Comparison
Voice Labs and Speechify are both text to speech apps, but they do different jobs. Speechify is a reading app: it reads your documents, PDFs, books and articles aloud so you can listen instead of read. Voice Labs is a voiceover maker: it turns a script into an audio file for a video, story, lesson or ad. Choose by what you want at the end: something to listen to, or something to publish.
| Voice Labs | Speechify | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Making voiceovers from scripts you write | Listening to documents, articles, PDFs, emails and books |
| What you put in | Text you type or paste, or a voice recording for the Voice Changer | Documents, PDFs, articles and email, plus photos and screenshots of text, according to its listing |
| What you get out | An audio file to save or share into a video, podcast or presentation | Read-aloud playback inside the app, at adjustable speed |
| Text highlighting | Yes: line and word highlighting, tap a line to play from it | Yes: its listing describes active text highlighting synced word for word |
| Voice changer | Yes, for recordings and imported audio up to 5 minutes | Not mentioned in its listing |
| Voice controls | Stability, similarity and speed, with three presets | Listening speed, up to 4.5x according to its listing |
| Requires | iOS or iPadOS 16.1 or later | iOS or iPadOS 18.0 or later |
| Other platforms | iPhone and iPad (also installs on Apple silicon Macs and Apple Vision Pro) | Its listing describes syncing your library between desktop and mobile |
| Paid options (US) | Weekly plans: Starter $6.99, Pro $9.99, Advanced $14.99 | In-app purchases listed include Premium Monthly at $11.99 and Premium at $139.99 |
Facts about Speechify come from its App Store listing (US store), checked on 12 November 2026. Apps and prices change, so check the listing for the current details. Speechify is a trademark of Speechify Inc.; Voice Labs is not affiliated with it.
Text to speech has two very different uses, and it helps to know which one you need before comparing apps.
Reading for you. You have something to read: a report, a chapter, a long article. You would rather hear it, perhaps faster than you could read it. The audio is for your ears only, and you may never listen to it twice. This is what Speechify is for. Its App Store listing talks about listening to docs, articles, PDFs and email, snapping a picture of a printed page to hear it, and syncing a library across devices.
Speaking for you. You have something to say: a hook for a video, a product description, a story. You want a finished audio file in a voice you chose, to put in front of an audience. The audio is the product. This is what Voice Labs is for.
Most disappointment with text to speech apps comes from choosing one kind when you needed the other.
Both apps highlight text in sync with the audio, and both give you a choice of natural-sounding voices. If you only want to hear how a paragraph you wrote sounds, either will do.
Yes, and plenty of people would have a reason to. One reads to you on the commute; the other makes the narration for the video you publish in the evening. They do not get in each other’s way.
FAQ
Only for some uses. If you use Speechify to make narration for videos or presentations, Voice Labs is built for exactly that and is a good alternative. If you use Speechify to listen to PDFs, books and articles, Voice Labs is not a replacement, because it does not open documents or web pages.
Not directly. Voice Labs works from text you type or paste, up to 5,000 characters per generation. You could copy a passage out of a PDF and paste it in, but for reading whole documents a reading app such as Speechify is the right tool.
Speechify’s App Store listing describes it as an app for listening to documents, books and articles, with adjustable reading speed and synced highlighting. If your goal is a voiceover file in a specific character voice for a video, a voiceover maker such as Voice Labs is designed for that.
Speechify. Its listing is focused on reading support: listening to anything you would otherwise read, with word-by-word highlighting and adjustable speed. Voice Labs has synced highlighting too, but it is designed for producing voiceovers, not for reading documents.
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Your first 2 generations are free. Paste a script, pick a voice and hear it in seconds.
Free download · iPhone and iPad · iOS 16.1+