Audio & voiceDocumented overviewLast checked Sep 30, 2026
ElevenLabs turns text into lifelike speech in 90+ languages (Eleven v4), clones voices, transcribes audio, dubs video, and generates music and sound effects from one shared credit pool.
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(open full size in a new tab)Our take: Start on the Free plan to test voices, move to Starter ($6/mo) for commercial use and instant cloning, and to Creator ($22/mo) if you need a Professional Voice Clone.
Main limitation: Everything draws from one monthly credit pool with per-product costs that differ widely (1 credit per TTS character vs 900 per music minute), so budgets need planning.
Start on the Free plan to test voices, move to Starter ($6/mo) for commercial use and instant cloning, and to Creator ($22/mo) if you need a Professional Voice Clone. Based on the vendor's documentation, not on a hands-on test.
Also a good fit for
Or if
| Scenario | Fit | Why | Plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Testing AI voices for a hobby project | Good fit | Free plan includes 10k credits/month with TTS, STT, sound effects and voice design, non-commercial use only. | Free |
| YouTube voiceovers sold or monetized | Good fit | Starter adds a commercial license and instant voice cloning for $6/month. | Starter |
| Cloning your own voice for an audiobook | Fits with conditions | Professional Voice Cloning needs Creator or above, 30 min to 3 h of clean audio and voice verification. | Creator |
| Real-time voice agent for customer support | Good fit | ElevenAgents plans include call minutes and concurrency; Free covers 15 minutes and 4 concurrent calls. | ElevenAgents Free to Business |
| Healthcare or banking data with strict retention | Fits with conditions | Zero Retention Mode and BAAs are Enterprise-only and API-only. | Enterprise |
Headlines from US outlets, selected automatically — not endorsements. Updated Oct 12, 2026
Prices checked Sep 30, 2026 on the official US pricing page. Official pricing ↗ Prices and limits change often.
Free plan with 10k credits/month (about 10 TTS minutes), non-commercial only; voice library not available via API on free tier.
No separate trial documented; Creator first month 50% off; Startup Grants Program offers 12 months free / 33M characters for eligible startups.
Free source (opens in a new tab)
Month
For: Trying voices before paying
Limits
Includes
API included
$6/mo source (opens in a new tab)
Month
Yearly billing = 10 x monthly ($5/mo equivalent)
For: Individual creators needing commercial rights
Limits
Includes
API included
$22/mo source (opens in a new tab)
Month
Yearly billing $18.33/mo equivalent; first month 50% off ($11) on monthly
For: Creators cloning their own voice
Limits
Includes
API included
$99/mo source (opens in a new tab)
Month
Yearly billing $82.50/mo equivalent
For: High-volume solo producers
Limits
Includes
API included
$299/mo per team source (opens in a new tab)
Month
Yearly billing $249.17/mo equivalent
For: Small teams sharing a workspace
Limits
Includes
API included
$990/mo per team source (opens in a new tab)
Month
Yearly billing $825/mo equivalent
For: Businesses with steady production volume
Limits
Includes
API included
Custom pricing source (opens in a new tab)
For: Regulated or large organizations
Limits
Includes
API included
Free source (opens in a new tab)
Month
For: Prototyping a voice agent
Limits
Includes
API included
$6/mo source (opens in a new tab)
Month
Same tiers as Creative: $6, $22, $99, $299, $990; yearly billing available
For: Deploying agents at growing call volume
Limits
Includes
API included
$0.08 per 1K characters source (opens in a new tab)
Usage
For: Developers who want metered API billing
Limits
Includes
API included
Usage-based source (opens in a new tab)
Usage
For: Transcription, dubbing and audio processing via API
Limits
Includes
API included
Pay-as-you-go top-ups from $5 (USD/INR) extend any self-serve plan; UI rates higher than API rates; extra TTS minute $0.36 on Free down to $0.17 on Pro+.
Prices exclude all taxes, levies and duties.
ElevenLabs is an AI audio platform: text-to-speech with expressive models (Eleven v4, v3, Multilingual v2, Flash v2.5), instant and professional voice cloning, speech-to-text (Scribe), dubbing, music and sound effects, plus a conversational agents product and a developer API with SDKs, CLI and MCP server.
You provide
You get back
Scenarios are worked out by our editors from the documentation; the actual result depends on your input and plan.
Generates expressive speech with audio tags across 90+ languages; Turbo variant ~100 ms latency Higher voice accuracy and fluent cross-language output from one voice
Creates a voice model from short samples or hours of training audio Consistent branded narration without re-recording
Transcribes audio in 90+ languages with keyterm prompting, realtime and medical variants Transcripts and subtitles from the same credit pool
Translates audio/video with speaker detection (v1, 29 languages) or end-to-end voice preservation (v2, 92 languages) Localize content quickly
Builds conversational voice agents with workflow builder, knowledge base, MCP tools and telephony via Twilio Customer support and inbound calls automation
Shared billing, resources, API keys, SSO/SCIM, audit logs, data residency (US, EU, India, Singapore) Team governance
[calm, measured narration] Welcome to episode twelve. Today we look at how small studios ship faster. [short pause] Let's begin.
| Integration | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Twilio (voice and SMS) | Native | Phone numbers and SMS for agents source (opens in a new tab) |
| HubSpot, Salesforce, Freshdesk, Genesys | Native | Agent CRM/contact-center integrations source (opens in a new tab) |
| Slack, Telegram | Native | Text channels for agents source (opens in a new tab) |
| Google Calendar, Google Drive, Cal.com, Calendly | Native | Scheduling and knowledge base sync source (opens in a new tab) |
| MCP server | Native | Hosted MCP at elevenlabs.io/_mcp/server for Claude Code, Cursor and other clients source (opens in a new tab) |
Export: MP3, PCM/WAV, mu-law, A-law, Opus, MP4/MOV (dubbing)
An API is available, included in the plan. API uses the same credits as the app; PAYG rates are lower for API than UI. Python and JS SDKs, CLI. API documentation ↗
Summarized from the vendor's current policies; this is not legal advice and a vendor's badge is not an independent audit.
Input includes voice recordings and text; ElevenLabs may moderate inputs and outputs for safety and fraud prevention.
Privacy Policy says personal data including audio and text may be used to research, develop and train AI models; Terms grant a perpetual, irrevocable license to Content and User Voice Models to provide and improve services.
Data retained as long as needed for the purpose; Enterprise Zero Retention Mode (API only, enable_logging=false) prevents storage of TTS/STT/agent inputs and outputs.
Free users: non-commercial only; paid subscribers may use output commercially subject to the Prohibited Use Policy.
Zero Retention Mode, BAAs (HIPAA) and data residency options are Enterprise features.
Policies: elevenlabs.io/privacy elevenlabs.io/terms elevenlabs.io/docs/eleven-api/resources/zero-retention-mode elevenlabs.io/docs/overview/administration/data-residency
"Better suited" is based on documented features and pricing, not on a head-to-head test.
| Alternative | When to choose it | Pricing | Limitation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Udio | Music is the main output | See Udio catalog entry source (opens in a new tab) | No text-to-speech or voice cloning | Compare |
| Canva | You already edit video in Canva | See Canva catalog entry source (opens in a new tab) | Far fewer voice controls and no professional cloning | |
| invideo | You want script-to-video, not standalone audio | See InVideo catalog entry source (opens in a new tab) | Audio is a component, not the product | |
| ChatGPT | You need voice chat, not exportable voiceovers | See ChatGPT catalog entry source (opens in a new tab) | No voice cloning or dubbing |
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Yes, the Free plan gives 10k credits per month (about 10 minutes of TTS), but only for non-commercial use. source (opens in a new tab)
Yes on any paid plan starting with Starter at $6/month; Free users are limited to non-commercial use. source (opens in a new tab)
Pay-as-you-go TTS is $0.08 per 1K characters for v4 and v3 ($0.04 for Turbo/Flash), with a promo of $0.022 until October 12; API usage also draws from subscription credits. source (opens in a new tab)
Professional Voice Cloning is only for your own verified voice; Instant Voice Cloning requires confirming you have rights and consent. source (opens in a new tab)
Yes on active paid plans, for up to two months (max 3x quota); not on Free and lost on downgrade or cancel. source (opens in a new tab)
Eleven v4 supports 90+ languages; older models support 29 to 70+. source (opens in a new tab)
The Privacy Policy allows using inputs to train and improve models; Enterprise customers can enable Zero Retention Mode on API traffic. source (opens in a new tab)
Official announcement (opens in a new tab)
Official announcement (opens in a new tab)
Official announcement (opens in a new tab)
Not verified: Whether Free plan output requires attribution to ElevenLabs (help center article returned 403); Standard (non-promo) credit allotments for Creator+ while the 3x credits promo runs until October 12; Exact per-request credit cap for a single generation (page says it depends on Free vs paid); Whether SSO/SCIM are available below Enterprise (pricing lists Custom SSO under Enterprise only); Desktop app availability (only web, mobile and API confirmed).
Every fact about ElevenLabs above comes from the 17 official pages listed here, last compared on Sep 30, 2026; we have not run ElevenLabs ourselves, so it has no editorial score. How we check and re-check pages.
Article updated Sep 28, 2026; prices checked Sep 30, 2026. Outbound links to vendors are plain links; we do not earn commissions. How we review · Report an error
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