Ondoku is a friendly text-to-speech web service from Japan (known there as “Ondoku-san”) that reads text ā and even text inside images ā aloud in dozens of languages.
Ondoku keeps text-to-speech deliberately simple: paste your text, pick a language and voice, adjust speed and pitch, listen, and download the MP3. It can also read text from uploaded images using OCR, which makes it popular for language study and accessibility. A conversation mode lets two or more voices take turns, so you can produce dialogues, listening exercises, and interview-style audio without any recording. A built-in dictionary fixes how tricky words, kanji, and names are pronounced, and both a Chrome extension and an API are available for heavier workflows. The interface is localized into many languages, and commercial use is allowed with attribution on the free plan.
Free plan with a monthly character allowance (credit attribution required for commercial use). Paid plans start at $9.99/month and scale by the number of characters per month, with higher tiers for heavy narration workloads.
Language learners and teachers, YouTubers and presentation makers, and anyone who wants quick, no-fuss narration in Japanese, English, and many other languages.