What is ElevenLabs, in short?
ElevenLabs is a voice AI platform that turns written text into spoken audio, with dubbing, transcription and voice cloning alongside it. A free tier gives 10,000 credits per month without a commercial licence; paid plans start at $6 per month, or $5 per month billed annually, as listed on the official pricing page on September 22, 2026.
Key features
- Text to speech in a range of voices
- Speech to text transcription
- Dubbing studio for moving recordings between languages
- Instant voice cloning (paid plans)
- Professional voice cloning (Creator and above)
- Sound effects, music and Studio projects
Feature list taken from the sources listed at the foot of this profile, not from our testing.
What can you actually do with ElevenLabs?
Generation-time licence
Rights depend on the plan used when audio was generated.
Where it falls short: A later subscription does not retroactively grant commercial rights to free-generated audio.
Attribution
Free-generated speech may be shared noncommercially with required attribution.
Where it falls short: Check the applicable product terms; music has a distinct attribution rule.
Promotional price
Creator displays a first-month discount.
Where it falls short: Budget the recurring charge rather than treating the promotion as permanent.
Feature descriptions follow the sources listed at the foot of this profile; the limits are our editorial reading of what those sources do and do not promise.
Strengths and limits
Strengths
- Free credits support evaluation
- Paid subscriptions provide commercial-use terms subject to conditions
- Speech, transcription and dubbing are documented product capabilities
Limits to plan around
- Free-generated speech is not licensed for commercial use
- Noncommercial free publication requires attribution
- Paid use still has rights and beta-service conditions
- First-month promotions differ from recurring prices
Derived from documented behaviour and published limits, not from a scored review.
Who is it for?
- Video creatorsNarration for explainers and tutorials whose script keeps changing.
- PublishersAudio versions of written articles and internal documents.
- Localisation teamsDubbing existing recordings into other languages.
- PodcastersTranscription and cleanup of recorded material.
Our editorial judgement about fit, based on what the documented features support. The vendor makes no such claim about these groups.
How much does ElevenLabs cost?
Pricing check: Individual details checked. Check the current provider terms before subscribing.
| Plan | Price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Creative Free | Free | 10,000 monthly credits; noncommercial publishing subject to attribution and applicable terms. |
| Starter | $6/month | 30,000 monthly credits; paid-use rights remain subject to conditions. |
| Creator | $22/month; $11 first month promotion | 121,000 monthly credits; confirm promotion and renewal terms. |
| Pro | Confirm current billing cycle | Higher capacity; annual pricing was not rechecked in this review. |
No comparable numeric price range is confirmed here. Individual plan notes may include documented amounts, but unknown billing units, unavailable figures or inconsistent terms are not converted into a single price range. See the evidence checks and original pricing source below.
What is ElevenLabs used for?
ElevenLabs is a voice AI platform. Its core use is turning written text into spoken audio, with related features for transcription, dubbing, sound effects and voice cloning. People reach for it when a script needs a voice track and hiring a narrator for every revision is not practical. The product scope is described on the official site.
The question to ask is not “does it sound human?” but “does it sound right for this script, at this length, after editing?” Pacing, emphasis and pronunciation of names and numbers are where generated narration usually needs work. This profile scores no voice quality and reports no listening test.
Where it fits in a workflow
- Narration for video: producing a voice track for an explainer or tutorial whose script is still changing.
- Audio versions of written work: turning an article or internal document into something people can listen to.
- Dubbing and transcription: moving existing recordings between languages or into text.
Voice cloning has legal and ethical weight that a feature list does not convey. Cloning someone’s voice requires their consent, and platform terms plus local law both apply. Treat this as a rule of the work, not a setting to enable.
Plans and limits
On the official pricing page, checked on September 22, 2026, the individual plans are Free, Starter, Creator and Pro. Free includes 10,000 credits per month with no commercial licence. Starter is $6 per month, or $5 per month billed annually, with 30,000 credits and a commercial licence. Creator is listed at $18.33 per month billed annually with 121,000 credits; its monthly rate was showing a promotional discount on the day we checked, so confirm the standing price in your own account. Pro is $99 per month, or $82.50 per month billed annually, with 600,000 credits.
Credits, not minutes, are the unit that matters here — how far a credit goes depends on the feature and the audio quality you choose. Before subscribing, estimate the monthly volume of your actual project rather than the plan headline, and check whether your intended use needs the commercial licence.
A first task to try
The short script below is written to expose the weak points of generated narration. We are not reporting a result from running it.
“Our Tuesday session starts at 9:45, runs for 2 hours, and costs 149 euros per person. Dr. Joaquín Ferreira leads it. Registration closes on the 3rd of March — after that, the waitlist opens.”
Listen for three things: how the times and prices are read aloud, how the name is pronounced, and whether the dash creates a natural pause or a stumble. These are exactly the places where a track that sounded fine in a demo needs a manual fix.
Should you choose ElevenLabs?
Choose it when a script needs a voice and hiring a narrator for every revision is impractical — explainers whose wording keeps changing, audio versions of written work, dubbing or transcription of material you already have.
Choose something else when the real task is the picture rather than the sound: generated and edited footage is covered in the Runway profile. Before committing, settle where the audio will be published, because the commercial licence starts at the $6 Starter plan and is absent from the free tier. The audio and voice category shows the other options, and the comparison table puts two of them side by side.
Before you commit
Decide where the audio will be published before you pick a plan — the commercial licence sits on the paid tiers, not the free one. If the video side of the same project is still open, the Runway profile covers generated and edited footage, and you can put two options side by side against your own requirements.
Everything above is traceable to the links in the sources section, with the date we checked them, and the editorial policy explains how we check and correct profiles.
Source check: September 22, 2026. This profile is based on the vendor’s official product and pricing pages. It contains no listening test, no sponsored review and no user ratings.
Does upgrading change the rights to older audio?
Check the subscription in effect when audio was generated. The provider says free-generated content is for noncommercial use with attribution; buying a paid subscription later does not change that older generation. Paid use also depends on the relevant terms, source rights and whether a feature is in beta. Save the generation date and applicable licence terms with your project.
Watch ElevenLabs in the vendor's own words
Published by ElevenLabs on their official YouTube channel, September 14, 2026. Nothing loads from YouTube until you press play — the preview image is served from this site. We did not produce this video and do not endorse its claims.
Official ElevenLabs channels
Collected from links published on the vendor's own website, checked September 22, 2026. Use these to verify announcements and current pricing at the source.
Frequently asked questions
Is ElevenLabs free?
Creative Free includes 10,000 monthly credits. Free-generated content is not commercially licensed, but noncommercial publication is allowed subject to attribution and the applicable terms. Do not equate no commercial licence with a blanket ban on publishing.
How much does ElevenLabs cost?
The Creative monthly page lists Starter at $6, Creator at $22 with a $11 first-month promotion, and Pro at $99. These are monthly figures from the reviewed rendering. Annual prices are not newly reverified in this check.
What is a credit on ElevenLabs?
Credits are the usage unit instead of minutes of audio. How far a credit goes depends on the feature you use and the audio quality you select, which makes plan headlines hard to translate into output. Estimate the monthly volume of an actual project rather than trusting the credit number on its own.
Can I use the audio commercially?
The provider grants commercial-use terms for qualifying content generated while on a paid subscription, subject to rights, policies and exclusions such as beta services. Free-generated content remains noncommercial even after you upgrade. Check the generation date and applicable terms.
What is the difference between Starter and Creator?
The reviewed Creative page lists 30,000 monthly credits and instant voice cloning for Starter; Creator lists 121,000 credits and professional voice cloning. Creator also shows a first-month promotion, which should be separated from its recurring price.
Is voice cloning allowed?
The feature exists on paid plans, but cloning a person's voice requires their consent, and both the platform's terms and your local law apply on top of that. Treat it as a rule of the work rather than a setting to switch on, particularly for any voice that belongs to a real identifiable person.
Evidence for key details
These checks apply to the individual details below. A recent check of one detail does not mean every section was reviewed again.
- The Creative Free plan includes 10,000 credits monthly.Documented · Provider documentation · Checked . Read the source (opens in a new tab)
- Creative Starter lists $6/month and 30,000 monthly credits.Documented · Provider documentation · Checked . Read the source (opens in a new tab)
- Creator lists $22 monthly with a $11 first-month promotion, not a recurring $11 standard fee.Documented · Provider documentation · Checked . Read the source (opens in a new tab)
- Free-generated content lacks a commercial licence; paid-generated content has conditions including rights and non-beta restrictions.Documented · Provider documentation · Checked . Read the source (opens in a new tab)
- Publishing free-generated speech requires provider attribution; upgrading later does not retroactively make that generation commercial.Documented · Provider documentation · Checked . Read the source (opens in a new tab)
Sources for this profile
Creative monthly pricing and provider publishing guidance reviewed. Creator first-month promotion is separated from its recurring monthly price. No listening test or voice-quality comparison was performed. Checked September 22, 2026. Found something out of date? The editorial policy explains how we correct profiles.
