CastReader — Free AI Text to Speech Reader per Vin Xu

CastReader — Free AI Text to Speech Reader

Short Description (132 chars max)

Read aloud any webpage, PDF, or Kindle book with natural AI voices. Free text-to-speech with real-time highlighting. 40+ languages.

Detailed Description

CastReader is a free AI text-to-speech extension — read aloud any webpage, PDF, or Kindle book with natural AI voices. Follow along with real-time paragraph highlighting as you listen. No signup, no limits, completely free forever.

Free Text to Speech Extension — Why CastReader?

Unlike built-in browser TTS or basic read aloud extensions, CastReader uses Kokoro — an advanced AI voice engine that sounds genuinely human. It intelligently extracts the main article content, skipping menus, ads, and sidebars. One click to read any page aloud. The only text-to-speech Chrome extension that works on Kindle Cloud Reader.

Key Features

• 🔊 Read aloud any webpage with one click — articles, blogs, docs, PDFs
• 🎯 Real-time word and paragraph highlight tracking as you listen
• 🗣️ Natural-sounding AI voices powered by Kokoro TTS engine
• 🧠 Smart content extraction — automatically finds the main text
• 📖 Special support for Kindle Cloud Reader and WeRead (微信读书)
• 📱 Send to Phone — continue listening on your mobile
• ⚡ Adjustable playback speed (0.5x to 2x)
• 🌐 40+ languages with automatic language detection
• 💰 100% free — no signup, no limits, no premium tier

Read Aloud Any Website

Works everywhere including:
- News and blogs: Medium, Substack, Reddit, Hacker News
- Research papers: arXiv, Google Scholar, PubMed
- Online documents: Notion, Google Docs, Confluence
- E-readers: Kindle Cloud Reader, WeRead (微信读书)
- AI assistants: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek
- Social media: Reddit, Twitter/X, Zhihu

Perfect For

• Listening to articles while commuting or exercising
• Students who learn better by listening
• People with dyslexia, ADHD, or visual impairments
• Proofreading your own writing by hearing it read back
• Language learners practicing listening and pronunciation
• Accessibility — screen reader alternative with highlight tracking
• Anyone who prefers audiobooks over reading

40+ Languages Supported

English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic, Hindi, Turkish, Vietnamese, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Thai, Indonesian, and 25+ more. Language is automatically detected — no setup needed.

How to Use

1. Navigate to any webpage
2. Click the CastReader icon in the toolbar
3. Press "Read This Page"
4. Listen and follow along with the highlighted text

100% Free — No Limits, No Subscription

CastReader is completely free with no usage limits. Natural AI voices, real-time highlight tracking, Kindle Cloud Reader support, and send-to-phone — all included at no cost. No monthly limits, no premium upsell, no account required.

Privacy First

CastReader only processes text when you click "Read This Page". No data is collected or stored. Audio is generated on-the-fly and not cached. Open source on GitHub.