Best Alternatives to Lisen in 2025

Natural Reader is a versatile text-to-speech tool that supports a wide range of file formats, including PDF, Word, and web pages. It offers a free tier with basic voices and a premium tier with high-quality natural voices. Unlike Lisen, Natural Reader doesn't require a Cartesia subscription, making it a standalone solution. It also includes OCR technology to read scanned documents, which Lisen lacks.

Speechify is a popular text-to-speech app that integrates with Chrome, iOS, and Android. It offers high-quality voices, including celebrity voices, and allows you to adjust reading speed. Speechify has a free tier with limited features and a premium subscription. While it doesn't integrate with Cartesia, it provides a seamless cross-device experience and can read text from images and PDFs.

Read Aloud is a free Chrome extension that reads web pages aloud using text-to-speech technology. It supports multiple languages and voices, and it's completely free with no premium tiers. However, it relies on your browser's built-in TTS voices, which may not be as natural as Cartesia voices. If you're looking for a simple, no-cost solution without the need for a Cartesia subscription, Read Aloud is a solid alternative.

Voice Dream Reader is a powerful text-to-speech app for iOS and Android that supports a wide range of document types and offers high-quality voices. It's a paid app with a one-time purchase, but it includes many features like highlighting, note-taking, and customizable pronunciation. Unlike Lisen, it's not a Chrome extension, but it's ideal for mobile users who want a comprehensive reading tool.

Microsoft Immersive Reader is a free tool built into many Microsoft products, including Edge, Word, and OneNote. It reads text aloud with natural-sounding voices and offers additional features like text spacing, syllable splitting, and part-of-speech highlighting. It's a great alternative if you're already in the Microsoft ecosystem and want a free, integrated solution without needing Cartesia.

Amazon Polly is a cloud-based text-to-speech service that offers a wide range of lifelike voices in multiple languages. It's not a browser extension but can be integrated into applications via API. If you're a developer or need a customizable TTS solution, Polly is a powerful alternative. However, it requires an AWS account and may incur costs based on usage, unlike Lisen's free model for Cartesia users.

Balabolka is a free, open-source text-to-speech program for Windows. It supports multiple file formats, can save audio to WAV or MP3, and allows you to customize voice parameters. It uses the voices installed on your system, so you can use Cartesia voices if they are available as SAPI voices. Balabolka is a robust desktop alternative for those who prefer offline reading and don't mind a less polished interface.