Comparison
Aloud vs MoxSpeak: which Mac read-aloud app fits you?
Both read selected text with Control-Option-S. MoxSpeak is a menu-bar app that costs nothing and ships the Kokoro voice inside. Aloud is $19 once and adds a reading window with a word highlight, PDFs, screenshots, web articles and audio export. If you only read selections, start with MoxSpeak.
Updated 14 October 2026.
At a glance
| Aloud | MoxSpeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $19 once per Mac, 3-day free trial | No charge, no trial or licence key |
| Requirements | macOS 14; Kokoro needs Apple silicon and macOS 15 | Apple silicon, macOS 14 |
| Voices | Apple voices, Kokoro (eight English voices, 327 MB download), your own ElevenLabs/Cartesia key | Kokoro built in, 29 voices (170 MB app) |
| Selected text | Control-Option-S or Services menu | Control-Option-S; falls back to the clipboard without Accessibility |
| PDFs | Opens PDFs, skips headers, footers, page numbers | Selected text only |
| Screenshots and scans | On-device OCR (Control-Option-O) | No |
| Web articles | Front tab of Safari, Chrome, Edge, Brave | Selected text only |
| Window | Reading window with word highlight; notch or floating player | None; menu bar, Control Center |
| Export audio | .m4a | Not stated |
| Account | None | None |
| Data sent | None, except license, updates, Kokoro download and opt-in cloud voices | Anonymous usage counts and crash reports, can be turned off |
| Source | Closed | Source-available |
Prices and features checked on each company's own site on 14 October 2026. They change; check before you buy.
Reading selected text
Both use Control-Option-S, so install one or rebind it. MoxSpeak reads straight from the menu bar with pause and stop shortcuts. Aloud opens the text in a reader or notch player with the current word highlighted, and remembers your place.
PDFs, screenshots and articles
This is the main difference. Aloud opens a whole PDF and drops running headers and page numbers, reads images through on-device OCR, and pulls the article out of a web page. MoxSpeak reads what you select.
Voices
Both run Kokoro on the Mac. MoxSpeak bundles more Kokoro voices. Aloud also offers Apple voices on any Mac and cloud voices with your own key.
Who should pick which
MoxSpeak if you want quick, natural speech for selected text and nothing else. Aloud if you listen to PDFs, scans, articles or long documents, want a highlight to follow, or want to save audio.
Questions
Is MoxSpeak better than Aloud?
For selected text at no cost, MoxSpeak is very good. Aloud does more: PDFs, OCR, web articles, a highlighted reader and .m4a export.
What is a MoxSpeak alternative?
Aloud ($19 once) or the built-in Speak Selection.
Which reads PDFs better?
Aloud opens whole PDFs and skips headers, footers and page numbers; MoxSpeak reads only selected text.
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