ElevenLabs turns text into speech that is hard to tell from a person, clones voices, and dubs video into other languages. It’s the name most people mean when they say “AI voice”. It’s also priced in credits, which makes it hard to know what you’re actually paying for. So this review starts with the question that matters: what does an hour of finished audio cost, and what catches do you need to know before you subscribe?
No commission here, yet. ElevenLabs runs an affiliate program open to bloggers, but I haven’t joined it. Every ElevenLabs link on this page is a plain link. If that changes, this note will say so.
The receipt
ElevenLabs at a glance
| Time | A usable voiceover in minutes; a Professional clone needs about 2 hours of recordings |
| Cost | Free to try; $6 to $99 a month for most people; about $9 to $11 of credits per finished hour |
| Output | Widely rated among the most natural AI speech; still trips on names and jargon |
| Real earning path | AI audiobooks for indie authors, or licensing your own voice |
| Overall | 7.5/10 |
Worth paying for if… you need natural narration regularly for videos, courses, audiobooks or podcasts, and you can live with budgeting in credits. Starter at $6 a month is the cheapest way to get a commercial license.
Skip it if… you want a fixed number of minutes you can plan around, you need a presenter on screen rather than a voice, or you only need the odd line now and then. Free-plan audio can never be used commercially.
How I checked ElevenLabs
I haven’t used ElevenLabs on paid client work. This review is built from sources you can check yourself: ElevenLabs’ pricing and API pricing pages, its help center, refund policy, usage policy and affiliate terms, 1,218 Trustpilot reviews and 1,297 G2 reviews (read for patterns, not cherry-picked), and the pricing pages of the alternatives. Everything was checked on 29 September 2026, the day after ElevenLabs launched its new v4 model.
The minute and cost figures are my own calculations. ACX, Audible’s production marketplace, puts one finished hour of audiobook at about 9,300 words. At roughly six characters per word that’s about 56,000 characters an hour, or 930 a minute. Your own pace will differ a little.
| What I scored | Score | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Ease of use | 8/10 | Praised on both review sites; the credit system is the confusing part |
| Output quality | 9/10 | The strongest praise across reviews; mispronunciations and tone drift on long text |
| Value for money | 7/10 | About $9 to $11 per finished hour on Pro, but retakes and some voices cost extra |
| Trust and support | 6/10 | Real consent safeguards, but a narrow refund policy and many support complaints |
The overall 7.5 is the average of the four. If you use ElevenLabs and something here doesn’t match your experience, tell me and I’ll update the review.
What changed this week, and what other reviews get wrong
- Eleven v4 launched on 28 September 2026, with time-limited offers. Through the API, v4 was $0.022 per 1,000 characters until 12 October and now costs $0.08, the same as v3. The two-week offer that let Creator plans and above use extra v4 credits in the web and mobile apps has also ended.
- Unused credits do roll over now. Many reviews, and plenty of G2 reviewers, still say they don’t. You can carry over up to twice your monthly quota, but only while you stay on the same plan. Downgrade or cancel and you lose every unused credit.
- Some voices cost more than others. One character normally costs one credit in the app. But some older shared voices in the Voice Library still carry a credit multiplier set by their owner, so a 2x voice burns credits twice as fast. ElevenLabs calls this a legacy feature that newly shared voices can’t use, but voices that already had it keep it. Check the tag before you pick one.
- The refund window closes the moment you generate. You can get a refund within 14 days of paying, but only if you haven’t used any credits in that period. Test on the free plan first.
- Free-plan audio stays non-commercial forever. Anything made outside a paid subscription, before or after, can’t be used commercially, even if you upgrade later.
What ElevenLabs does
- Text to speech with several models: the new v4 (90+ languages, per ElevenLabs), v3 (70-plus languages), Multilingual v2 (29) and the low-latency Flash models.
- Voice cloning: Instant Voice Cloning from one to two minutes of audio on Starter, and Professional Voice Cloning, trained on about two hours of recordings, from Creator.
- Studio for long projects like audiobooks and podcasts, and a Dubbing Studio for translating video, from Starter.
- Extras: speech to text, sound effects, music, voice design, and an API for developers.
Here’s ElevenLabs’ own introduction to v4 and v4 Turbo:
ElevenLabs pricing in 2026
| Plan | Monthly price | Credits a month | About how much speech | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 10,000 | 11 minutes | No commercial use; credit “elevenlabs.io” in the title |
| Starter | $6 | 30,000 | 32 minutes | Commercial license, Instant cloning, Dubbing Studio |
| Creator | $22 (first month $11) | 121,000 | 2.2 hours | Professional Voice Cloning |
| Pro | $99 | 600,000 | 10.8 hours | Higher-quality audio output via the API |
| Scale | $299 | 1.8 million | 32 hours | 3 seats |
| Business | $990 | 6 million | 107 hours | 10 seats |
Speech estimates assume one credit per character in the app and about 930 characters per minute. Annual billing is available for every plan. Beyond your plan, you can top up with Pay As You Go credits from $5, which expire after 12 months.
What an hour of narration really costs
Dividing each plan’s price by the speech it buys gives a cost per finished hour. That’s the number to compare with other tools, or with paying a person.
| How you generate | Cost per finished hour |
|---|---|
| Starter plan, app | $11.16 |
| Creator plan, app | $10.15 |
| Pro plan, app | $9.21 |
| API, v4, v3 or Multilingual v2 ($0.08 per 1,000 characters) | $4.46 |
| API, Flash ($0.04 per 1,000 characters) | $2.23 |
| API, v4 Turbo ($0.04 per 1,000 characters) | $2.23 |
| A union-rate human narrator on ACX | $250 or more |
The practical takeaway: add about 20% for retakes, since only two free regenerations are allowed per clip and only in the app. For occasional voiceovers, Starter or Creator is plenty. Once you produce more than about two hours a month, Pro is cheaper per hour, and if you can code, the API costs roughly half the app price.
Commercial use, cloning and consent
Every paid plan includes a commercial license. The free plan doesn’t, and free-plan audio you share must credit “elevenlabs.io” or “11.ai” in the title.
Cloning has sensible guardrails. For an Instant clone you must confirm you have the right and consent to clone the voice. A Professional clone can only be made of your own voice, and ElevenLabs verifies it with a short spoken check. Even with someone’s permission you can’t make one of them on your account. They create and verify it themselves, then share it with you. ElevenLabs also says all generated audio can be traced back to the account that made it, and its usage policy bans impersonation and deceptive use.
What users say: why the ratings split
ElevenLabs has two very different reputations depending on where you look.
- G2: 4.5 out of 5 from 1,297 reviews. Reviewers, mostly business users, praise the realism, ease of use, speed and language range. Their complaints are cost at high volume, retakes eating credits, occasional mispronunciations and tone drifting over long passages.
- Trustpilot: 3.0 out of 5 from 1,218 reviews, with 47% five-star and 39% one-star. Happy reviewers talk about voice quality and simplicity. Unhappy ones talk about billing: credits running out fast, charges they didn’t expect, losing credits on cancelling, and support that routes them to a chatbot.
Put together: almost nobody complains about how it sounds. The frustration comes from people who didn’t understand the credit rules before they paid, which is what the sections above are for. The company isn’t going anywhere either. It raised $500 million at an $11 billion valuation in February 2026.
Pros and cons
What it does well
- Among the most natural AI voices available
- Commercial license from $6 a month
- Credits roll over on a steady plan
- Real consent checks on cloning
- API costs about half the app price
What to watch
- Credit maths is confusing
- Retakes cost credits after two free tries
- No refund once you’ve used credits
- Unused credits lost on downgrade or cancel
- Some shared voices cost 2x credits or more
ElevenLabs alternatives worth comparing
| Tool | Price | Pick it when |
|---|---|---|
| ElevenLabs | Free; $6 to $99 a month for most people | Voice quality and cloning matter most |
| WellSaid | Starter $19 a month ($10 billed yearly) for 20 download minutes | You want fixed minutes and a corporate narration style |
| Speechify Studio | Starter $100 a year; Creator $300 a year | You want a cheap annual plan with cloning and commercial rights |
| HeyGen | Free plan; paid from $24 a month billed yearly | You need a presenter on screen, not just a voice (see my review) |
If you’re making ads rather than narration, the all-in-one kit in my BlueFX review bundles voiceovers with avatars and editing tools.
Is ElevenLabs worth it?
For sound quality, yes. It’s the benchmark the others get compared to, and v4 has only just raised the bar. For value, it depends on reading the rules before you pay. Start on the free plan, pick your voices carefully, stay on one plan so your credits roll over, and budget about $10 per finished hour in the app, or under $5 through the API. Do that and ElevenLabs is excellent value. Skip it and you’ll probably end up writing one of those Trustpilot reviews.
Can you make money with ElevenLabs?
Yes, though not in the “$5 AI voiceover gig” way you’ll see recommended everywhere. The better options are producing audiobooks for indie authors, which can’t go on Audible but can be sold through Spotify and other stores, licensing your own voice in the Voice Library, and publishing your own writing on ElevenReader. My separate guide works through each one with the numbers.
Related reading: Descript review · How to make money with HeyGen
ElevenLabs FAQ
Is ElevenLabs free?
Yes. The free plan gives 10,000 credits a month, about 11 minutes of speech. You can’t use it commercially, and anything you share must credit “elevenlabs.io” or “11.ai” in the title.
How many minutes of audio do ElevenLabs credits give?
In the app, one character costs one credit. At about 930 characters per minute, Creator’s 121,000 credits make about 2.2 hours of speech and Pro’s 600,000 about 10.8 hours. Retakes and voices with credit multipliers reduce that.
Do ElevenLabs credits roll over?
Yes, on paid plans. You can carry over up to twice your monthly quota while you stay on the same plan. Downgrading or cancelling wipes unused credits, and the free plan has no rollover.
Can I use ElevenLabs voices commercially?
On any paid plan, yes. Content made on the free plan, or at any time outside a paid subscription, can’t be used commercially.
Can I clone someone else’s voice on ElevenLabs?
For an Instant clone you must have the right and the person’s consent. A Professional clone can only be of your own voice. The other person has to create it on their account and share it with you.
What is Eleven v4?
ElevenLabs’ newest text-to-speech model, launched on 28 September 2026, with more than 90 languages and a faster v4 Turbo version for real-time use. Through the API, it launched at $0.022 per 1,000 characters until 12 October and now costs $0.08.
Does ElevenLabs give refunds?
Only if you ask within 14 days of paying and haven’t used any credits in that billing period.
Update log: 29 September 2026: first published, with prices, credits and policies checked that day.
Update log: 1 November 2026: the Eleven v4 launch offers have ended, so API v4 now costs $0.08 per 1,000 characters instead of $0.022, and the review counts are updated to 1,218 on Trustpilot and 1,297 on G2.
Sources
- ElevenLabs pricing and API pricing
- ElevenLabs models and credit cost and Eleven v4
- Credit rollover and free regenerations
- Custom rates and credit multipliers
- Refund policy and Pay As You Go
- Publishing and commercial use
- Instant Voice Cloning and Professional clones of other people
- ElevenLabs affiliate terms
- ElevenLabs on Trustpilot and on G2
- Unite.AI: Eleven v4 launch
- TechCrunch: ElevenLabs raises $500M
- ACX: words per finished hour and narrator rates
- WellSaid pricing and Speechify Studio pricing
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