Speakybara vs Speechify
Checked September 9, 2026
Speakybara is a free Windows app that turns any part of your screen into text you can copy or listen to: press a hotkey, drag a frame, done.
Speechify is a cloud text-to-speech reader for iOS, Android, Chrome, Edge, the web, macOS and — since 31 March 2026 — Windows, with global shortcuts for reading a selection and for listening to a screenshot.
Both apps now do the same thing on Windows: a shortcut, a region of your screen, and a voice. What differs is where the image is recognised, what a year costs, and what happens to a text that mixes Dutch and English.
- Platforms
- iOS · Android · Chrome · Edge · Web · macOS · Windows
- Shortcut
- AltAAltX
Pick Speechify if
- You read on a phone as much as on a PC.
- You want books, PDFs and articles in one library that syncs.
- You want 1,000+ voices in 60+ languages and a choice of narrator.
- You want built-in AI summaries without your own key, podcasts and speeds above 1.75x.
- You already pay for it and it works for you.
Pick Speakybara if
- The image must never leave your PC.
- You want a Windows reader that is free without an account.
- You read Dutch and English mixed inside one document.
- You want the text on your clipboard as well as read aloud.
- You want an app of about 55 MB in the tray, not a platform.
The eight rows that decide it
The same values as the full matrix, narrowed to this pair.
| What it does | Speakybara | Speechify |
|---|---|---|
| Reads any on-screen text via a screenshot | yesWindows text recognition, on your PC | yesWindows app, Alt+X; whether Premium is required is not stated |
| Global hotkey | yesAlt+Shift+2, and every hotkey is configurable | yesAlt+A reads a selection, Alt+X reads a screenshot |
| The image is never uploaded | yesRecognised on your PC, then discarded | not statedWhere its text recognition runs is not stated |
| Nothing uploaded by default | partlyFully offline with Piper; the sentence text goes to Microsoft or Google only when you pick those voices | noContent is synced to Speechify's servers; an on-device mode exists |
| Local or offline voices | yesPiper, fully offline | not statedAn on-device mode is announced; its scope is not stated |
| Bring your own API key | yesGoogle Cloud Text-to-Speech | no |
| Dutch and English detected automatically | yesPer selection, per sentence and per word | partlyDutch voices exist; automatic detection is not stated |
| Price per year | Free · Managed €59 a year incl. VAT, or €6.99 a month | USD 139 a year, or USD 29 a month |
Price
Speechify Premium is USD 29 a month or about USD 139 a year as published on September 9, 2026; the free tier is 10 basic voices with the speed capped at 1.5x. Speakybara is free with the Piper and Microsoft Edge voices and with your own Google key; Managed is €59 a year incl. VAT, or €6.99 a month. Speechify does not publish a verifiable euro price, so it is left in dollars.
Privacy
Speechify syncs your content to its servers by default and offers an on-device mode; where its screenshot text recognition runs is not stated. Speakybara recognises the frame with Windows' built-in engine on your own PC in 50-150 ms and discards the image; the sentence text reaches Microsoft or Google only when you pick an Edge or Google voice, and with Piper nothing leaves the machine.
Switching
This is not a comparison between a feature and no feature: Speechify's Windows app has done screenshot-to-listen since 31 March 2026. If you are already inside Speechify's library, moving to Speakybara means giving that library up.
Questions people ask
Yes. Speechify released a native Windows app for x64 and Arm64 on 31 March 2026, with global shortcuts Alt+A for a selection and Alt+X for a screenshot.
Yes, Alt+X in the Windows app is screenshot-to-listen. Whether that needs Premium, and whether the recognition runs on your PC or on Speechify's servers, is not stated by Speechify as of September 9, 2026.
Speakybara is free, including the Microsoft Edge neural voices and Google voices with your own key. Speakybara Managed is €59 a year incl. VAT against Speechify Premium at about USD 139 a year as published.
Speechify lists Dutch among its 60+ languages. Whether it detects Dutch and English automatically inside one text is not stated as of September 9, 2026; Speakybara detects the language per selection, per sentence and per word.
Try it before you decide
Speakybara is free, needs no account and takes a minute to install. If it is not for you, the other product is right there.
Sources
SourcesEvery claim on this page was checked against the vendor's own pages on September 9, 2026.
Competitor prices are the list prices the vendor publishes, in US dollars. No competitor publishes a verifiable euro price, so nothing is converted. Speakybara prices are in euros, incl. 21% VAT.
speechify.com/pricing (opens in a new tab)speechify.com/windows (opens in a new tab)
Last updated September 9, 2026