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If you’re looking for a text-to-speech app, there are lots options available to you. You’ll have a few things to consider:
- reason for using text-to-speech
- budget
- voice realism & variety
Text-to-speech apps are great for reading text out loud so you can learn faster or listen to books while you work or multitask. Some text-to-speech apps let you generate an audio track that you can download and listen to or use as a voice-over in YouTube videos and podcasts.
Two of the top text-to-speech apps available today are Speechelo and Speechify. One reader of my Speechelo review compared the app to Speechify and I noticed that people are searching for “Speechelo vs. Speechify” so I decided to clear the air about these two apps.
In this blog post, I’m going to tell you about both text-to-speech software and how they work. You’ll know by the end of the post which one is the better software for you.
What Is Speechelo?
Speechelo is a text-to-speech cloud software that was created for a very specific task. Users of Speechelo can generate voice-over tracks so that they can use them in YouTube videos, games, podcasts and more.
There is no mobile app for Speechelo. There is only a browser based cloud application where you can create and save all your work. Speechelo wasn’t made for reading books and other lengthy material while you multitask.
Using Speechelo is simple. You just log into the web interface using your email and password then:
- Paste your text into the form.
- Choose one of the 30 voices (more if you’re using the Pro version)
- Generate and download your voice over track
You can tweak and preview the audio before you download it, adjust settings for pauses, breathing and emphasis on words and more.
Speechelo is one of the best voice-over generators using text-to-speech technology as it lets you create voice overs with realistic human voices that do not sound as robotic as other text-to-speech software.
Here are some of the things that make Speechelo so great and some drawbacks.
Pros of Speechelo
While Speechelo does not have a free version or a free trial, the cost to use it is $47 one time payment which makes it cheaper than many of the other alternatives available. Occasionally, you can get a discount on Speechelo with the price going as low as $27 one time fee.
The fact that Speechelo is browser-based means that you can use it on any operating system, so it doesn’t matter if you have a Mac or a PC.
Cons of Speechelo
There isn’t much to complain about with Speechelo. The software was made for a very specific purpose and is not a text-to-speech reader like Speechify.
There are however two things that I wish they could improve on. First, you cannot upload files like pdfs or text files. This could be because it is better to work with short blocks of text to ensure you get everything right. Getting something wrong would mean you’d have to delete and redo the entire audio output file.
The other thing is the previews are way to short and can sometimes be cut even shorter with customizations. 100 characters isn’t much for a preview if you want to hear how your generated audio will sound.
Neither of these two gripes stops Speechelo from generating great voice-overs that you can use as audio tracks for videos and more.
What is Speechify
Speechify is a text-to-speech reader which is used by many to read books, documents, email and blog posts while they do something else. Or they may just want to get the reading done faster.
This software is available as an app for both iPhone and Android mobile devices and also as a Chrome extension. You can access it with a 3-day free trial before paying $139/year for a subscription.
Speechify cannot generate audio files that you can use in YouTube videos or podcast. This is the big difference between Speechelo and Speechify. They were both made to do two completely different things.
Speechify has some great features like you can increase the reading speed so you can easily breeze through text and it also supports up to 15 languages.
Pros of Speechify
Speechify has mobile apps for both iPhone and Android mobile devices which makes it easy for users to get reading done on the go. A handy Chrome extension also makes it easy to listen to web pages, blogs and email.
One good thing about a subscription based reader like Speechify is that new users can test it out with a free trial before committing to an entire year’s subscription.
Speechify is great as a speech to text reader and has features such as the ability to increase reading speed which allows you to increase productivity and learn while you’re active with other tasks.
Cons of Speechify
As a text-to-speech reader, users do not have the added option of generating an audio voice-over that can be used in video projects or podcasts. Speechify was simply not made for this purpose.
It would have been great if there were other subscription choices other than the lone annual option which costs $139/year. Perhaps a 6 month plan or quarterly plan would have been good options as well.
Speechelo vs. Speechify
Speechelo and Speechify are both text-to-speech software but they do different things. It would be unfair in a way to compare both. Speechelo was made for video marketers who want to generate audio tracks from text and Speechify was made for people who want their documents read out loud.
if you are looking for a software like Speechify, then you aren’t going to be interested in Speechelo and vice versa. Speechify would be better compared to other TTS readers like NoteVibes or Natural Reader, both of which do audio generation and reading but are primarily text-to-speech readers. Speechelo would be better compared to Talkia.
Which One is Better?
As we pointed out both software do different things so asking which is better would depend on the task you would like to do.
If you want to generate audio with very natural sounding voices, then Speechelo is the perfect software for the job. You can use the generated audio in your YouTube videos as a voice-over, in podcasts, in games and other media where a voice-over is needed.
Speechify, on the other hand, is best for when you need to read your favorite blog while jogging in the morning.
Neither is better than the other when you compare them because they don’t do the same tasks. You can try Speechify for 3 days free but you’ll have to purchase Speechelo to start generating voice overs. Depending on what you want to do, you will not have to try both.
