ListenUp is a powerful WordPress plugin that adds text-to-speech functionality to your posts and pages. With just a few clicks, you can generate high-quality audio versions of your content using Murf.ai’s advanced AI voices.

Key Features

Easy Audio Generation: Generate audio for any post or page with a simple click
Murf.ai Integration: Uses professional AI voices for natural-sounding audio
Gen2 API Controls: Tune reusable Murf audio with locale, format, response mode, duration, timing metadata, speed, pitch and pauses
No FFmpeg Required: Ideal for hosting environments where FFmpeg is not available or restricted
Smart Caching: Audio files are cached locally to save API credits
Hands-Off Generation: Queue audio automatically when content is published and backfill recent posts on a schedule
Intelligent Chunking: Long content is automatically broken into manageable chunks
Seamless Playback: Multiple audio chunks play continuously without interruption
Leech Protection: Secure audio delivery prevents unauthorized direct file access and hotlinking
Download Control: Restrict downloads to logged-in users or disable downloads entirely
Flexible Placement: Choose where to display the audio player (before/after content)
Shortcode Support: Use [listenup] shortcode to place players anywhere
Accessibility First: WCAG-compliant audio player with keyboard navigation
Mobile Responsive: Works perfectly on all devices
Admin-Friendly: Simple settings page with clear instructions

How It Works

Setup: Enter your Murf.ai API key in the plugin settings
Generate: Use the meta box on any post/page, or enable background generation on publish
Display: Audio players appear automatically or via shortcode
Listen: Visitors can play, pause, and download audio content

Advanced Features

Content Chunking: For posts that exceed Murf.ai’s API limits, content is automatically broken into smaller chunks. Each chunk generates a separate audio file, but the frontend player seamlessly plays all chunks in sequence without interruption.

Audio Concatenation: When downloading audio content that has been chunked, the plugin automatically concatenates supported stream-friendly formats into a single file, so listeners do not have to manage separate chunks.

Bulk Cloud Migration: Upload existing local-only audio files to configured cloud storage from the Audio Library without regenerating audio. Large backlogs run in small browser-safe batches, track remaining work by post, and upload the canonical playable audio file instead of internal chunk files.

Murf Gen2 Controls: Choose URL or direct base64 responses, set single-file target durations, request word timing metadata, tune speed/pitch/variation, and use [pause 1s] tags in content or pre-roll scripts. ListenUp still caches generated files locally so audio is reused instead of regenerated on every play.

No FFmpeg Dependency: Unlike many audio plugins, ListenUp doesn’t require FFmpeg, making it perfect for shared hosting environments, managed WordPress hosts, or any situation where FFmpeg is not available or restricted.

Leech Protection: Audio files are served through a secure PHP proxy with cache-safe per-file tokens, preventing unauthorized direct access and hotlinking without embedding expiring nonces in cached article HTML. All audio is delivered via WordPress AJAX endpoints with proper HTTP range request support for smooth seeking. This server-agnostic solution works on Apache, Nginx, IIS, and any PHP-capable server without requiring special server configuration.

Perfect For

Bloggers who want to offer audio versions of their posts
Content creators looking to improve accessibility
Websites targeting mobile users who prefer audio content
Educational sites with long-form content
News sites wanting to offer audio news

Accessibility Features

Full keyboard navigation support
Screen reader compatible
High contrast mode support
Reduced motion support
Proper ARIA labels and descriptions

External Services

This plugin integrates with external services to provide text-to-speech functionality and optional cloud storage capabilities.

Murf.ai API
This plugin uses Murf.ai’s text-to-speech API to generate high-quality audio content from your post and page text.

Purpose: Generates high-quality audio from text content using professional AI voices
Data Sent: Post/page text content, selected voice ID, locale, voice style preferences, speech generation settings, response mode, optional target duration, optional word timing request, pronunciation dictionary rules (if configured)
When Sent: Only when audio generation is requested manually, queued automatically on publish, processed by the recurring backfill job, or when generating pre-roll audio through the plugin settings
Terms of Service: https://murf.ai/terms-of-service
Privacy Policy: https://murf.ai/privacy-policy

Optional Cloud Storage Services
This plugin optionally supports uploading audio files to cloud storage services (Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, Cloudflare R2) to reduce bandwidth usage on your web server. This feature is completely optional and disabled by default. No data is sent to these services unless you explicitly configure and enable cloud storage in the plugin settings.

Amazon S3: https://aws.amazon.com/service-terms/
Google Cloud Storage: https://cloud.google.com/terms/
Cloudflare R2: https://www.cloudflare.com/terms/

Support

For support, please visit the plugin’s support forum or contact the developer.

Privacy Policy

This plugin does not collect or store any personal data. Audio files are cached locally on your server. The plugin only communicates with Murf.ai’s API when audio generation is requested manually, through enabled automation, or when generating pre-roll audio from plugin settings.