When comparing Capti Voice vs Text Aloud, the Slant community recommends Capti Voice for most people. In the question“What is the best text to speech software for Windows?” Capti Voice is ranked 1st while Text Aloud is ranked 6th. The most important reason people chose Capti Voice is:
You can use it on any internet enabled device. Desktop Mac and Windows versions uses your default browser and java to drive a webapp. On linux you'll have to straight up use the website or run a virtual machine. On the Mac and Windows the "desktop app" is more than just a shortcut to the website. Disconnect your wifi and close your default browser (set to clear cookies, offline data, active logins, cache, site preferences, browsing and download history). Upon launching the application again, the default web browser should open, the document should still be there and the webapp should still function. Everything needed is stored locally somewhere.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Semi-Desktop and Webapp versions make it pretty much crossplatform
You can use it on any internet enabled device. Desktop Mac and Windows versions uses your default browser and java to drive a webapp. On linux you'll have to straight up use the website or run a virtual machine. On the Mac and Windows the "desktop app" is more than just a shortcut to the website.
Disconnect your wifi and close your default browser (set to clear cookies, offline data, active logins, cache, site preferences, browsing and download history). Upon launching the application again, the default web browser should open, the document should still be there and the webapp should still function. Everything needed is stored locally somewhere.
Pro Supports many formats
Supported formats include: Adobe PDF (.pdf), Microsoft Word (.doc, .docx), Microsoft PowerPoint (.ppt, .pptx), Plain and Rich text (.txt, .rtf), EPUB books (.epub), OpenDocument (.odt, .odp), DAISY books (.zip).
Pro Offers a one week premium plan trial
This is enough time to know whether the upgrade or product on the whole make sense for the user.
Pro Has shortcuts to get around easier
Here's the link to shortcuts on the FAQ webpage.
Pro Limited free account available
For feature differences and limitations of the free version visit captivoice.com
Pro Intelligent dictionary lookup
You can look up translations and definitions of words and phrases. Capti will automatically take into account the part of speech of a word and its use in the sentence to generate the most correct translation and definition.
Pro Very useful in schools
Capti is very easy to use in a school setting: there's a special organization account features for managing students, sharing content with students, monitoring student activity, etc.
Pro Offers very high quality voices on all platforms, including online
When using Capti on iOS, Windows or Mac you can download very high quality voices.
Pro Excellent product support
Helpful staff, fast response for any questions regarding license, installation, and configuration.
Pro Many options for narration navigation
Most text to speech readers are sorely limited in options for navigating, this program has the most options I've seen so far for moving around while a text is being narrated.
Pro Tools for fine tuning output of narrated text or audio file
You can add tags to do things like add pauses, change the voice (like changing speakers for different characters), speed, pitch, volume etc.
Cons
Con Inconvenient to use
Says it is free, then takes you to the iTunes page to pay, Capti does recognize accounts set up through iTunes, to change voices you pay, to open a pdf to read you have to buy coins to use.
Con Very disappointing
Advertising say great things, reality is much different.
Con Does not automatically sync
Capti Narrator does not automatically sync additions from local files to playlists on the hybrid desktop/webapp client, only if you add them to a cloud storage.
Con Free account somewhat limited
10 MB per document/ ebook
No images
No access to view the original layout for PDFs
No annotation features
Searching limited to current document, not globally
Only one playlist allowed
No access to translation features
No access to a word/vocabulary game
Con Desktop Version for the Mac Depends on Web Browser
Only available as fully native apps for iOS and Windows. The client on the Mac uses your default web browser and java to function.
Con Can't move documents freely between different playlists
On iPhone and iPad, users have to delete and re-add documents if they wish to transfer an item from one playlist to another playlist.
Con No Linux desktop version
Website or running a virtual machine will have to do for readers on Linux distros.
Con Subscription service
$1.99 / month or 9.99 / 6 months.
Con Mac version routinely fails to start
Users on the Mac frequently have to bring up the Activity Monitor, quit Capti View, and open it again to get it to load.
Con Program can only display plaintext
Images in documents or ebooks will not appear in this application. This means some types of image or figure/diagram heavy books or complex formatting will not be a good fit for reading with this application. It may require extensive text cleanup and massaging to get narration that makes sense depending on your imported source file.
Con Can't use mouse to navigate/seek track by clicking on text during narration
A user has to stop narration to use the mouse to jump/seek to a different line, word, or paragraph by clicking then activate command Speak From Cursor Aloud by menu or by shortcut. Only the menu buttons respond to the mouse when narration is running. Most options are grayed out until narration is stopped.
Con Hotkey options disappointing
Considering that the toolbars and application are very customizable in the toolbars, it was a big letdown to see how few options there are for hotkeys. Specifically, the navigation options should be hotkeyable as they do not have shortcuts by default. This means an over reliance on the menu and vision to use the application. This seems to fly in the face of accessibility for blind users or power users in general.
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