Text to speech: have any text read aloud, free and in your browser
Paste a text, pick a voice and press play. The reader uses the voices built into your device and browser, so nothing is sent anywhere and there is no limit.
- No upload
- No sign-up
- Voices in 40+ languages
This voice is generated by your operating system. The text stays on your device and is never uploaded.
Prefer speaking to typing?
Ownvox turns the other way round: you dictate, it types at your cursor in any app on Mac and Windows, offline by default.
How it works
- 01
Paste your text
Drop in an email, an article, a draft or your notes. Up to 20,000 characters at a time.
- 02
Choose a voice
Pick the language and one of the voices installed on your device. Adjust speed and pitch to taste.
- 03
Listen and follow along
Press play. The word being read is highlighted, and you can pause and resume at any time.
What people use it for
A second channel for text: hear what you wrote, rest your eyes, or let a long article play while you do something else.
Proofread by ear
Awkward sentences, missing words and repeated phrases are much easier to hear than to see. Have your draft read back before you send it.
Nothing leaves your device
With an on-device voice, the text is spoken by your operating system. No upload, no account, no character limit per month.
Instant, no waiting
There is no rendering step. Playback starts immediately and works offline with on-device voices.
Voices, languages and limits
Where the voices come from
The tool uses the Web Speech API, so the voices are the ones your operating system and browser provide. macOS and iOS ship high-quality voices in many languages (add more under Accessibility settings); Windows brings the Microsoft voices; Chrome adds "Google" online voices, which send the text to Google. On-device voices are marked in the list and used by default.
Languages
Which languages are available depends on your device. Most systems cover English, German, French, Italian, Spanish and a few dozen more. If a language is missing, install its voice in your system settings and reload the page.
No audio download
Browser speech synthesis plays audio but does not expose it as a file, so there is no MP3 export here. If you need an audio file, use a screen recorder or a dedicated text-to-speech service.
Frequently asked questions
You're not slow.Your keyboard is.
One hotkey, one voice, one cursor. Text lands where you're working, instantly.
7 days free, then from €9.99/mo · cancel anytime, effective at period end