· Free AI text to speech for Chrome ·

Read and Listen.

A calm, literary text-to-speech reader for the web. Press play, and follow along as it reads text with the cadence they deserve.

Essay · The Margins

Read It. Hear It.


Somewhere around the third paragraph of a long article, attention starts to drift. The eyes move but the mind has already moved on, to the next tab, the next thought, the ambient pull of everything else. We call this reading, though it looks more like scanning. What we lose, when we skim, is the sentence itself: its architecture, its timing, its small payoffs buried in the middle clauses.

There is a case that the voice fixes this. Not because audio is superior to text, but because hearing requires you to stay. A sentence spoken cannot be skimmed. It arrives in sequence, asks for sequence in return. Research on dual-channel learning, text seen and heard simultaneously, suggests comprehension improves when both channels carry the same meaning. Retention, too. The ideas have somewhere to land.

What you are reading right now could also be something you are listening to. That is not a hypothetical. It is, with one click, just an option, and the article you actually finish is the one you actually read.

Add to Chrome — Free
◐ Features

A reading companion that guides your eye.

Sentence highlighting

A soft highlight moves with the voice, line by line. Your eye never loses its place.

Reading aloud was once the default. A good voice, unhurried, turns a paragraph into companionship. The sentences slow down.

Word highlighting

Precise word-level sync. Useful for language learners, readers with dyslexia, or the curious.

A good voice, unhurried, turns a dense paragraph into a kind of small companionship.

Listen from here

Click on any sentence. You can start anywhere. No scrubbing, no timeline hunting.

It is a stack. Each layer has its own history.

Variable speed

From a leisurely 0.5× to a breathless 2×. Pitch stays natural at every pace.

0.5×
0.75×
1×
1.25×
1.5×
2×

Natural AI voices

Multiple AI narrators, crisp readers, and everything between. Switch any time.

June
Arlo
Wisp
Lyra
Nova
Cole
Oak
Hugo
Finn
Dean

The floating player

A small minimal control. Pause, switch speed and voice, close it, or move it around the screen.

Auto-scroll

The page scrolls itself to keep the line you're hearing centered. Scroll away any time, and a tap on this button brings you back.

Pricing

Two plans. No footnotes.

Free
A taste of easy listening.
free
$0/ forever
Start Listening for Free
Free offline voice: Unlimited listening
Premium voice: 60 minutes/month (based on 1× speed)
Variable playback speed (0.5×–2×)
Sentence & word highlighting
Auto-scroll that follows your reading
Click to listen from any sentence
Pro
The whole library, always open.
unlimited
$7/ month
Billed $84 annually (save 30%)
Start Listening Without Limits
Free offline voice: Unlimited listening
Premium voice: Unlimited listening (fair-use rate limits apply)
Variable playback speed (0.5×–2×)
Sentence & word highlighting
Auto-scroll that follows your reading
Click to listen from any sentence
Priority voice generation
Priority access to new voices and features
FAQ

Common questions.

Text to speech (TTS) is technology that converts written text into spoken audio. Modern AI text to speech systems use neural networks to generate voices that sound natural and expressive, far removed from the robotic-sounding TTS of a decade ago. TTS is widely used for accessibility, hands-free listening while commuting or exercising, language learning, and reducing eye strain from long reading sessions.

Install the TextReads Chrome extension, navigate to any article or blog post, and click the TextReads icon in your browser toolbar. Press play. TextReads extracts the article text and starts reading it aloud, highlighting each sentence as it goes. You can pause, adjust speed, switch AI voices, or click any sentence to jump straight to it.

TextReads is built for anyone who reads long-form content online. That includes people who want to absorb articles hands-free while commuting or exercising, readers with dyslexia or visual fatigue who benefit from audio paired with highlighting, students and researchers working through dense material, and non-native English speakers who find listening alongside reading helps comprehension.

Yes. TextReads is free to start. The free plan includes unlimited listening with our offline AI voice and a monthly allowance of our premium AI voices. A Pro plan unlocks unlimited premium voice listening, subject to our fair-use policy. See our terms for details.

TextReads works on most articles, blog posts, and long-form web pages. When you press play, it identifies the main article content and reads only that part aloud. Navigation menus, ads, and sidebars remain on the page as normal; TextReads simply skips them so you hear the writing, not the clutter.

Yes. Listening while reading is a well-established technique for improving comprehension and reducing eye strain. TextReads highlights each sentence as it is read, and can optionally highlight individual words in sync with the voice, making it easier for readers with dyslexia, ADHD, or anyone who finds long-form reading tiring.

Yes. We offer bulk plans for schools, universities, educational institutions, and organisations that want to make their content more accessible to users with reading difficulties. If you are interested, get in touch and we will work out a plan that fits your needs.

Have your reading list,
read to you.

Free to start. No card. Sixty calm minutes waiting.

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