Listen to your class readings instead of staring at them
Reading is the homework part that eats your evening. Read-Along lets you listen to it instead. Upload a PDF or Word file, wait a little, and you get a page that reads out loud with each word highlighted. Put it on in the library, on the bus or while you fold laundry, and glance at the page when you want to catch a name or number. You can pause, jump back 10 seconds and change the speed from 0.5x to 3x. Everyone gets one free document a day, no card needed. Premium has no daily limit and puts your documents first. Other tools are good too, and we compare prices honestly below. We made Read-Along, so we want you to test it with your own reading before you decide.
Hear a sample
Under a minute, read to you.
Press play and follow the highlighted words — this is exactly what your documents become.
The Tortoise and the Hare, by Aesop.
A Hare one day ridiculed the short feet and slow pace of the Tortoise, who replied, laughing: "Though you be swift as the wind, I will beat you in a race." The Hare, believing her assertion to be simply impossible, assented to the proposal; and they agreed that the Fox should choose the course and fix the goal.
On the day appointed for the race the two started together. The Tortoise never for a moment stopped, but went on with a slow but steady pace straight to the end of the course. The Hare, lying down by the wayside, fell fast asleep.
At last waking up, and moving as fast as he could, he saw the Tortoise had reached the goal, and was comfortably dozing after her fatigue.
Slow but steady wins the race.
From Aesop's Fables (public domain). Read by Heart, one of our AI voices.
How can I listen to a 60-page reading on my commute?
Upload it the night before or when you leave. A short document is ready in a few minutes; a long one takes about half as long as it takes to listen. We email you the link, or text it once if you signed in by phone and ticked the box. Open it on your phone and press play; it keeps going while you walk or ride.
Can I follow the words so I remember them?
Yes. Each word lights up as it's spoken, so you see and hear it at the same moment. If your mind wanders, the highlight shows where you are. Jump back 10 seconds to hear a part again.
Free options vs paid: what's the real cost?
Read-Along is free for one document a day. Premium has no daily limit and is $14.50 a month, or $69 a year. Speechify Premium is $29 a month, or $139 a year on the web (speechify.com/pricing, checked 2026-10-25). Other tools have free plans too, so try a couple with the same reading and pick the one you like.
Does it work for textbooks and Word or Markdown files?
Upload a PDF, Word, ePub, RTF, ODT, Markdown, text or HTML file (up to 3 GB), or paste a web link. Textbook PDFs work. If the pages are scanned pictures, we read the printed words out of them (up to 30 pages).
Will my files stay private?
Your uploaded file is stored privately, and we don't sell your personal information or use it for advertising. The finished read-along page has a long, hard-to-guess link: anyone you give that link to can open it, so share it only with people you trust.