Launching January 2, 2029
Sotto
Turn walls of text into instant audio.
FreeVoiceOpen Source261 impressionslaunches Jan 2
Sotto is a blazing-fast, native macOS text-to-speech app designed to turn massive walls of text into instant audio. Built entirely in Swift, it delivers sub-second latency; Just highlight, hit a shortcut, and listen without the lag.
Sotto is a native macOS app that instantly reads selected text aloud with local, expressive TTS.
- for
- Mac users who want quick, offline text-to-speech without cloud services.
- pricing
- free
- license
- Apache-2.0
- v0.1.0Sotto 0.1.03 months ago
works withmacOSApple silicon
Key features
6 features of Sotto
- Expressive voice — Uses the Kokoro model for more human-like speech on Apple silicon.
- Sub-second latency — Warm-up model on startup to deliver near-instant audio playback.
- Global shortcut — Read any highlighted text from any app with a single keyboard shortcut.
- Playback controls — Adjust speed, pause, skip sections, and add pronunciation rules on the fly.
- Local processing — All text and audio stay on the Mac; only the initial model download uses the network.
- Menu-bar access — Control playback and settings from a compact menu-bar interface.
Use cases
- Listen to long articles or documentation while coding.
- Proofread written content by hearing it read aloud.
- Consume chat or forum threads without scrolling.
- Review code comments or commit messages audibly.
Sotto vs alternatives
 Sotto |  Voice Calling SDK by Dyte | .png?width=64) Langfuse |  imgproxy |  Fluent CI | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Instant local TTS on macOS | Voice calling integration | LLM analytics | Self-hosted image processing | CI/CD scripting |
| Pricing | Free | Subscription | Subscription | Free | Free |
| DevHunt upvotes | 1 | 44 | 89 | 95 | 158 |
| Launched | Jan 2029 | May 2024 | Jan 2023 | Feb 2024 | Jan 2024 |
- Sotto vs Voice Calling SDK by Dyte: Dyte SDK provides real-time voice calling, not local TTS.
- Sotto vs Langfuse: Langfuse is for LLM observability, unrelated to text-to-speech.
- Sotto vs imgproxy: imgproxy processes images, while Sotto handles audio generation.
- Sotto vs Fluent CI: Fluent CI focuses on CI/CD pipelines, not speech synthesis.
Sotto FAQ
Do I need an internet connection to use Sotto?+
No, Sotto runs locally after the initial model download; no text is sent to a cloud API.
Is Sotto compatible with all Mac hardware?+
It requires Apple silicon; Intel Macs are not supported.
How do I install Sotto?+
Install via Homebrew Cask with `brew install --cask shreysid/tap/sotto` and follow the one-time Gatekeeper override.
Can I customize pronunciation for specific words?+
Yes, you can add pronunciation rules for names and acronyms in the app settings.
Is there a subscription or account needed?+
No, Sotto is free, requires no account, and has no subscription fees.
Summarized by DevHunt from shreysid.github.io · Sep 29, 2026. Details may change; check the official site.
