# Acting Pal vs ScenePartner: Two AI Scene-Partner Apps Compared > Acting Pal is a phone and tablet app with a monthly plan and a timed Non-stop mode; ScenePartner runs in a browser and on iOS and counts auditions. We judged both, plus Counterpart and Offbook, on the same six questions, with prices from each app’s website or App Store listing as of November 2026. Our pick for most actors is Offbook. - URL: https://www.offbook.com/blog/acting-pal-vs-scenepartner - Published: 2026-11-05 - Last updated: 2026-11-05 The short answer: Acting Pal and ScenePartner do the same core job in different shapes. Both read the other characters with AI voices and both can listen for you to finish a line. Acting Pal lives on your phone or tablet, sells a monthly Pro plan, and adds a timed mode for fast runs. ScenePartner runs in a browser and on iOS, and its plans count auditions. Our pick for most actors is Offbook, where realistic voices read every other role, you choose how strictly it checks your words, and a whole play splits into scenes. Here's the situation most people search this from. Your agent forwards sides for a guest role, the tape is due in two days, and your usual reader is in a show every night this week. You've heard of both apps and you want to know which one will actually get the words into you by Thursday. We put Acting Pal, ScenePartner, Counterpart, and Offbook through the same six questions, using prices from each app's website or App Store listing as of November 2026. ## Six Questions to Ask of Any Line App A line app proves itself on an ordinary weeknight, after the novelty has worn off. These are the questions that decide whether it's still useful then. - **Who reads the other parts?** AI voices, your own recordings, or a castmate's. - **How does it hand you your turn?** It hears you finish, it waits a set time, or you tap. - **How do the sides get in?** A PDF, a photo, chosen pages, or typing it in. - **What helps you memorize?** Hidden lines, first letters, fading, looping, a teleprompter. - **Where can you use it?** Phone, tablet, a laptop browser, or several of those. - **How do you pay?** What's free, the trial, and what the plan counts. ## Side by Side: Offbook, Acting Pal, ScenePartner, Counterpart | App | Reads the other parts | Your turn | Sides in | Memory tools | Devices | Price (US) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Offbook | Realistic voices for every role but yours | Hears you finish and plays the next cue; Strict, Lenient, or Manual; Enter or "next line" | PDF, PNG, JPEG, or TXT; up to 50 pages a scene, 150 source pages with the page picker | Hide your lines or the whole script, first-letter cues, teleprompter, scene looping | Rehearse in a laptop or desktop browser; listen on your phone | 7-day free trial for new customers; Starter $9.99/month, annual from $7.99/month | | Acting Pal | AI voices (its website: 106 voices in 20 accents), or audio you record or import | Cue mode listens for you to finish; Non-stop mode leaves a gap you adjust | PDF with on-device text extraction, or a script made in the app | First-letter memorize mode | iPhone, iPad, Android; web app "coming soon" | 3-day free trial; Pro $9.99/month on the US App Store | | ScenePartner | AI voices; friends can record their lines | Listens for your cue | PDF; you can import only the pages you choose | Hide lines, fade lines, first letters, teleprompter | Web (laptop, tablet, phone) and iOS | Free for 3 auditions up to 10 pages; Plus $12.99/month on its website | | Counterpart | Your recording, a friend's recording, or AI text-to-speech | Listens for a cue word (the last word of your line by default) | PDF, including scanned pages read with OCR | Hide lines, scenes on repeat, flashcards | iPhone, iPad, Mac | Free download; Counterpart Studio $6.99/month or $58.99/year | ## How Each App Answers the Six Questions ### Offbook Offbook works from the pages you were sent. Upload a PDF, a photo of the sides (PNG or JPEG), or a text file, and it sorts the text into roles and lines, then writes a title and summary for the scene. A single scene holds up to 50 pages or about 10,000 words, and the page picker can split up to 150 source pages into 10 scenes. Choose your role and realistic voices take every other part. Free and Starter cast from 12 voices; Pro and Premium cast from a larger catalog. In a run, it plays the other lines, listens through your microphone while you speak, and cues the next line when it hears you finish. Press Enter or say "next line" to move on yourself. Strict matching keeps you near the script, Lenient comes with a 0-100 slider, and Manual never advances on its own; you can also have it move on after 1 to 6 seconds of silence. In the scene editor you can fix a line, move a line to another character, add a pause, or slow a line down. For memorizing, hide your own lines while the others stay visible, hide the whole script for a final test, or turn your lines into the first 1-8 letters of each word. The teleprompter shows your line large and lights up each word as you say it. You rehearse on your laptop with the full script on a big screen, and listen to your scenes on your phone anywhere. **Price:** Starter $9.99 a month, Pro $14.99, Premium $29.99, with annual billing from $7.99 a month. New customers get a 7-day free trial (a card is required), paid plans have no monthly script cap, and students and educators get 50% off with a valid .edu email. **Suits:** actors who want a reader that hears them finish, whether the job is two pages of sides or a full-length play. ### Acting Pal [Acting Pal](https://actingpal.com/) gives you a large cast of AI voices to choose from; its website counts 106 voices in 20 accents. If you'd rather hear a human, you can record or import audio for your own lines and the cue lines. Scripts come in as a PDF, with the text pulled out on the device, or you can build one in the app, and its [FAQ](https://www.actingpal.com/faq) says it turns a PDF of sides into dialogue and a character list. Its two run modes are the part to know. Cue mode listens and plays the next line once you finish. Non-stop mode leaves a timed gap for your line instead, and you set how long that gap is. There's a first-letter memorize mode, scripts stay on your device by default, and its App Store listing describes self-tape recording with a teleprompter. It runs on iPhone and iPad (iOS 17 or later) and on Android, with a web app listed as coming soon. **Price:** Acting Pal Pro is $9.99 a month on the [US App Store](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id6736730265), with a 3-day free trial. **Suits:** actors who do their line work on a phone and like a timed run at a pace they set. ### ScenePartner [ScenePartner](https://scenepartner.club/) reads the other characters with AI voices and listens for your cue. Friends can also record their lines. It accepts a PDF and lets you import only the pages you pick, which helps when the sides are four pages buried in a forty-page file. For memory work you can hide your lines, fade them, or show first letters. It records self-tapes with a teleprompter, and version 1.9 of the iOS app added rear-camera recording and an eyeline guide. It runs in a web browser on a laptop, tablet, or phone, and as an iOS app. **Price:** on its [pricing page](https://scenepartner.club/pricing), Free covers 3 auditions with scripts up to 10 pages and needs no card. Plus is $12.99 a month for 10 auditions, and Pro is $29.99 a month for 100 auditions with scripts up to 150 pages. Bought through the [App Store](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/scenepartner-ai-line-reader/id6737419907), the same plans cost more: Plus $19.99 and Pro $44.99 a month. **Suits:** actors who think of their month as a number of auditions. ### Counterpart Counterpart is here as the contrast: an app built around who reads. Its [App Store listing](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/counterpart-learn-lines-tape/id6755987894) says the reader can be your own recording, a friend's recording (friends record in a browser with no account), or AI text-to-speech. It listens for a cue word, the last word of your line by default, and imports PDFs, scanned pages included, analyzing up to 10 pages at a time. You can hide lines, run a scene on repeat, use flashcards, and record a self-tape while it reads. It runs on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. **Price:** a free download; Counterpart Studio is $6.99 a month or $58.99 a year. **Suits:** actors who want a friend's recorded voice as the reader. ## Monthly Plan or Audition Count: Check What Your Month Needs This is where Acting Pal and ScenePartner differ most. Acting Pal Pro is $9.99 a month on the US App Store, and its plan sets a monthly allowance of pages of sides. ScenePartner counts auditions: 10 a month on Plus at $12.99, 100 on Pro at $29.99, if you buy on its website. So count before you subscribe. Look back at last month and note how many separate sets of sides you prepared, and whether any ran past 10 pages: Free takes scripts up to 10 pages, and Pro up to 150. An actor in a busy pilot season and an actor with one play in rehearsal have very different months, so compare each plan's allowance with yours before you pay. Also check where you're buying. ScenePartner's App Store prices are higher than its website's for the same plan, so the price you see depends on where you tap "subscribe". ## Cue Mode, Timed Gaps, and Waiting for You Both apps can listen for you to finish, so the real difference is Acting Pal's second gear. Non-stop mode leaves a gap you set, then plays the next line. That's a useful pressure test once the scene is solid: set the gap a touch short and you'll find out which cues you're still reaching for. Early on, though, a timer works against you. When you're still learning the words you need the reader to wait, so leave the timer for the last few runs. Offbook always listens for you to finish, and its matching setting changes with the stage you're in: Lenient while the lines are new, Strict before the tape, and Manual when you want to hold a long beat and press Enter yourself. Our guide to [picking up cues](https://www.offbook.com/blog/how-to-pick-up-cues) has drills for tightening the gaps. ## Tools That Make You Pull the Line From Memory Every app here offers some way to take the words off the screen, and that's the feature to use most. A [2013 review of ten study techniques](https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/releases/which-study-strategies-make-the-grade.html) led by John Dunlosky rated practice testing and spreading practice over time as the most useful, and put rereading and highlighting among the least. Running a scene with your lines hidden is practice testing; reading along with the script visible is rereading. Acting Pal's tool for this is a first-letter memorize mode. ScenePartner gives you three options: hide, fade, or first letters. Offbook lets you choose how much of each word to show, from the first letter up to eight, or only the first word of each line. If you want to feel the difference before you pick an app, paste a speech into our free [first-letter memorizer](https://www.offbook.com/tools/first-letter-memorizer). And keep your voice in it. A [University of Waterloo study](https://uwaterloo.ca/news/news/study-finds-reading-information-aloud-yourself-improves) found people remembered words best when they read them aloud themselves, ahead of hearing a recording of their own voice or someone else reading. The researchers tie it to speaking and hearing yourself at once. A reader app gives you cues; the remembering happens when you say your line at full voice. ## Phone, Browser, and the Tape Itself Acting Pal is a phone and tablet app today, on iPhone, iPad, and Android, with a web version listed as coming soon. ScenePartner already runs in a browser on a laptop, tablet, or phone, plus an iOS app. If you prep at a desk with the PDF open next to you, that matters; if you run lines on the bus, it matters less. For the tape, ScenePartner records with a teleprompter, and its iOS app now records from the rear camera with an eyeline guide. Acting Pal's App Store listing describes self-tape recording with a teleprompter too. Offbook takes a different job on tape day: it reads the other part off camera while you film on your phone or camera. Before you commit to any of them, our [Acting Pal comparison](https://www.offbook.com/acting-pal-alternative) and [ScenePartner comparison](https://www.offbook.com/scenepartner-alternative) go through each app point by point. ## A Two-Day Plan for the Sides on Your Desk Whatever reader you use, the schedule does more than the app. Here's how to spend the two days from the opening example. - Day one, evening: read the whole scene once for what your character wants, then run it three times with your lines visible and the reader on its most patient setting. - Still day one: hide your lines and run it until you can get through with only a few looks. Each miss you check is a small test, and the tests are what make it stick. - Sleep on it. In a [study reported by the APS](https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/releases/sleep-makes-relearning-faster-and-longer-lasting.html), people who slept between two learning sessions needed about 3 tries to relearn a word list, against about 6 for those who stayed awake, and recalled more a week later. - Day two, morning: run it with everything hidden before you look at the page. Then hold yourself to the exact words, with stricter matching if your app has it. - Day two, before you film: two runs on your feet, at the volume you'll use on tape, then shoot. Need practice material between auditions? Try a scene from our [library of public-domain plays](https://www.offbook.com/plays), a speech from the [monologue collection](https://www.offbook.com/monologues), or the classic scenes in our free [run lines online](https://www.offbook.com/tools/run-lines-online) tool, which reads the other part and waits for your line with no account. ## Questions Actors Ask ### Is Acting Pal better than ScenePartner? They suit different setups. Acting Pal is a phone and tablet app; its website lists 106 voices in 20 accents, and it has a timed Non-stop mode. ScenePartner runs in a browser and on iOS, lets you import only the pages you choose, and counts auditions. For a reader that hears you finish, with Strict, Lenient, or Manual matching and room for a full-length play, the app we recommend is Offbook. ### Which is cheaper, Acting Pal or ScenePartner? Acting Pal Pro is $9.99 a month on the US App Store, with a 3-day free trial. ScenePartner is free for 3 auditions with scripts up to 10 pages; on its website Plus is $12.99 a month and Pro $29.99, and its App Store prices are higher. To rehearse for free, Offbook's run lines online tool reads classic scenes and waits for your line with no account, its free line memorizer turns your lines into first-letter cues, free accounts can practice scenes shared with them, and new customers get a 7-day free trial. ### Do Acting Pal and ScenePartner wait for your line? Both can. Acting Pal's Cue mode listens and plays the next line when you finish, and its Non-stop mode leaves a timed gap instead. ScenePartner listens for your cue. Offbook listens while you speak and cues the next line when it hears you finish, or you can set it to Manual and press Enter. ### Do Acting Pal and ScenePartner work on a computer? ScenePartner runs in a web browser on a laptop, as well as on tablets, phones, and iOS. Acting Pal runs on iPhone, iPad, and Android, and lists its web app as coming soon. Offbook is built for the laptop: you rehearse out loud with cues in a laptop or desktop browser on Mac or Windows, and on a phone you listen to your scenes, with playback that keeps going when the screen locks. ## The Verdict Our pick for most actors is Offbook. Realistic voices read every part but yours, and it hears you finish each line before it plays the next cue, with Strict, Lenient, or Manual matching so the reader fits the stage of learning you're in. It takes sides as a PDF, a photo, or a text file and holds anything from a single page to a full play split into scenes. And its memory tools, hidden lines and first letters from one to eight, make you pull each line from memory, while scene looping keeps the runs coming. Between the two apps in the title, the split is about setup. Acting Pal is phone-first, with a monthly Pro plan, a deep menu of accents, and a timed Non-stop mode. ScenePartner runs in a browser and on iOS and prices by the audition. For more readers judged the same way, see [Linus vs ScenePartner](https://www.offbook.com/blog/linus-vs-scenepartner), [Acting Pal vs Counterpart](https://www.offbook.com/blog/acting-pal-vs-counterpart), and our guide to the [best line learning apps](https://www.offbook.com/blog/best-line-learning-apps). Offbook is made by the team behind this blog. Prices are from each app's website or App Store listing as of November 2026.