How to Convert Text to Speech for Free

Need to proofread an essay, listen to an article while commuting, or create voiceovers? Your browser can read any text aloud, with no subscription and no upload to Presend. With your device's own voices, the text never leaves your device.

Why browser-based text-to-speech?

Cloud TTS services like Amazon Polly, Google Cloud Text-to-Speech, or ElevenLabs produce excellent results but require:

• Uploading your text to their servers
• API keys and developer accounts
• Paying per character or per minute
• Accepting terms that may allow training on your data

For personal use, drafts, or sensitive content, browser-based TTS is fast, free, and, with your device's own voices, private: the text stays on your device.

How speechSynthesis works

The Web Speech API's speechSynthesis interface is built into every modern browser. It uses your operating system's voices:

• Windows — Microsoft David, Zira, and other system voices
• macOS — High-quality Siri voices (Alex, Samantha, etc.)
• Linux — espeak, Festival, or Piper depending on your distro
• Android/iOS — Device-native TTS engines with regional accents

With these system voices, the text is processed entirely on your device. Some browsers also offer online voices (Google voices in Chrome, Microsoft "Online (Natural)" voices in Edge) that send the text to Google or Microsoft. Presend's tool labels them "online" in the voice list and warns you when one is selected.

Use cases

• Proofreading — Hearing your writing read aloud catches errors your eyes miss
• Accessibility — Listen to articles, emails, or documents if reading is difficult
• Language learning — Hear pronunciation of foreign text
• Content creation — Quick voiceover drafts for videos or presentations
• Multitasking — Listen while cooking, exercising, or commuting

Adjusting voice settings

Presend's tool lets you control:

• Voice — Select from all voices installed on your system, grouped by language
• Speed — From 0.5× (slow) to 2.0× (fast). 1.0× is natural conversational pace
• Pitch — Higher or lower tone. Useful for emphasis or matching content mood

Step-by-step guide

1. Open the tool — Go to Text-to-Speech
2. Paste your text — Type or paste up to a few thousand characters
3. Choose a voice — Pick a language and specific voice
4. Adjust speed and pitch — Fine-tune to your preference
5. Click Speak — Listen instantly
6. Use Pause/Stop — Control playback as needed

Recording the output

Most browsers cannot directly capture synthesized audio due to security sandboxing. To save TTS output as an audio file, use your operating system's screen recorder with audio capture:

• Windows — Xbox Game Bar (Win+G) or OBS Studio
• macOS — QuickTime Player (File > New Audio Recording) or Cmd+Shift+5
• Linux — OBS Studio or parec with ffmpeg