TL;DR / Key Takeaways
- Instant cloning: 1 to 2 minutes of audio, from the $6 Starter plan.
- Professional cloning: 30 minutes minimum (2 to 3 hours recommended), from the $22 Creator plan.
- Professional clones are limited to your own voice and need spoken verification.
- Creator and Pro both include one Professional voice; Pro buys more credits, not a better clone.
- Only Professional clones can be shared in the Voice Library for payouts.
Short answer: ElevenLabs has two kinds of voice clone. Instant Voice Cloning needs 1 to 2 minutes of audio and comes with the Starter plan ($6/month). Professional Voice Cloning (PVC) trains a dedicated model on at least 30 minutes of audio (2 to 3 hours recommended), takes hours to train, and starts on the Creator plan ($22/month, $11 for the first month). You can only clone your own voice with PVC. Updated October 29, 2026.
How we checked: plans and limits come from the ElevenLabs pricing page and its voice-cloning documentation, read October 29, 2026. Competitor prices come from each vendor's own pricing page on the same day. Where ElevenLabs' own pages disagree with each other, we give the range and say so.
Instant or Professional: which one you need
| Instant Voice Cloning | Professional Voice Cloning | |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest plan | Starter, $6/month | Creator, $22/month ($11 first month) |
| Audio needed | Minimum 10 seconds total; 1 to 2 minutes recommended | 30 minutes minimum; 2 to 3 hours recommended |
| More audio helps? | Not past about 3 minutes; ElevenLabs says more can even hurt | Yes, up to the recommended hours |
| Training time | None, ready immediately | 3 to 6 hours or 6 to 24 hours (ElevenLabs' docs give both) |
| Whose voice | Anyone you have the right and consent to clone | Your own voice only |
| Verification | A consent checkbox | Read lines aloud to prove the voice is yours |
| Share in Voice Library and earn | No | Yes, after review |
Instant cloning copies the sound of a voice from a short sample. It works for drafts, social clips and testing a voice. Professional cloning trains on hours of your speech, so it holds up better over long narration: audiobooks, courses and a YouTube channel where listeners hear you every week.
What each ElevenLabs plan gives you
| Plan | Price per month | Credits per month | Cloning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 10,000 | None |
| Starter | $6 (about $1 first month) | 30,000 | Instant |
| Creator | $22 ($11 first month) | 121,000 | Instant + 1 Professional voice |
| Pro | $99 | 600,000 | Instant + 1 Professional voice |
| Scale | $299 | 1,800,000 | Instant + 3 Professional voices |
| Business | $990 | 6,000,000 | Instant + 10 Professional voices |
Credits are shared across ElevenLabs products. Text to speech on the Multilingual v2 model costs 1 credit per character. Our rough estimate, at about 1,000 characters per minute of speech: Starter covers about 30 minutes of narration a month, Creator about 2 hours, and Pro about 10 hours. Your pace changes that.
How to make an Instant clone
- Record 1 to 2 minutes of yourself speaking naturally, in one consistent style. Each file must be at least 5 seconds.
- Keep it clean: no music, no background noise, no echo.
- Upload it in the Voices section and confirm you have the right and consent to clone the voice.
- Test it on a paragraph you would actually publish. If it sounds off, re-record rather than adding more audio: past about 3 minutes, more audio does not help.
How to make a Professional clone
- Record at least 30 minutes, ideally 2 to 3 hours, in the style you want the clone to speak in. A clone copies your pacing and accent, so read the way you want to sound.
- Use the setup ElevenLabs recommends: a microphone with a pop filter, about two fists from your mouth, in a quiet room with no reverb.
- Hit the target levels: about -23 to -18 dB RMS, with peaks no higher than -3 dB. MP3 at 192 kbps or higher is fine; WAV usually does not improve quality.
- Verify the voice by reading short lines aloud on the same or similar equipment. If it fails, you wait 24 hours or contact support.
- Wait for training, which ElevenLabs puts at 3 to 6 hours in one place and 6 to 24 hours in another.
ElevenLabs says PVC works in 90+ languages, though one section of the same documentation lists a smaller model set, so test your target language before you record hours of audio for it.
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Can you earn money from your cloned voice?
Yes, with a Professional clone only. You can share it in the ElevenLabs Voice Library after a review. Payouts come through Stripe Connect and are based on use by paying customers. You choose a notice period from 30 days to 2 years, and a longer one earns more. ElevenLabs does not publish payout rates. Setting your own rate is now a legacy feature that newly shared voices do not get.
Alternatives for voice cloning
| Tool | Cheapest plan with cloning | Audio needed |
|---|---|---|
| ElevenLabs | Starter $6/month (Instant); Creator $22/month (Professional) | 1 to 2 minutes (Instant); 30+ minutes (Professional) |
| Fish Audio | Free plan lists cloning; Plus $15/month adds 1 professional slot | 10 seconds minimum; a minute or two is better |
| Cartesia | Pro $5/month (instant); Startup $49/month (professional) | 10 seconds (instant); 30+ minutes (professional) |
| Descript | Hobbyist $24/month | A script of about 90 seconds |
| Murf | Enterprise only, through the API | One clip of up to 30 seconds |
Fish Audio and Cartesia are cheaper places to start, and Fish Audio's $15 plan already includes a professional slot. ElevenLabs costs more but puts the clone inside a larger toolset: long-form narration in Studio, dubbing into 90+ languages and voice agents all use the same voice. For more options, see our ElevenLabs alternatives ranking and the free alternatives list.
Frequently asked questions
How much audio does ElevenLabs need to clone a voice?
Instant Voice Cloning needs at least 10 seconds in total, and ElevenLabs recommends 1 to 2 minutes. Professional Voice Cloning needs at least 30 minutes, and 2 to 3 hours is recommended.
Is ElevenLabs voice cloning free?
No. The Free plan has no cloning. Instant cloning starts on Starter at $6 a month (about $1 for the first month), and Professional cloning starts on Creator at $22 a month ($11 for the first month).
Can I clone someone else's voice on ElevenLabs?
Professional cloning is limited to your own voice, even with the other person's consent, and you must pass a spoken verification. Instant cloning requires you to confirm that you have the right and consent to clone the voice.
How long does ElevenLabs Professional Voice Cloning take?
ElevenLabs' documentation gives 3 to 6 hours in one place and 6 to 24 hours in another, after you upload the audio and pass verification.