dyslexiaRead&Write and Speechify come up in almost every UK workplace needs assessment for dyslexic employees. They sit in the same general category — assistive technology for reading and writing — but they do genuinely different things. And the price gap between them is £245 a year.
Most people asking about these tools have one question: which one do I actually need? This article answers it by situation, with current UK prices, the settings that matter, and a clear recommendation at the end.
What each tool actually does
Speechify is a text-to-speech reader. Feed it any text and it reads it back in a natural AI voice. It handles PDFs, Word documents, emails, web pages, Google Docs, and images of text. The premium version offers over 1,000 voices in 60+ languages, speed control up to 4.5x, synchronized text highlighting, and a voice typing feature added in 2025 that lets you dictate into any app.
Read&Write is a literacy toolbar. It lives in your browser (Chrome or Edge) or alongside Microsoft Word. Yes, it reads text aloud, but writing support is the core of the product: word prediction, a built-in spell checker, a vocabulary builder, PDF annotation, and color overlays for screen comfort. It's been the go-to tool in UK special educational needs for years, which is part of why workplace assessors reach for it by default.
The key difference: Speechify is built for consuming content faster and with less effort. Read&Write is built for producing content with fewer errors.
Before you read another word of this comparison, think about where you actually lose time. Is it reading a 40-page document someone has sent you, or is it drafting the email reply?
The price breakdown
Speechify Premium costs $139 per year, billed in US dollars (speechify.com/pricing, June 2026). That's approximately £110 at current exchange rates. A monthly plan is available at $29/month, but the annual plan is the sensible choice for workplace use. There's a free tier, but the voices on it are robotic and the speed cap makes it less useful for work.
Read&Write costs £354.99 per year including VAT from UK retailers (The Dyslexia Shop, verified June 2026). Multi-year Access to Work edition licences are also available from specialist UK suppliers including Dyslexic.com and Neurobox. There's no free tier for workplace use.
The approximate annual cost difference between Read&Write (£354.99/yr UK retail, June 2026) and Speechify Premium ($139/yr USD, June 2026, approx. £110). Both are Access to Work eligible.
One practical note for UK employees claiming via Access to Work: Speechify bills in USD and UK suppliers are not yet listed. If your needs assessor recommends Speechify, confirm with them and the Access to Work team that a USD invoice is acceptable. Read&Write is simpler on this front: UK suppliers quote in GBP, and the tool has a long track record in the UK AtW system.
If you're eligible for Access to Work, the price difference between these tools comes out of the government grant, not your pocket. Check your eligibility with the Access to Work calculator before deciding which tool to self-fund.
The settings that actually matter
Every tool has a dozen settings. Most don't matter much. Here are the ones that change how useful each tool is at work.
Speechify: 3 settings to configure on day one
- Voice selection. The default voice is serviceable, but the premium AI voices (look for names like Matthew, Aria, or the British English options) are significantly more natural. Change this before you do anything else. A robotic voice will make you stop using the tool within a week.
- Reading speed. The default feels comfortable but you'll want to push it. Start at 1.5x, then 2x. Most dyslexic employees settle somewhere between 200 and 300 words per minute once they've acclimatized. Higher speeds reduce the cognitive load of decoding and free up working memory for comprehension.
- Text highlight color. Speechify highlights words in sync with audio. The default yellow works for most themes, but if you're using a dark background or a cream-tinted screen overlay, switch to a color with higher contrast against your background. This matters more than it looks like it should.
Read&Write: 3 settings to configure on day one
- Talking word processor. Turn on word-by-word audio feedback so you hear each word as you type. This is one of the most underused features. It catches transpositions and word substitutions (writing "from" when you meant "form") that spell-checkers miss because the wrong word is spelled correctly.
- Reading speed for TTS. The default is set for an educational context and is usually too slow for working adults. Push it up. Dyslexic professionals who've adapted to faster information processing will find the default pace actively frustrating.
- Screenshot reader (Scan). This lets Read&Write read text from screen captures and images. Switch it on. If your workplace runs on PDFs — scanned contracts, policy documents, compliance materials — this feature alone may justify the purchase. Speechify handles PDFs too, but Read&Write's in-browser integration keeps you in your workflow without copy-pasting.
Neither tool works well out of the box for a dyslexic professional — you need to spend 20 minutes configuring it properly. Budget that time on installation day, not after a frustrated week of suboptimal use.
When to buy Speechify
Reading is the main barrier. You spend large chunks of your day processing incoming information: long emails, policy documents, reports, web articles, meeting notes from colleagues. Speechify turns all of that into audio. You listen while walking between meetings or during your commute. That's the use case it was built for, and it does it well.
You're on a Mac or mobile. Read&Write's Mac experience is weaker than its Windows version. If you're not in a Windows environment, Speechify is the cleaner choice. The iOS and Android apps are strong, and offline mode means you can download content and listen without Wi-Fi — useful for fieldwork, commuting, or remote sites.
You want dictation. Voice typing is now part of the Speechify Premium package. It works across apps: Gmail, Word, Slack, Google Docs. You talk; Speechify types and cleans up the output. This is a meaningful feature addition for people whose writing speed lags their thinking.
Budget or AtW isn't available. If you're paying out of pocket and AtW isn't an option, Speechify at approximately £110/year is a much lower barrier to entry than Read&Write at £355.
Speechify wins for most dyslexic employees, most of the time — because reading incoming content is the bigger daily time drain for most people, and it costs about £245 less.
When to buy Read&Write
Writing is the core problem. You draft a lot of content: reports, bids, proposals, policy documents. The actual composition process is where you lose the most time and confidence. Read&Write's word prediction suggests your next word as you type, its spell-checker understands the difference between dyslexic substitutions and genuine errors, and the vocabulary builder helps you retrieve words you know but can't reliably spell.
You live in Word and SharePoint. Read&Write integrates directly with Microsoft Word and works across the M365 browser ecosystem. If your day is built around Word documents and SharePoint, the in-place toolbar is genuinely more convenient than switching to a separate app.
Your needs assessor has already recommended it. Read&Write has years of history in the UK Access to Work system. If it's on your needs assessment report, the purchase path is straightforward and the support resources for claiming it are well-documented.
Your workplace has a lot of scanned PDFs to read and annotate. The screenshot reader and PDF annotation features are strong, and keeping both tasks in the same tool reduces context-switching.
Read&Write earns its higher price if writing is the bigger barrier than reading. For most dyslexic employees, that's the less common situation — but it's a real one, and the tool handles it well.
The free option worth trying first
Before spending anything, test Microsoft Immersive Reader. It's built into every M365 subscription at no extra cost, and it covers a meaningful slice of what both paid tools offer.
Immersive Reader reads text aloud in Word, OneNote, Teams (including meeting transcripts), Outlook, and SharePoint. It adjusts text spacing, font size, and syllable highlighting. You can use it right now if you have M365 access.
Its limitations are real: no voice typing, no word prediction, no vocabulary builder, no OCR for images. The voice quality is below Speechify's premium voices. But it's free and already available on most workplace computers.
Spend a week with Immersive Reader first. If it solves most of your problems, you've saved yourself £110 to £355 a year. If it doesn't, you'll know exactly which gap a paid tool needs to fill — which makes the Speechify vs Read&Write decision much clearer.
If you have M365, you already own a reading tool. The question is whether it's enough for your specific workload. If you'd like to turn "I need software support" into a formal reasonable adjustment request your employer funds, the reasonable adjustments builder generates a draft request in about two minutes.
The call: who should buy what
Reading is your main barrier: buy Speechify. Configure the voice and speed settings on day one. Try the free tier for a week to confirm it fits your workflow, then go annual. At approximately £110 a year, it's the right default for most dyslexic employees.
Writing is your main barrier: buy Read&Write. Turn on word-by-word audio feedback and the screenshot reader immediately. If you're in the UK and Access to Work is an option, the application is worth making before you buy, since Read&Write's established UK track record makes it straightforward to claim.
You're not sure which problem is bigger: start with Immersive Reader for a week. Then buy Speechify. Come back to Read&Write in three months if writing is still the sticking point. Spending £110 first and possibly £355 later is better than spending £355 and discovering reading was the actual problem.
Both options are Access to Work claimable. For UK employees, check eligibility before you pay anything out of pocket. Access to Work covers the full cost of approved assistive technology, and both Speechify and Read&Write are DWP-approved. Use the Access to Work calculator to see where you stand.
| Factor | Speechify | Read&Write |
|---|---|---|
| Annual price | $139/yr (approx. £110) | £354.99/yr (UK retail) |
| Free tier | Yes (limited voices) | No (workplace use) |
| Reading/TTS quality | 1,000+ natural AI voices | Good; fewer voice options |
| Word prediction | No | Yes |
| Spell checker (dyslexia-aware) | No | Yes |
| Voice typing | Yes (all apps) | No |
| Offline mode | Yes | Limited |
| Mac experience | Strong | Weaker than Windows |
| M365/Word integration | Works with; external app | Toolbar in-Word |
| Access to Work approved | Yes (DWP approved) | Yes (established) |
| GBP invoicing for AtW | Confirm with assessor | UK suppliers available |
Prices verified June 2026: Speechify pricing from speechify.com/pricing; Read&Write from The Dyslexia Shop (thedyslexiashop.co.uk). Prices may change; verify before purchasing.