Select. Click ▶. Listen.

Highlight any text — a play button appears next to your selection. One click, audio starts. No menu diving, no shortcuts to memorize. Right-click menu still works if you prefer it. Free on Chrome, Edge, and Firefox.

One-click listening. Any webpage. Any language.

One-click Chrome extension read any article, Google Doc, Kindle book, or AI chatbot with natural voices.

No signup, no limits, 40+ languages.

Reading selection…1.0×

Works Everywhere You Read

One extension, one gesture — in every browser, on every page

Live now

Chrome

Any tab, any webpage

✓ Install from Chrome Web Store

Live now

Microsoft Edge

Edge on any operating system

✓ Install from Edge Add-ons

Live now

Firefox

Firefox desktop browser

✓ Install the Firefox build

Live now

Mac desktop apps

Kindle, Apple Books, Pages, Notes, Preview, Word, Obsidian, Notion…

✓ Download CastReader for Mac

Three Steps, Every Time

One gesture — universal across every browser and every page

1

Select

Highlight any text — a sentence, a paragraph, or a full article section.

2

Click ▶

A play button appears next to your selection. One click, nothing else. (Prefer right-click? The context menu still works.)

3

Listen

Audio starts instantly. The paragraph highlights and auto-scrolls with the voice.

Built for Every Reading Scenario

Selecting text is the universal reading gesture. Turning it into audio unlocks every page.

Long-form articles

Select a dense paragraph and re-listen until it clicks. Great for research papers, essays, and technical posts.

Language learning

Select a sentence in a foreign article to hear native pronunciation across 40+ languages — auto-detected.

Docs & code comments

Select an API description or block of comments. Listen while the code stays fixed on screen.

Emails & chat

Got a long email or a Slack thread summary? Select and listen instead of scrolling.

PDFs in the browser

Open any PDF in Chrome, select passages, and read them aloud with highlights.

Send to phone

Prefer to listen on mobile? After playback starts, tap Send to Phone and keep listening on Telegram.

Why CastReader's Selection Reader Wins

The one-click gesture is the same everywhere. What happens after the click is where CastReader is different.

Paragraph highlighting

Every sentence lights up as it's spoken. Your eyes follow the voice — not the other way around.

40+ natural AI voices

Auto-detects the language of the selection. Sounds human, not robotic. No premium tier gating the good voices.

Zero setup, zero cost

Install once. No login, no credit card, no daily limits. Unlike Speechify and NaturalReader.

Works where DOM TTS fails

OCR fallback handles Kindle Cloud Reader's encrypted fonts, Google Docs canvas rendering, WeRead, and paywalled articles.

AVAILABLE NOW

Read Aloud in Any Mac App

Browsers cover webpages. CastReader for Mac covers everything else — select text in Kindle, Apple Books, Preview, Notes, Pages, Word, Obsidian, Notion — and listen with word-level highlights overlaid on the native app.

  • Read selected text aloud in Kindle for Mac, Apple Books, Preview, Notes, Pages, Word, Obsidian, Notion
  • Word-level highlights overlaid on the native app UI
  • Floating player with speed control and voice picker
  • Send audio to your phone from any Mac app
Any Mac app

Selection works in Kindle, Books,

Pages, Notes, Preview, Word, Obsidian, Notion, and more.

Word-level highlights overlay on

the native app window.

  • Copy
  • Look Up
  • Read Aloud
  • Share…
▶ Read Aloud
1.5×

Common Questions

How do I read selected text aloud in Chrome?

Install the CastReader extension from the Chrome Web Store. Highlight any text on any webpage — a small ▶ button appears next to your selection. Click it once, audio starts with paragraph highlighting and auto-scroll. If you prefer, right-click → Read Selected Text still works.

What is the small play button next to my selection?

That's CastReader's one-click selection reader, added in version 1.0.9. After you highlight text, the ▶ appears anchored to your selection. One click starts playback — no menu diving, no shortcuts. Press Esc or click away to dismiss it. You can disable the button in extension settings if you prefer right-click only.

Does it work on Edge and Firefox?

Yes. CastReader is available on Chrome, Edge, and Firefox. Both the one-click ▶ button and the right-click Read Selected Text action work the same across all three browsers.

Is there a keyboard shortcut instead of clicking?

Yes. Open chrome://extensions, click Keyboard shortcuts, and bind a hotkey to CastReader. You can also pin the extension icon to your toolbar for one-click reading of the entire page.

How is this different from the browser's built-in read aloud?

Chrome's Read Aloud only works in Reading Mode. CastReader works on every page — including Google Docs, Kindle Cloud Reader, WeRead, paywalled articles, and PDFs — with paragraph highlighting, 40+ natural voices, and Send-to-Phone. Edge Read Aloud lacks both cross-site coverage and phone streaming.

How does it compare to Speechify or NaturalReader?

CastReader is completely free with no daily limits, includes every voice, and handles sites that use encrypted fonts (Kindle) or Canvas rendering (Google Docs, WeRead) where other tools read gibberish or nothing at all. No account required.

Can I read aloud selected text on my phone?

Not directly — mobile browsers do not support extensions. But once playback starts on your desktop, tap Send to Phone and the audio streams to your phone via Telegram. No mobile app needed.

Does it support PDF files?

Yes. Open a PDF in Chrome, Edge, or Firefox; select text; right-click → Read Selected Text. Works on PDFs from the web, local PDFs dragged into the browser, and PDFs in extension-based readers.

What languages does it support?

40+ languages with natural AI voices. The extension auto-detects the selected text's language. English, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Arabic, Hindi, Russian, Korean, Portuguese, Italian, and more.

Is it free?

Yes, 100% free. No account, no credit card, no daily limits. Every voice, every language, unlimited usage.

Start Reading Aloud Now

Install once. Select any text on any page. Click ▶. Listen.