FAQ

Text files (TXT, PDF, DOC, DOCX, ODT, EPUB, MD) and audio files (MP3, WAV, M4A, AAC, OGG, DSS, DS2) can all be uploaded. Coming back, you either get a document in the format you asked for with its structure and layout intact, or you get audio. Audio is always MP3 or M4A, which means it will play on anything you own.

Yes. In Document mode the layout is kept for Word (DOCX, DOC), ODT and PDF: the translation comes back in the same format, with the letterhead, headers, footers, tables and layout in place. A PDF needs a real text layer — scanned image-only pages are not supported.

Yes. Name the exact pages you want — a single chapter of a textbook, say, or just the section you actually need — and that is all you pay for, not the whole book. The default is to run only the first few pages, which is a quick way to hear what the translation sounds like before you commit to an entire volume. Set the full range before you start and you get the book in its entirety.

Because the default is to process the beginning only: an extract from the book, or the opening pages of a PDF. That is on purpose. You get to hear how the translation sounds before committing an entire volume to it. Go back into the run settings, choose the full scope or the page range you want, and start again — that gives you the whole book. And nothing has been lost or trimmed by your plan along the way; the rest of the book simply has not been run yet.

Yes. Where a document contains sensitive details — names, addresses, reference numbers — you can have them hidden before processing starts, so they are not passed on any further. That matters when what you are translating is a contract, a medical report, or any work document carrying someone else's personal data.

No — upload the file exactly as it is and SonikaAI works out the format on its own. Once it is up, you tell it whether you are dealing with a book or a document, and then what you want out of it. Files whose text can be selected give the best results. Scanned PDFs that are nothing but images are not supported for now.

Yes — this is exactly what SonikaAI was built for. Upload the book in whatever language it was published in, then choose the language you would like to have it in. Back it comes, either as text to read or as an audiobook to listen to. A book no publisher ever thought worth bringing into your language is no longer out of your reach.

Yes. Upload a report, an article or a contract and you get it back read aloud, which means you can work through it on the commute, at the gym or while you are making dinner. Documents in another language can be translated first and then narrated in yours.

Yes. In Document mode headings, lists, tables and layout all stay put — this works for Word (DOCX, DOC), ODT and PDFs with a real text layer. The file comes back in the same format. Scanned image-only PDFs are not a fit for this.

SonikaAI translates books and documents, then reads them aloud in whichever of our 13 languages you want. Take a book that was only ever published in a language you do not read: it comes back to you as a finished audiobook, chapters and all, with the cover and title written into the file so your player knows what it is. Documents work differently, because there the job is to keep the original structure and layout intact. Any of the 13 languages can be translated and narrated into any of the others.

Anyone who wants to read or listen to a book that simply does not exist in their language. Students working in a foreign language, for whom it is the reading that is slow, not the subject itself. People facing a pile of work documents with no time to sit down with them, who would sooner listen on the commute. And anyone who needs a document translated and still returned as a document, with the headings, tables and layout where they belong.

Yes — you can get started for free, no card required. What you get for free is the opening section of your own book or document, the point being that you hear how your text sounds in your language before you spend anything on it. Happy with it? Pay for that single file, no subscription involved. Working with texts regularly is what makes a plan worth having.

When the file and the settings — languages, voice, page scope — are unchanged, SonikaAI may simply hand back the saved result of the earlier run rather than redo work that would come out the same. To be clear, that is not us keeping your book to train an AI on. Change the language, the voice, the pages or any other option and you get a fresh run. Saved copies are deleted over time under our service policy.

The rule of thumb: Book is about the words, Document is about the way they sit on the page. Book shapes the result for comfortable reading and audio, chapters included. Document keeps the file’s layout — headings, tables and formatting in place; it works for Word (DOCX, DOC), ODT and PDF, and the file comes back in the same format.

Thirteen in all: English, Ukrainian, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Russian, Japanese, Korean and Chinese. Any of them can be translated and narrated into any of the others, and the matching voice and translation service are chosen for you.

Your text is read aloud by a synthesised voice — one that sounds far more like a narrator than like a robot. The part that matters most is that the voice belongs to the language you asked for: Ukrainian is read by a Ukrainian voice and German by a German one, with no foreign accent creeping in. You can listen to a sample before you start and choose a male or a female voice. Pacing and pauses are taken care of for you.

Yes, and once downloaded the file is yours to keep. It is an ordinary MP3 or M4A: copy it to your phone, load it into a player or your audiobook app, listen to it with no connection at all. Nothing is tied to us either — should you stop using the service one day, everything you have already downloaded stays exactly where it is.

Yes. Upload your lecture notes, course readings or textbook chapters in whatever language they came in and have them read aloud to you in your own. It is a real help when you are studying in a foreign language and it is the reading that holds you up rather than the subject itself.

Books that have chapters come back as a single M4A file with chapter navigation built in, so you can skip between them and pick up wherever you left off. Books without chapters come back as an MP3. Either way, the title, the author and the cover art are written into the file itself, so your player lists it as a proper book instead of an untitled track.

No. Running heads, page numbers, the table of contents and similar surrounding text are skipped by default, so that what you hear is the book itself and not the scaffolding around it. If you would rather have every last line read out, switch on full narration before you start.

No. Signing up and running the beginning of your own book or document costs nothing and needs no card, the idea being that you hear the result before any money is involved. A card only comes into it once you decide to pay for a full run or take out a plan.

Yes. You can upgrade or switch your plan at any time from within the app. The new price and the new limits take effect at the start of your next billing period, and the period you are currently in is left untouched. Everything you have done so far — your files and your history — stays as it is.

It is how much text you can put through in a month. A "page" here means roughly 1200 characters, which is an ordinary page of a book. The thing to know is that pages are used up at different rates depending on what you order. Translation on its own is the most economical; narration on its own uses about a third more; translation and narration together, a little over twice as much. So on a plan of 500 pages a month, you are looking at something like 500 pages of translation, or something like 200 pages of a finished translated audiobook. Long books do not have to be done in one go — you can work through them across several runs.

Yes. When it is one particular book or document you are after, a plan is not required at all — pay for that single run and the full result is yours. Plans earn their keep when you are working with texts regularly, because the cost per page drops.