Comparison
Junco Reader vs Offline-TTS
Both are free, installable Kokoro readers with no account required. Junco does not upload or persist document contents. Here's where they differ in practice.
| Junco Reader | offline-tts.com | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free, no ads | Free, no ads |
| Voice before any download | Yes -- only browser voices reported as local; no download | No -- the ~326 MB Kokoro model must download first |
| Neural voice engine | Kokoro-82M (fetches model/runtime assets, then synthesizes in this browser) | Kokoro (on-device) |
| File formats | PDF, TXT, Markdown, pasted text | Pasted or typed text (no file upload, as far as we can tell) |
| Documents leave your device | Junco does not upload or persist document contents | Never |
| Installable (PWA) | Yes | Yes |
| Companion app | Junco for iPhone -- newsletters as a daily podcast | None |
Where offline-tts.com is ahead
Not much separates the two once the model's downloaded -- offline-tts.com was also early to make itself installable as a home-screen app, which is worth crediting. If all you need is to paste a paragraph and hear it back offline afterward, it does that cleanly.
Where Junco Reader is ahead
You can drop in a PDF or Markdown file, not just paste text -- and you're never forced to wait on the ~326 MB download to hear something: switch to Junco Reader's Instant tier for a browser voice reported as local, with zero download and no gate to clear first. Junco Reader is also built by the team behind Junco, an iPhone app that turns your email newsletters into a short daily podcast using the same family of voices.
Try it yourself -- drop in a PDF or paste an article. Instant uses only a local-reported browser voice; Natural fetches model assets then synthesizes in this browser.
Open Junco Reader