Local TTS
ElevenReaderThe offline ElevenReader alternative for iPhone and iPad
Local TTS is the offline ElevenReader alternative for iPhone and iPad: every voice is generated on the device, so there is no listening-hours meter, nothing to upload, and no account. ElevenReader's free plan converts 10 hours of your own text a month and Ultra is $11 a month or $99 a year; Local TTS Pro is $4.99 a month or $19.99 once.
MethodologyPrices and limits were checked on
The differences that decide it
| Feature | Local TTS | ElevenReader |
|---|---|---|
| Where speech is generated | On your iPhone or iPad | On ElevenLabs' servers; your files are uploaded to be converted |
| New speech without internet | Yes, including text you paste while offline | No — Ultra can download audio converted in advance |
| Usage limits | None with Pro | 10 hours of audio a month free; Ultra caps "unlimited" at 24 hours a day |
| Price | $4.99/month or $19.99 once | Free, or Ultra at $11/month or $99/year |
| Audio export | M4A with Pro | Not available — downloads stay inside the app |
| Platforms | iPhone and iPad only | iOS, Android, web, Chrome extension |
Why people look for an alternative to ElevenReader
- 1Listening is metered in hours. The free plan converts 10 hours of audio a month from your own files, and hours are spent according to the characters converted, the voice, and the playback speed. Even the Ultra plan's "unlimited" is a stated fair-use ceiling of 24 hours of generated audio per calendar day.
- 2Offline means audio downloaded in advance, and only on Ultra. ElevenReader describes offline downloads as converting text into audio ahead of time, capped at 20 hours a day, stored in the app for up to 60 days and removed when you sign out. Generating new speech always needs the network.
- 3Nothing comes back out. Its own FAQ says audio files cannot be exported from the app, and offline downloads stay inside ElevenReader. Local TTS Pro writes the whole reading to an M4A file you keep.
- 4Your files go to a server, and the app needs an account. ElevenReader's App Store privacy label lists Identifiers as "used to track you", plus contact info, usage data, and diagnostics linked to you. Local TTS is labelled Data Not Collected and has no account at all.
What changes when you switch
- The hours counter disappears. Reading the same 400-page PDF for the third time costs nothing, in hours or in dollars.
- Offline stops being a plan feature. New speech is generated with the network off, and nothing expires after 60 days or vanishes when you sign out.
- The audio becomes a file you own: Pro exports a full reading as an M4A generated on the device.
- You lose the bookstore — the 200,000-plus premium audiobooks, the free classics library, and the iconic narrator voices.
- You lose the cloud catalog and the other platforms: 1,000-plus voices, custom voice design, Android, the web app, and the Chrome extension.
What you would pay instead
| Plan | Price | What it allows |
|---|---|---|
| Local TTS — free download | $0 | 500 characters per note, 4 voices, file import, camera OCR, background playback |
| Local TTS Pro Monthly | $4.99/month | Unlimited text, all 38 voices, M4A export, full multi-page PDF import |
| Local TTS Pro Lifetime | $19.99 once | The same Pro features with no renewal |
| ElevenReader Free | $0 | 10 hours of text-to-audio a month, 1,000+ voices, free audiobooks, no offline downloads |
| ElevenReader Ultra | $11/month or $99/year | Up to 24 hours of generated audio a day, offline downloads, custom voices, 20 audiobook hours |
When to stay with ElevenReader
- You want an audiobook library as well as a reader. ElevenReader includes more than 200,000 premium titles with Ultra, plus thousands of free books; Local TTS reads only files you already have.
- You want the largest voice catalog: more than 1,000 voices against 38, and celebrity narrators Local TTS has no equivalent for.
- You want to design a narrator from a text prompt, which Ultra offers and Local TTS does not.
- You read on Android, on the web, or in Chrome, and want one account across all of them.
- You convert less than 10 hours of your own documents a month — ElevenReader covers that on its free plan, while unlimited reading in Local TTS is a paid feature.
Other options worth knowing
Speechify — Speechify is a cross-platform reading service. One library follows you across iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, the web, and browser extensions, with a cloud voice catalog and AI summaries, chat, and podcasts on top of text to speech.
NaturalReader — NaturalReader is an established cross-platform reading service: iOS and Android apps, a web app, and a Chrome extension share one library, with more than 200 AI voices in over 90 languages converted on its servers.
Voice Dream Reader — Voice Dream Reader is a veteran iOS and Mac reader built around accessibility: an Apple Design Award winner with Bookshare and DAISY support, annotations, a pronunciation dictionary, and a voice catalog that runs offline.- All offline alternatives — how the apps compare on where speech is generated, what they cost, and what they meter.
ElevenReader alternative: common questions
Is there an ElevenReader alternative that works without the internet?
Local TTS generates all 38 of its voices on the iPhone or iPad itself, with the Kokoro-82M and Supertonic 3 models bundled in the app. Paste new text in airplane mode and it still reads aloud — there is no upload, no conversion queue, and no download to arrange first.
Does ElevenReader work offline?
Only for audio it converted earlier, and only on Ultra. Its own FAQ describes offline downloads as turning text into audio ahead of time: up to 20 hours a day, stored in the app for up to 60 days, and removed when you sign out. Generating new speech still requires a connection, which is the part Local TTS does on the device.
Can I export the audio from either app?
From Local TTS, yes: Pro exports a reading as an M4A file created on the device. ElevenReader states that audio files cannot be exported from the app and that offline downloads stay inside it; exporting is a feature of the separate ElevenLabs web platform and app.
Which one costs less?
It depends on how much you listen. ElevenReader is free for up to 10 hours of your own text a month, and $11 a month or $99 a year for Ultra beyond that. Local TTS Pro is $4.99 a month or $19.99 once with no renewal — so one year of Ultra costs about five times lifetime access to Local TTS.
Does Local TTS have audiobooks?
No. Local TTS reads documents you already have — PDF, EPUB, Word, TXT, Markdown, and printed pages through on-device camera OCR. It has no store and no catalog of published titles, so if the audiobook library is why you opened ElevenReader, it is not something Local TTS replaces.
Test it before you cancel anything
Local TTS is a free download. Import one real document, put the phone in airplane mode, and hear how it reads before you move anything across.
Download Local TTS free