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 does one thing and does it thoroughly: it turns the books you own into audiobooks, with chapters, a narrator you choose and a file you can keep.
Choose Speech Central if…
•
One-time purchase instead of a subscription, and free for blind users and schools.
•
Works offline with the device’s own voices; runs on iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac and Windows.
•
Export of text to audio files for offline listening (format not stated on the fetched pages).
•
Deep customisation and accessibility profiles for ADHD, dyslexia and low vision.
Choose Book2Speech if…
•
Any book, not just the bestsellers that got an audiobook: fewer than 1 in 100 books ever does.
•
Unlimited free listening in English with Standard voices, no trial clock.
•
A real audiobook file to keep: M4B with chapters and cover, or MP3. One is included on the Free plan.
•
Built for whole books: the book’s own chapters, a start past the front matter, page clutter left out of PDFs.
•
265 narrators in 42 languages, and 70,000 free classics ready to play.
•
Paid plans from $4.99 a month.
Switching takes a minute
Your books are files you own. Drop the same DRM-free EPUB, PDF or Word file into Book2Speech, pick a narrator and carry on listening. Nothing to migrate.
Price in USD from the US App Store in-app purchase list on 2026-10-07; the vendor homepage gives no figure (“One-time purchase. No ads. No data collection.”).
Formats from the App Store description: PDF (including scanned), EPUB, Word (.docx), PowerPoint, OpenOffice, HTML, TXT, RTF, Markdown. MOBI absent.
Word highlighting and the sleep timer (now “Sleep Assistant”) are confirmed on the vendor’s own blog. Chapter detection and pronunciation editing were not stated on a fetched page.
Questions people ask
Is Book2Speech a good Speech Central alternative for books?
If you mostly listen to books, yes: it keeps the chapters, skips the front matter, lets you download an M4B or MP3, and English listening with Standard voices is free and unlimited.
Is Book2Speech cheaper than Speech Central?
Book2Speech starts free and its paid plans start at $4.99 a month. Speech Central: One-time purchase: Speech Central Pro $9.99 in-app purchase (US App Store).
Is Book2Speech free?
Yes: unlimited Standard voices in English and 10 minutes of Premium voices, one book of your own and one audiobook download, plus 70,000 free classics.