ElevenLabs

About ElevenLabs

What is ElevenLabs (2026 update)

ElevenLabs is an AI audio platform that turns text into lifelike speech, clones voices, and dubs video and podcast content into other languages. The company started by closing the gap between synthetic speech and natural human delivery, and by September 2026 it has grown into a broader audio and conversational AI suite used by publishers, game studios, dubbing houses, and customer service teams. ElevenLabs now positions itself as a full audio stack, text to speech, speech to text (Scribe), music generation, sound effects, and voice agents for phone and chat, all reachable from one API and one dashboard.

What is new in 2026

The biggest 2026 release is Eleven v3, the flagship text to speech model, which reached general availability on March 14, 2026 after an alpha period. Eleven v3 supports more than 70 languages and cuts errors on complex text such as phone numbers and chemical formulas by 68 percent compared with earlier models. Its standout feature is Audio Tags, bracketed instructions such as [whispers], [sighs], or [shouts] that let a script direct emotional delivery the way a director would on a dubbing stage. Because v3 uses a larger model and a higher fidelity codec, ElevenLabs still recommends Flash v2.5, about 75ms latency, for real time conversational agents rather than v3.

Beyond the flagship model, 2026 also brought a video to music endpoint that generates a soundtrack directly from an uploaded video plus style tags like upbeat or cinematic, asynchronous Flows APIs for chaining video, image, and speech generation jobs, and enterprise additions such as Expressive Mode for conversational agents and per agent sentiment scoring. ElevenLabs also expanded a voice preservation initiative that lets people with progressive speech loss conditions clone their voice while still healthy, for later use through communication devices.

Key features

• Text to speech with Eleven v3 for expressive, 70+ language output, and Eleven Flash v2.5 for low latency real time use
• Instant and professional voice cloning
• Dubbing that translates and re-voices video or audio into other languages while matching timing
• Scribe speech to text transcription
• Music and sound effect generation, including the new video to music endpoint
• Conversational voice agents for phone and web, with sentiment analysis and Expressive Mode
• API access with asynchronous Flows for chaining generation jobs and reusable media assets

Pricing in 2026

ElevenLabs prices its plans in monthly credits rather than a flat per minute rate. Paying annually cuts the price by roughly two months, about 17 percent, on every paid tier. Usage beyond a plan’s included credits is billed per model rather than per plan, for example Flash text to speech runs about $0.05 per 1,000 characters and the Multilingual model about $0.10 per 1,000 characters, check the official site for current overage rates.

Who should use it

ElevenLabs suits teams that need production quality voice more than teams that need it for free. Solo creators making YouTube videos, audiobooks, or podcasts fit the Starter or Creator plan. Agencies and app developers building voice agents, IVR systems, or dubbing pipelines fit Pro or Scale, where API access and 44.1kHz output matter. Larger media and healthcare organizations that need HIPAA BAAs, SSO, or on premise deployment should go straight to Enterprise. Hobbyists testing voice cloning for the first time can start on the Free plan, though the lack of a commercial license there matters if the output will be published anywhere public.

Limitations and alternatives

Eleven v3 is not built for real time conversation, ElevenLabs itself points developers back to Flash v2.5 for that use case, so teams building live voice agents should plan around two models rather than one. Pricing is credit based, and credit consumption varies by model and language, which makes budgeting harder to predict than it first appears, check the official site’s usage calculator before committing to a tier. The free plan requires attribution and blocks commercial use.

Real competitors worth comparing include Murf AI, which leans toward corporate training and presentation voiceovers with a simpler editor, PlayHT, which focuses on API-first text to speech and voice cloning at a lower entry price, WellSaid Labs, aimed at enterprise brand voice consistency, and OpenAI’s audio API, a strong option for teams already building on OpenAI’s stack who want speech bundled with the rest of their AI infrastructure rather than a separate vendor.

Frequently asked questions

What is Eleven v3 and how is it different from earlier ElevenLabs models?

Eleven v3 is ElevenLabs' flagship text to speech model, generally available since March 2026. It supports over 70 languages, cuts errors on complex text like phone numbers by 68 percent, and adds Audio Tags such as [whispers] or [sighs] for directed emotional delivery. It is not meant for real time use, ElevenLabs recommends Flash v2.5 for that instead.

How much does ElevenLabs cost in 2026?

Plans run from Free ($0, 10,000 credits/month) through Starter ($6/month), Creator ($22/month, $11 the first month), Pro ($99/month), Scale ($299/month), Business ($990/month), up to custom-priced Enterprise. Annual billing saves roughly two months on any paid tier.

Does the free plan allow commercial use?

No. The Free plan gives 10,000 credits a month and access to core tools like text to speech and voice design, but it requires attribution to ElevenLabs and does not include a commercial license. A commercial license starts on the Starter plan.

What are the main alternatives to ElevenLabs?

Murf AI for corporate training and presentation voiceovers, PlayHT for API-first text to speech at a lower entry price, WellSaid Labs for enterprise brand voice consistency, and OpenAI's audio API for teams already building on OpenAI's platform.

Information last verified: September 2026.