ReadX Text To Speech

Tracking since Apr 16, 2026.

Changelog

• May 28, 2026
  description

  Text to Speech Reader – Read Web Pages Aloud (TTS)
  Text to Speech (TTS) reader that reads web pages aloud. Listen to articles, blogs, and selected text using Google voices, offline system voices, or AI-generated voices.
  
  Features
  Read web pages aloud instantly from any point on the page
  Select text to start reading or use keyboard shortcuts
  Replace words and abbreviations to fix pronunciations
  Works online and offline
  Custom play/pause keys, highlight color, and reading speed
  Displays reading progress, estimated time, and percent read
  non-DRM EPUB reader 
  non-DRM MOBI reader
  Tesseract OCR (Optical Character Recognition)
  Voice Support
  Google text-to-speech voices
  System voices (offline support)
  OpenAI-based Text-to-Speech API
  Local AI-generated voices with Piper ONNX
  
  How to Use
  Click anywhere on a page to start reading from that point, or select text and press the play shortcut. Options allow disabling click-to-read and customizing controls for your workflow.
  
  -----------------------------------
  
  New in Version 1.4.2:
  - updated automation to handle elements which include Tailwind classes.
  - fixed highlight color brightness detection
  
  New in Version 1.3.9:
  - Added support for non-DRM EPUB and MOBI files. Access it by clicking the EPUB/MOBI text reader button in the Extension popup.
  
  New in Version 1.3.7:
  - Added UI translations for 15 Google Voice languages (AI-assisted).
  - Selecting a voice from the dropdown now changes most of the UI text to that language.
  
  New in Version 1.3.4:
  - Added Tesseract OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to read text or books from images. Runs entirely locally on your device. 
  
  New in Version 1.3.2:
  - Kokoro can read phonemes as well as plain text. (v 1.3.1)
  - Fixed major bug I introduced in previous version of Kokoro phonemization.
  - Piper voices now read the bit-rate and language settings from the JSON file.
  - Minor other bug fixes.
  
  New in Version 1.2.9:
  - On secure pages, when using non-system voices, setting #playInPopup:no will open the player in a new tab rather than a popup.
  - Using {Lcase}, allows you to convert words with 5 or more uppercase letters in this example to lowercase:
  RegEx=>\b\p{Lu}{5,}\b=>{Lcase}=>gu
  
  New in Version 1.2.6:
  - Added support for Azure voices, remote parameters now accept XML when the first character is a '<' symbol."
  Note: Kokoro WebGPU will default to CPU and run relatively slow compared to GPU, if WebGPU flag isn't enabled.
  
  New in Version 1.2.5:
  - Restored support for reading contenteditable elements.
  - Added #filter:contenteditable=true to disable reading these elements if desired.
  - Introduced Kokoro WebGPU: prompts a one-time 300MB TTS model download. When  
    selected, it enables reading selected text in a new window via the option menu.
  - Click the Edit selected voice button to bring up a list of 28 available voices.
  
  New in 1.2.4
  - Fixed shortcut key case sensitivity
  - Added checking to prevent edit boxes from accidentally triggering read events. 
  - Default Play/Pause key now works in iframes
  
  New in 1.2.2 - 1.2.3
  - Added offline support for Piper ONNX voices. ( press edit selected voice for its options ) 
  - Improved GUI for OpenAI-based Text-to-Speech API endpoint and custom voices
  To add more you'd have to have the exension download the onnx and json files for piper voices from  add new voice dialog.
  - v 1.2.3 minor bug fixes, added more language support.
  
  New In 1.2.1
  - added color picker for highlight
    when "highlight text only" is enabled, the background color is used on light fonts
  - added #filter to ignore entire element blocks when reading, 
     useful for skipping sections like advertisements, menus or buttons.
  - added option for monitoring the page for changes while reading. 
     #detectPageChanges:yes  
  
  New In 1.2.0
  - upped the maximum speed slider for local voices to 3x.
  
  New In 1.1.8:
  - Added support for OpenAI-based Text-to-Speech API endpoint.
  
  New Features of Version 1.0.2 (iframes not supported)
  - Automation tab settings
  - Spacebar to play from selected location
  - Configurable to automatically click on [next page] when finished reading current one (requires refresh)
  * This works by getting element class name, if multiple elements have the same class name on page, this won't work.
  
  New Features of Version 1.0.8
  - added domain specific settings
  - optimized code for even faster loading
  
  New Features of Version 1.1.0
  -  custom shortcut keys.
  
  New in Version 1.1.1 - 1.1.4, 1.1.9
  - minor bug fixes
  
  New in Version 1.1.5 - 1.1.8
  -Added an optional Shift key modifier for onclick. Although a better alternative is to set the #playPauseShortcutKey and use the mouse to select the text. Note: The default Play/Pause shortcut is the Spacebar, which will be replaced by the custom key you set. Ensure the 'Spacebar to play' is enabled for the shortcut keys to work.
  
  - Added support for OpenAI-based Text-to-Speech API endpoint.
  - Details available in extension options.
  - Disclaimer: This feature is still a work in progress.
  
  Note:
  Some features may work differently inside iframes or Shadow DOM elements.

  Text to Speech Reader – Read Web Pages Aloud (TTS)
  Text to Speech (TTS) reader that reads web pages aloud. Listen to articles, blogs, and selected text using Google voices, offline system voices, or AI-generated voices.
  
  Features
  Read web pages aloud instantly from any point on the page
  Select text to start reading or use keyboard shortcuts
  Replace words and abbreviations to fix pronunciations
  Works online and offline
  Custom play/pause keys, highlight color, and reading speed
  Displays reading progress, estimated time, and percent read
  non-DRM EPUB reader 
  non-DRM MOBI reader
  Tesseract OCR (Optical Character Recognition)
  Voice Support
  Google text-to-speech voices
  System voices (offline support)
  OpenAI-based Text-to-Speech API
  Local AI-generated voices with Piper ONNX
  
  How to Use
  Click anywhere on a page to start reading from that point, or select text and press the play shortcut. Options allow disabling click-to-read and customizing controls for your workflow.
  
  -----------------------------------
  
  New in Version 1.4.3:
  -added support for 7zip and RAR for EPUB loading
  
  New in Version 1.4.2:
  - updated automation to handle elements which include Tailwind classes.
  - fixed highlight color brightness detection
  
  New in Version 1.3.9:
  - Added support for non-DRM EPUB and MOBI files. Access it by clicking the EPUB/MOBI text reader button in the Extension popup.
  
  New in Version 1.3.7:
  - Added UI translations for 15 Google Voice languages (AI-assisted).
  - Selecting a voice from the dropdown now changes most of the UI text to that language.
  
  New in Version 1.3.4:
  - Added Tesseract OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to read text or books from images. Runs entirely locally on your device. 
  
  New in Version 1.3.2:
  - Kokoro can read phonemes as well as plain text. (v 1.3.1)
  - Fixed major bug I introduced in previous version of Kokoro phonemization.
  - Piper voices now read the bit-rate and language settings from the JSON file.
  - Minor other bug fixes.
  
  New in Version 1.2.9:
  - On secure pages, when using non-system voices, setting #playInPopup:no will open the player in a new tab rather than a popup.
  - Using {Lcase}, allows you to convert words with 5 or more uppercase letters in this example to lowercase:
  RegEx=>\b\p{Lu}{5,}\b=>{Lcase}=>gu
  
  New in Version 1.2.6:
  - Added support for Azure voices, remote parameters now accept XML when the first character is a '<' symbol."
  Note: Kokoro WebGPU will default to CPU and run relatively slow compared to GPU, if WebGPU flag isn't enabled.
  
  New in Version 1.2.5:
  - Restored support for reading contenteditable elements.
  - Added #filter:contenteditable=true to disable reading these elements if desired.
  - Introduced Kokoro WebGPU: prompts a one-time 300MB TTS model download. When  
    selected, it enables reading selected text in a new window via the option menu.
  - Click the Edit selected voice button to bring up a list of 28 available voices.
  
  New in 1.2.4
  - Fixed shortcut key case sensitivity
  - Added checking to prevent edit boxes from accidentally triggering read events. 
  - Default Play/Pause key now works in iframes
  
  New in 1.2.2 - 1.2.3
  - Added offline support for Piper ONNX voices. ( press edit selected voice for its options ) 
  - Improved GUI for OpenAI-based Text-to-Speech API endpoint and custom voices
  To add more you'd have to have the exension download the onnx and json files for piper voices from  add new voice dialog.
  - v 1.2.3 minor bug fixes, added more language support.
  
  New In 1.2.1
  - added color picker for highlight
    when "highlight text only" is enabled, the background color is used on light fonts
  - added #filter to ignore entire element blocks when reading, 
     useful for skipping sections like advertisements, menus or buttons.
  - added option for monitoring the page for changes while reading. 
     #detectPageChanges:yes  
  
  New In 1.2.0
  - upped the maximum speed slider for local voices to 3x.
  
  New In 1.1.8:
  - Added support for OpenAI-based Text-to-Speech API endpoint.
  
  New Features of Version 1.0.2 (iframes not supported)
  - Automation tab settings
  - Spacebar to play from selected location
  - Configurable to automatically click on [next page] when finished reading current one (requires refresh)
  * This works by getting element class name, if multiple elements have the same class name on page, this won't work.
  
  New Features of Version 1.0.8
  - added domain specific settings
  - optimized code for even faster loading
  
  New Features of Version 1.1.0
  -  custom shortcut keys.
  
  New in Version 1.1.1 - 1.1.4, 1.1.9
  - minor bug fixes
  
  New in Version 1.1.5 - 1.1.8
  -Added an optional Shift key modifier for onclick. Although a better alternative is to set the #playPauseShortcutKey and use the mouse to select the text. Note: The default Play/Pause shortcut is the Spacebar, which will be replaced by the custom key you set. Ensure the 'Spacebar to play' is enabled for the shortcut keys to work.
  
  - Added support for OpenAI-based Text-to-Speech API endpoint.
  - Details available in extension options.
  - Disclaimer: This feature is still a work in progress.
  
  Note:
  Some features may work differently inside iframes or Shadow DOM elements.

• Apr 16, 2026
  description

  Text to Speech Reader – Read Web Pages Aloud (TTS)
  Text to Speech (TTS) reader that reads web pages aloud. Listen to articles, blogs, and selected text using Google voices, offline system voices, or AI-generated voices.
  
  Features
  Read web pages aloud instantly from any point on the page
  Select text to start reading or use keyboard shortcuts
  Replace words and abbreviations to fix pronunciations
  Works online and offline
  Custom play/pause keys, highlight color, and reading speed
  Displays reading progress, estimated time, and percent read
  Voice Support
  Google text-to-speech voices
  System voices (offline support)
  OpenAI-based Text-to-Speech API
  Local AI-generated voices with Piper ONNX
  
  How to Use
  Click anywhere on a page to start reading from that point, or select text and press the play shortcut. Options allow disabling click-to-read and customizing controls for your workflow.
  
  -----------------------------------
  
  New in Version 1.3.9:
  - Added support for non-DRM EPUB and MOBI files. Access it by clicking the EPUB/MOBI text reader button in the Extension popup.
  
  New in Version 1.3.7:
  - Added UI translations for 15 Google Voice languages (AI-assisted).
  - Selecting a voice from the dropdown now changes most of the UI text to that language.
  
  New in Version 1.3.4:
  - Added Tesseract OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to read text or books from images. Runs entirely locally on your device. 
  
  New in Version 1.3.2:
  - Kokoro can read phonemes as well as plain text. (v 1.3.1)
  - Fixed major bug I introduced in previous version of Kokoro phonemization.
  - Piper voices now read the bit-rate and language settings from the JSON file.
  - Minor other bug fixes.
  
  New in Version 1.2.9:
  - On secure pages, when using non-system voices, setting #playInPopup:no will open the player in a new tab rather than a popup.
  - Using {Lcase}, allows you to convert words with 5 or more uppercase letters in this example to lowercase:
  RegEx=>\b\p{Lu}{5,}\b=>{Lcase}=>gu
  
  New in Version 1.2.6:
  - Added support for Azure voices, remote parameters now accept XML when the first character is a '<' symbol."
  Note: Kokoro WebGPU will default to CPU and run relatively slow compared to GPU, if WebGPU flag isn't enabled.
  
  New in Version 1.2.5:
  - Restored support for reading contenteditable elements.
  - Added #filter:contenteditable=true to disable reading these elements if desired.
  - Introduced Kokoro WebGPU: prompts a one-time 300MB TTS model download. When  
    selected, it enables reading selected text in a new window via the option menu.
  - Click the Edit selected voice button to bring up a list of 28 available voices.
  
  New in 1.2.4
  - Fixed shortcut key case sensitivity
  - Added checking to prevent edit boxes from accidentally triggering read events. 
  - Default Play/Pause key now works in iframes
  
  New in 1.2.2 - 1.2.3
  - Added offline support for Piper ONNX voices. ( press edit selected voice for its options ) 
  - Improved GUI for OpenAI-based Text-to-Speech API endpoint and custom voices
  To add more you'd have to have the exension download the onnx and json files for piper voices from  add new voice dialog.
  - v 1.2.3 minor bug fixes, added more language support.
  
  New In 1.2.1
  - added color picker for highlight
    when "highlight text only" is enabled, the background color is used on light fonts
  - added #filter to ignore entire element blocks when reading, 
     useful for skipping sections like advertisements, menus or buttons.
  - added option for monitoring the page for changes while reading. 
     #detectPageChanges:yes  
  
  New In 1.2.0
  - upped the maximum speed slider for local voices to 3x.
  
  New In 1.1.8:
  - Added support for OpenAI-based Text-to-Speech API endpoint.
  
  New Features of Version 1.0.2 (iframes not supported)
  - Automation tab settings
  - Spacebar to play from selected location
  - Configurable to automatically click on [next page] when finished reading current one (requires refresh)
  * This works by getting element class name, if multiple elements have the same class name on page, this won't work.
  
  New Features of Version 1.0.8
  - added domain specific settings
  - optimized code for even faster loading
  
  New Features of Version 1.1.0
  -  custom shortcut keys.
  
  New in Version 1.1.1 - 1.1.4, 1.1.9
  - minor bug fixes
  
  New in Version 1.1.5 - 1.1.8
  -Added an optional Shift key modifier for onclick. Although a better alternative is to set the #playPauseShortcutKey and use the mouse to select the text. Note: The default Play/Pause shortcut is the Spacebar, which will be replaced by the custom key you set. Ensure the 'Spacebar to play' is enabled for the shortcut keys to work.
  
  - Added support for OpenAI-based Text-to-Speech API endpoint.
  - Details available in extension options.
  - Disclaimer: This feature is still a work in progress.
  
  Note:
  Some features may work differently inside iframes or Shadow DOM elements.

  Text to Speech Reader – Read Web Pages Aloud (TTS)
  Text to Speech (TTS) reader that reads web pages aloud. Listen to articles, blogs, and selected text using Google voices, offline system voices, or AI-generated voices.
  
  Features
  Read web pages aloud instantly from any point on the page
  Select text to start reading or use keyboard shortcuts
  Replace words and abbreviations to fix pronunciations
  Works online and offline
  Custom play/pause keys, highlight color, and reading speed
  Displays reading progress, estimated time, and percent read
  non-DRM EPUB reader 
  non-DRM MOBI reader
  Tesseract OCR (Optical Character Recognition)
  Voice Support
  Google text-to-speech voices
  System voices (offline support)
  OpenAI-based Text-to-Speech API
  Local AI-generated voices with Piper ONNX
  
  How to Use
  Click anywhere on a page to start reading from that point, or select text and press the play shortcut. Options allow disabling click-to-read and customizing controls for your workflow.
  
  -----------------------------------
  
  New in Version 1.4.2:
  - updated automation to handle elements which include Tailwind classes.
  - fixed highlight color brightness detection
  
  New in Version 1.3.9:
  - Added support for non-DRM EPUB and MOBI files. Access it by clicking the EPUB/MOBI text reader button in the Extension popup.
  
  New in Version 1.3.7:
  - Added UI translations for 15 Google Voice languages (AI-assisted).
  - Selecting a voice from the dropdown now changes most of the UI text to that language.
  
  New in Version 1.3.4:
  - Added Tesseract OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to read text or books from images. Runs entirely locally on your device. 
  
  New in Version 1.3.2:
  - Kokoro can read phonemes as well as plain text. (v 1.3.1)
  - Fixed major bug I introduced in previous version of Kokoro phonemization.
  - Piper voices now read the bit-rate and language settings from the JSON file.
  - Minor other bug fixes.
  
  New in Version 1.2.9:
  - On secure pages, when using non-system voices, setting #playInPopup:no will open the player in a new tab rather than a popup.
  - Using {Lcase}, allows you to convert words with 5 or more uppercase letters in this example to lowercase:
  RegEx=>\b\p{Lu}{5,}\b=>{Lcase}=>gu
  
  New in Version 1.2.6:
  - Added support for Azure voices, remote parameters now accept XML when the first character is a '<' symbol."
  Note: Kokoro WebGPU will default to CPU and run relatively slow compared to GPU, if WebGPU flag isn't enabled.
  
  New in Version 1.2.5:
  - Restored support for reading contenteditable elements.
  - Added #filter:contenteditable=true to disable reading these elements if desired.
  - Introduced Kokoro WebGPU: prompts a one-time 300MB TTS model download. When  
    selected, it enables reading selected text in a new window via the option menu.
  - Click the Edit selected voice button to bring up a list of 28 available voices.
  
  New in 1.2.4
  - Fixed shortcut key case sensitivity
  - Added checking to prevent edit boxes from accidentally triggering read events. 
  - Default Play/Pause key now works in iframes
  
  New in 1.2.2 - 1.2.3
  - Added offline support for Piper ONNX voices. ( press edit selected voice for its options ) 
  - Improved GUI for OpenAI-based Text-to-Speech API endpoint and custom voices
  To add more you'd have to have the exension download the onnx and json files for piper voices from  add new voice dialog.
  - v 1.2.3 minor bug fixes, added more language support.
  
  New In 1.2.1
  - added color picker for highlight
    when "highlight text only" is enabled, the background color is used on light fonts
  - added #filter to ignore entire element blocks when reading, 
     useful for skipping sections like advertisements, menus or buttons.
  - added option for monitoring the page for changes while reading. 
     #detectPageChanges:yes  
  
  New In 1.2.0
  - upped the maximum speed slider for local voices to 3x.
  
  New In 1.1.8:
  - Added support for OpenAI-based Text-to-Speech API endpoint.
  
  New Features of Version 1.0.2 (iframes not supported)
  - Automation tab settings
  - Spacebar to play from selected location
  - Configurable to automatically click on [next page] when finished reading current one (requires refresh)
  * This works by getting element class name, if multiple elements have the same class name on page, this won't work.
  
  New Features of Version 1.0.8
  - added domain specific settings
  - optimized code for even faster loading
  
  New Features of Version 1.1.0
  -  custom shortcut keys.
  
  New in Version 1.1.1 - 1.1.4, 1.1.9
  - minor bug fixes
  
  New in Version 1.1.5 - 1.1.8
  -Added an optional Shift key modifier for onclick. Although a better alternative is to set the #playPauseShortcutKey and use the mouse to select the text. Note: The default Play/Pause shortcut is the Spacebar, which will be replaced by the custom key you set. Ensure the 'Spacebar to play' is enabled for the shortcut keys to work.
  
  - Added support for OpenAI-based Text-to-Speech API endpoint.
  - Details available in extension options.
  - Disclaimer: This feature is still a work in progress.
  
  Note:
  Some features may work differently inside iframes or Shadow DOM elements.

• Apr 16, 2026
  permissions

  activeTab, storage, background, webNavigation, tabs, ttsEngine, tts, offscreen, contextMenus

  activeTab, storage, webNavigation, tabs, ttsEngine, tts, offscreen, contextMenus

Permissions & access

Permissions

activeTabstoragewebNavigationtabsttsEnginettsoffscreencontextMenus

Host access

<all_urls>

Screenshots

Similar extensions

Alternatives to ReadX Text To Speech, ranked by description similarity.

Kokoro Speak

In-browser Kokoro TTS Engine

108

★ 4.0

TapTTS

Text-to-speech extension that lets you read any text on the page with Ctrl/Command + click or by double-tapping the modifier key.

8

★ 5.0

Read Aloud AI

Select any text on a webpage and have it read aloud with AI-generated voices. Free, fast, and works offline.

58

★ 2.6

OfflineTTS

Read web pages and PDFs aloud with open source natural TTS voices (supertonic) - offline, private, and local

67

★ 5.0

Sasayaki Ghost

Read out comment on Twitch, Youtube for Live streamer. You don't need to set up complex tools anymore

10.0K

★ 4.5

Speak the Selection — [ Read Aloud free using ElevenLabs ,hume, Google TTS]

Speak the Selection lets you highlight any text on the web and hear it read aloud with HD AI voices from ElevenLabs, Hume for free

560

★ 4.1

FreeVoice Reader - AI Text to Speech & Dictation

Convert text to speech & speech to text. 50+ voices, 7 languages. Powered by Kokoro & Whisper. 100% local - data stays private.

864

★ 3.4

Talkie: text-to-speech (TTS)

Fast & easy text-to-speech. Read aloud from websites, PDF, email. Privacy-aware, open source code.

50.0K

★ 3.6