How Listeny Works
Listeny is a free, browser-based text-to-speech and PDF-to-speech reader that converts text and PDFs into natural-sounding audio with live word highlighting — no sign up, no downloads, no usage limits.
Step 1 — Add Your Content
Open Text to Speech and paste up to 20,000 characters, or open PDF to Speech and upload a PDF with selectable text. Listeny extracts readable text in your browser.
Step 2 — Choose a Voice & Speed
Pick Standard (device voices, fully local) or AI Voice (English neural voices with optional MP3 download). Adjust reading speed, volume, and highlighting mode — word, sentence, or bionic (bold stems for dyslexia-friendly reading).
Step 3 — Listen with Live Highlighting
Press play. Each word highlights as it is spoken so you can follow along visually. Use keyboard shortcuts (Space to pause, arrow keys to skip sentences) or the mini player while scrolling. Your position is saved locally so you can resume later.
Listeny at a Glance
- Price: Free, unlimited, no account required
- Inputs: Plain text (paste) and PDF (upload)
- Text limit: 20,000 characters per text session
- Voices: Browser voices (multi-language) + AI Voice (English US)
- Export: MP3 download available in AI Voice mode
- Platforms: Any modern browser on desktop, tablet, or mobile
- Privacy: Standard mode runs entirely client-side; preferences stored in localStorage only
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Listeny convert text to speech? +
Listeny reads your pasted text or extracted PDF text using your browser’s Web Speech API (Standard mode) or Microsoft Edge neural voices via a secure proxy (AI Voice mode). Audio plays instantly with each word highlighted in sync.
Does Listeny upload my documents to a server? +
In Standard mode, text and PDFs are processed entirely in your browser — nothing is uploaded. In AI Voice mode, only the text needed to synthesize audio is sent to generate speech; it is not stored on Listeny servers.
What file formats does Listeny support? +
Listeny accepts plain text (paste up to 20,000 characters per session) and PDF files with selectable text. Word and Google Docs files can be pasted or exported to PDF first. Scanned image-only PDFs are not supported.
Is Listeny really free with no account? +
Yes. Listeny is free, unlimited, and requires no sign up, subscription, or download. Open listney.com, paste text or upload a PDF, and press play.