ElevenLabs vs Cartesia
Both generate synthetic voices, but for different audiences. ElevenLabs is a broad audio platform for voiceover, dubbing, and voice agents; Cartesia is an API-first infrastructure for realtime speech with explicit latency and concurrency limits.
When to pick which
Choose ElevenLabs if voice recording, dubbing, and a studio for content teams are the priority; a Free tier exists, Starter costs around $5-6 a month depending on billing, and the pricing page states 30,000 credits a month, roughly 30 TTS minutes in the interface. Choose Cartesia if realtime TTS, speech-to-text, and managed voice agents need to go into your own application via API; Pro costs $5 a month with 100,000 credits plus a $5 agent credit allowance, the Sonic model gives roughly 133 minutes per the vendor, the Ink model roughly 9 hours 16 minutes, at a concurrency of 3 TTS plus 12 STT and 12 agent connections each.
Differences at a glance
- ElevenLabs bundles voiceover, dubbing, and voice agents into one content platform; Cartesia delivers TTS, STT, and voice agents as a usage-based API infrastructure.
- Cartesia's Pro tier starts at $5 a month with 100,000 credits and its own agent credit allowance; ElevenLabs' Starter tier runs around $5-6 a month, depending on billing and first-month pricing.
- Cartesia states explicit concurrency limits (3 simultaneous TTS, 12 STT, and 12 agent connections), a figure aimed at developer-facing realtime infrastructure that does not appear in this form at ElevenLabs.
- ElevenLabs' pricing table counts in credits with an approximate minute figure for the interface; Cartesia additionally counts in model-dependent speech duration, with notably more minutes on the Ink than the Sonic model.
ElevenLabs vs Cartesia| Criterion | ElevenLabs | Cartesia |
|---|
| Free access | Free plan | Free plan |
|---|
| Paid from | Starter · $6 / $5month, monthly / annual billing | Pro · 5 USDmonth |
|---|
Published plans by vendor
Each vendor separately. The same row does not mean the same plan. Prices follow the selected price region.
ElevenLabs
- Free · freeMonth · The credits listed describe ElevenCreative. ElevenAgents publishes call minutes; model and telephony costs may be additional.
- Starter · $6 / $5month, monthly / annual billing · The credits listed describe ElevenCreative. ElevenAgents publishes call minutes; model and telephony costs may be additional.
- Creator · $22 / $11 / $18.33month: regular / first month / annual billing · The credits listed describe ElevenCreative. ElevenAgents publishes call minutes; model and telephony costs may be additional.
- Pro · $99 / $82.50month, monthly / annual billing · The credits listed describe ElevenCreative. ElevenAgents publishes call minutes; model and telephony costs may be additional.
- Scale · $299 / $249.17month, monthly / annual billing · The credits listed describe ElevenCreative. ElevenAgents publishes call minutes; model and telephony costs may be additional.
- Business · $990 / $825month, monthly / annual billing · The credits listed describe ElevenCreative. ElevenAgents publishes call minutes; model and telephony costs may be additional.
- Enterprise · contact salesCustom · The credits listed describe ElevenCreative. ElevenAgents publishes call minutes; model and telephony costs may be additional.
Cartesia
- Free · freefree
- Pro · 5 USDmonth
- Startup · 49 USDmonth
- Scale · 299 USDmonth
- Enterprise · contact salescustom
Official sources
ElevenLabs
- ElevenLabs pricing (elevenlabs.io)
- ElevenLabs help (help.elevenlabs.io)
Cartesia
- Cartesia pricing (cartesia.ai)
- Cartesia (docs.cartesia.ai)
FAQ
Can ElevenLabs and Cartesia be tried for free?
ElevenLabs: Free plan. Cartesia: Free plan.
Where are the vendors of ElevenLabs and Cartesia based?
ElevenLabs: Eleven Labs, Inc., USA. Cartesia: Cartesia AI, Inc., USA.
Are ElevenLabs and Cartesia listed in the same category?
ElevenLabs is listed under the “Audio & Voice” category, Cartesia under “Audio & Voice.”
How many pricing tiers do ElevenLabs and Cartesia offer?
ElevenLabs documents 9 plans, Cartesia documents 5 plans, each with price, billing period, and included features.
Where do the price and product details for ElevenLabs and Cartesia come from?
For ElevenLabs and Cartesia, prices, limits, and product details are each based on the current official vendor page. Missing values stay marked as not published rather than being estimated.
