What do the last Instagram story, YouTube video, podcast advertisement, and corporate training video you watched have in common? Most likely, voice overs. Creators add voice overs to everything from commercials to social media posts, training material, learning and development content, media spots, and more. Voice overs help illustrate key points, help audiences better retain information, and make otherwise flat visual content more engaging.
But with the popularity of voice overs, how do you choose the best voice over software for your content? The main players in the market—the likes of Google, Apple, and WellSaid Labs—all offer different benefits and serve different purposes. In this blog post, we take a closer look at the strengths and weaknesses of each voice over software, the most popular use cases for each, and which factors you should consider before deciding which one to use.
Top voice over software options
The Apple App Store and Google Play Store both offer a variety of voice over apps in their app marketplaces. Through these budget-friendly voice over apps, people can record and edit voice overs, dubbing voice overs over video clips.
Apple
One of Apple’s best voice over apps is Voice Over Video by Platinum City, LLC. Voice Over Video features a 4.5-star rating with more than 4,900 ratings and reviews. Among top reviews, users say, “I needed to make a commercial for my public speaking class and this app did exactly what I needed it to. It was easy to learn and use. If you need to record audio over a video or blend the original audio with a new recording, I would highly recommend this app.”
Whereas, less positive reviews note that the “free version only works correctly part of the time,” “you can only film short videos in order for it to load properly,” and “it only let me do one video, unless I paid.”
Voice Over Video is mainly intended for independent creators using iOS who wish to record voice overs over short videos such as travel vlogs, make-up tutorials, or Instagram Reels. In the app, which works on both iPhones and iPads, users can add multiple voice over recordings and video clips, crop voice over recordings and video clips, fade in and fade out voice over recordings, and add transitions between video clips. Voice Over Video also offers in-app purchases for more advanced features and functionality.
On the Google Play Store, Google offers VoiceOver - Record and Do More, an app by Resonance Vista. This app features a 3-star rating with more than 8,000 ratings and reviews, ranging from “best voice app/recording app for singing and voice overs” to “hit or miss, crashes a lot but when it’s working it’s easy to use.”
The VoiceOver app enables users to dub audio over videos, GIFs, and images. Users can even sing along to background music or a karaoke song, and the app will sync the two. Creators can record a voice over directly in the app, or choose a file from their phone library and manipulate the voice over so it plays in a filter such as a martian, ghost, robot, superhero, or different gender. VoiceOver app offers a variety of basic editing tools such as cropping audio, equalizing audio, shifting pitch, and adding echo.
Similar to Apple’s Voice Over Video, Google’s VoiceOver is designed for independent creators who wish to record voice over on various audio files, whether for personal entertainment or social media.
What to look for in voice over software
While each voice over app has its pros and cons, the considerations below can help you choose the right platform for your needs.
Purpose and Complexity
First, consider the purpose and complexity of your project. If you’re creating quick videos for personal entertainment or social media, a simple app could be all you need. If you’re creating hundreds of hours or permutations of professional commercials, training videos, or enterprise content, a voice over software like WellSaid Labs could help you create professional content more efficiently, and at a lower rate than traditional routes.
Context
Second, consider the context of your voice over. For example, if you’re recording a vlog, training video, or social media post, where your audience is familiar with your voice, then a simple voice over app can help you personally record a voice over and pair it with your videos. If, however, you’re producing content such as company trainings, media spots, or educational content, you may want a professional voice or to accompany them. In this case, a platform like WellSaid Labs can offer you dozens of Voice Avatars, all of which sound completely realistic and enable you to render hours of voice overs with a few clicks.
Enterprise Level
Lastly, consider the enterprise level of your content. WellSaid Labs is designed for enterprise—companies or professionals who need a platform that can meet their security and compliance requirements, scale projects to any size, and enable multiple users across national or global teams. Most basic voice over software or apps aren’t designed with this scale in mind, and for personal use cases, that can be just fine.
Regardless of which voice over software is best for you—a light, nimble app like those on the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, or a more robust, professionally-designed solution like WellSaid Labs—voice over is the way to make your creative projects not only look incredible, but sound incredible, too.
