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    Best AI Tools for Students with Dyslexia

    College means heavy reading loads, long papers and fast-paced lectures — which can be extra tiring if you have dyslexia. Assistive and AI tools can read text aloud while highlighting it, catch spelling mistakes, let you dictate instead of type and capture lectures so you can review them later. Here are the most useful options for college and adult students, with honest downsides and current pricing.

    These tools support you — they don't replace accommodations. AI apps aren't a diagnosis or treatment for dyslexia and don't replace formal accommodations. Your campus disability services office can arrange support such as extended test time and accessible textbook files, and many colleges already license assistive software like Read&Write for students — ask before you pay. Text-to-speech, spell checkers and dictation are generally fine to use, but AI-generated writing in graded work can break your course's academic integrity rules — check your syllabus and ask your instructor when unsure.

    Top AI Tools for Students with Dyslexia

    Prices and features as of November 2026 — check the official site for current details

    #1

    Speechify

    Best for: listening to readings while following highlighted text

    Speechify is a text-to-speech app for iPhone/iPad, Android, Chrome and Edge, the web, Mac and Windows. It reads PDFs, web pages, documents and (with Premium) photos of printed pages aloud, highlighting words as it goes so you can listen and read along at the same time. The free plan includes 10 basic voices and speeds up to 1.5x. Premium adds 1,000+ natural voices in 60+ languages, speeds up to 5x, Scan & Listen for printed pages, and AI summaries and chat, for $29/month or $139/year (about $11.58/month). Speechify says verified students can get 25% off Premium through UNiDAYS — check the offer before you buy.

    Why students use it:

    • Read along with word-by-word highlighting
    • Works across phone, browser and computer
    • Scan & Listen reads printed textbook pages (Premium)
    • Free plan to try it
    Downside: The free voices sound robotic and are capped at 1.5x speed, and Premium is expensive if you pay monthly.

    Speechify is our top pick because listening while you follow highlighted text can make heavy reading loads more manageable, and it works on your phone, computer and browser. On a tight budget? Start with Microsoft's free Immersive Reader, or check whether your school provides Read&Write.

    #2

    Microsoft Immersive Reader

    Best for: free reading support inside Word, OneNote and Edge

    Immersive Reader is a free Microsoft tool built into apps many students already have, including Word, OneNote, Outlook, Teams and the Microsoft Edge browser. It can read text aloud, change font size, spacing and page color, and — depending on the app — split words into syllables, highlight parts of speech, focus on one, three or five lines at a time, show a picture dictionary and translate text. Many colleges give students Microsoft 365 through a school email, so you may already have it.

    Why students use it:

    • Free and already built into Microsoft apps
    • Line focus and text spacing reduce visual crowding
    • Read aloud with adjustable voice and speed
    • Picture dictionary and translation in Edge
    Downside: It only works inside Microsoft apps, the exact features differ from app to app, and it has no listening library, offline downloads or camera scanning like dedicated text-to-speech apps.
    #3

    Read&Write

    Best for: an all-in-one reading and writing toolbar your school may already provide

    Read&Write, from Texthelp (now part of Everway), is a literacy toolbar for Windows, Mac, Chrome and iPad that works alongside Word, Google Docs, web pages and PDFs. Its tools include text-to-speech, a spell checker designed to catch phonetic mistakes and confused words, word prediction, Talk&Type dictation, a dictionary and picture dictionary, translation, highlighters that collect your highlights into notes, screen masking and Audio Maker for turning text into MP3 files. Many colleges license Read&Write for students through disability services or IT. If you sign up on your own, you start with a trial, then move to a free version with fewer features; premium individual licenses are bought through Texthelp's store.

    Why students use it:

    • Reading, writing and study tools in one toolbar
    • Spell checker and word prediction built for common spelling struggles
    • Talk&Type dictation
    • Often free through your college
    Downside: Premium features cost money, and an individual license is $184 a year, the toolbar has a learning curve, and it's best value when your school provides it.
    #4

    Grammarly

    Best for: catching spelling and grammar mistakes as you write

    Grammarly checks spelling, grammar, clarity and tone as you type in Google Docs, Microsoft Word, your browser and its apps, and explains why it suggests each change. The free plan covers core spelling and grammar corrections, tone detection and 100 AI prompts a month. Grammarly Pro adds full-sentence rewrites, a plagiarism checker and 2,000 AI prompts a month, for $12/month billed annually or $30/month billed monthly.

    Why students use it:

    • Free plan catches many spelling and grammar errors
    • Works in Google Docs, Word and your browser
    • Explanations help you learn patterns in your mistakes
    Downside: It can miss misspellings that form real words, the 50% student discount on Pro is limited-time only (some colleges offer it through a campus license), and its AI rewrite features may be off-limits in some courses.
    #5

    Otter.ai

    Best for: capturing lectures so you don't have to write everything down

    Otter.ai records audio and transcribes it live, then gives you a searchable transcript, an AI summary and an AI chat you can ask about the recording — so you can focus on listening instead of writing notes word for word. Its mobile app can record in-person classes, and it can join Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams calls. The free Basic plan gives 300 minutes a month, up to 30 minutes per conversation and 20 AI chat questions a month. Otter Pro costs $16.99/month or $8.33/month billed annually, with 1,200 minutes a month and 90 minutes per conversation, and students with a .edu email get 20% off Pro ($79.99/year).

    Why students use it:

    • Less pressure to write notes as fast as the lecture moves
    • Searchable transcripts and AI summaries
    • Records in-person and online classes
    • 20% student discount on Pro
    Downside: The free plan's 30-minute limit is shorter than most lectures, transcripts can garble technical terms and names, and you need permission to record — ask your instructor or request a recording accommodation through disability services.
    #6

    NaturalReader

    Best for: unlimited free listening with a dyslexia-friendly font option

    NaturalReader is a text-to-speech app available as a web app, mobile app and Chrome extension that reads PDFs, documents, books and web pages aloud. It includes accessibility features such as a dyslexia-friendly font. The free plan includes unlimited listening with free voices, 5 minutes a day of Plus AI Voices and limited AI features. Paid personal plans start with Lite at $79/year (or $13.90/month), which adds OCR for scanned pages and AI study features such as Recap and Quizzes.

    Why students use it:

    • Unlimited free listening with standard voices
    • Dyslexia-friendly font option
    • Cheaper paid plan than Speechify
    Downside: The most natural voices are limited to 5 minutes a day on the free plan, no individual student discount is listed, and monthly plans cost much more than paying yearly.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    It depends on what's hardest for you. Speechify and NaturalReader help you get through readings by listening while you follow along, Read&Write combines reading, spelling and dictation tools in one toolbar, Grammarly catches spelling mistakes as you write, and Otter.ai captures lectures. Microsoft's Immersive Reader is a strong free starting point if you use Word or Edge.

    Yes. Microsoft Immersive Reader is free in Word, OneNote and Edge, and Speechify, NaturalReader, Grammarly and Otter.ai all have free plans with limits. Read&Write has a free version after its trial, and many colleges provide the full version. Bookshare, an accessible ebook library, is free for qualified U.S. students; U.S. adults who aren't students pay $79.99 a year.

    Generally no — reading aloud, spell checking and dictation are widely accepted supports, and many are formal accommodations. Having AI write your assignments is different and usually breaks academic integrity rules, whether or not you have dyslexia. Check your syllabus and ask your instructor when unsure.

    Usually, yes. Contact your campus disability services office, which can explain what documentation it needs and what it offers — often extended test time, accessible textbook files and assistive software such as Read&Write. Ask before paying for a tool your school may already provide.

    It can help by catching many spelling and grammar errors and explaining its suggestions. It can miss misspellings that form a real word (like "form" instead of "from"), so listening to your writing read aloud with a text-to-speech tool is a useful second check.

    Yes, in ways that keep the work yours: dictate your ideas with a tool like Read&Write's Talk&Type, organize them into an outline, then use spell check and read-aloud to proofread. Avoid submitting AI-generated text unless your instructor allows it.

    Need to get through readings faster?

    See our guide on how to read textbooks faster with AI.

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