.com
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The Best Free Text-to-Speech Software
What is the best text-to-speech software for Mac?
Speech Central is the best text-to-speech software for Mac, offering a wide range of voices (from Apple and AI platforms like ChatGPT) across dozens of languages. The document support is excellent, with the app handling PDFs and e-books (except DRM-locked e-books) really well. There is a downloadable Mac app for Silicon M1-M4 and Intel editions.
business.com
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The Best Free Text-to-Speech Software
TechRadar
techradar.com › pro › software & services
Best free text-to-speech software of 2025 | TechRadar
September 19, 2025 - Read our full Natural Reader review. ... Panopreter Basic is the best free text-to-speech software if you’re looking for something simple, streamlined, no-frills, and hassle-free.
XDA Developers
xda-developers.com › home › windows 11: everything you need to know › best text-to-speech software for windows
Best text-to-speech software for Windows
January 22, 2024 - Natural Reader is arguably the best solution for listening to written text as spoken dialog. It has lots of natural-sounding voices, a modern UI, and plenty of features, including a browser extension.
Cross+A
cross-plus-a.com › balabolka.htm
Balabolka
Balabolka is a text-to-speech application (freeware)
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I would have to suggest Dragon Naturally Speaking. I have used it myself, and it is pretty impressive. For your purposes, it has a great text-to-speech feature that can be used to convert simple text to quality voice. For the reverse, (speech-to-text) it behaves better as you use the software, as it implements heuristic learning algorithms to better understand how you speak. I also like that it has many other commands, so you can essentially be keyboard free once you learn some of the basic ones You can even browse the web and send emails with it.
For developers, there is also a SDK available, so that you can integrate Dragon into your applications.
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I've used MaryTTS which is opensource and I've found to be quite good.
The engine part of it is written in Java and operates as an HTTP service which you can then query from practically any language. It is quite flexible and can be queried in a number of ways with a simple sentence or with extra markup for direct access to phonemic elements or to if you want to specify extra information such as prosody. It delivers several different types of data including xml representations of the transcribed output including as a PCM wave file, which can then be rendered with the audio software of your choosing.
Epubor
epubor.com › best-text-to-speech-software-for-windows.html
5 Best Free Text to Speech Software for Windows 10 and 11
March 24, 2022 - All these text to speech software are completely free and can be downloaded to Windows PC. Let's go through this list and see which ones you like the most. NaturalReader is a downloadable text-to-speech desktop software for personal use. This easy-to-use software with natural-sounding voices can read to you any text such as Microsoft Word files, webpages, PDF files, ePub ebooks.
Windows Report
windowsreport.com › software › best text to speech software for windows 10
10 best text-to-speech apps for your Windows 10/11 device
October 4, 2023 - If you’re an educator, there ... tired eyes: Announcify, Balabolka, DSpeech, NaturalReaders, PediaPhon, PowerTalk, QR voice, Select and Speak, SpeakIt!, SpokenText, Text2Speech, Voki, VozMe and WordTalk....
PCMAG
pcmag.com › home › best products › productivity
The Best Speech-to-Text Apps We've Tested for 2025 | PCMag
1 month ago - Dragon is worth considering if you need a business-grade speech-to-text tool that's more powerful than the default software that comes with your operating system. Business professionals: Dragon Professional is extremely expensive, so it's likely best to obtain it through your company. Volume licensing is available. People who need more than Voice Access offers: Dragon Professional goes deeper than the Voice Access feature in Windows 11.
Business.com
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The Best Free Text-to-Speech Software
September 3, 2025 - The best native text-to-speech software for Windows is Balabolka, which provides support for a wide range of file types, full control over pronunciation rules and compatibility with any installed SAPI voice.
Semantix
semantix.com › home › blog › text to speech software and apps: the complete guide › how to use text-to-speech for windows devices
How to use text-to-speech for Windows devices | Semantix
December 1, 2023 - This converter is among the best options and most helpful text-to-speech apps for Windows users.
Microsoft Support
support.microsoft.com › en-us › windows › use-voice-typing-to-talk-instead-of-type-on-your-pc-fec94565-c4bd-329d-e59a-af033fa5689f
Use voice typing to talk instead of type on your PC - Microsoft Support
Use dictation to convert spoken words into text anywhere on your PC with Windows.
Microsoft Community Hub
techcommunity.microsoft.com › microsoft community hub › communities › products › windows › windows insider program
What is the best voice to text software for Windows 11/10 PC? | Microsoft Community Hub
I've done some initial research and found options like Windows’ built-in "Voice Typing" feature, which is simple to use but may vary in accuracy depending on language and accent. Which free voice to text software have you tried? How's your experience been on Windows 11/10?
Speechify
speechify.com › blog › text-speech-app-for-windows
Text to Speech App for Windows | Speechify
November 8, 2023 - Yes, Windows has a built-in text-to-speech feature that allows you to convert text into spoken words.
Microsoft Store
apps.microsoft.com › detail › 9p870pxxwj0r
Text-to-Voice - Free download and install on Windows | Microsoft Store
The text-to-voice converts text to speech. You can enter your own text, and convert. Text you can store and play button again. The voices are dependent on Windows 10 extra votes can be added to the Windows settings.
University of Calgary
ucalgary.ca › student-services › access › current-students › resources-and-supports › assistive-software-how-videos › win-text-speech
Windows - Using Text to Speech | Student Accessibility Services | University of Calgary
February 16, 2023 - NaturalReader is a downloadable text-to-speech desktop software with natural-sounding voices that can read to you any text such as Microsoft Word files, webpages, PDF files, and E-mails.
Usevoicy
usevoicy.com › blog › speech-to-text-for-windows
12 Best Speech to Text for Windows Apps (2025 Review)
Best For: Developers, enterprises, and businesses needing to build custom applications with high-accuracy, multilingual transcription capabilities. Key Feature: Advanced accent-agnostic recognition and the flexibility of on-premises or cloud API deployment. Pricing: Custom pricing based on usage; requires direct contact with the sales team for a quote. ... Tazti carves out a unique niche in the world of speech to text for Windows by focusing less on long-form dictation and more on robust voice command and control.
PC Gamer Forums
forums.pcgamer.com › home › computer hardware › gaming accessories
What's the best professional text-to-speech software, and what's the best professional speech-to-text software? | PC Gamer Forums
March 16, 2024 - TTSReader is a free online text-to-speech reader compatible with modern browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari). It supports multiple languages, accents, and even Google’s voices if you’re using Chrome4. (Suggestions by CoPilot) Click to expand... very informative i was looking for a software that can read pdf ... Click to expand... Those arent the best.
Microsoft Store
apps.microsoft.com › detail › 9n6hc0f4l9lt
Text to Speech Free - Free download and install on Windows | Microsoft Store
Want to listen to text being read out to you? Simply Install our software today and just paste in the text you want read out. Our text to speech software will begin reading out the text to you. There are over 10+ accents you can choose from as well. Choose the type of voice you wish to listen to.
Microsoft Store
apps.microsoft.com › detail › 9pmv6wxsdhjp
Text to Speech - Free download and install on Windows | Microsoft Store
⚠️ Note: This app requires the .NET Desktop Runtime 8.0 (x64) or later. The system may ask to download the required libraries if they are not already installed on your device. With Text to Speech, your device will speak what you type or save as audio file.