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Try 200 sentences free — no card, no account, no deadline

The Speechify alternative
without the subscription

Same core idea — upload a book, hear it read aloud in a natural voice — but Books Listening is a one-time $19.99 purchase instead of a $139/year plan. Try a full chapter free before you decide.

▶ Start Reading Free — 200 Sentences Already convinced? Get unlimited for $19.99 →
✓ No credit card ✓ No account ✓ No subscription ✓ Works in your browser right now
$19.99
Books Listening · once
$139
Speechify · per year
86%
Cheaper, year one
$0
Cost, every year after
Books Listening vs Speechify

How free options and pricing compare

Speechify's free tier limits you to 10 basic voices. Ours gives you every feature for 200 sentences.

App
Free option
Paid plan
📖 Books ListeningYOU
200 sentences
$19.99 once
Speechify
Free tier (10 basic voices)
$139/year
Feature by feature

Where each one is stronger

Books Listening focuses on the reading experience itself. Speechify has a wider mobile app ecosystem and OCR scanning built in — worth knowing before you switch.

Feature
Books Listening
Speechify
Natural voice narration
✓
✓
Word-by-word highlighting
✓
✓
Sleep timer
✓
✓
Click-to-define dictionary
✓
✗
Live sentence translator
✓
✗
Notes & pins per sentence
✓
✓
Export notes as a file
✓
✓
Personal library with folders
✓
✓
Files stay on your device
✓
✗ (cloud upload)
OCR for scanned/image PDFs
✗
✓
Native mobile app
✗ (browser-based)
✓
Account required
Never
Required
Pricing
$19.99 once
$139/year
Is this the right switch for you?

Who Books Listening fits best

✓ You'll probably prefer Books Listening if…
You mainly read text files you already have (PDF, EPUB, DOCX, TXT), you'd rather pay once than every year, and you want your files to stay on your own device instead of a cloud upload.
Consider staying with Speechify if…
You need to scan physical books or printed pages with OCR, or you rely heavily on a dedicated native mobile app rather than a browser tab.
Simple pricing

Try free. Pay once.
Own it forever.

No subscription. No renewal. No surprises.

✓ 86% cheaper than Speechify
200
sentences free — all features unlocked
No card required · No account · No time limit
then, when you're ready
$19.99
One-time · yours forever · free updates
vs Speechify $139/yr
→ Start with 200 free sentences first Get Pro — $19.99 (Secure Checkout)
Questions

Switching from Speechify — common questions

Is Books Listening really cheaper than Speechify?
Yes. Books Listening is a one-time $19.99 purchase with free updates forever. Speechify is a $139/year subscription. Over three years that's $19.99 total versus $417.
Does Books Listening have all the same features as Speechify?
It covers the core reading experience — natural voices, word-by-word highlighting, bookmarks, a click-to-define dictionary, live translation, notes and pins, and a personal library — in 8 file formats. It does not include OCR scanning or a native mobile app.
Can I try it before switching from Speechify?
Yes. You get 200 sentences — about one full chapter — free with no credit card, no account, and no time limit before deciding to buy.
Will my files be uploaded anywhere?
No. Your book is processed entirely in your browser and never leaves your device — no cloud, no server, no account.