SpeakCoveThe EPUB readers with text to speech we compared on iPhone in October 2026 are SpeakCove, Voice Dream, Speechify, NaturalReader, ElevenReader and PageEcho. To hear an EPUB read aloud without installing anything, SpeakCove's free web reader at speakcove.com/text-to-speech opens it in any current browser with all 10 voices and no sign-up. The six apps differ in price, in the other eBook formats they open, in whether they work offline, and in how much you get before paying. All of them need DRM-free files: books bought in the Kindle or Apple Books stores can't be imported. We compared current App Store listings, pricing pages and feature lists as of October 2026. We make SpeakCove, so we've listed its limits too.
At a glance
| App | In short | Price |
|---|---|---|
| 1. SpeakCove | Best for listening to a mixed library of DRM-free eBooks offline, with a one-time price. | Free; optional Premium $14.99 one-time (as of October 2026) |
| 2. Voice Dream | Best for readers who want deep reading tools: notes, search, dictionary and many voices. | Subscription after a free trial; $79.99/year in the US App Store (as of October 2026) |
| 3. Speechify | Best for listening across phone, tablet and computer with one synced library. | Free plan; Premium $139/year or $29/month on its website (as of October 2026) |
| 4. NaturalReader | Best for people who also want MP3 export and AI study extras like summaries. | Free; US App Store plans from $9.99/month or $59.99/year (as of October 2026) |
| 5. ElevenReader | Best for the most natural-sounding AI narration of your own eBooks. | Free (10 hours/month); Ultra $11/month or $99/year on its website and in the US App Store (as of October 2026) |
| 6. PageEcho | Best for private eBook reading with on-device AI summaries and book Q&A. | Free; Premium $4.99/month, $24.99/year or $29.99 lifetime in the US App Store (as of October 2026) |
The ranking
1SpeakCoveOur Pick
Best for listening to a mixed library of DRM-free eBooks offline, with a one-time price.
- Opens EPUB, MOBI, AZW3, FB2 and CBZ, plus PDF, DOCX, RTF, TXT and HTML
- On-device voices that work offline, with sentence highlighting and a sleep timer
- Free Project Gutenberg book store built in
- No account, no ads and no listening time limits
- Only 2 of its 10 voices are free in the app (all 10 are free in the web reader at speakcove.com)
- Without Premium, playback pauses when you leave the app or lock the phone
- Needs iOS 26 or later, and it's a new app with few ratings
2Voice Dream
Best for readers who want deep reading tools: notes, search, dictionary and many voices.
- Reads DRM-free EPUB, DAISY and Bookshare books, plus PDF and Word
- Bookmarks, highlights, notes, full-text search and a built-in dictionary
- Voices work offline and keep playing with the screen locked
- A subscription is required to use the app after the trial
- Its format list has no MOBI, AZW3 or FB2
3Speechify
Best for listening across phone, tablet and computer with one synced library.
- Uploads EPUB, PDF, DOCX and TXT files
- Word-by-word highlighting synced with the voice
- Library syncs between mobile and desktop
- Free plan has 10 basic voices and a 1.5x speed cap
- Natural voices need Premium at $139/year
4NaturalReader
Best for people who also want MP3 export and AI study extras like summaries.
- Reads DRM-free EPUB plus PDF, Word, PowerPoint and images
- No account needed to start, and no ads
- Saves audio as MP3 for offline listening
- Its best voices are on the $119/year Plus or $159/year Pro plans
- Plus and Pro voices have a 500,000-character daily cap
5ElevenReader
Best for the most natural-sounding AI narration of your own eBooks.
- Over 1,000 AI voices in 30+ languages
- Imports ePub, PDF and docs; 10 hours of audio a month free
- Includes a store of audiobooks and eBooks
- Offline downloads need the Ultra plan
- Free listening is capped at 10 hours a month
6PageEcho
Best for private eBook reading with on-device AI summaries and book Q&A.
- Reads EPUB, MOBI, AZW3, FB2 and PDF
- On-device voices and AI features, with no account or tracking
- Lifetime purchase option
- Unlimited text-to-speech needs Premium
- Very new, with only a few App Store ratings
- Needs iOS 26 or later
Buying Guide
eBook Format Range
EPUB is standard, but your library may also hold MOBI or AZW3 files from older DRM-free downloads, FB2 books, or CBZ comics. An app that opens all of them saves you from converting files.
DRM
No third-party app can read DRM-protected books from the Kindle or Apple Books stores. These apps work with DRM-free files, such as Project Gutenberg books and many indie and publisher downloads.
Offline and Background Listening
Check whether the voices run on your phone or in the cloud, and whether audio keeps playing when you lock the screen. Some apps put offline mode or background playback behind a paid plan.
Total Cost
Compare a one-time price with years of a subscription. A $139/year plan costs $695 over five years; a one-time unlock costs the same in year five as in year one.
The Verdict
SpeakCove is our pick if you want to listen to DRM-free eBooks offline without a subscription, and two free voices are enough for you. If you need annotation, search and a dictionary while you listen, Voice Dream has the deepest reading tools for its yearly fee. If voice quality matters most and you mostly listen online, ElevenReader's free 10 hours a month is a good way to try AI narration.
Try SpeakCove Free. No sign-up required. Start listening in seconds.
One-time purchase, no subscription
Free to start with 2 voices and every format. $14.99 once unlocks all 10 voices, background playback and CarPlay. No subscription, ever.
Listen in the car with CarPlay
Your documents on your car's screen and speakers, with CarPlay in Premium.
Works offline, fully on-device
Your documents never leave your device. The app has no analytics and no ads, and reading and voices work in airplane mode.
Free Text to Speech, Right in Your Browser
Paste text or open any file (PDF, EPUB, Word, scans and more) and press Play. SpeakCove reads it aloud with natural voices in 31 languages. It's free, with no sign-up and no length limit, and your text never leaves your browser.
Open the reader →Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I turn my EPUB books into audiobooks?
- Yes, in practice. Text-to-speech apps such as SpeakCove, Voice Dream and ElevenReader read DRM-free EPUB files aloud with speed control, so any eBook you own can be heard like an audiobook.
- Can I read an EPUB aloud online for free?
- Yes. SpeakCove's free web reader opens DRM-free EPUB files in current Chrome, Edge and Safari, on a computer or a phone, and reads them in 10 voices and 31 languages with no sign-up or length limit. The book is opened in your browser, never uploaded.
- What EPUB reader apps have text-to-speech?
- SpeakCove, Voice Dream, Speechify, NaturalReader, ElevenReader and PageEcho all read EPUB files aloud on iPhone. SpeakCove and PageEcho also open MOBI, AZW3 and FB2.
- Can I listen to Kindle books with TTS apps?
- Not books bought from Amazon. They are DRM-protected and no third-party app can import them. DRM-free MOBI or AZW3 files, such as those from some independent publishers, work in apps like SpeakCove and PageEcho.
- Do TTS eBook readers remember my place?
- Good ones do. SpeakCove resumes from the sentence where you stopped, Voice Dream syncs reading positions across devices through iCloud, and ElevenReader has bookmarks.
- Is it better to buy audiobooks or use TTS on my EPUBs?
- Human narrators add emotion and character voices that TTS can't match. TTS works well for non-fiction, study material and books with no audiobook edition, and it costs far less than buying each audiobook.
- Can I adjust the reading speed for eBooks?
- Yes. Every app here has speed control. SpeakCove goes from 0.75x to 1.75x, free or Premium; ElevenReader goes up to 4x.