ElevenLabs Pricing: Credits, Plans and Which Tier You Need
ElevenLabs pricing explained: Free, Starter $6, Creator $22, Pro $99, Scale and Business plans, how credits work, the real cost per minute and which tier to pick.
On this page
- Key takeaways
- ElevenLabs plans and prices at a glance
- How ElevenLabs credits work
- ElevenLabs Free plan: what $0 gets you
- Starter, Creator and Pro: the plans for individuals
- Scale, Business and Enterprise for teams
- The real cost per minute on each ElevenLabs plan
- Hidden costs and fine print
- How ElevenLabs compares on price
- Which ElevenLabs plan should you choose?
- Frequently asked questions
- Final verdict: the right ElevenLabs tier
ElevenLabs pricing starts with a Free plan at $0 that gives you 10,000 credits a month (about 10 minutes of text to speech), then moves through Starter at $6, Creator at $22, Pro at $99, Scale at $299 and Business at $990 per month, with Enterprise on custom terms. Every paid plan includes a commercial license, and credits are the real currency: roughly 1,000 credits buys about one minute of generated speech on ElevenLabs’ own estimates. For most creators and freelancers, Creator is the plan that makes sense, while Starter is the cheapest way to get a commercial license and voice cloning.
This guide explains how ElevenLabs credits work, what each tier includes as of September 2026, the real cost per minute on every plan, and which tier fits your workload.
Key takeaways
- Free gives 10,000 credits a month (about 10 minutes of speech) but no voice cloning and no commercial license.
- Starter at $6 a month is the cheapest plan with a commercial license and Instant Voice Cloning.
- Creator at $22 a month adds Professional Voice Cloning and 121,000 credits, and it is the best fit for most YouTubers, podcasters and freelancers.
- The cost per minute falls from about $0.20 on Starter to about $0.17 on Pro and above, so upgrading mainly buys volume, seats and cloning slots.
- Scale and Business are team plans with 3 and 10 seats, and annual pricing was not visible on the official page when we checked.
ElevenLabs plans and prices at a glance
ElevenLabs sells monthly subscriptions that refill a pool of credits. The table below lists the list price, monthly credits and the headline feature for each tier, based on the official pricing page.
| Plan | Price (USD) | Credits per month | Approx. TTS minutes | Voice cloning | Commercial license |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 10,000 | About 10 | None | No |
| Starter | $6/month | 30,000 | About 30 | Instant | Yes |
| Creator | $22/month | 121,000 | About 121 | Professional | Yes |
| Pro | $99/month | 600,000 | About 600 | Professional | Yes |
| Scale | $299/month | 1,800,000 | About 1,800 | 3 Professional clones | Yes, 3 seats |
| Business | $990/month | 6,000,000 | About 6,000 | 10 Professional clones | Yes, 10 seats |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom | Custom | Yes |
The minute figures are ElevenLabs’ own approximations for text to speech. Real usage depends on the model and features you use, so treat them as a guide. You can check the live numbers on the official ElevenLabs pricing page. If you are still deciding between voice tools, our ElevenLabs vs Murf AI comparison puts the two side by side.
How ElevenLabs credits work
Credits are the unit ElevenLabs uses to meter almost everything you generate. Your plan refills your balance each billing month, and every generation draws it down. The pricing page pairs each credit allowance with an estimated number of text to speech minutes, and the ratio is consistent: about 1,000 credits per minute of speech.
That ratio makes the math easy. If you produce a 10 minute YouTube voiceover each week, you need roughly 40,000 to 45,000 credits a month, before any retakes. Starter (30,000) would run out, and Creator (121,000) would leave plenty of room for rewrites and alternate takes.
Tip: Budget for retakes. Most people regenerate lines to fix pacing, pronunciation or emphasis, so plan for your real credit use to be noticeably higher than your finished audio length. Editing your script before you generate is the cheapest way to save credits.
The official page we checked did not show clearly whether unused credits roll over or how much extra credits cost once you run out. Check your account’s billing settings before you rely on either, especially if your workload is spiky.
ElevenLabs Free plan: what $0 gets you
The Free plan gives you 10,000 credits a month, roughly 10 minutes of text to speech, and up to 3 Studio projects. Studio is ElevenLabs’ long-form editor for audiobooks, narrations and multi-voice scripts.
Two limits matter most. There is no voice cloning on Free, and there is no commercial license. That means Free is for testing voices and models, not for client work, monetized YouTube channels or ads.
Who it is for: anyone comparing voices, students and people building a demo. Who should skip it: anyone publishing audio for money. For other no-cost options, see our roundup of the best free AI tools.
Starter, Creator and Pro: the plans for individuals
Starter ($6 per month)
Starter is the entry point for commercial use. You get 30,000 credits a month (about 30 minutes), Instant Voice Cloning, a commercial license and up to 20 Studio projects. Instant Voice Cloning creates a usable copy of a voice from a short sample, which is enough for many social clips and explainer videos.
Starter suits freelancers who produce a few short voiceovers a month, small businesses making product videos, and anyone who wants to test cloning before committing. If you plan to clone your own voice, read our guide on how to clone your voice with ElevenLabs safely first.
Creator ($22 per month)
Creator lists at $22 a month and gives 121,000 credits (about 121 minutes). It adds Professional Voice Cloning, which trains a higher-fidelity clone from a larger set of recordings. The pricing page also showed a first-month discount that appeared to be 50% off (about $11), but the page layout made the exact offer hard to read, so confirm it at checkout.
This is the plan most creators should start with. Weekly YouTube voiceovers, a podcast intro and outro, course narration and short audiobook chapters all fit comfortably inside 121,000 credits.
Pro ($99 per month)
Pro gives 600,000 credits (about 600 minutes) with Professional Voice Cloning and a commercial license. At roughly 10 hours of audio a month, it is built for audiobook narrators, agencies with a steady flow of client voiceovers, and developers testing voice features in an app.
Pros
- Commercial license on every paid plan, starting at $6
- Clear credit to minute ratio makes budgeting simple
- Professional Voice Cloning from $22 a month
Cons
- No commercial use or cloning on Free
- Annual pricing was not shown on the page we checked
- Retakes eat credits quickly on long scripts
Scale, Business and Enterprise for teams
The higher tiers are less about voice quality and more about volume, seats and clone slots.
- Scale ($299 per month): 1.8 million credits, 3 seats and 3 Professional Voice Clones. A good fit for small studios or content teams that share one account.
- Business ($990 per month): 6 million credits, 10 seats and 10 Professional Voice Clones. Aimed at agencies and media companies producing audio at scale.
- Enterprise (custom): negotiated volume and terms for large organizations. Contact sales for details.
If you run an agency, the decision usually comes down to how many people need logins and how many distinct branded voices you maintain. Our guide to AI for marketing agencies covers how to price voice work into client retainers, and our explainer on AI team plans shows when shared seats beat separate subscriptions.
The real cost per minute on each ElevenLabs plan
Dividing each plan’s price by its estimated minutes shows how much you pay for one minute of generated speech, assuming you use your full allowance.
| Plan | Price | Approx. minutes | Cost per minute |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $6 | 30 | About $0.20 |
| Creator | $22 | 121 | About $0.18 |
| Pro | $99 | 600 | About $0.165 |
| Scale | $299 | 1,800 | About $0.166 |
| Business | $990 | 6,000 | About $0.165 |
The takeaway is that the per-minute rate barely moves after Pro. Moving from Pro to Scale or Business does not make each minute cheaper. It buys more volume, more seats and more clone slots. So only upgrade when you need those things.
The bigger cost driver is unused credits. If you pay $99 for Pro but only generate 200 minutes, your effective rate is about $0.50 per minute, which is worse than Starter. Pick the plan that matches your real monthly output, not your best month.
Save money: Track your credit use for two full months before upgrading. If you regularly finish the month with more than half your credits left, drop a tier. Our guide to 12 ways to save money on AI subscriptions has more tactics like this.
Hidden costs and fine print
- Licensing on Free. Free output does not come with a commercial license. Do not use it in ads, client projects or monetized videos.
- Annual billing. Annual prices were not visible on the official page when we checked. ElevenLabs has offered roughly two months free on annual billing in the past, but confirm the current offer before you commit. Our guide on annual vs monthly AI plans explains when committing makes sense.
- Clone slots. Scale includes 3 Professional Voice Clones and Business includes 10. If you manage many client voices, slots can force an upgrade before credits do.
- Currency and tax. Prices are in USD. Buyers in India may see card foreign transaction fees and GST on top, and we did not find an official rupee price.
- Consent. Only clone voices you have permission to use. This is both an ethical rule and a platform requirement.
How ElevenLabs compares on price
ElevenLabs is not the only voice generator, and the right choice depends on whether you need cloning, a studio editor or an API.
Murf AI is the most common alternative. Its official pricing page did not load for us, but a recent third-party source lists Creator at about $29 a month (about $19 billed annually) and Business at about $99 a month, with commercial rights on paid plans. Treat those Murf figures as approximate. For a wider field, see our list of the best AI voice generators and our hands-on ElevenLabs review.
If you are pairing voiceovers with video, factor in the video tool too. Our Runway pricing guide breaks down the cost per second of AI video, and our tutorial on how to make an AI video from text shows where ElevenLabs fits in that workflow.
Which ElevenLabs plan should you choose?
| If you are… | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Testing voices or learning | Free | 10 minutes a month, no cost, but no commercial use |
| A freelancer with a few short client clips | Starter | Commercial license and Instant Voice Cloning for $6 |
| A YouTuber or podcaster publishing weekly | Creator | About 121 minutes plus Professional Voice Cloning |
| An audiobook narrator or busy agency | Pro | About 600 minutes at roughly $0.165 per minute |
| A small studio sharing one account | Scale | 3 seats and 3 Professional Voice Clones |
| A media company or large agency | Business or Enterprise | 10 seats, 10 clones and 6 million credits, or custom terms |
Developers building voice into a product should also compare ElevenLabs with general AI APIs. Our OpenAI API pricing breakdown lists current per-minute rates for transcription and realtime audio models.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free version of ElevenLabs?
Yes. The Free plan costs nothing and includes 10,000 credits a month, which is about 10 minutes of text to speech, plus up to 3 Studio projects. It does not include voice cloning or a commercial license, so it is best for testing voices and models before you pay for Starter or Creator.
Is ElevenLabs worth it for YouTube?
For most YouTubers, yes, as long as you are on a paid plan. Free output has no commercial license, so it should not go into monetized videos. Creator at $22 a month gives about 121 minutes of speech and Professional Voice Cloning, which covers a weekly upload schedule with room for retakes.
How many characters or minutes do ElevenLabs credits give?
ElevenLabs pairs each plan’s credits with an estimate of about one minute of text to speech per 1,000 credits. Starter’s 30,000 credits equal about 30 minutes, Creator’s 121,000 about 121 minutes and Pro’s 600,000 about 600 minutes. Actual usage varies by model and feature, so check the estimate inside your account.
How much does ElevenLabs cost in India?
We did not find an official rupee price. ElevenLabs lists plans in USD, from $6 a month for Starter to $990 a month for Business. Indian buyers paying by card may also see foreign transaction fees and GST, so confirm the final amount at checkout before you subscribe.
Which ElevenLabs plan includes voice cloning?
Instant Voice Cloning starts on Starter at $6 a month. Professional Voice Cloning, which produces a higher-fidelity clone from more training audio, starts on Creator at $22 a month and is included on Pro. Scale includes 3 Professional Voice Clones and Business includes 10. Free has no cloning at all.
Final verdict: the right ElevenLabs tier
Most people should start on Creator at $22 a month. It covers about two hours of speech, includes Professional Voice Cloning and carries a commercial license. Pick Starter if you only need a handful of short commercial clips, and move to Pro only when you reliably use more than 121 minutes a month. Scale and Business make sense when seats and clone slots, not minutes, become the bottleneck. ElevenLabs pricing and credit allowances change often, so confirm the current plans on the official ElevenLabs pricing page before you subscribe.
Pricing and features are checked at the time of writing and can change. Some links may be affiliate links, which never affect our verdicts.
