# Explain Selected vs Speechify

Explain Selected records 0 monthly visits with — month-over-month growth and Free pricing. Speechify records 5,457,475 monthly visits with +0.5% growth and Freemium pricing.

| Metric | [Explain Selected](https://openaitools.app/tool/explain-selected) | [Speechify](https://openaitools.app/tool/speechify) |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Website URL | https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/explain-selected/mgdagfcgfpcglofdkfgaajafcmniddcc | https://speechify.com |
| Categories | AI Answer, AI Reader, AI Assistant, AI Language Learning | AI Text-to-Speech, AI Voice Over, AI Voice Cloning, AI Dubbing |
| Pricing Model | Free | Freemium |
| Monthly Visits | 0 | 5,457,475 |
| MoM Growth Rate | — | +0.5% |
| Primary Market | Global | United States |
| Direct Visits | 0 | 2,844,719 |
| Review Score | 3.8 | 4.3 |
| Saved Count | 1 | 30 |
| Supported Platforms | Browser Extension | Website |

## Explain Selected

Explain Selected is a lightweight Chrome extension that removes the friction from looking up unfamiliar words while you read. Instead of opening a dictionary tab and scanning through a dozen senses to find the one that fits, you highlight the word or phrase in place and a purple circle appears. One click gives you the definition, the pronunciation and a plain-language explanation written for that specific context.

The distinguishing feature is contextual disambiguation. English is full of words whose meanings have almost nothing to do with each other — the extension's own example is "pounds", which can mean a unit of weight, a verb describing hitting something, or the British currency. Rather than presenting all three blindly, Explain Selected passes the surrounding sentence to ChatGPT and asks it to infer which sense is actually in play, then retrieves the corresponding Merriam-Webster entry and audio pronunciation. It also handles text that no dictionary covers well, such as current slang and narrow technical terminology.

It is aimed at people who read a lot of English online and want to keep their flow: language learners building vocabulary, professionals working through technical documents, and anyone who keeps encountering words with multiple meanings. Useful selections can be saved to a personal list for later memorization, or shared. Two practical caveats from the listing: extensions do not run in tabs that were already open when you installed it, so refresh those tabs first, and no extension works on Chrome internal pages such as the Chrome Web Store itself.

**Pricing & Plans:** Free. The extension is offered at no cost in the Chrome Web Store, with no in-app purchases listed.

- **Context-aware definitions:** ChatGPT infers which sense of a word fits the sentence you highlighted, instead of dumping every dictionary entry at once.
- **Merriam-Webster definitions and audio:** Matching dictionary entries and audio pronunciation are pulled in so you can hear as well as read the word.
- **One-click purple circle:** Select text and click the purple circle that appears — no popup windows, no copy-pasting into a separate tab.
- **Personal saved list:** Add words you want to remember to a personal list so you can review them later.
- **Share with others:** Send individual explanations to friends when a word or phrase is worth passing on.

**Strengths:** Resolves ambiguous words by using the surrounding sentence rather than guessing; Combines AI explanations with established Merriam-Webster definitions and audio; Works inline on any web page with a single click and no context switching; Saving and sharing selections make it useful for building vocabulary over time

[Profile (Markdown)](https://openaitools.app/tool/explain-selected.md)

## Speechify

Speechify is a voice AI assistant built around listening, reading and writing with your voice. Upload a PDF, open a web page or import a book, and Speechify reads it aloud in natural-sounding AI voices while highlighting the text and letting you adjust speed up to several times normal. It also generates AI podcasts and pastes answers into a voice-first workspace.

Its voice typing feature turns speech into polished text across almost any app, so you can dictate in Google Docs, Gmail, Slack, Outlook and more instead of typing. The platform spans a web app plus Chrome and Edge extensions, and native iOS, Android, Mac and Windows apps, with an AI voice generator, Voice Over, Dubbing Studio and Voices Studio for creators.

Speechify is used by tens of millions of people, including students, professionals, creators and readers with dyslexia or other accessibility needs, and won a 2025 Apple Design Award. It offers free access with paid Pro and enterprise tiers, and integrates as a voice AI layer across your devices.

**Pricing & Plans:** Freemium with a free plan for basic text to speech, plus paid Pro tiers for premium voices, unlimited listening and advanced features. Enterprise and education plans are also available.

- **Natural text to speech:** Listen to books, PDFs, documents and web pages read aloud in a large library of lifelike AI voices.
- **Voice typing and dictation:** Dictate instead of typing in almost any app, across Google Docs, Gmail, Slack, Outlook and more.
- **AI podcasts and summaries:** Turn documents or a short prompt into an AI podcast, and get instant summaries of what you are reading.
- **Every device and browser:** Use the web app, Chrome and Edge extensions, and native iOS, Android, Mac and Windows apps.
- **AI voice generator and dubbing:** Create voiceovers, dub content and explore voice cloning tools for creators and studios.

**Strengths:** Reads almost any content type across a very wide range of apps and devices; High-quality, natural AI voices and flexible listening speed; Strong accessibility benefits and a genuinely useful voice typing feature

**Limitations:** Premium voices and unlimited listening require a paid plan; Very feature-rich, so new users may need time to find what they need

[Profile (Markdown)](https://openaitools.app/tool/speechify.md)

## Frequently Asked Questions

### How do Explain Selected and Speechify compare in monthly traffic?

Explain Selected has 0 monthly visits, while Speechify has 5,457,475. Traffic estimates describe audience size, not product quality.

### How do their growth rates compare?

Explain Selected has a month-over-month growth rate of —; Speechify has +0.5%.

### How does pricing compare?

Explain Selected: Free. Free. The extension is offered at no cost in the Chrome Web Store, with no in-app purchases listed. Speechify: Freemium. Freemium with a free plan for basic text to speech, plus paid Pro tiers for premium voices, unlimited listening and advanced features. Enterprise and education plans are also available.

## Alternatives

| # | Tool Name | Monthly Visits | MoM Growth Rate | Pricing Model | Summary | Profile (Markdown) |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 1 | [ElevenLabs](https://openaitools.app/tool/elevenlabs-io) | 42,396,771 | +26.1% | Freemium, Paid, Contact for Pricing | Delivers significantly superior voice realism and cloning quality, but lacks Speechify's dedicated document library reader interface. | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/elevenlabs-io.md) |
| 2 | [Fish Audio](https://openaitools.app/tool/fish-speech) | 8,557,159 | +1.6% | Freemium | Provides powerful open-source speech synthesis and voice cloning, but requires technical setup compared to turnkey apps. | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/fish-speech.md) |
| 3 | [NaturalReader](https://openaitools.app/tool/naturalreaders) | 3,249,984 | -3.2% | Freemium | Offers a very similar document-reading experience and browser extension for listening to PDFs, but with fewer advanced voice cloning suites. | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/naturalreaders.md) |
| 4 | [Language Reactor](https://openaitools.app/tool/language-reactor) | 1,878,769 | +0.6% | Freemium | Learn languages from Netflix, YouTube, and real-world texts with dual subtitles and AI | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/language-reactor.md) |
| 5 | [TTSMaker](https://openaitools.app/tool/ttsmaker) | 1,158,846 | +6.8% | Freemium | Provides free text-to-speech conversion across many languages, but lacks advanced reading assistant and document management features. | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/ttsmaker.md) |
| 6 | [Voice AI](https://openaitools.app/tool/voice-ai) | 1,017,577 | -14.9% | Freemium | Specializes in real-time voice changing and cloning, but lacks Speechify's robust ebook and document reading workflow. | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/voice-ai.md) |
| 7 | [AnyToSpeech](https://openaitools.app/tool/anytospeech) | 988,327 | +28% | Freemium | Converts text, documents, and web pages into natural audio via browser tools, but lacks Speechify's polished mobile apps. | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/anytospeech.md) |
| 8 | [SpeechGen.io](https://openaitools.app/tool/speechgen-io) | 767,550 | +2.3% | Freemium, Paid | Generates realistic voiceovers from text scripts, but lacks dedicated e-reader and document library apps. | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/speechgen-io.md) |
| 9 | [Listnr AI](https://openaitools.app/tool/listnr-ai) | 235,777 | -4.2% | Freemium | Focuses on text-to-speech embedding and audio generation for creators, but offers less specialized document reading features. | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/listnr-ai.md) |
| 10 | [Crikk](https://openaitools.app/tool/crikk) | 212,116 | -14.5% | Freemium, Free Trial, Paid | Converts books and PDFs into natural-sounding speech, though with fewer cross-device synchronization and reading tools. | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/crikk.md) |

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Source: https://openaitools.app/compare/explain-selected-vs-speechify

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