ElevenLabs

ElevenLabs is an AI voice platform. It turns text into realistic speech, transcribes audio, creates sound effects, supports voice cloning and dubbing, and offers voice agents for conversational apps. You can use it in a web studio or through an API. Everything runs on a shared credit system.

Quick facts

• Made by: ElevenLabs (founded 2022)
• Free plan: Yes, with a monthly credit allowance for testing, personal use only
• Paid plans: Starter, Creator, Pro, Scale and Business, plus Enterprise
• Works on: Web, iOS and Android, with an API for developers
• Pricing last checked: October 2026, using several recent published sources. Some figures differ between sources, noted below, so confirm on the official pricing page.

What ElevenLabs is best at

• Narration and voiceovers: natural-sounding speech for videos, courses and audiobooks.
• Localisation: dub content into other languages.
• Voice cloning: create a voice from a recording, where you have the rights.
• Voice agents: conversational voice for apps and support tools.
• Sound effects and voice design: generate effects and new voices from a description.

How credits work

ElevenLabs bills in credits rather than minutes or words. Credits are shared across text to speech, speech to text, sound effects and voice design, and different models use credits at different rates. Published estimates put the free allowance at roughly 10 minutes of speech a month, so plan around credits, not clock time. When you exceed your plan, extra usage is charged at an overage rate that is lower on higher plans. Unused credits do not roll over on the free plan.

Plans and pricing

Annual billing is reported to save about 17%, or roughly two free months. Sources disagreed on the exact Starter price, the Creator, Pro and Scale credit allowances and the Scale price, which is why ranges are shown. Please confirm the current numbers on the official pricing page before buying.

Best for

• Creators and agencies that need voiceovers regularly.
• Teams localising video content into several languages.
• Developers building voice features into products.

Less suited to

• Anyone who needs predictable per-minute costs, since credit use varies by model.
• Commercial projects on the Free plan, which has no commercial licence.

How to get started

1. Create an account on the ElevenLabs website and use the Free plan to listen to a few voices.
2. Paste a short paragraph from your real material and compare several voices.
3. Use punctuation and short sentences to control pacing and emphasis.
4. Move to Starter or above before using audio commercially.
5. If you clone a voice, only use a voice you have clear permission to use.

Prompt ideas to copy

Read this script in a warm, calm, conversational tone at a steady pace: [paste script]

Create a sound effect: [describe sound, for example "heavy wooden door creaking open in a stone hall"], about [number] seconds long.

Design a voice: [age range], [accent], [tone, for example friendly and confident], suitable for [use case, for example product demo videos].

Limitations and things to watch

• Credit use varies by model, so costs can surprise you in busy months.
• Cloning a voice without permission can be illegal and unethical.
• Always listen to the full output, as AI voices can mispronounce names and technical terms.

Frequently asked questions

Is ElevenLabs free?

Yes, with limits. The Free plan gives 10,000 credits per month for testing and personal use only. It has no commercial licence, and output must credit ElevenLabs.

How do ElevenLabs credits work?

ElevenLabs bills in credits rather than minutes or words. Credits are shared across text to speech, speech to text, sound effects and voice design, and different models use them at different rates.

Can I use ElevenLabs audio commercially?

Not on the Free plan. Starter and above add a commercial licence. Check the current terms before publishing.

Can I clone a voice with ElevenLabs?

Yes. Starter adds instant voice cloning and Creator adds professional voice cloning. Only clone a voice you have clear permission to use.

Why do sources show different ElevenLabs prices?

Published sources disagreed on some prices and credit allowances, so ranges are shown. Confirm the current numbers on the official pricing page before buying.

Alternatives

For video, see Runway. For music, see Suno.