Compare · Speech Central

Book2Speech vs Speech Central

Speech Central: Text-to-speech app for reading PDFs, web articles, books and documents, sold as a one-time purchase with no ads or data collection. Book2Speech is narrower on purpose: it turns whole books and documents into chaptered narration you listen to in the browser and the iPhone app. The table lists what each one does, checked against Speech Central’s own pages on 2026-09-12.

Where Speech Central is the better choice

One-time purchase instead of a subscription.
Works offline with the device’s own voices; runs on Android, Windows and macOS too.
Export of text to audio files for offline listening (format not stated on the fetched page).

Where Book2Speech is the better choice

Whole books: chapters come from the file, front matter is classified and the player suggests where the story starts.
Long-form continuity: narration is generated ahead of you and streamed, and already generated chapters replay free.
70,000 public-domain classics ready to narrate from the Discover tab, plus a no-account sample on the web.
Your listening position syncs between the web player and the iPhone app.
Straightforward pricing by hours of new narration, from $4.99 a month.

What Book2Speech does not do

No offline listening yet; narration streams while online.
No native Android app yet (in closed testing); the web app works on Android.
No pronunciation editor; unusual names are pronounced by best guess.
No instant MP3/M4B export; a full-book file can be requested.

How this comparison was made

Every Speech Central value in the table was checked on a vendor page or its App Store listing on 2026-09-12; the links are listed under the table. Where a feature could not be confirmed on a fetched page it is marked “Not verified” rather than guessed. Book2Speech values reflect the product on the same date. If you spot something out of date, email support@book2speech.com.
Price in USD from the US App Store in-app purchase list on 2026-09-12; the vendor homepage gives no figure.
Formats from the App Store description: PDF (including scanned), EPUB, DOCX, PowerPoint, OpenOffice, HTML, TXT, RTF, Markdown. MOBI absent.
Word highlighting was mentioned only in a user review, so read-along is shown as not verified.

Side by side

Book2Speech
Speech Central
Free tier
Free plan: 5 minutes of narration in total to try it
Free download with a one-time in-app upgrade; the vendor states the app is free for blind users and managed school environments
Paid plans
Listener $4.99/month (3 hours of new narration a month, 3 books of your own); Premium $14.99/month (15 hours, 15 books); Ultra $49.99/month (unlimited personal use, unlimited books). Free classics from Project Gutenberg never count toward the book limit.
One-time purchase: Speech Central Pro $9.99 in-app purchase (US App Store)
EPUB input
Yes
Yes
PDF input
Yes
Yes
DOCX input
Yes
Yes
TXT input
Yes
Yes
MOBI input
Yes
Not verified
Audio export
Streams in the app; a full-book file can be requested from the book page
Not verified
Offline listening
No: narration streams while online; already played audio replays from the cache
Yes
Platforms
Web (any browser), iPhone and iPad; Android app in closed testing
iOS, Android, macOS, Windows
Voices
260+ narrators in 40+ languages
Apple system voices offline plus third-party neural voices and cloud AI providers; English plus 20 additional languages (App Store listing)
Pronunciation overrides
No pronunciation editor yet
Not verified
Chapter detection
Yes: chapters from the file’s structure, front matter classified, a suggested starting point
Yes
Read-along highlighting
Yes: sentence or word highlighting
Not verified
Sleep timer
Yes: 15, 30, 45 or 60 minutes
Yes
Speech Central values verified on 2026-09-12 at:
https://speechcentral.net/https://apps.apple.com/us/app/speech-central-voice-reader/id1127349155

Questions people ask

Can I switch from Speech Central to Book2Speech?

Your book files are yours: drop the same DRM-free EPUB, PDF or DOCX into Book2Speech and choose a narrator. There is nothing to migrate.

Is Book2Speech free?

The Free plan includes 5 minutes of narration to try any file, and the web sample plays without an account. Paid plans start at $4.99 a month.
© 2026 Book2Speech