Speechify is one of the most popular text to speech apps, but its free tier is limited and the premium plan costs $139 per year. If you just want to listen to articles without paying for a subscription, there are several free alternatives worth trying.
1. Sornic - Best for Articles and Blog Posts
Sornic is a free article to audio converter built specifically for web articles. Paste any article URL and get audio in seconds. No signup, no app to install, no subscription.
What makes it different:
- Works with any article URL - just paste and play
- 6 AI voices to choose from
- Download articles as MP3 for offline listening
- Available as a Telegram bot - send a URL, get audio back
- 3 free articles per day, no account needed
- Credit packs from $5 for more articles (no subscription)
Sornic is the best Speechify alternative if you mainly want to convert article to audio free without dealing with accounts or subscriptions.
2. NaturalReader - Best for Documents
NaturalReader is a solid free text to speech tool that works with plain text, PDFs, and web pages. The free tier gives you access to a limited set of voices. Premium unlocks more natural-sounding AI voices.
Pros: Good voice quality, handles PDFs well
Cons: Free voices sound robotic, requires account for some features
3. TTSReader - Best for Quick Use
TTSReader is a simple browser-based text to speech reader. Paste text or load a URL and it reads it aloud. Completely free with no signup.
Pros: Simple, fast, no signup
Cons: Uses browser TTS voices (less natural), no MP3 download
4. Read Aloud (Chrome Extension) - Best for In-Browser Reading
Read Aloud is a free Chrome extension that reads any web page out loud. Click the extension icon and it starts reading the current page.
Pros: One-click, works on any page, free
Cons: Reads entire page (including navigation and ads), no MP3 download, browser-only
5. ElevenReader - Best Voice Quality
ElevenReader uses ElevenLabs voices which are among the most natural-sounding AI voices available. Great for longer content where voice quality matters.
Pros: Excellent voice quality
Cons: Limited free tier, requires account
Quick Comparison
| Tool | Free Articles | Signup Required | MP3 Download | Telegram Bot |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sornic | 3/day | No | Yes | Yes |
| NaturalReader | Limited | Yes | Premium only | No |
| TTSReader | Unlimited | No | No | No |
| Read Aloud | Unlimited | No | No | No |
| ElevenReader | Limited | Yes | Premium only | No |
The Bottom Line
If you want to convert blog post to audio free without creating an account, Sornic is the best option. It is purpose-built for articles, gives you MP3 downloads, and even has a Telegram bot so you can convert articles without leaving your chat app. For document-heavy use, NaturalReader is a good NaturalReader alternative, and for quick page reading, the Read Aloud extension works well.