Wordcast

Free text to speech online · No signup, no upload

Free text to speech for articles, PDFs, and URLs.

Unlimited free text to speech in your browser. Reads articles, PDFs, and URLs aloud with voices already on your device — no signup, no cap.

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Around the world

Free text to speech in any language your browser knows

Tap a flag. Wordcast picks the matching voice automatically.

アメリカ合衆国

en-US

Hi there! Press play and your browser will read this out — no upload, no signup, no AI server.

No アメリカ合衆国 voice installed — your browser will use a fallback.

イギリス

en-GB

Hello there. Fancy a listen rather than a read? Your browser already knows how to speak.

No イギリス voice installed — your browser will use a fallback.

オーストラリア

en-AU

G'day. Hit play and have a listen. The voice you're hearing came installed with your browser.

No オーストラリア voice installed — your browser will use a fallback.

カナダ

en-CA

Hi! Press play and your browser will read this aloud — it's that simple.

No カナダ voice installed — your browser will use a fallback.

アイルランド

en-IE

Hi there. Press play and have a listen — the voice came along with your browser.

No アイルランド voice installed — your browser will use a fallback.

ニュージーランド

en-NZ

Hey there. Hit play and your browser will read this back to you on the spot.

No ニュージーランド voice installed — your browser will use a fallback.

南アフリカ

en-ZA

Hello. Tap play and listen — your browser handles the speech locally, no internet needed.

No 南アフリカ voice installed — your browser will use a fallback.

インド

en-IN

Hello. Press play and your browser will read this out loud, right on your own device.

No インド voice installed — your browser will use a fallback.

ドイツ

de-DE

Hallo! Drücke auf Play und hör zu. Keine Server, keine Anmeldung, kein Upload.

No ドイツ voice installed — your browser will use a fallback.

What is Wordcast?

Wordcast is a free text to speech reader for the web — a free TTS reader, voice reader, and read-aloud tool. Paste text, drop a PDF or Word doc, or fetch a URL; Wordcast reads it aloud with your browser's built-in speech engine. No account, no character limit, nothing uploaded.

  • W3C Web Speech API, in every major browser since 2014.
  • Neural voices from Apple Siri, Microsoft Natural, Google WaveNet — pre-installed.
  • Reads pasted text, PDF/DOCX/EPUB/RTF/TXT/MD/HTML files, and any URL.
  • Synthesized on your device. Text never uploaded.
  • Free forever. No account, no quota.
Languages
60+

From English variants to Cantonese, Hindi, Arabic, Tagalog.

Voices on a typical Mac
200+

Siri Premium voices included with macOS at no extra cost.

Time to first audio
< 1s

From pressing Listen to hearing the first syllable.

Text uploaded
0 bytes

Speech is synthesized locally by your operating system.

Three ways in

Paste it. Drop it. Fetch it.

One reader, three input methods. All processed on your device.

  • Paste any text

    Email, chapter, Slack thread. 200,000+ words per session. No cap.

    Always free

  • Upload a document

    PDF, Word, EPUB, RTF, Markdown, HTML. Extracted on your device, never uploaded.

    PDF · DOCX · EPUB · RTF · TXT · MD · HTML

  • Fetch a web article

    Paste any URL. Wordcast pulls the readable content — no nav, no ads — and starts reading.

    Reader-mode extraction

Coming soon: Pocket / Instapaper sync and YouTube transcripts.

Honest positioning

Wordcast doesn't generate AI voices. That's the point.

Most text to speech tools — ElevenLabs, OpenAI, Speechify — synthesize voices on a server and bill per character. Wordcast uses the neural voices Apple, Google, and Microsoft already shipped to your device. A notch less natural; better on speed, privacy, cost, length, and friction. The simplest free text to speech online today.

Last time you tried browser TTS was 2018. The voices got good. Nobody told you.

When to use Wordcast

Pick the right tool for the job

Right tool for some jobs, not others. Here's the honest map.

Use Wordcast to…

  • A free text to speech reader for articles, PDFs, docs — no signup.
  • Read sensitive text privately — nothing leaves your device.
  • Free text to speech online with no 500-character cap.
  • Pronunciation practice in 13+ languages with native voices.
  • Unlimited free text to speech for a whole book in one sitting.
  • Paste, press play — no app, no extension.

Use a paid AI TTS service to…

  • Generate podcast narration or YouTube voiceover.
  • Clone a voice, or export audio as MP3.
  • Use SSML for fine pronunciation control.
  • Get the most natural-sounding voice, period.

Honest comparison

Wordcast vs. ElevenLabs, Speechify, and the rest

How Wordcast compares to other free text to speech tools and paid voice readers.

FeatureWordcastElevenLabs / OpenAI TTSSpeechify / NaturalReaderBrowser extension readers
Free forever
No signup required
Text never leaves your device
Audio starts in < 1 second
No character / monthly cap
Reads pasted text
Reads PDF / DOCX you upload
Reads any URL you paste
Works offline (after first load)
Lock-screen playback controls
Sentence highlighting
Download as MP3
Custom AI-cloned voices
Most natural-sounding voice
Wordcast is the best free text to speech reader when you want to listen — paste, upload, fetch, press play. If you need to ship a generated audio file (MP3 export, voice cloning), a paid cloud TTS service is the right tool.

Why Wordcast

Built for actually listening

Free text to speech that works because your browser already does the hard part.

  • Private by design

    Speech is generated by your browser. Text and files never reach a server — because there is no server.

  • Instant playback

    Free text to speech with no model download, no round-trip. Audio starts in under a second.

  • Natural voices included

    Chrome ships Google's neural voices, Safari uses Siri, Edge has Microsoft Natural — all already on your device.

  • Listen anywhere

    Lock your phone, switch tabs, plug in headphones. Pause/play from the lock screen via Media Session.

How the engine works

Free text to speech, powered by your device

Wordcast is a thin interface for the speech engine already inside your OS — no AI server in the loop.

Free text to speech that runs where your text already lives

Chrome, Edge, Safari, and Firefox ship with high-quality neural voices that synthesize locally. Wordcast is the thin interface that lets you actually use them — one HTTP round-trip, instant playback, your text never leaves the tab.

An open book beside a cup of coffee and a pair of reading glasses

  • No upload, no server

    Your paragraph never crosses the wire. The Web Speech API runs inside the browser process, so the text you paste stays on your device for the entire session.

  • Zero cold start

    Cloud TTS services need 1–3 seconds for the first request. Your operating system already has the synthesizer loaded — audio begins on the same tick you press Listen.

  • Nothing to bill, ever

    No per-character price because no inference runs on our side. We serve static files; your CPU does the speech. That's why Wordcast stays free text to speech forever.

  • Voices already on your device

    Apple ships Siri voices, Microsoft ships Natural voices, Google ships WaveNet voices. Wordcast just exposes what the OS already installed — no model downloads, no extensions.

How it works

Three steps to free text to speech, in under five seconds.

  1. Bring your text in

    Free text to speech for any source: paste, drop a PDF or Word doc, or fetch any URL. Wordcast extracts the readable text on your device.

  2. Pick a voice

    Open the voice picker. Tap a country flag, try a few faces. Your browser already has the best ones installed.

  3. Press Listen

    Audio starts in under a second. Speed up, slow down, pause whenever. Lock screen and headphones work too.

What people listen to

If it's text, Wordcast can read it aloud — for free

  • A person sitting on a bench reading a newspaper

    Long-form articles

    Free text to speech for a 5,000-word essay — press Listen and walk away. The reader follows along sentence by sentence.

  • Close-up of a smartphone mail app icon with two unread notifications

    Inbox triage

    Paste an email thread you've been avoiding. Listening makes it easier to commit to a reply.

  • A fountain pen writing cursive on a lined page

    Drafts you wrote

    Hearing your own writing read aloud is the fastest way to catch awkward phrasing.

  • A laptop screen showing colourful syntax-highlighted code

    PR descriptions

    Listen to design docs and pull request walkthroughs on your commute instead of at your desk.

  • An open dictionary beside a handwritten notebook in front of a bookshelf

    Foreign-language practice

    Switch the voice to a language you're learning and hear native pronunciation, instantly.

  • Many open books spread across a flat surface

    Anything you'd rather hear

    Reports, terms of service, research papers, blog posts — free text to speech for any text you paste.

Browser & OS support

Free text to speech on every modern browser

What voices you'll see on each OS + browser combination.

  • Excellent

    Chrome (desktop)

    25 – 100+ voices

    Google neural voices included

    Chrome injects its own set of Google WaveNet voices on top of your OS voices. Some require an internet connection; Wordcast labels those with an amber dot.

  • Excellent

    Safari (macOS / iOS)

    20 – 60+ voices

    Siri voices, fully offline

    Safari uses the same Siri voices the operating system uses for VoiceOver. They run entirely on-device and sound natural even on older hardware.

  • Excellent

    Edge (desktop)

    30 – 80+ voices

    Microsoft Natural voices

    Edge ships Microsoft Online Natural voices in nearly every supported language. They are streamed but cached aggressively after the first sentence.

  • Good

    Chrome (Android)

    15 – 40+ voices

    Google Text-to-Speech engine

    Android exposes whichever TTS engine you have set as default — usually Google TTS, sometimes Samsung TTS on Galaxy devices. All voices run locally after install.

  • Limited

    Firefox

    OS voices only

    Whatever your OS provides

    Firefox does not bundle any voices of its own. On macOS it inherits Siri voices; on Windows it inherits SAPI voices; on Linux it usually finds none unless you install espeak.

  • Good

    Samsung Internet, Brave, Arc, Vivaldi

    Inherits from Chromium

    Same voices as Chrome

    Any Chromium-based browser inherits Chrome's voice list. Brave and Arc behave identically to Chrome for TTS purposes.

Pro tips

Six habits that make free text to speech feel professional

A few adjustments turn Wordcast from a novelty into a tab you keep open.

A pair of premium over-ear headphones resting on a desk

The listening side

Treat TTS like a tool you'd actually keep open

Small adjustments to speed, voice, output device, and habit turn browser TTS into something you reach for every day — not a toy you try once.

  • Push the speed before you push the voice

    A natural voice at 1.4× is more pleasant than a robotic voice at 1×. Move the speed slider first, then pick a voice that still sounds good at that pace.

  • Match the voice to the text

    If you paste French text into an English voice, you'll hear awkward phonetics. Wordcast tries to detect the language, but if the text is short, pick the matching flag manually.

  • Wired headphones use the best codec

    Bluetooth audio profiles sometimes downsample TTS to telephone quality. If a voice sounds muddy, swap to wired or to AAC mode on AirPods.

  • Use the lock-screen controls

    Pause, resume, and skip work from your phone's lock screen, your Mac's Control Center, and the media keys on most keyboards. Start playback once, then control it without leaving your other app.

  • Save Wordcast to your home screen

    On iOS and Android, Add to Home Screen turns Wordcast into a one-tap reader. It stays installed offline, so it loads instantly even with no signal.

  • Test long passages first

    Most voices sound great on a single sentence. The real test is a 2,000-word article. Paste a long passage early to confirm the voice holds up over five minutes of speech.

Who's listening

Quiet praise from people who kept the tab open

No affiliate codes. No paid placements.

  • I read four research papers a week on my commute. Paid TTS services kept eating my free trial. Wordcast just opens and plays — and it doesn't know what I'm reading.

    PR

    Priya R.

    PhD student, Berlin

  • Our docs team uses it to proofread release notes by ear before publishing. The lock-screen controls mean we can pace around the office while the page reads itself.

    ML

    Marcus L.

    Technical writer at a B2B SaaS

  • It loaded faster than the article I was trying to listen to. That's the bar nobody else seems to clear.

    AP

    Ana P.

    Freelance editor

  • I learn Italian by pasting Wikipedia paragraphs into Wordcast and following along. The Siri Italian voice is genuinely good, and there's no usage cap.

    JT

    Jules T.

    Language learner

  • I work with confidential drafts. The fact that nothing leaves the tab is the only reason I can use a TTS tool at all.

    HK

    Hana K.

    In-house counsel

  • Open tab, paste chapter, hit Listen, lock phone, walk dog. There's no other workflow that's this short.

    SD

    Sam D.

    Self-published author

FAQ

The honest answers

  • What is Wordcast?

    A free text to speech reader for the web. Turns pasted text, uploaded documents (PDF, Word, TXT, Markdown, HTML), or fetched web articles into audio using your browser's built-in speech engine. No signup, no character limit, nothing uploaded — the simplest free online text to speech tool today.

  • Is Wordcast really free?

    Yes, 100% free forever. No subscription, no signup, no character limit, no paid tier. Your browser already includes a speech engine — we don't run our own model, so there's nothing to bill. Free text to speech in the truest sense: free as in beer, free as in unlimited.

  • Is Wordcast the best free text to speech online?

    For listening — paste, drop a PDF, or fetch a URL — Wordcast is the most frictionless free text to speech online. No signup, no character cap, nothing uploaded. For producing downloadable audio (MP3 export, AI voice cloning, studio narration), paid services like ElevenLabs and OpenAI TTS are still better.

  • Can Wordcast read PDFs aloud for free?

    Yes. Drop a PDF onto the reader; Wordcast extracts the text on your device and reads it aloud with your browser's voices. No character limit, no upload — a free PDF text to speech tool with full privacy. Word docs, EPUB, RTF, Markdown, plain text, and HTML are supported the same way.

  • What file formats can Wordcast read?

    PDF, Microsoft Word (.docx), EPUB, RTF, plain text (.txt), Markdown (.md), and HTML (.html). Drag a file onto the reader or click to upload — parsed in your browser, extracted text loaded into the player.

  • Can Wordcast read a web article from a URL?

    Yes. Paste any article URL (news, blog, docs, Wikipedia, anywhere) and Wordcast fetches the page, runs reader-mode extraction to strip nav/ads/banners, and starts reading. Only the URL is sent to our extraction worker — the article text returns to your browser without being stored.

  • Is there a character limit on the free version?

    No character limit, no paid tier. Wordcast is unlimited free text to speech — tested with novel-length pastes of 200,000+ words. The speech engine queues sentences and reads them one by one indefinitely. ElevenLabs caps the free tier at 10,000 chars/month; Wordcast caps nothing.

  • How is Wordcast different from ElevenLabs, OpenAI TTS, or Speechify?

    ElevenLabs, OpenAI TTS, and Speechify generate voices on a server. They sound great, but every word is uploaded, queued, billed, downloaded — and you need an account, often a paid plan. Wordcast uses the voices Apple, Google, and Microsoft already shipped to your device. Voice quality a notch lower; everything else (privacy, speed, cost, character limit, friction) dramatically better. Use the cloud services to produce audio for someone else; use Wordcast to listen for yourself.

  • Which browsers work?

    All modern browsers since 2014: Chrome, Edge, Safari (desktop + iOS), Firefox, Samsung Internet, Brave, Arc, Vivaldi. Available voices depend on your OS.

  • Can I save the audio as an MP3 file?

    No. The Web Speech API only plays audio — it doesn't expose audio data. For a downloadable MP3, use a paid TTS service like Azure, Google Cloud, or ElevenLabs.

  • Does Wordcast work offline?

    Once the page is cached, yes — the synthesizer is part of your OS, not our site. Exception: browsers that route to online voices (some Chrome / Edge Natural voices). Switch to a voice marked local (no amber dot) for plane / no-signal use.

  • Is Wordcast accessible for dyslexia and ADHD?

    Built with accessibility in mind: keyboard shortcuts for play/pause, ARIA-labeled controls, high-contrast theme, and a sentence highlighter that follows along while reading. For full-page app narration, use a dedicated screen reader — Wordcast is for the passage you choose to listen to.

Free text to speech, right in your browser.

100% free, no signup, no upload, no character cap. The best free text to speech tool on the web.

Start listening