ElevenLabs alternatives (Nov 2026): Cartesia Pro $5, WellSaid Starter $10, Murf API from $0.01 per 1,000 characters, Speechify $29 — when Starter at $6 or Creator at $22 stops fitting

What this alternatives page covers

This page is for creators, course builders, marketers, and small product teams who use ElevenLabs for voiceovers or speech in an app, or are pricing it against other voice tools. A named person approves each cloned voice and each script before audio goes out.

Facts come from the ElevenLabs pricing page, Cartesia pricing, WellSaid pricing, Murf pricing, and Speechify pricing, all read on 8 November 2026. We did not generate your scripts, so run one real script through each tool you shortlist and listen to it on the device your audience uses.

The tools count usage differently. ElevenLabs sells monthly credits shared across every product. Cartesia sells credits plus prepaid voice-agent dollars. WellSaid sells minutes of finished, downloaded audio. Murf’s API tab prices per 1,000 characters on a pay-as-you-go basis. Speechify is a reader for listening to text. The useful question is which unit matches the work you actually do.

Ground rules: get written consent before cloning anyone’s voice; every published script gets a human listen before release. This page is not a ranking. Searches also ask about open-source and GitHub voice models; we did not test any for this page. For video tools that use AI voices, see Descript and HeyGen vs Synthesia.

Major features (with how someone uses them)

Examples at a glance: each feature has a concrete example from a real job plus a short Try this you can run this week.

1. List price at the entry plan

What it is: ElevenLabs shows Free at $0 (10,000 credits a month), Starter at $6 a month (30,000 credits; a $1 first-month offer was shown), Creator at $22 a month (121,000 credits; $11 first month), Pro at $99 (600,000 credits), Scale at $299 (1.8M credits, 3 seats), and Business at $990 (6M credits, 10 seats). Its FAQ says annual billing equals 10 months of the monthly price (ElevenLabs pricing). Cartesia shows Free at $0 (20K credits a month), Pro at $5, Startup at $49 (1.25M credits), and Scale at $299 (8M credits) (Cartesia pricing). WellSaid shows Starter at $10 a month billed annually ($120 a year) or $19 monthly, and Pro at $33 annually ($396 a year) or $49 monthly (WellSaid pricing).

Sticker prices sit close at the low end. What separates them is the unit: credits, minutes of finished audio, or characters. Convert last month’s real output into each unit before comparing.

Concrete example (course creator voicing about 40 minutes of lessons a month) She converts 40 minutes into ElevenLabs credits, Cartesia credits, and WellSaid minutes, writes the plan each would need, and only trials the two cheapest that include a commercial license.

Try this

Price your real output:

Write how many minutes of finished audio you produced last month, whether you need a commercial license or a cloned voice, and whether the audio is for videos, an app through an API, or your own listening. Price ElevenLabs and two alternatives on that volume, and only trial a tool that would let you cancel a current bill.

2. What each free option actually allows

What it is: ElevenLabs Free includes text to speech, speech to text, sound effects, voice design, and 10,000 credits a month; the commercial license and instant voice cloning start on Starter (ElevenLabs pricing). Cartesia Free includes 20K credits a month and $1 of prepaid voice-agent use; its commercial use license and instant voice cloning start on Pro (Cartesia pricing). WellSaid offers a free trial with no credit card required (WellSaid pricing).

Free tiers are for testing a voice, not for publishing client or commercial work. Check where the commercial license starts before you put audio in a paid product.

Concrete example (marketer testing voices for product videos) He runs the same 60-second script through each free option, picks two voices he would publish, and checks which paid plan carries the commercial license.

Try this

Test one script free:

Run one real 60-second script through ElevenLabs Free, Cartesia Free, and the WellSaid trial. Write which voice you would publish and which paid plan includes the commercial license for it.

3. Voice cloning and consent

What it is: ElevenLabs lists instant voice cloning from Starter and professional voice cloning from Creator (ElevenLabs pricing). Cartesia lists instant voice cloning from Pro and pro voice cloning from Startup (Cartesia pricing).

A cloned voice is a person’s likeness. Get written consent from the speaker, store it with the project, and stop using the clone if consent is withdrawn.

Concrete example (coach cloning her own voice for course updates) She records consent in writing even though the voice is hers, keeps the clone in one workspace with one owner, and listens to every generated lesson before release.

Try this

Write the consent rule:

For every cloned voice you use, write whose voice it is, where their written consent is stored, who may generate audio with it, and who listens before release.

4. API and app use vs finished voiceovers

What it is: Murf’s API tab lists pay-as-you-go text to speech at $0.01 per 1,000 characters on its Falcon model (built for voice agents) and $0.03 per 1,000 characters on its studio-quality model (Murf pricing). Cartesia lists overage rates of $65, $45, and $38 per 1M credits on Pro, Startup, and Scale, and prepaid voice-agent minutes at about $0.03 a minute (Cartesia pricing). ElevenLabs lists low-latency text to speech from about 5 cents a minute on Business (ElevenLabs pricing).

If audio is generated inside your app, per-character or per-credit API pricing matters more than a studio plan. If a person edits finished voiceovers, minutes of downloaded audio may be the clearer unit.

Concrete example (product team adding read-aloud to a help center) They estimate monthly characters from their article count, price Murf’s API, Cartesia, and ElevenLabs on that number, and set a monthly spending cap before launch.

Try this

Estimate characters:

Count the characters your app would turn into speech in a month. Price that number on each API you shortlist and write a monthly cap you would not exceed.

5. When the job is listening, not producing

What it is: Speechify lists Premium at $29 a month or $139 billed yearly, with 1,000+ voices, 60+ languages, and faster listening speeds (Speechify pricing). It is built for listening to documents and web pages.

If you only want to hear your own reading list, a reader app is the right category. If you publish audio for others, you need a production tool with a commercial license.

Concrete example (founder who wants to listen to reports on walks) He realizes he never publishes audio, cancels the voice-generation plan he was not using, and keeps only a reader.

Try this

Name the job:

Write in one line whether you produce audio for an audience or listen to text yourself. Keep only tools in the matching category.

6. One owner per voice and workspace

What it is: Every tool here keeps credits renewing and voices available after the person who set them up has moved on (ElevenLabs pricing; Cartesia pricing; WellSaid pricing).

Unused credits and forgotten clones are a cost and a risk. A named owner per workspace keeps both under control.

Concrete example (ops lead inheriting three voice tool accounts) She lists each account, its plan, its cloned voices, and its owner, then cancels the ones nobody used last month.

Try this

List voice accounts:

Write every voice tool account, its plan, its cloned voices, its owner, and last month’s usage. Cancel any account with no owner or no usage.

Pricing context (November 2026)

ElevenLabs (pricing page, read 8 Nov 2026): Free $0 (10,000 credits a month); Starter $6 a month (30,000 credits, commercial license, instant voice cloning; $1 first-month offer shown); Creator $22 (121,000 credits, professional voice cloning; $11 first month); Pro $99 (600,000 credits); Scale $299 (1.8M credits, 3 seats); Business $990 (6M credits, 10 seats); Enterprise custom. Annual billing listed as 10 months of the monthly price.

Cartesia (pricing page, read 8 Nov 2026): Free $0 (20K credits, $1 prepaid agents); Pro $5 a month (commercial use license, instant voice cloning, about 133 text-to-speech minutes); Startup $49 (1.25M credits, $49 prepaid agents, pro voice cloning); Scale $299 (8M credits, $299 prepaid agents); Enterprise custom.

WellSaid (pricing page, read 8 Nov 2026): free trial with no credit card; Starter $10 a month billed annually ($120 a year) or $19 monthly (20 minutes a month of downloaded audio on monthly billing); Pro $33 annually ($396 a year) or $49 monthly (180 minutes a month); Business $160 a user a month billed annually ($1,920 a year).

Murf (pricing page, API tab, read 8 Nov 2026): pay as you go at $0.01 per 1,000 characters (Falcon) or $0.03 per 1,000 characters (studio-quality); Enterprise custom. Speechify (pricing page): Premium $29 a month or $139 billed yearly.

Uncertainty: ElevenLabs showed first-month offers ($1 Starter, $11 Creator) on the day we read the page; the standard monthly prices are $6 and $22. Each vendor counts usage differently (credits, characters, or minutes of finished audio), so a straight price comparison can mislead until you convert your own volume. Murf’s Studio and Dub plans sit on separate tabs we did not price here. Confirm commercial license terms on the live page before publishing audio.

When it’s useful (honest take)

Look at alternatives when ElevenLabs credits run out before the month ends, when you need per-minute or per-character pricing that matches your work better, or when you only need a reader app. Keep ElevenLabs when its credits cover your output and the voices are the ones your audience already knows.

None of these help if nobody approves scripts and cloned voices. Cancel the voice tool the winner replaces, and keep written consent for every clone.

Related options (educational)

FAQ

Is there a free alternative to ElevenLabs?

ElevenLabs itself has a Free plan with 10,000 credits a month. Cartesia lists Free with 20K credits a month, and WellSaid offers a free trial with no credit card. Commercial licenses start on paid plans for ElevenLabs and Cartesia.

What is cheaper than ElevenLabs?

It depends on volume and unit. On 8 November 2026 Cartesia Pro was $5 a month, ElevenLabs Starter $6, WellSaid Starter $10 a month billed annually, and Murf’s API from $0.01 per 1,000 characters. Convert your own monthly output before comparing. This page is not a ranking.

Which alternatives offer voice cloning?

ElevenLabs lists instant cloning from Starter and professional cloning from Creator. Cartesia lists instant cloning from Pro and pro cloning from Startup. Get written consent from the speaker before cloning any voice.

Is Speechify an ElevenLabs alternative?

Only if you want to listen to text yourself. Speechify Premium ($29 a month or $139 a year) is a reader app, not a voiceover studio or API.

Who should own a voice tool account?

One named person per workspace, who approves cloned voices, keeps consent records, and checks monthly usage against the plan.

Optional next step (if seats overlap)

If you pay for two voice or audio tools, list which one your published work actually used last month before renewing either. Map the overlap with the $19 AI toolkit audit or the $9 AI toolkit spreadsheet. Email Audit $19 or Toolkit spreadsheet $9.

Checkout is live via Stripe. After you pay, we email delivery (spreadsheet) or intake next steps (audit).

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