Lisen: Read Web Articles Aloud in Chrome

Lisen is a Chrome read-aloud extension for people who want to listen to an article while keeping their place on the page. It uses a voice from your own Cartesia account, so you need a Cartesia API key before it can speak.

What is Lisen, in plain English?

Think of Lisen as a small audio player that sits on the article you are reading. Click the extension icon on a page with visible text, and it can turn that text into spoken audio through Cartesia. As playback advances, it tints the current passage and marks the word being spoken. This suits long articles, newsletters, blog posts, and documentation when you would rather listen, or listen and read along, in desktop Chrome. It is an extension for reading pages, not a separate Cartesia voice subscription or a general screen reader.

How to read one article aloud

First, install Lisen from its Chrome Web Store listing and have a Cartesia account and API key ready. Paste the key into Lisen's player once. Open an article, click the extension icon, select a voice from your Cartesia library, then press play. The audible speech and on-page highlight tell you that playback has started; you can change the voice or speed in the player. Lisen only opens on pages where you click its icon. If an article is partially hidden or its main text is not extracted correctly, inspect the highlighted passage instead of assuming the whole page was read.

Choose immediate playback or a seekable recording

Streaming starts speaking as soon as you press play, which is useful when you simply want to listen now. Ahead-of-time mode makes the whole article audio first. After that, the player shows a measured total duration and a bar you can scrub to revisit a passage. The duration is based on generated audio, not a reading-speed guess. The player can use voices already available in your Cartesia library, including voices you cloned or designed there if your account permits them. You can also download article audio as a WAV file. It carries word timing metadata so Lisen can restore read-along timing when opened again; do not assume an MP3 export is available.

Cost, supported pages, and rights

The Lisen extension has no subscription or Lisen account. Speech generation uses your own Cartesia plan, which has a free tier and plan-specific credits. Check Cartesia's current pricing and limits before a long listening session; the free extension does not mean unlimited free speech. Lisen reads text shown on supported web pages, including an article visible behind a paywall you can access. Chrome blocks extensions in its built-in PDF viewer, on Chrome's own pages, and in the Web Store. Other browsers are not officially supported yet. Article extraction, speech, and word timing can be incomplete or wrong. Use only content you have the right to process; the Lisen terms permit personal or internal use of the extension.

What happens to your text and API key?

Your key and preferences stay in Chrome extension storage on your device, but that storage is not encrypted at rest. Someone with access to your Chrome profile could read the key, so handle it like a saved password. When you press play, Lisen sends the article text and your key to Cartesia to generate speech. It does not send text before play or from pages where you did not open the player. The developer says Lisen has no server, analytics, or telemetry; Cartesia handles submitted text under its own policy. Read the full Lisen privacy policy before using sensitive material.

Common questions

Is Lisen completely free?

The extension is free, but the audio is generated under your Cartesia account. Its free tier has limits; paid usage and available features depend on your Cartesia plan.

Can Lisen read a PDF or any page?

It can read visible article text on supported web pages. It cannot run inside Chrome's built-in PDF viewer, Chrome internal pages, or the Web Store, and extraction may fail on some page layouts.

Does Lisen keep my article private and my key encrypted?

The developer says there is no Lisen server and no analytics. Pressing play sends the page text and key to Cartesia, while Chrome's local extension storage is not encrypted at rest.

Can I save the narration?

Yes. Lisen offers a WAV download with word timing metadata. Check your rights to the source article before saving or reusing audio.

Official resources

• Chrome Web Store listing — install the exact extension and find its support route.
• Lisen privacy policy — check key storage and text transfer.
• Cartesia pricing — verify the current speech allowance and plan conditions.