TL;DR / Key Takeaways
- ElevenLabs covers text to speech, cloning, transcription, dubbing, music, sound effects, voice changer, isolator and agents under one plan.
- Plans run from Free ($0) to Business ($990 a month); Starter at $6 adds a commercial license and voice cloning.
- Users on Capterra and review sites mostly praise output and value; the recurring complaint is credit budgeting.
- It is a legitimate business with published terms, prices and a commercial license on paid plans.
Short answer: ElevenLabs is a legitimate and widely used AI audio platform. One plan covers text to speech, voice cloning, speech to text, dubbing, music, sound effects, a voice changer, a voice isolator and voice agents, in a web app and through an API. Plans run from Free ($0, 10,000 credits a month) to Business ($990), and Starter at $6 adds a commercial license and Instant Voice Cloning. Reviewers praise the output and value; the common complaint is budgeting credits.
How we checked: product and pricing facts come from elevenlabs.io (the pricing and API pricing pages, product pages and docs), checked on elevenlabs.io on November 1, 2026. User opinions are summarised from Capterra and independent review sites, linked below. This is a research-based review: we have not used ElevenLabs for a production project. Some links are affiliate links: if you sign up, ElevenLabs may pay us a commission at no cost to you.
What ElevenLabs does
| Product | What it does | Key facts from ElevenLabs |
|---|---|---|
| Text to speech | Speech from text in library, designed or cloned voices | Eleven v4 (90+ languages), v3 (70+), Multilingual v2 (29), Flash (32); audio tags on v3 and v4 |
| Voice cloning | A copy of your voice for text to speech | Instant from about 1 to 2 minutes of audio (Starter); Professional from 30+ minutes, own voice only (Creator) |
| Speech to text (Scribe) | Transcripts and captions from audio or video | 90+ languages, up to 32 speakers, word timestamps; API $0.22 per audio hour |
| Dubbing | Translates video into other languages in the speaker's voice | Dubbing v2 in 90+ languages; API $0.33 to $2.20 per minute |
| Music | Songs and instrumentals from prompts | Commercial use on Starter and up; API $0.15 per minute |
| Sound effects | Royalty-free effects from a text prompt | 200 credits per generation; API $0.12 per minute |
| Voice Changer | Re-voices a recording while keeping the performance | 17,000+ voices; 1,000 credits per minute |
| Voice Isolator | Removes background noise from speech | Files up to 500MB or 1 hour; 1,000 credits per minute |
| Studio | Editor for long-form projects such as audiobooks | 3 projects on Free, 20 on Starter |
| ElevenAgents | Voice agents for support, sales and phone lines | $0.08 per minute plus LLM costs via the API |
Pricing summary
| Plan | Monthly | Annual, per month | Credits a month | TTS minutes in the app |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | - | 10,000 | about 10 |
| Starter | $6 | $5 | 30,000 | about 30 |
| Creator | $22 | $18.33 | 121,000 | about 121 |
| Pro | $99 | $82.50 | 600,000 | about 600 |
| Scale | $299 | $249.17 | 1,800,000 | about 1,800 |
| Business | $990 | $825 | 6,000,000 | about 6,000 |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom | Custom |
Credits are shared across all products, roll over for up to two months on paid plans, and can be extended with Pay As You Go top-ups from $5. The API is priced separately per model: $0.08 per 1,000 characters on v4, v3 and Multilingual v2, $0.04 on Turbo and Flash. Free-plan content cannot be used commercially and must credit ElevenLabs when shared. Full detail is in our ElevenLabs pricing guide.
What users and reviewers report
On Capterra, which shows 4.8 out of 5 for both ease of use and customer service, reviewers mostly praise voice quality and value. A solopreneur wrote of "excellent value for the money" and liked starting on a low tier; another reviewer moved straight to Creator for commercial use. One wished for an image-to-video tool; ElevenLabs' plans now list image and video tools from Starter up.
Independent review sites are positive on output and cautious on cost:
- DIY AI rates voice realism and clone similarity as ElevenLabs' strongest areas, and warns it gets expensive if you regenerate heavily or produce long-form content at volume.
- Smart Remote Gigs calls it the quality benchmark in AI voice but says freelancers should budget 2 to 3 times the headline plan price once failed generations and overages are counted.
- AIUncovers names credit-based pricing that "can surprise heavy producers" as the main limitation, and notes it is not a full video editor.
- AIToolWise highlights a trap on the free plan: audio made there stays non-commercial even after you upgrade.
- Telenow points out that ElevenLabs is cloud-only, with no self-hosted option.
Pros
- One subscription covers voice, cloning, transcription, dubbing, music and effects.
- Real Free plan, and a commercial license from $6 a month.
- Published per-model API prices and plan-by-plan limits.
- Professional cloning with verification, which protects voice owners.
- Credits roll over for up to two months on paid plans.
Cons
- Credit rates differ by product, so budgeting a mixed workload takes arithmetic.
- Regenerations on long scripts spend credits, according to reviewers.
- Free-plan audio cannot be monetised, even after upgrading.
- Professional cloning starts at $22 and covers one voice until Scale.
- Promotions change often, so the price you see may differ from the regular price.
Who should pick ElevenLabs
- Creators who publish voiceovers, narration or audiobooks regularly. Starter or Creator is the usual entry.
- People who want their own voice cloned for content they cannot record every time.
- Teams localising video into many languages with dubbing.
- Developers who want speech, transcription and agents behind one API key.
Look elsewhere if your main task is editing recordings: Descript lets you edit audio and video by editing the transcript. For a voiceover studio focused on business and e-learning narration, compare Murf. Developers pricing a real-time speech API can also test Inworld TTS. Our list of ElevenLabs alternatives covers more options.
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Verdict
ElevenLabs is the broadest AI voice platform most creators will find, with a usable Free plan to test it. If you publish voice content regularly, Starter at $6 is a low-risk way to get commercial rights and Instant Voice Cloning, and Creator at $22 adds a Professional clone of your own voice. Budget for the credit system and you will avoid the surprises reviewers describe.
Frequently asked questions
Is ElevenLabs legit?
Yes. ElevenLabs is an established AI audio company with published pricing, terms of service, a prohibited use policy and enterprise features such as HIPAA BAAs and SSO. Users on Capterra review it positively, and paid plans include a commercial license.
Is ElevenLabs worth it?
For regular voiceover, narration, cloning or dubbing work, review sites generally say yes, with Starter ($6) and Creator ($22) as the usual entry points. If you need only a few minutes a month, the Free plan may be enough for non-commercial use.
What are the downsides of ElevenLabs?
Reviewers mainly cite cost control: credits are spent at different rates per product, and regenerations on long-form work use credits. Free-plan audio cannot be used commercially, and Professional cloning starts at $22 and only works on your own voice.
How much does ElevenLabs cost?
Free $0, Starter $6, Creator $22, Pro $99, Scale $299 and Business $990 a month, with custom Enterprise. Annual billing charges 10 months for 12. API speech costs $0.04 to $0.08 per 1,000 characters.
What are the best ElevenLabs alternatives?
It depends on the job: Descript for editing podcasts and video by transcript, Murf for a business voiceover studio, and Inworld TTS for developers building real-time voice apps.