SoundUpAdd to Chrome
Free Chrome extension for Cartesia voices

Speechify, for Cartesia users.

A free Chrome extension that reads any article aloud with the Cartesia voices you already pay for. Everything you would expect from Speechify or ElevenReader, without a subscription on top.

No account. No SoundUp server. Your key stays on your device.

example.com/essays/tide-time

Three steps, then it is just a button.

No account to create and no settings page. The whole setup is one paste.

  1. 1

    Paste your Cartesia key

    Once. It stays in Chrome's extension storage on your device.

  2. 2

    Click the icon on an article

    A small player appears over the page. Nothing runs anywhere you did not click.

  3. 3

    Press play

    The passage being read is tinted, the spoken word is marked. Look away and come back.

Everything a reader should do.

The parts of Speechify you would actually miss, and a few it never had.

What it costs.

SoundUp has no subscription and no account. The speech itself is billed by Cartesia, on whatever plan you already have with them.

The extension
Free from the Chrome Web Store. Nothing to subscribe to and nothing to sign up for.
The speech
Generated with your Cartesia API key and billed by Cartesia on your plan, which starts with a free tier. See Cartesia’s pricing.

Questions.

The short answers. The long ones are on the privacy page.

Do I need a Cartesia account?
Yes. SoundUp speaks through Cartesia, so you need an account there and an API key from it. You paste the key into the player once.
What does it cost?
SoundUp is free. Speech is billed by Cartesia on whatever plan you have with them, which starts with a free tier. See Cartesia’s pricing. There is no SoundUp subscription and no account to create.
Which voices can I use?
Every voice in your Cartesia library, including voices you have cloned or designed there. The player lists them; pick one and change it whenever you like.
Is my API key safe?
It is kept in Chrome's extension storage on your device and sent only to Cartesia, as the credential for requests you start. Chrome does not encrypt that storage at rest, so treat the key like a saved password. Removing the extension deletes it.
Does it work on PDFs and paywalled pages?
It reads whatever the page shows you, so an article you can see behind a paywall you can also hear. Chrome does not let extensions run in its built-in PDF viewer, on its own pages, or on the Web Store; the icon shows a badge there.
What does SoundUp collect?
Nothing. No analytics, no telemetry, no crash reports, no server of its own. The only network traffic is to Cartesia, with your key, when you press play. Details on the privacy page.
Which browsers?
Chrome, from the Chrome Web Store. Other browsers are not supported yet.

Your voices. Any article. Free.

Paste a Cartesia key once, then press play on anything you would rather hear than read.