Best Apps to Prepare for a TV or Film Audition

The email comes in at 6 p.m.: three scenes for a guest role on a network drama, tape due Thursday. You open the PDF on your phone in the kitchen. Seven pages, nobody to read with, and a day job tomorrow.

Here is the short version. The right app for on-camera work is the one that gets you from a PDF to a first run in minutes, gives you a reader for the tape, makes you recall the lines instead of rereading them, and copes when the pages change before the callback. The tools fall into three kinds: apps where you record the other lines yourself, AI readers, and live human readers. Each one below is judged on the same five questions. Our pick is Offbook, which reads your sides the night they arrive and reads for your tape.

What a TV or Film Audition Asks of You

Start with the clock. On union projects, SAG-AFTRA’s 2023 TV/Theatrical terms say self-tape sides should reach you at least 48 hours before the deadline, not counting weekends and holidays, and that timeline may not apply when casting has to replace someone urgently. Forty-eight hours is a floor, not a promise of more.

In the UK, an Equity and Casting Directors’ Guild code says casting should aim for a four-day minimum turnaround with no more than six pages to learn.

Then the pages. Under the same SAG-AFTRA terms, a first-round self-tape can run up to eight pages and a callback up to twelve, as Backstage explains. To actors who say they only got the sides last night, casting director Marci Liroff’s answer is “So did everyone else.”

Then the reader. A self-tape needs someone to say the other lines, and finding that person at short notice is the hard part. Casting Networks’ advice for tapes on short notice is to keep a few friends you can call as an emergency reader, and if nobody can come over, have someone read over a video call from out of frame.

Last, the pages change. Acting coach Matt Newton reminds actors heading to a callback that scripts get revised, so check you have the current version. Your tool has to handle that without starting over. For the rest of the callback, see our guide on how to prepare for a callback.

How We Judged Each App

Facts about every app come from its own website, help pages, or US App Store listing, checked in October 2026. Each one is held to the same five questions, and where an app’s own pages don’t say how it handles one, we say so rather than guess.

1. How fast from PDF to first run? Sides arrive as a PDF. An app that reads the file and splits it into characters gets you rehearsing in minutes; one where you type or record every line first costs you an evening.
2. Who reads for you? Nobody, your own recordings, AI voices, or a live person, and whether the reader waits for you to finish or runs on a timer.
3. Does it get you off the page? Hiding your lines or showing only first letters makes you recall the words, which is what holds up when the camera rolls.
4. Can it handle new pages? Revised sides, or another part to read at the callback. Re-importing or editing has to be quick.
5. Where does it run, and what does it cost? Phone, computer, or both; one-time, monthly, or per scene.

Audition Apps at a Glance

The table follows the order of the reviews below: our pick first, then each group in alphabetical order.

Our Pick: Offbook

Offbook comes first because it covers both halves of the job: learning the sides fast and reading for the tape.

Offbook

This one works in a laptop or desktop browser, Mac or Windows. Upload the sides as a PDF, photos of the pages, or a text file, and it splits them into roles and lines. Pick your part and realistic voices read every other character. It listens through the microphone and plays the next cue when you finish your line, with Strict, Lenient, and Manual line-detection modes.

For learning fast, you can hide your lines while everyone else’s stay visible, switch your lines to first-letter cues, or hide the whole script for a final test. When revised pages come in, edit the dialogue in the scene, reassign a line, or upload the new pages. On tape day, the laptop sits beside the lens as your reader while your phone or camera records the tape.

Price: Starter is $9.99 a month, or from $7.99 a month billed annually, after a 7-day free trial (a card is required). Best for: learning the sides and taping them with the same reader, on a short turnaround.

Apps Where You Record the Other Lines

In these apps you record the other characters yourself. They work well once the recordings exist. On a 48-hour turnaround, making those recordings is the cost, and when the pages change, the changed lines need recording again.

coldRead

coldRead runs on iPhone, iPad, and Apple silicon Macs, with an Apple Watch remote. You add the scene by typing or dictation (there is no PDF import), then record every line in your own voice or import a friend’s audio. When you say the last word of your line, it plays the next one. It records a video self-tape with a self-timer and needs no internet or sign-up.

Price: free for scripts up to 8 lines; unlimited is $10.99 for 1 month or $83.99 for a year. Best for: short sides and actors who want everything on the phone and off the network.

LineLearner

LineLearner runs on iPhone, iPad, and Apple silicon Macs, with a paid Android version. You record every line yourself, including the other characters, and can shift the pitch per character so the voices sound different. Turn your part off and it leaves gaps for you to fill. A PDF or Word file loads for reference while you record, but it does not create the lines. There are no computer voices (the developer left them out on purpose) and no speech recognition.

Price: $3.99 one-time on iOS, or a free lite version for up to 10 lines. Best for: actors who like hearing their own read of every line and have an evening to record.

Rehearsal Pro

Rehearsal Pro runs on iPhone, iPad, Apple silicon Macs, and Apple Vision Pro, with no Android or web version. It imports PDF and Word files or photos of printed pages, so the pages are in the app to mark up. You highlight your lines, add bookmarks, and record your lines and your partners’. Playback scrolls the script like a teleprompter, a blackout mode hides lines until you reveal them, and auto-repeat runs a section again. It works offline.

Price: $19.99 one-time. Best for: working actors who mark up sides heavily and also email voice-over auditions as MP3s.

AI Readers

These apps read the other characters with AI voices, so the reader exists the moment the sides are loaded.

Rafy

Rafy runs on iOS, Android, and the web. Upload a PDF or a photo of the sides, give each character an AI voice, and it listens before it gives the next line. It records in HD or 4K with a teleprompter that follows you, adds slates, and shares tapes with a password. A scene can use up to 7 PDF pages.

Price: plans use tokens, one per scene with unlimited takes; Basic is $9.99 a month for 10. Best for: a handful of short scenes a month, taped and slated on one phone.

ScenePartner

ScenePartner runs on the web and iOS. AI voices read the other lines and it listens for your cue, and friends can record lines too. Hide, fade, and first-letter modes help you learn, and it records your tape with a teleprompter.

Price: 3 auditions free with scripts up to 10 pages and no card; Plus is $12.99 a month on the web and $19.99 a month in the iOS app. Best for: a few auditions a month, learned and taped on an iPhone.

A Live Human Reader

WeAudition

WeAudition connects you with live human readers over its own video chat, in a computer browser or on iPhone and iPad. You book an available reader. Sessions run 15, 30, or 60 minutes, and it records your camera with only the reader’s audio. Its ScriptScroll teleprompter follows your voice.

Price: Pro is $14.99 a month or $149 a year, and each reader sets their own fee. Best for: the final tape, when you want a human reacting to you.

A 48-Hour Plan, Whatever You Use

The app matters less than the order you do things in. Here is a plan that fits the union minimum.

1. Hour one: read, don’t learn. Read the full sides twice, out loud once. Our guide to breaking down audition sides has the questions to ask.
2. Same evening: get a reader running. Load the sides into whatever you chose and run the scene with the text visible, three or four times.
3. Before bed: first test. Hide your lines, or switch to first letters with our free first-letter memorizer, and run it once from the cues. Mark the gaps.
4. Day two: fix the gaps, then play. Drill only the lines you missed. Then run it for the choices.
5. Tape day: one warm run, then shoot. Set the reader beside the lens; a casting panel recapped by SAG-AFTRA advises keeping your eyeline close to the camera with the reader at camera level.

If the deadline is truly impossible, Casting Networks suggests asking your agent about an extension. And log the audition with the free audition tracker, so you know what you sent and when. For the camera, light, and sound side, see how to self-tape alone.

Which App Suits You

• You want to learn the lines fast and keep your best camera for the tape: Offbook reads every other part, listens for you, and stays beside the lens while your phone or camera films.
• You mark up sides like a working script: Rehearsal Pro imports the PDF, keeps your highlights and notes, and works offline, for a one-time price.
• You tape everything on one phone: Rafy and ScenePartner read, prompt, and record in the same app.
• You want a person for the take: WeAudition puts a live reader on video chat; you book an available reader.

Comparing self-tape tools in more depth? See the best self-tape apps and readers.

Questions Actors Ask

What tools can I use to memorize a script for a TV audition?

Anything that makes you say the lines from memory with the cues coming at you: an app with a reader, a friend on a video call, or a voice memo of the other parts with gaps for yours. The faster the tool turns a PDF into a scene you can run, the more of your 48 hours goes to acting. For technique, see how to memorize lines for film and TV.

Do I have to be off-book for a TV self-tape?

On projects under SAG-AFTRA’s 2023 TV/Theatrical terms, you can’t be required to memorize sides for a self-tape; you may hold them or read from a prompter. Learn as much as the window allows and keep the pages near the lens as a net.

What software do actors use to prepare for callbacks?

The same tools as the first round, with one addition: check you have the current pages. Callbacks can bring revised sides, a request to try it a different way, or even another part to read, so pick a tool where loading or editing new pages takes minutes. A self-taped callback under the union terms can run up to twelve pages.

Is there a free app to prepare for a self-tape?

Yes. Every Offbook plan starts with a 7-day free trial, and our free line memorizer turns your sides into first-letter cues with no account. Students and educators get 50% off Offbook with a .edu email. For very short sides, coldRead is free up to 8 lines, LineLearner lite up to 10, and ScenePartner gives 3 auditions free. You record the other lines yourself in the first two.

The Verdict

Our pick is Offbook. On a 48-hour turnaround, the best app reads your PDF straight away, gives you a reader that waits for you, makes you recall, and copes with new pages, and Offbook does all four.

• No recording session first. Upload the sides as a PDF or photos and realistic voices read every other part, with no evening of recording first.
• It makes you learn, then it reads for the tape. Hide your lines or drop to first-letter cues as the scene goes in, and the reader that taught you the lines is the one beside the lens on tape day.
• Revised pages are a quick edit. Change the dialogue or reassign a line in the scene instead of re-recording.

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