ElevenLabs vs Riverside
Plans, free access, limits and intended use side by side, taken from each vendor’s own pages. No score and no winner: the facts show where the two differ.
Change tools
Text to speech in 74 languages, with dubbing and cloning.
Free transcripts, paid speaker labels
- Free access
- ElevenLabs: Free access
- Riverside: Free trial only
- Paid from
- ElevenLabs: No fixed price listed
- Riverside: USD 29 per month
- Plans listed
- ElevenLabs: 7
- Riverside: 6
- Public API
- ElevenLabs: Yes
- Riverside: Yes
Where ElevenLabs and Riverside differ
- AccessElevenLabs offers free access, while Riverside offers a free trial only.
- CardRiverside needs a card to start; ElevenLabs does not.
- PlansElevenLabs lists 7 plans and Riverside lists 6.
Head to head
Each value from the tool’s profile and the vendor’s own pages
| ElevenLabs | Fact | Riverside |
|---|---|---|
| Access and price | ||
| Free access availableCreative Free | Free accessDiffers | Free trial onlyTranscription tool · USD 0 |
| No fixed price listed | Lowest listed paid plan | USD 29 per monthPro · billed monthly · or $24 per month, billed annually |
| Free + paid | Pricing model | Free transcription tool; plans from $24/month billed annually |
| 7 | Plans listedDiffers | 6 |
| Yes | Public APISame | Yes |
| Not required | Card to startDiffers | Required |
| No | Open sourceSame | No |
| What it is for | ||
| Narration and voice work | Built for | Transcribing and editing multi-track podcast and video recordings |
| Audio & voice | CategorySame | Audio & voice |
| Platforms |
|
| Works with |
|
| How current | ||
| Profile sources checked | ||
| Pricing review due · Sep 25, 2026 | Pricing checkSame | Pricing review due · Sep 29, 2026 |
Official source check for both tools. No hands-on testing and no score: “Differs” marks a documented difference, not a better tool.
Plans and prices
ElevenLabs
Pricing review due · Sep 25, 2026- Creative FreeFreeno card · 10,000 credits a month
- StarterUSD 5 per monthbilled yearly · USD 6 billed monthly
- CreatorUSD 18.33 per monthbilled yearly · USD 22 billed monthly; USD 11 for the first month
- ProUSD 82.50 per monthbilled yearly · USD 99 billed monthly
- ScaleUSD 249.17 per monthbilled yearly · USD 299 billed monthly
Show 2 more plans
- BusinessUSD 825 per monthbilled yearly · USD 990 billed monthly
- EnterpriseContact provider
Riverside
Pricing review due · Sep 29, 2026- Transcription toolUSD 0no account needed
- Free trialUSD 0 for 14 dayscard required
- ProUSD 29 per monthbilled monthly · or $24 per month, billed annually
- GrowUSD 39 per monthbilled monthly · or $34 per month, billed annually
- WebinarUSD 99 per monthbilled monthly · or $79 per month, billed annually
Show 1 more plan
- BusinessCustom quote
Strengths and limits
ElevenLabs
Strengths
- One credit pool for every product: Narration, transcription, dubbing and sound effects all draw on the same monthly credits.
- Commercial license from Starter: Paid plans carry commercial rights for audio generated on them, from $6 a month.
- Credits carry over: Paid plans roll unused credits forward for up to two months.
Limits to plan around
- Free audio is noncommercial: Free-generated speech has no commercial license and needs attribution when published.
- Rights are fixed at generation time: Upgrading later does not make free-generated audio commercial.
- Paid use still has conditions: Commercial rights exclude beta features and depend on the rights to your source material.
Riverside
Strengths
- Transcriber needs no account: Files can be uploaded and downloaded as TXT or SRT without signing up.
- Speaker labels from separate tracks: Each participant recorded on a separate track is labeled in the transcript.
- Transcript drives the edit: Text edits, captions and clips all work from the same transcript.
Limits to plan around
- No free plan: The official trial guide says the free plan was replaced by a 14-day trial that needs a card.
- Content may train Riverside models: The terms allow training on inputs and outputs; opting out is limited to Business agreements.
- Capped separate track downloads: Pro allows 15 hours of separate track downloads a month.
See both products
Start from your task, not from a winner.
Run both tools on the same real task, then compare the result, how much editing it needs and how fast it uses your plan’s allowance.
How we reviewChange this pair
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Comparing tools from different categories is fine, and often useful — a writing assistant and a research tool solve different halves of the same job. The table will show you exactly where they diverge.
Questions about comparing tools
How does the comparison work?
Add two tools to the comparison tray from any tool card, then open this page. The table pulls each tool's verified plan details, platforms, strengths and limits from its profile, so both columns carry the same kind of evidence, with a separate source-check date for each tool.
Do you declare a winner?
No. The table sets two tools against each other on documented facts, not on a score. Which one wins depends on your task, your budget and your usage volume — three things we cannot see from here.
Why are some cells empty or marked unverified?
Because we could not confirm that detail on the vendor's own pages. Rather than filling the gap with a figure from elsewhere, we mark it and say why on the tool's profile.
Can I compare more than two tools?
Not at once. Two columns keep the differences readable and force a real decision. Remove either selected tool to replace it, or clear both to start a new pair.
Every figure in the table above comes from the linked profile, where the source and the verification date are listed. Browse all tools or read the editorial policy.