ActOnCue vs ScenePartner: Credits or Auditions, Which Plan Fits You?

The short answer: ActOnCue and ScenePartner differ mainly in how they charge. ActOnCue sells credit and charges by use, by the minute of generated voice audio and by the hour of Perform mode, where the reader listens and advances. ScenePartner sells a number of auditions a month. Our pick for most actors is Offbook, where realistic voices read every other role and paid plans have no monthly cap on the number of scripts.

You’ve got two auditions this week, a callback maybe next week, and a nagging feeling you’re paying for an app you barely opened last month. That’s usually when actors start comparing the two. Both read the other parts with AI voices, both listen for your line before they answer, and both will help you get a self-tape done. We judged both apps, plus Rafy (which counts scenes in tokens) and Offbook, on the same questions, with prices as of November 2026; the reasons for our pick are below.

How We Compared Them

The right app is the one whose meter matches the way you actually rehearse: a burst before a tape, a steady run through a play, or new sides most weeks. These seven questions decide that.

• Who reads the other parts? AI voices, your own recordings, or a friend’s.
• How does it know it’s your turn? Listening for you to finish, a timer, or a tap.
• How does your script get in? Which files it takes and how long a script can be.
• What memorization tools does it have? Hidden lines, first letters, a teleprompter.
• Can it help with the tape? Recording inside the app, or reading for you while you film.
• Where does it run? Phone, tablet, laptop browser, or all three.
• What does it meter? Credit, auditions, scenes, or nothing on the script count.

Offbook, ActOnCue, ScenePartner, and Rafy at a Glance

Each App on the Same Questions

Offbook

Offbook starts from the script you already have. Upload a PDF, a photo of the pages (PNG or JPEG), or a text file, and it sorts the pages into roles and lines and writes a title and summary for the scene. Pick your role, and realistic voices read every other character. Free and Starter cast from 12 voices; Pro and Premium cast from a larger catalog.

When you rehearse, Offbook plays the other lines, listens through your microphone while you say yours, and plays the next cue when it hears you finish. You can also press Enter or say “next line” to move on. Strict matching holds you close to the script, Lenient has a 0-100 slider, and Manual never moves on by itself. For memorizing, hide your own lines, hide the whole script for a final test, or swap your lines for the first 1-8 letters of each word. The teleprompter highlights each word as you say it.

When you film, Offbook is the reader off camera while you record on your phone or camera. You rehearse on your laptop with the full script on a big screen, and listen to your scenes on your phone anywhere.

How you pay: Starter is $9.99 a month, Pro $14.99, and Premium $29.99, with annual billing from $7.99 a month. Paid plans have no monthly cap on the number of scripts; generated audio has a monthly allowance of 50,000 characters on Starter, 100,000 on Pro, and 200,000 on Premium. New customers start with a 7-day free trial, and students and educators get 50% off with a valid .edu email. Best for: actors who want one monthly price with no script count, whether the month brings two pages of sides or a full-length play.

ActOnCue

ActOnCue runs as a web app plus iPhone and iPad apps that sync, with an Android app listed as coming soon; the full web version works in a mobile browser. In Perform mode, the reader listens for when you finish your line and answers with the next one. Listen mode reads the scene with no speech recognition. The reader can use AI voices or your own or a friend’s recordings, in English with US, UK, Canadian, and Australian accents, and in other languages including French, Spanish, and Russian.

Scripts go in as a PDF, a photo of your sides, pasted or typed text, or a scene transcribed from an audio recording, and you can practise only the lines you choose. For learning, it has first-letter hints, hidden lines, and a reader that pauses for you to say your line. There’s a voice-following teleprompter, self-tape recording on the phone or in the browser, and a script-aware acting coach chat. It needs an internet connection and an account.

How you pay: ActOnCue charges by use, from credit. On its pricing page, Free includes $1 of credit for testing, Monthly is $10 with $15 of usage, Annual is $99 with $180 of usage, and a one-time top-up is $20. AI voices cost $0.19 per minute of generated audio, Perform mode $0.35 an hour, and Listen mode is free. Generated lines replay free. Best for: actors who rehearse in bursts and would rather pay per use.

ScenePartner

ScenePartner reads the other parts with AI voices and listens for your cue. Friends can record their lines too. It takes a PDF of your sides and can import only the pages you choose. For memorizing, you can hide your lines, fade them, or show only first letters.

It records self-tapes with a teleprompter, and its iOS app added rear-camera recording and an eyeline guide in version 1.9. It runs on the web, on a laptop, tablet, or phone, and as an iOS app.

How you pay: ScenePartner counts auditions. On its pricing page, Free covers 3 auditions with scripts up to 10 pages, 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. In the App Store the same plans cost more: Plus $19.99 a month and Pro $44.99. Best for: actors who can count their auditions a month in advance and buy on the website.

Rafy

Rafy runs on iOS (including iPad and Apple silicon Macs), on Android in early access, and on the web. Upload a PDF or a photo and Rafy keeps the dialogue, ignoring watermarks and stage directions, and you give each character a voice. It listens before it gives the next line, or moves on with manual timers. If you record a line yourself, the reader copies your pace and delivery. A scene can be up to 7 PDF pages.

For the tape, it records in HD or 4K with a teleprompter that follows you, adds slates, and shares with a password.

How you pay: Rafy counts scenes in tokens. Basic is $9.99 a month for 10 tokens, Plus $14.99 for 20, and Premium $24.99 for 50, or $99, $149, and $249 a year. One token is one scene, with unlimited takes. The website shows no free tier. Best for: self-tapers who know how many scenes they’ll shoot each month.

Credits, Auditions, Tokens, or a Monthly Plan

Every one of these apps meters something, and the meter decides your real price more than the headline number does. Here’s what each one counts.

ActOnCue meters time and audio. Generated AI voice audio costs $0.19 a minute, and Perform mode, where the reader listens and advances, costs $0.35 an hour. At that rate, ten hours of Perform comes to $3.50, before any new AI audio. Advanced imports are about $0.01 a page and coach chat $0.01 a message. Listen mode and your own recordings cost nothing, and generated lines replay free, so running a scene you’ve already voiced doesn’t pay for its voices again. Leftover credit rolls over, capped at $30.

ScenePartner meters auditions. Free gives you 3, Plus 10 a month, and Pro 100 a month. Pages are capped too: scripts up to 10 pages on Free and 150 on Pro. Count last month’s auditions before you choose. And check where you buy, because Plus is $12.99 a month on the website and $19.99 in the App Store.

Rafy meters scenes. One token is one scene, with unlimited takes, and each scene can be up to 7 PDF pages. A two-scene audition uses two tokens.

Offbook meters generated audio, not scripts. Paid plans have no monthly cap on the number of scripts. What has an allowance is generated voice audio: 50,000 characters a month on Starter, 100,000 on Pro, and 200,000 on Premium. One scene holds up to 50 pages or about 10,000 words.

Taking Your Turn: Listening, Timers, and Taps

Timing decides whether an app feels like a partner or a tape. Answer too soon and you rush your line; wait too long and you stop acting and start waiting.

ActOnCue’s Perform mode listens for when you finish and answers with the next line; Listen mode reads straight through with no speech recognition. ScenePartner listens for your cue. Rafy listens before it gives the next line, or you can set manual timers instead.

Offbook listens while you say your line and plays the next cue when it detects you’ve finished. You choose how strict it is: Strict for word-perfect work, Lenient (with a slider) while you’re still finding the words, or Manual when you want a long pause and then Enter. It can also move on after 1 to 6 seconds of silence, so you don’t have to press anything when you finish.

Memorization Tools That Make You Recall

The useful tools make you pull the line out of memory instead of reading it again. Henry Roediger and Jeffrey Karpicke showed why in a study summarized by the APS. Students who tested themselves read the passages about 3.4 times and recalled 61% a week later. Students who kept rereading read them about 14.2 times and recalled 40%, and they felt more confident about it.

So hidden lines and first letters beat staring at the page. ActOnCue has first-letter hints and hidden lines, and its reader pauses for you to say your line. ScenePartner hides lines, fades them, or shows first letters. Offbook hides your lines or the whole script, and its first-letter cues show the first 1-8 letters of each word or only the first word of each line. You can try first-letter cues on any text with our free first-letter memorizer.

And say the lines, don’t mouth them. A University of Waterloo study of 95 people compared reading silently, hearing someone else read, hearing a recording of yourself, and reading aloud in real time. Reading aloud yourself was remembered best. The voices give you the cues; the learning happens when your own voice answers them.

Self-Tapes and Devices

ActOnCue records self-tapes on the phone or in the browser, with a teleprompter that follows your voice. ScenePartner records with a teleprompter, and its iOS app can use the rear camera, with an eyeline guide. Rafy records in HD or 4K, adds slates, and shares with a password. For the whole setup, see how to self-tape alone.

On devices, ActOnCue runs on the web, iPhone, and iPad. ScenePartner runs in a browser on a laptop, tablet, or phone, and as an iOS app. Rafy runs on iOS, the web, and Android in early access. With Offbook, rehearse on your laptop with the full script on a big screen, and listen to your scenes on your phone anywhere.

What Your Situation Calls For

• You get new sides most weeks: Offbook, whose paid plans have no monthly cap on the number of scripts.
• You’re learning a full-length play: Offbook, where the page picker splits up to 150 pages into 10 scenes.
• You want to set how closely the reader holds you to the script: Offbook, with Strict, Lenient (with a 0-100 slider), or Manual matching.
• Your castmates should run the same scene: Offbook shares a scene by email invitation on every paid plan, or by public link on Pro and Premium.
• You want to ask about the character, not just drill: Offbook’s Genie answers questions about motivation, scene context, and line interpretation.
• You want to try before you pay: Offbook’s free run lines online tool and first-letter memorizer need no account, and new customers start with a 7-day free trial.

Want to try it before any app? Run the classic scenes in our free run lines online tool, which reads the other part and waits for your line, or browse our library of public-domain plays and the monologue collection for material. If you’re weighing a switch, our ActOnCue comparison and ScenePartner comparison go into more detail, and how much line learning apps cost sets more plans side by side.

Get More Out of Any Plan

Whatever you pay, the schedule of your runs decides how much sticks.

• Spread your runs out. A 2013 review of ten learning techniques by John Dunlosky and colleagues rated practice testing and spacing practice over time the most useful, and rereading and highlighting among the least.
• Hide your lines from the first day you know roughly what happens in the scene. Testing yourself, not rereading, is the practice that makes it stick.
• Say every line out loud, at the volume and energy you’ll use on tape.
• Write the character’s intention next to each speech before you drill it, so you’re learning what the line does, not just how it sounds.
• Do your last run standing, moving through the space as you will when you film.

Questions Actors Ask

Is ActOnCue or ScenePartner better?

For most actors, Offbook: realistic voices read every other role, it listens and cues the next line when you finish yours, and its paid plans have no monthly cap on the number of scripts. Between the two, ActOnCue charges by use from prepaid credit and runs on the web, iPhone, and iPad. ScenePartner counts auditions a month and runs on the web and iOS.

How does ActOnCue pricing work?

You pay from credit. The free tier includes $1 of credit for testing; Monthly is $10 with $15 of usage, Annual $99 with $180, and a one-time top-up is $20. AI voices cost $0.19 per minute of generated audio and Perform mode $0.35 an hour; Listen mode and your own recordings are free. Credit rolls over, capped at $30. Its pricing FAQ says there’s no student discount at the moment.

How many auditions does ScenePartner give you?

On its website, Free covers 3 auditions with scripts up to 10 pages, Plus gives 10 auditions a month for $12.99, and Pro gives 100 a month for $29.99 with scripts up to 150 pages. In the App Store, Plus is $19.99 a month and Pro $44.99.

Which AI line reader is cheapest?

It depends on what you’d be metered on, so start with Offbook’s free options: the run lines online tool and the first-letter memorizer need no account, free accounts can practice scenes shared with them, and new customers start with a 7-day free trial. After that, Starter is $9.99 a month, or from $7.99 a month billed annually, with no monthly cap on the number of scripts.

Can I rehearse with Offbook on my phone?

You rehearse out loud with cues in a laptop or desktop browser, on Mac or Windows. On your phone you can upload a script and listen to your scenes, with your own lines spoken, skipped, or left as silent gaps, and playback keeps going with the screen locked. The iPhone app is coming soon.

The Verdict

Our pick for most actors is Offbook. Its paid plans have no monthly cap on the number of scripts, so a week of new sides never runs into a script count or an audition limit. Realistic voices read every role but yours, and you set how closely it holds you to the script, with Strict, Lenient, or Manual matching. And it takes the whole script, from two pages of sides to a full-length play split into scenes.

Between the other apps compared here, the split is the meter. ActOnCue charges by use from prepaid credit, per minute of AI audio and per hour of Perform. ScenePartner counts auditions, with 3 free, and costs more in the App Store than on its website. Rafy counts scenes in tokens. For the wider field, see our best AI scene partner apps guide.

Offbook is made by the team behind this blog. Prices as of November 2026.