ExplainIt!

Tracking since Apr 19, 2026.

Changelog

• May 25, 2026
  description

  🔍 ExplainIt! — AI-Powered Text Explanations
  
  Explain complex text in seconds. Select text on any webpage and get a clear explanation in your preferred tone and language.
  
  ✨ WHAT’S NEW IN 2.0
  
  • Multi-provider support: OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, Groq
  • Bring your own API key
  • API key status + “Test key” check before use
  • Unified inline settings (provider, key, language, tone)
  • Improved error guidance and onboarding
  • Better accessibility (keyboard navigation, focus states, reduced motion)
  
  🚀 HOW IT WORKS
  
  1) Select text on a webpage (3–2000 chars)
  2) Click the floating ExplainIt icon
  3) Read the explanation in the inline popup
  4) Copy with one click if needed
  
  🎯 EXPLANATION MODES
  
  • Simple Words — clear and concise
  • Like I’m 5 — child-friendly explanation
  • Expert Level — technical and precise
  
  🌍 LANGUAGES
  
  • English
  • Russian (Русский)
  
  🔒 PRIVACY & SECURITY
  
  • API keys are stored locally on your device
  • Provider and API keys are NOT synced across devices
  • Language and tone preferences can sync via Chrome sync
  • Selected text is sent only to your chosen AI provider to generate the explanation
  • ExplainIt does not run its own backend for text processing
  • No browsing history collection

  🔍 ExplainIt! - Plain-English explanations of anything on the web
  
  Highlight any sentence on a webpage, click once, and get a clear explanation right where you're reading - in English, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, or 8 more languages.
  
  Built for non-native English readers, students, and anyone consuming dense content (legal contracts, academic papers, news analysis, Stack Overflow, Reddit threads) without enough background to follow it word-for-word.
  
  Free to use with Groq - no credit card, no signup beyond a single API key.
  
  ---
  
  ✨ WHAT'S NEW IN 2.1
  
  • Output in 13 languages: English, Russian, Spanish, Chinese (Simplified), Hindi, Arabic, Portuguese, German, French, Japanese, Korean, Turkish, Vietnamese
  • Right-to-left rendering for Arabic
  • Free Groq tier as the default provider - no credit card required
  • Branched first-run flow with a "Get free key" CTA, so you can be explaining text in 30 seconds
  • Typed error messages — no more truncated technical errors mislabeled as "Invalid key"
  • Friendlier install permissions — provider hosts are requested only when you pick a provider, not at install time
  
  🚀 HOW IT WORKS
  
  1) Select text on any webpage (3-2000 characters)
  2) Click the floating ExplainIt bubble that appears next to your selection
  3) Read the explanation in a popup right there in context
  4) Copy with one click if needed - or switch tone / language and try again
  
  🎯 THREE EXPLANATION DEPTHS
  
  • Simple Words - clear plain English (or your chosen language) for any adult
  • Like I'm 5 - short sentences, no jargon, friendly comparisons
  • Expert - preserves technical terms and key nuance
  
  🌍 LANGUAGES (13 supported)
  
  English · Русский · Español · 中文 (简体) · हिन्दी · العربية · Português · Deutsch · Français · 日本語 · 한국어 · Türkçe · Tiếng Việt
  
  Right-to-left scripts (Arabic) render correctly out of the box.
  
  🤖 BRING-YOUR-OWN-PROVIDER
  
  • Groq (Llama 3.3 70B) - Recommended · free tier · no credit card
  • Google Gemini Flash - pay-as-you-go, roughly $0.0001 per explanation
  • OpenAI GPT-4o mini - pay-as-you-go, roughly $0.0002 per explanation
  • Anthropic Claude Haiku - pay-as-you-go, roughly $0.0003 per explanation
  
  Pick one provider. Switch any time. Pay only for what you actually use - typically cents per month for personal reading.
  
  🔒 PRIVACY
  
  • Your API key is stored locally on this device only - never synced to Google, never sent to any ExplainIt server
  • Only text you explicitly select is processed
  • Selected text is sent only to the AI provider you chose
  • No browsing history collection
  • No analytics, no telemetry, no signup, no email, no account
  • ExplainIt does not run its own backend - there is no ExplainIt server in the loop between you and your chosen provider
  
  🎓 GREAT FOR
  
  • Non-native English readers consuming English content
  • Students working through dense academic papers and textbooks
  • Professionals reading contracts, medical reports, or technical docs outside their field
  • Anyone who wants to understand a difficult sentence without losing their place on the page
  
  ---
  
  Highlight. Click. Understand.

• May 25, 2026
  short_description

  Instantly explain any selected text in your preferred language and tone

  Highlight any sentence and explain it in your own language — 13 languages. Free with Groq, no credit card.

• May 25, 2026
  category

  productivity/education

  productivity/tools

• May 25, 2026
  host_permissions

  https://api.openai.com/*, https://api.anthropic.com/*, https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/*, https://api.groq.com/*

  (empty)

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