Realistic AI voices: is the free plan enough?
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In short
ElevenLabs makes realistic AI voices in many languages. The free plan is good for trying voices. It does not include a commercial licence, so anything you publish or sell needs a paid plan.
What it costs
- Free plan: 10,000 credits a month, no commercial licence.
- Starter (first plan with a commercial licence): 30,000 credits. The pricing page mixes a promotional first-month price with the standard price, so we cannot confirm the standard price. It appears to be about $6 a month, but check the page yourself. Creator is the next step, and Pro is $99 a month.
- Source: ElevenLabs pricing page, checked 31 October 2026. Prices exclude taxes.
Suits
Narration, YouTube and podcast voice, audiobooks, multilingual projects.
Does not suit
Tight budgets with heavy use, because credits run down quickly; anyone who needs guaranteed human support. For cheap English-only licensed voiceover, see WellSaid.
What reviewers complain about
Trustpilot score 4.4 of 5 from 2,449 reviews on the day we checked (Trustpilot). Trustpilot does not fact-check reviews. Two recurring complaints:
- Billing and refunds, for example "If you cancel your subscription, you may still be automatically charged for it, and they will refuse your refund."
- Slow support and no in-app account deletion.