Best AI Voice Tools in 2026: Prices and Comparison
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ElevenLabs is still the name most people think of for AI voices, and it has been busy. In the last month it released Eleven v4 and v4 Turbo for text-to-speech, then Eleven Realtime for live voice conversations. At the same time, a crowded field of alternatives is competing on price.
This guide covers what is new, what the plans cost, and how the main alternatives compare, so you can decide whether you need ElevenLabs at all.
How I sourced this, and why it matters. ElevenLabs’ changelog pages loaded, so the release dates and feature lists below are first-party. Its main pricing page and the pricing pages of Murf and Cartesia did not load for me. Prices therefore come from secondary articles written in August and September 2026, and one of them warns that figures changed during 2026. Treat every price here as a starting point, and confirm it on the vendor’s page before paying. Several secondary sources are affiliate-supported or written by companies with an interest, and I flag that where it applies.
What ElevenLabs Released Recently
From the official changelog and release notes, plus coverage of the launches:
| Date | Release | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 11 | Scribe v2 Medical | Generally available, for medical and clinical audio transcription |
| Sep 14 | Music v2.5 support | Added to the platform |
| Sep 28 | Eleven v4 and Eleven v4 Turbo | New text-to-speech models |
| Oct 5 | v4 and v4 Turbo in ElevenAgents | v4 Turbo became the default for conversational agents, replacing eleven_flash_v2 |
| Oct 12 | Audio effects for text to speech | Plus turn prediction for realtime transcription and a voice collections API |
| Oct 19–20 | Eleven Realtime | Two speech-to-speech models for live conversation |
| Oct 19 | Realtime Translation and Video to Music API | Translation for enterprise workspaces; a music API |
Eleven v4 and v4 Turbo
The official changelog (October 5) describes both as the company’s “fastest and most emotive speech synthesis models yet.” Beyond that line, most details come from secondary coverage of ElevenLabs’ own launch material:
- Focus: emotional delivery, handling of multiple speakers, voice-clone similarity, and stitching of long recordings, according to a summary by Medux.
- Languages: CellCog’s summary says coverage spans more than 90 languages, including Cantonese, Mongolian and Odia, citing ElevenLabs’ launch material. I could not check the language list myself.
- Latency of Turbo: about 100 ms median inference latency and about 150 ms median time to first speech, both reported by ElevenLabs and not independently tested.
- Ranking: CellCog reports an Elo of 1319 for Eleven v4 on Artificial Analysis’s Speech Arena at launch, ahead of Sonic 3.6 (1276) and Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS (1267). Arena rankings move as votes come in, and CellCog lists ElevenLabs as a speech provider, so the page is not neutral.
- API price at launch: CellCog reports $0.022 per 1,000 characters for v4 and $0.011 for v4 Turbo, against list prices of $0.08 and $0.04, with the discount running until October 12. That promotion has ended, so the list prices are the ones to plan around, but I could not confirm them on ElevenLabs’ own page.
- Plans: the same page says Creator plans and above get v4 free in ElevenCreative, up to twice their monthly credits.
Eleven Realtime
The Decoder reports that Eleven Realtime, announced October 20, includes two speech-to-speech models:
- v1 Max: built for complex work such as customer support. ElevenLabs claims 98.8% on the Big Bench Audio benchmark with a 0.57-second response time.
- v1 Mini: smaller and cheaper, for natural conversation. It can tell when a speaker has finished and when they are just saying “mm-hmm.”
Both run on the ElevenAgents platform and an OpenAI-compatible Realtime API. Pricing is per minute plus token costs, with Max costing more than Mini, but no rates were given. The benchmark claims come from ElevenLabs.
ElevenLabs Plan Prices
The most complete list I found is from HappyRobot, published September 2, 2026, with pricing it says it verified in August 2026:
| Plan | Monthly price | Credits | Approx. minutes of speech | Commercial license |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 10,000 | ~10 | No |
| Starter | $6 | 30,000 | ~30 | Yes |
| Creator | $22 | 121,000 | ~121 | Yes |
| Pro | $99 | 600,000 | ~600 | Yes |
| Scale | $299 | 1,800,000 | ~1,800 | Yes |
| Business | $990 | 6,000,000 | ~6,000 | Yes |
Dupple’s article (September 24) quotes the same Free, Starter, Creator and Business figures, which gives some cross-confirmation, though both are secondary.
My own arithmetic on those figures: the cost per 1,000 credits is about $0.20 on Starter, $0.18 on Creator, and about $0.165 on Pro, Scale and Business. So the bigger plans save only around 10 to 18 percent per credit. For most people the right question is how many minutes you need each month, not which tier is cheapest per credit.
Check before you subscribe: credit use depends on the model, and I could not find the v4 credit multiplier. Test with a short project first.
The Alternatives
The following figures come from Dupple’s September 24 article, which says vendor prices were checked on October 2. It is affiliate-supported (its Murf and Descript links are affiliate links), so treat the rankings as opinion and the prices as hints.
| Tool | Starting price | Free tier | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cartesia | $5/month (Pro, 100,000 credits) | 20,000 credits | Low-latency voice agents |
| Fish Audio | Plus $11/month | 8,000 credits a month (about 7 minutes), commercial use allowed | Budget cloning and voiceovers |
| Hume AI | $3/month (Starter, 30,000 characters) | 10,000 characters and 5 minutes of its conversational model | Emotional, expressive speech |
| Speechify Studio | $100/year (Starter) | 600 credits, no cloning or commercial rights | Narration and reading aloud |
| WellSaid Labs | $10/month billed annually; $19 monthly | Trial only: 3 download minutes, no commercial rights | Business training and e-learning voices |
| Descript | $16/month annual; $24 monthly | 60 minutes a month with limited AI | Podcast and video editing with voice |
| Murf AI | $0.01 per 1,000 characters (Falcon 2 API) | $10 of credit a month, no card | Voiceovers with an editor |
| OpenAI TTS | $15 per 1M characters (tts-1) | No free tier beyond standard API trial credit | Developers already on OpenAI |
Dupple also says PlayHT and LOVO AI are no longer operating and that Resemble AI no longer sells text-to-speech or voice cloning. I could not verify those three statements independently, so check before relying on any of them.
Quick notes on each
Cartesia is aimed at developers who need fast responses in live agents. The Speech Arena ranking cited above lists its Sonic 3.6 just below Eleven v4, though that table is not independent of the page quoting it.
Fish Audio stands out for allowing commercial use on its free tier, according to Dupple. Read the terms for voice cloning before you use anyone’s voice.
Hume AI focuses on emotion. Its low entry price comes with small caps.
Speechify Studio is more of a reading and narration tool. Its free plan excludes cloning and commercial use.
WellSaid Labs targets corporate content and is priced like business software.
Descript is the pick if your real job is editing audio or video, with voice as one feature.
Murf AI gives both a studio and an API, and the pay-per-character price makes small jobs easy to cost.
OpenAI TTS is the simplest if you already use OpenAI’s API. At $15 per million characters, it is cheaper per character than ElevenLabs’ $0.08 per 1,000 list price for v4 ($80 per million), but the quality, voices and features are different, so compare by listening.
What Different Users Should Choose
Podcasters and YouTubers. Start with the ElevenLabs free tier or Starter to test v4. If your main need is editing, test Descript. See our guide to turning a script into an AI video for how voiceovers fit into a full workflow.
Developers building voice agents. Compare latency and cost, not just sound. Test ElevenLabs Realtime or v4 Turbo against Cartesia, and keep an eye on LLM costs from providers such as those in our Google AI Studio vs Grok API price guide.
Businesses making training videos. WellSaid Labs, Murf or Speechify are worth a trial. Check the commercial license first.
Hobbyists on a budget. Fish Audio or the free tiers. Do not assume a free plan allows commercial use, because several do not.
Music makers. Voice tools are not the same as song tools. See how to make a song with AI for that.
Voice Cloning, Consent and Safety
Better voices make misuse easier, so this part is worth a few minutes before you start.
- Get consent. Only clone a voice that is yours, or one whose owner has agreed in writing. Most vendors require this in their terms, but check each one.
- Label synthetic audio when it could be mistaken for a real person, especially in ads, news-style clips or phone calls.
- Protect your own voice. Do not upload recordings of yourself to a service whose data and training terms you have not read.
- Keep records. Save the script, the voice used and the license plan for any commercial project, in case a platform or client asks.
- Mind the language rules. Some countries regulate synthetic voices in political or advertising content. Check local rules if you publish in several markets.
If you also work with translation or summaries before recording, our list of free AI tools for translating and summarizing documents can help you prepare the script first.
How to Test Voices Fairly
- Use the same script everywhere. Choose 60 to 90 seconds with numbers, names and a question.
- Test your language and accent. Quality varies sharply between languages.
- Listen on headphones and phone speakers.
- Check the license for your use. Commercial, ads, resale and cloning each have separate rules.
- Calculate the monthly cost from your real minutes, not the headline price.
- Read the voice-cloning policy. You generally need consent from the person whose voice you clone.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Trusting leaderboard ranks as final. Votes shift and the sample may not match your language.
Using free-plan audio commercially. ElevenLabs’ free plan is for testing only, per the secondary source above.
Ignoring credit rules. Different models may use credits at different rates.
Cloning without permission. Do not clone someone’s voice without consent, and read each vendor’s rules.
Planning around a promo price. The launch discount for v4 ended on October 12.
Treating affiliate roundups as neutral. Check prices on the vendor’s page.
Forgetting a backup tool. Vendors change, shut down and rename plans.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the newest ElevenLabs model? Eleven v4 and v4 Turbo launched September 28, and Eleven Realtime (v1 Max and v1 Mini) was announced October 20, per the release notes and The Decoder.
How much does ElevenLabs cost? Per a September 2026 secondary source: Free $0, Starter $6, Creator $22, Pro $99, Scale $299, Business $990 a month. Confirm on ElevenLabs’ site.
Is there a free plan? Yes, with 10,000 credits a month, but it does not include a commercial license according to the same source.
What is the cheapest alternative? It depends on usage. Based on the secondary article, Hume AI starts at $3 a month and Cartesia at $5, while OpenAI TTS charges $15 per million characters.
Which alternative allows free commercial use? Dupple says Fish Audio does on its free plan. Check its terms.
Are PlayHT and LOVO AI still available? Dupple says they are no longer operating. I could not confirm that.
Is Eleven v4 the best model? One leaderboard snapshot put it first, but the page reporting it is not neutral. Listen to your own samples.
The Bottom Line
ElevenLabs has moved quickly: v4 and v4 Turbo for speech, and Realtime for live conversation. Its plans run from a free test tier to enterprise pricing, and a field of cheaper alternatives is close behind. The sensible approach is to test the same script on two or three tools, compare real monthly costs and license terms, and keep your decision flexible. Pricing pages change, and mine were not all reachable, so verify before you buy.
