OplæsSpeechify alternatives for iPhone
The free alternative is already on your iPhone: Speak Screen reads any screen aloud, in many languages. For long texts there are reading apps. Oplæs costs $1.99 once and reads English and Danish with voices that run on the phone. NaturalReader and ElevenReader are free to start, with subscriptions for more. Voice Dream needs a subscription. Below is what each one costs and what its App Store privacy label says (checked October 2026).
Speak Screen: free and built in
Every iPhone can read the screen aloud: turn on Speak Screen under Settings › Accessibility › Read & Speak, then swipe down with two fingers from the top of the screen. It’s free, works in almost any app and speaks many languages. It has no library and doesn’t remember where you stopped, and it reads menus and page numbers along with the text. See how to make your iPhone read text aloud and how to read a PDF aloud on iPhone.
Oplæs: $1.99 once, and your texts stay on the phone
Oplæs, the app behind this website, reads PDFs, ePub books, articles shared from Safari and photos of pages aloud in natural voices, highlights every word and remembers where you stopped. The voices run on the iPhone (a download of about 1.2 GB, for a recent iPhone), so it works offline and your texts never leave the phone. Its App Store privacy label says “Data Not Collected”. It costs $1.99 once, with no ads, no subscription and no account. The catch: it reads only English and Danish.
NaturalReader
NaturalReader, by NaturalSoft, says in its App Store description that you can start listening for free, with no account and no ads, and that it has 200+ voices in 90+ languages, page scanning and MP3 downloads. The paid plans are subscriptions: in the US App Store, Premium is $9.99 a month or $59.99 a year, and the Plus and Pro plans cost more. Its privacy label lists Identifiers under “Data Used to Track You”. See NaturalReader in the App Store.
ElevenReader
ElevenReader, by ElevenLabs, is free to download, reads in AI voices in 30+ languages and also sells audiobooks. Unlimited text to speech and offline listening come with the Ultra membership; otherwise listening is counted in hours, and you can buy hour packs. In the US App Store, memberships start at $10 a month or $96 a year (Ultra: $11 a month or $99 a year). Its privacy label lists Identifiers under “Data Used to Track You”, and contact info, identifiers and usage data as data linked to you. It’s rated 13+. See ElevenReader in the App Store.
Voice Dream
Voice Dream, by Voice Dream LLC, reads PDFs, Word files, web pages and books, and its description mentions an Apple Design Award. It also says that a subscription is required to use the app, with a free trial for new users; the US store lists yearly subscriptions from $39.99 to $79.99. All voices work offline, including 36 free iOS voices in 27 languages. Its privacy label lists Identifiers and Usage Data under “Data Used to Track You”. See Voice Dream in the App Store.
Which one to pick
- Free, in any language: Speak Screen.
- Natural voices for $1.99 once, nothing leaves the phone: Oplæs, if your texts are in English or Danish.
- Many languages and natural voices, and a subscription is fine: NaturalReader, ElevenReader or Speechify itself. See is Speechify free? for what Speechify’s free plan includes.
Prices are from the US App Store on 19 October 2026. The In-App Purchases list on each app’s App Store page shows the prices in your country.
Reading with dyslexia? See apps for dyslexia on iPhone.