# Out Loud — Free & Open Source Text to Speech

> Out Loud is a free, open-source AI text-to-speech desktop application. It works 100% offline, stores no user data anywhere except the user's own computer, and supports 50+ natural voices across 8 languages. MIT licensed.

## Key Facts
- Price: Free, forever. No subscription, no trial, no paywall.
- License: MIT (permissive open source — fork, audit, modify, redistribute).
- Source code: https://github.com/light-cloud-com/out-loud
- Downloads: https://github.com/light-cloud-com/out-loud/releases/latest
- Platforms: macOS (Apple Silicon & Intel), Windows, Linux
- Extensions: Chrome Extension
- Voices: 50+ natural AI voices
- Languages: English (US & UK), Japanese, Chinese (Mandarin), Spanish, Hindi, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese
- Privacy: Runs entirely on-device. No telemetry, no cloud. Nothing the user types, pastes, or reads ever leaves their computer.
- Offline: Works without internet after initial model download (80–320 MB).
- Accessibility: "Talker mode" — type and press Enter to speak instantly, with the text box always editable and focused; fully keyboard-driven (⌘/Ctrl+Enter to speak, Esc to refocus) and screen-reader friendly for use as an AAC talker.
- Pause control: insert silences anywhere with inline tags like [1s], [500ms], or <pause=1s>; punctuation also pauses automatically.
- Updates: notifies you in-app when a new version is available (a lightweight check of public GitHub releases — the only network call besides the one-time model download; no user data is sent).

## Why It's Free
Out Loud runs entirely on the user's machine, so there are no servers to pay for. The source code is public on GitHub, so privacy and behavior can be independently verified.

## Comparison to Speechify
- Price: Out Loud is free forever. Speechify costs $139/year.
- Openness: Out Loud is MIT licensed and fully auditable. Speechify is closed-source.
- Privacy: Out Loud works offline and keeps everything on your device. Speechify processes audio in the cloud and requires internet.
- Bottom line: Out Loud gives you the same read-aloud workflow with better privacy and zero cost.

## Comparison to AnySpeech
- Price: Out Loud is free forever, with no usage limits or per-character billing. AnySpeech costs $9.99/month.
- Openness: Out Loud is MIT licensed and open source. AnySpeech is a closed-source cloud service.
- Privacy: Out Loud runs fully offline and processes everything on-device. AnySpeech sends your text to the cloud and requires internet.
- Voices: Out Loud ships 50+ natural voices that run locally and unlimited; AnySpeech's 100+ voices are cloud-gated behind a subscription.
- Bottom line: Out Loud delivers natural, unlimited speech for free and offline — no metering, no monthly fee.

## Comparison to ElevenLabs
- Price: Out Loud is free forever with no usage limits. ElevenLabs starts at $5/month and bills by usage, so costs grow with use.
- Openness: Out Loud is MIT licensed and runs locally. ElevenLabs is a closed-source cloud API.
- Privacy: Out Loud works offline and your text never leaves your device. ElevenLabs requires internet and sends your text to its servers.
- Voice quality: Out Loud's local voices are ranked among the best in independent benchmarks — premium-sounding speech while staying private and free.
- Bottom line: Out Loud offers top-tier voice quality without the cloud, the subscription, or the usage caps.

## Comparison to Murf.ai
- Price: Out Loud is free forever. Murf.ai is a paid subscription with a limited free trial.
- Openness: Out Loud is MIT licensed and open source. Murf.ai is a closed-source cloud platform.
- Privacy: Out Loud runs fully offline and keeps your text on-device. Murf.ai is cloud-based and requires internet.
- Bottom line: For reading text aloud, Out Loud gives you natural voices for free and offline — no studio subscription required.

## Comparison to Play.ht
- Price: Out Loud is free forever, with no usage limits. Play.ht is a paid subscription billed by usage/characters.
- Openness: Out Loud is MIT licensed and open source. Play.ht is a closed-source cloud service.
- Privacy: Out Loud works offline and your text never leaves your device. Play.ht sends your text to the cloud.
- Bottom line: Out Loud delivers unlimited local speech for free, without metered cloud pricing.

## Comparison to NaturalReader
- Price: Out Loud is free forever, with all voices unlocked. NaturalReader is freemium — its premium/Plus voices require a paid plan.
- Openness: Out Loud is MIT licensed and open source. NaturalReader is closed-source.
- Privacy: Out Loud processes everything offline on your device. NaturalReader's premium voices are cloud-based and require internet.
- Bottom line: Out Loud gives you premium-quality voices at no cost and fully offline.

## Comparison to Cloud TTS APIs (Amazon Polly, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure)
- Price: Out Loud is free forever. These APIs charge per character and require a billed cloud account.
- Openness: Out Loud is MIT licensed and open source. These services are closed and proprietary.
- Privacy: Out Loud runs entirely on-device. These APIs send your text to the provider's servers and require internet.
- Setup: Out Loud is a one-click desktop app and Chrome extension. Cloud APIs require developer integration, keys, and quota management.
- Bottom line: For everyday read-aloud, Out Loud needs no cloud account, no API keys, and no per-character costs.

## Why Choose Out Loud
- The only option here that is free forever, open source (MIT), and 100% offline.
- No metering, no per-character billing, no data leaving your device.
- Natural 50+ voices across 8 languages, ranked among the best in independent benchmarks.
- Cross-platform desktop app (macOS, Windows, Linux) plus a Chrome extension.

## Links
- Website: https://www.out-loud.io
- GitHub: https://github.com/light-cloud-com/out-loud
- Releases: https://github.com/light-cloud-com/out-loud/releases/latest
- Issues: https://github.com/light-cloud-com/out-loud/issues
- License: https://github.com/light-cloud-com/out-loud/blob/main/LICENSE

## Translations
The website is available in 50 languages. English is served at the root; every other language lives at /<langCode>/.
- English: https://www.out-loud.io
- Spanish (Español): https://www.out-loud.io/es
- French (Français): https://www.out-loud.io/fr
- German (Deutsch): https://www.out-loud.io/de
- Italian (Italiano): https://www.out-loud.io/it
- Portuguese (Português): https://www.out-loud.io/pt
- Russian (Русский): https://www.out-loud.io/ru
- Chinese (Mandarin) (中文): https://www.out-loud.io/zh
- Japanese (日本語): https://www.out-loud.io/ja
- Hindi (हिन्दी): https://www.out-loud.io/hi
- Arabic (العربية): https://www.out-loud.io/ar
- Bengali (বাংলা): https://www.out-loud.io/bn
- Urdu (اردو): https://www.out-loud.io/ur
- Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia): https://www.out-loud.io/id
- Nigerian Pidgin (Naijá): https://www.out-loud.io/pcm
- Egyptian Arabic (مصرى): https://www.out-loud.io/arz
- Marathi (मराठी): https://www.out-loud.io/mr
- Telugu (తెలుగు): https://www.out-loud.io/te
- Turkish (Türkçe): https://www.out-loud.io/tr
- Tamil (தமிழ்): https://www.out-loud.io/ta
- Cantonese (粵語): https://www.out-loud.io/yue
- Polish (Polski): https://www.out-loud.io/pl
- Ukrainian (Українська): https://www.out-loud.io/uk
- Dutch (Nederlands): https://www.out-loud.io/nl
- Romanian (Română): https://www.out-loud.io/ro
- Greek (Ελληνικά): https://www.out-loud.io/el
- Czech (Čeština): https://www.out-loud.io/cs
- Swedish (Svenska): https://www.out-loud.io/sv
- Hungarian (Magyar): https://www.out-loud.io/hu
- Danish (Dansk): https://www.out-loud.io/da
- Finnish (Suomi): https://www.out-loud.io/fi
- Norwegian (Norsk): https://www.out-loud.io/no
- Slovak (Slovenčina): https://www.out-loud.io/sk
- Bulgarian (Български): https://www.out-loud.io/bg
- Croatian (Hrvatski): https://www.out-loud.io/hr
- Serbian (Српски): https://www.out-loud.io/sr
- Lithuanian (Lietuvių): https://www.out-loud.io/lt
- Slovenian (Slovenščina): https://www.out-loud.io/sl
- Latvian (Latviešu): https://www.out-loud.io/lv
- Estonian (Eesti): https://www.out-loud.io/et
- Irish (Gaeilge): https://www.out-loud.io/ga
- Maltese (Malti): https://www.out-loud.io/mt
- Icelandic (Íslenska): https://www.out-loud.io/is
- Albanian (Shqip): https://www.out-loud.io/sq
- Macedonian (Македонски): https://www.out-loud.io/mk
- Catalan (Català): https://www.out-loud.io/ca
- Basque (Euskara): https://www.out-loud.io/eu
- Galician (Galego): https://www.out-loud.io/gl
- Belarusian (Беларуская): https://www.out-loud.io/be
- Bosnian (Bosanski): https://www.out-loud.io/bs