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CastReader vs Speechify

Two fact sheets from our own research, side by side — pricing, platforms, API access and status re-checked by us rather than quoted from the vendors.

The short answer

Cheaper paid plan
CastReader — $3/mo vs $29/mo for Speechify
Free plan
Both have one
Public API
Both have one
Higher Trust score
Speechify — 94 vs 77 for CastReader
Best fit
CastReader: Readers with a Kindle backlog who want it read aloud in the browser or on a phone · Speechify: Students and professionals working through long PDFs and articles by ear

From our own records as of each tool's last check. Anything we have not confirmed is left out rather than guessed. How we verify

CastReaderReads webpages, PDFs, Kindle books and chatbot replies aloud with synced highlighting, and explains hard passages as it reads.SpeechifyReads PDFs, web pages and email out loud

Side by side

FactCastReaderSpeechify
CategoryText-to-SpeechText-to-Speech
Pricing modelFreemiumFreemium
Starts at$3/mo$29/mo
Public APIYesYes
Trust score77 / 10094 / 100
PlatformsChrome extension, macOS, iOS, Android, APIiOS, Android, Chrome extension, Web, macOS, API
CompanyEnid LtdSpeechify Inc.
Launched—2017
Last verifiedOct 15, 2026Oct 15, 2026

What our research says

CastReader

Kindle Cloud Reader support is the detail that matters - most read-aloud extensions cannot touch it, and that is precisely where people have a backlog they never get through. At $35.99 a year it undercuts the established readers, the account-free tier is generous enough for occasional use, and Read and Explain makes it useful for foreign-language and technical reading too.

Pros

  • Works on Kindle Cloud Reader, WeChat Read, Google Docs, Gmail and Notion
  • Free tier with 20 minutes a day and no account required
  • Read and Explain marks what the AI is discussing on the page
  • Extensions for Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari plus phone and tablet apps

Cons

  • Operator Enid Ltd gives no registered address or country in its terms
  • Free tier caps speed at 1.25x and limits long ebooks and PDFs
  • Voice API is still a developer preview

Speechify

The most complete listen-to-anything reader on a phone, but the $29 monthly sticker is a trap — the same thing is $139 a year, and the free tier is deliberately unpleasant.

Pros

  • Handles almost any input, including scanned pages captured through the camera
  • Voices stay intelligible all the way up to 5x playback
  • One library syncs between phone, browser extension and Mac

Cons

  • Monthly billing costs about 2.5x the annual rate for the same features
  • Free tier is held to 10 robotic voices and 1.5x speed
  • Studio and the developer API are separate products on a separate domain with their own bills

Which one fits

Choose CastReader if you need

  • Readers with a Kindle backlog who want it read aloud in the browser or on a phone
  • Students and language learners working through dense or foreign-language texts
  • Heavy listeners who find Speechify too expensive

Choose Speechify if you need

  • Students and professionals working through long PDFs and articles by ear
  • Readers with dyslexia or low vision who need OCR capture plus playback
  • Developers who want the Simba voices without building a reader app

CastReader vs Speechify: the questions people ask

Is CastReader cheaper than Speechify?

On published entry prices, CastReader starts lower — $3/mo against $29/mo for Speechify. Entry price is the lowest paid plan as we last verified it; what each plan includes differs.

Does CastReader or Speechify have a free tier?

Both: CastReader has a free tier, and Speechify has a free tier.

Which has a public API, CastReader or Speechify?

Both ship a public API, so either can be built on; the fact table above shows the platforms each one runs on.

More comparisons

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