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Source-backed analysis22

Review basis

Research-based review: the AppDuo Editorial Team compiled it from official pages, documentation, app stores, press and user feedback, without hands-on testing. Every claim links to a source with the date it was checked.

22 reference sources

Information updated Nov 11, 2026

How we review
Speechify logo

Speechify Review

Listen to PDFs, web pages and books instead of reading them, plus voice typing and AI

Editorial Team7.4/10Write the first review

By Official AppDuo editorial team · Updated

  • Web
  • iOS
  • Android
  • Windows
  • macOS
  • Browser extension
  • API
Freemium · $29.00/mo
Visit Speechify
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Decide at a glance

Our verdict

Speechify suits people who read a lot every day, especially readers with dyslexia, ADHD or low vision, who want one read-aloud app synced across phone, desktop and browser. The trade-off is a pricey monthly plan, a very strict refund policy and a steady stream of complaints about charges after free trials.

Best for: Students and researchers who want to listen to textbooks, papers and long PDFs on the go

Skip it if: Occasional listeners: built-in OS readers or rivals' free tiers cover light use

Pros

  • Runs on iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, web and Chrome/Edge extensions, with one Premium plan and a synced library
  • 1,000+ voices in 60+ languages, up to 5x speed, Scan & Listen for printed pages, AI summaries and Q&A on the document
  • 2025 Apple Design Award winner for Inclusivity; supports Dynamic Type and VoiceOver, iOS interface in 40 languages (English, Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean, Thai…)

Cons

  • Premium is pricey on monthly billing at $29/month; the cheaper rate means paying $139 upfront for a year, and monthly plans are non-refundable
  • Recurring BBB and Trustpilot complaints about annual charges after trials or cancellation; the CFA alleges Speechify hides its no-refund policy (no regulator finding)
All pros and cons · Who is it for?

Pros

  • Highly rated on the US App Store (4.7/5 from 528,000+ ratings) and Trustpilot (4.7/5 from 7,261 reviews), with frequent praise for responsive support
  • Separate developer API with a free 500K-character monthly tier and published per-character rates

Cons

  • Reader, Studio and API are billed separately; Premium is personal-use only with a monthly HD word cap; the App Store label declares Device ID may be used to track you
  • The Android app rates 4.1/5 on Google Play, clearly below its 4.7/5 on the App Store

Best for

  • Readers with dyslexia, ADHD or low vision who need a dependable read-aloud tool across devices
  • Users who want read-aloud, voice typing and AI Q&A about documents in a single app

Skip it if

  • Creators who need publishable audio files: Premium is for personal listening, so you need Studio or another tool

Experience & key features

What Speechify is

Speechify is a read-aloud app from Speechify Inc., based in Miami. Founder Cliff Weitzman, who is dyslexic, built the first version while studying at Brown University so he could listen to books instead of reading them. Today it runs on iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, Windows, the web and Chrome and Edge extensions. The company claims more than 50 million users, and Apple gave it the 2025 Apple Design Award in the Inclusivity category.

How it works and key features

You feed it PDFs, web pages, Google Docs, emails or photos of printed pages, and it reads them aloud in AI voices with word highlighting at up to 5x speed. More recently Speechify has pushed into two-way voice: voice typing and an assistant that talks about whatever you have open (both reached the Chrome extension in November 2025), plus AI podcasts generated from documents. Alongside the Reader there is Speechify Studio for voiceovers and video dubbing, and the Simba models sold through a developer API.

  • Scan & Listen
    Photograph a book page or paper document and have it read aloud (Premium).
  • Voice Typing
    Dictate into text fields in Gmail, Google Docs and other apps; TechCrunch reported the first Chrome release supported English only.
  • Voice AI Assistant and AI podcasts
    Ask questions, get summaries or quizzes about the open document, or turn it into a podcast-style episode.

Pricing and value

The free tier offers just 10 basic voices at 1.5x, so in practice it is a demo. Premium on the web costs $29 billed monthly or $139 billed yearly (about $11.58/month). The Vietnam App Store lists "Premium Monthly" at 399.000 ₫ plus several "Premium" items at 3.999.000 ₫, one at 3.199.000 ₫ and "Speechify Library" at 799.000 ₫; the store does not state those items' billing periods, so AppDuo does not convert them to monthly prices. Studio is sold separately on yearly plans at $100 or $300, and the API is metered per character from $10/month. Two catches: Premium's HD voices are capped by word count (1 million words/month guaranteed through 2026, with a 150,000-word baseline after that), and refunds are tight, with monthly plans non-refundable and app-store purchases left to Apple or Google.

More analysis

Who it's for and alternatives

Speechify is worth a look if you listen to documents daily and want one tool on every device, especially if reading itself is the hurdle. For publishable audio, ElevenLabs or Murf AI are built for creators; for free document-to-podcast summaries, NotebookLM covers it; for dictation alone, Wispr Flow is more specialised. Teams needing Vietnamese voices for their own products can also look at Vbee AIVoice. Before starting a trial, note the end date and the payment channel so an unwanted annual charge does not slip through.

Screenshots

Speechify reading an article aloud on a smartphone (official image from the pricing page)
Speechify reading an article aloud on a smartphone (official image from the pricing page)
Speechify Studio with its AI voiceover and dubbing tools (official image from the Studio pricing page)
Speechify Studio with its AI voiceover and dubbing tools (official image from the Studio pricing page)
First iPhone screenshot of the Speechify app on the US App Store listing
First iPhone screenshot of the Speechify app on the US App Store listing
Second iPhone screenshot of the Speechify app on the US App Store listing
Second iPhone screenshot of the Speechify app on the US App Store listing

Plans & pricing

Prices last verified Nov 11, 2026

Free (Text to Speech Reader)

Personal

Free

10 voices Speechify itself calls "robotic sounding", listening speed up to 1.5x, text-to-speech features only.

Premium

Personal

$29/mo

$11.58/mo billed yearly

$29/month billed monthly, or $139 billed yearly (about $11.58/month). 1,000+ voices, 60+ languages, up to 5x speed, Scan & Listen, AI summaries and chat, voice typing, AI podcasts and the Voice AI Assistant; Google Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive integrations. Premium/HD voice words are capped: a 150,000-word monthly baseline, raised to a guaranteed 1,000,000 words/month for calendar 2026. Personal use only: no account sharing or commercial distribution of audio.

Studio Starter

Business

$8.33/mo

$100/year, yearly billing only. 86,400 Studio credits per year (voiceover uses 1 credit/second, dubbing 3, avatars 30), stock music, video, images and sound effects, commercial usage rights. A separate subscription from Premium.

Studio Creator

Business

$25/mo

$300/year, yearly billing only. 345,600 Studio credits per year plus everything in Studio Starter.

API Free

API

Free

No card required. 500K characters a month (Simba 3.5: 500K until 21 Nov 2026, 333K after); pauses until next month when used up and cannot be topped up. Commercial use allowed, community support.

API Starter

API

$10/mo

$10/month, no annual plan. Includes about 1.9M characters a month; Simba 3.0/3.2 bill $10 per 1M characters, Simba 3.5 lists at $15 but bills $10 until 21 Nov 2026. Voice cloning, up to 3 seats, overage drawn from a prepaid top-up balance.

API Pro

API

$99/mo

$99/month. Includes 13.5M characters a month (Simba 3.5: 9M after 21 Nov 2026); $8 per 1M characters (Simba 3.5 lists at $12). Priority support.

API Scale

API

$499/mo

$499/month. Includes 78M characters a month (Simba 3.5: 46.8M after 21 Nov 2026); $6 per 1M characters (Simba 3.5 lists at $10). Up to 25 seats, dedicated support. Enterprise is quoted on request.

Free plan limits
The free Reader tier has 10 basic voices, speeds up to 1.5x and text-to-speech only. Free Studio gives 600 credits to try voiceover, dubbing and the voice changer, without commercial rights. The free API tier includes 500K characters a month.
Free trial
3-day free trial · credit card required
Cancellation & refunds

Direct web purchases: refunds only if you contact Speechify within 7 days of the subscription date (trial included), for account takeover or charges made in error; annual plans also qualify if no more than 500 HD words were used. No partial refunds; monthly, quarterly and discounted plans are non-refundable. App Store and Google Play purchases are treated as final and fall under Apple's or Google's policies. The free trial (3 days unless sign-up states otherwise) converts to a paid plan unless cancelled before it ends.

Privacy

Speechify's privacy policy says it earns money from paid plans, does not sell personal data and does not share it so third parties can advertise to you. The store labels tell a different story. The US App Store label (self-reported by the developer, not verified by Apple) has a "Data Used to Track You" section: identifiers (Device ID) may be used to track users across other companies' apps and websites, and Device ID is also listed for "Third-Party Advertising". By that label the app collects email address, Device ID, usage data (product interaction) and diagnostics (crash and performance data), all declared as not linked to identity. The websites also run Google, Bing and TikTok ad-measurement tags. The Google Play label says the app collects personal info, photos and videos, and app info and performance, encrypts data in transit, allows deletion requests, and shares "no data with third parties". That last claim is hard to square with the policy: once you grant permission, content used by AI features (summaries, Ask AI, podcasts, the voice assistant) goes through Speechify's servers to OpenAI, Google, Anthropic and other providers. Speechify treats them as service providers, contractually barred from training on the data, and the permission can be turned off in settings. Speechify says keyboard dictation runs on its own speech model. A biometric data policy effective 6 October 2026 describes a voice-owner verification step for cloning, rules out selling voice data and caps retention at 24 months. Paid subscribers must cancel before they can delete their account.

Official pricing page

Speechify alternatives

NotebookLM logo7.5/10

NotebookLM

Google's source-grounded research assistant that answers from your own documents

Freemium
ElevenLabs logo7.4/10

ElevenLabs

An AI voice platform for text-to-speech, voice cloning, dubbing and transcription

Freemium
All alternatives

Controversies & incidents

Issues documented by the press, regulators, courts or the vendor itself. Every item is sourced; unproven claims are labelled as allegations. Last researched: Nov 11, 2026

  • Medium impactAllegedRegulator ·

    CFA asks the FTC to investigate Speechify's voice-cloning safeguards

    The Consumer Federation of America alleges Speechify makes it easy for bad actors to clone someone's voice with almost no consent checks. No regulator has made a finding.

    Read the full account

    On 27 July 2026 the CFA, working with students from UCLA Law School's Information Policy Lab, filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and US state attorneys general. The CFA says Speechify lets users create realistic voice clones from seconds of audio while relying on little more than a self-attestation checkbox for consent, and argues this breaches Section 5(a) of the FTC Act and state digital-forgery laws. The complaint document also alleges that a script-reading requirement and paywalls can be bypassed. The CFA asks regulators to investigate and take enforcement action. These are allegations by a consumer group; AppDuo found no announced FTC or state action against Speechify. Speechify's biometric data policy effective 6 October 2026 describes a voice-owner verification step, but the company has not presented it as a response to the complaint.

    Sources:Consumer Federation of America press release (2026-07-27)CFA complaint document (PDF)Speechify Biometric Data Retention and Destruction Policy

  • Medium impactAllegedBilling ·

    Complaints of annual charges after trials and hard-to-get refunds

    Many BBB and Trustpilot complaints describe annual charges after a trial or cancellation; the CFA alleges Speechify hides its no-refund policy before purchase.

    Read the full account

    Speechify's Better Business Bureau complaint page includes many users who say they were charged about $138–139 for an annual plan right after a trial, billed twice, or charged again after cancelling. Trustpilot's review summary likewise notes some reviewers unhappy with unexpected renewals and slow trial refunds, even though most reviews praise support. In its 27 July 2026 complaint to the FTC, the CFA alleges Speechify conceals its no-refund policy during sign-up. The current refund policy allows refunds only within 7 days and excludes monthly, quarterly, discounted and app-store purchases. These are allegations and user reports; no authority has made a finding.

    Vendor response

    AppDuo found no public Speechify statement on the CFA complaint. In BBB replies, support cancelled auto-renewal or pointed users to refunds account by account, and Speechify's terms say it emails annual subscribers a reminder 15–45 days before renewal.

    Sources:Better Business Bureau complaints for Speechify IncCFA complaint document (PDF)Trustpilot – Speechify reviewsSpeechify Refund Policy

Frequently asked questions

Is Speechify free?

Yes, there is a free tier with 10 basic voices, speeds up to 1.5x and text-to-speech only. Natural voices, scanning, AI summaries and voice typing are in Premium ($29/month or $139/year on the web).

Does Speechify support Vietnamese?

Yes. The iOS app lists 40 interface languages including Vietnamese, and the website has Vietnamese pages. Speechify says Premium voices cover 60+ languages, but AppDuo could not verify the specific Vietnamese voice list.

How do I cancel the trial without being charged?

Per the terms, the trial usually lasts 3 days and converts to a paid plan unless cancelled before it ends. Cancel in the channel you paid through: your Speechify web account for cards, PayPal for PayPal, or App Store/Google Play subscriptions. Cancelling only stops future charges; it does not refund past ones.

How do Premium, Studio and the API differ?

Premium is a personal read-aloud app with no publishing rights. Studio ($100 or $300/year) is for voiceovers and dubbing with commercial rights. The API (from $10/month, with a free tier) is for developers adding voices to their products. All three are billed separately.

Does Speechify give refunds?

Only in narrow cases. Annual web plans qualify if you ask within 7 days and used no more than 500 HD words. Monthly, quarterly and discounted plans are non-refundable; App Store and Google Play purchases follow Apple's or Google's policies.

Review evidence & sources22

Scores

Ease of use
8.3
Why this score

Apple's 2025 Inclusivity award praised its low cognitive load, Dynamic Type and VoiceOver support. The library syncs across phone, desktop and browser, and the iOS interface ships in 40 languages. Points off because Reader, Studio and API are separate subscriptions and cancelling depends on which channel you paid through.

Features
8.4
Why this score

An unusually broad set for a read-aloud app: 1,000+ voices, OCR scanning, AI summaries and Q&A, AI podcasts, voice typing, a voice assistant, plus Studio and an API. But TechCrunch found its voice typing had a higher word error rate than Wispr Flow, and HD voices are capped by monthly word count.

Value for money
6.5
Why this score

$139/year (about $11.58/month) is reasonable for daily listeners, but $29 billed monthly is expensive. The free tier only has robotic voices. Refunds are narrow: 7 days, no partial refunds, monthly plans excluded, and Speechify will not refund App Store or Google Play purchases.

Performance
7.5
Why this score

The iOS app holds 4.7/5 on the US App Store, but Android sits at 4.1/5 on Google Play. Some App Store reviews report HD voices loading slowly, skipping words or switching voices, an issue Speechify's support acknowledged in its reply.

Support
7.0
Why this score

Trustpilot shows Speechify replying to 91% of negative reviews, and many reviewers praise fast fixes and refunds. On the other hand, its BBB profile lists many cancellation and refund complaints. Support runs mainly through email and help-desk requests.

Privacy & security
6.6
Why this score

Pluses: no selling of data, a permission prompt before content goes to outside AI providers with a no-training clause, and a dedicated biometric policy. Minuses: the App Store label declares Device ID may be used to track you across other companies' apps and sites and for third-party advertising, at odds with the no-ad-sharing promise; Google Play's "no third-party sharing" label is hard to square with content going to OpenAI, Google and Anthropic; mandatory arbitration; and the CFA alleges weak consent checks on voice cloning.

What users say

Sources

Specs & compatibility
Developer
Speechify Inc.
Headquarters
United States
Launched
2017
Category
AIProductivityEducation

Capabilities

  • AI features
  • Public API
  • Integrations
  • Mobile app

Platforms

  • Web
  • iOS
  • Android
  • Windows
  • macOS
  • Browser extension
  • API

Interface languages

  • English
  • Vietnamese
  • Japanese
  • Chinese
  • Spanish
  • French
  • Korean
  • German
  • Portuguese
  • Russian
  • Thai
  • Indonesian

Integrations

  • Google Drive
  • Dropbox
  • Microsoft OneDrive
  • Google Chrome (extension)
  • Microsoft Edge (extension)
  • Gmail
  • Google Docs

Support

  • Email
  • Help center

Change history

  1. Feature.The API launches the Simba 3.5 model, with every catalog voice speaking 48 languages and launch pricing until 21 Nov 2026.
  2. Update.Biometric (voice) data retention and destruction policy takes effect, describing a voice-owner verification step for cloning.
  3. Update.The Consumer Federation of America files a complaint with the FTC and state attorneys general over Speechify's voice-cloning safeguards.
Full change history (6)
  1. Limits.New usage-limit policy takes effect: Premium guaranteed 1,000,000 HD-voice words a month for 2026, with a 150,000-word contractual baseline.
  2. Feature.The Chrome extension adds English voice typing and a sidebar voice assistant.
  3. Update.Apple names Speechify the 2025 Apple Design Award winner in the Inclusivity category.
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