ElevenLabs offers a free plan, with 10,000 credits per month. But there are two things that most people are looking for: commercial use and voice cloning. Both start at 6 $ per month. This is the only figure to be used before comparing formulas.
📌 Essentials
- Free: 10 000 credits per month, but no commercial license or voice cloning.
- Starter, 6 $ per month : the real entry point, with commercial license and instant cloning.
- Creator, 22 $ : 121 000 credits and professional cloning, more faithful.
- Pro, 99 $ : audio in 192 kbps and PCM output 44,1 kHz per programming interface.
- The Decision Level is between free and Starter, for 6 $ It is the right to exploit your voices.
Listen before choosing: 10,000 credits per month without credit card.
Try ElevenLabsContents: Grid 2026 • The free plan • What credits are worth • Both cloning • Audio quality • Which formula to choose • FAQ
The tariff scheduleElevenLabs in 2026
| Formula | Monthly | Annual | Monthly appropriations | What it's unlocking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | 0 $ | 0 $ | 10 000 | Discovery, without commercial use |
| Starter | 6 $ | 5 $ per month | 30 000 | Commercial license, instant cloning |
| Creator | 22 $ | 18.33 $ per month | 121 000 | Professional Cloning |
| Pro | 99 $ | 82.50 $ per month | 600 000 | 192 kbps and PCM 44,1 kHz per API |
| Scale | 299 $ | 249.17 $ per month | 1 800 000 | 3 seats, teamwork |
| Business | 990 $ | 825 $ per month | 6 000 000 | Low latency synthesis, 10 seats |
Annual billing amounts to ten out of twelve months, or about 17% discount. Beyond Business, an Enterprise formula on offer adds contractual commitments, data processing agreements and single authentication.
Note a business practice to know: the Creator formula is regularly displayed at half price the first month, 11 $ for 22 $. It's a call-back, not a sustainable tariff, and many comparisons take it back as if it were the normal price.
The free plan: generous in volume, bound in rights
Ten thousand credits a month, it's comfortable to discover. You have access to voice synthesis, transcription, sound effects, voice design, music generation and three projects in the Studio. What to judge seriously quality, which remains the best reference in the French market.
⚠️ Two decisive absences. The free plan does not include commercial licence The voices generated cannot be monetized. And he does not give access to voice cloning, neither instant nor professional. It is precisely the two functions that bring most people to ElevenLabs.
In practical terms, the voiceover produced for free cannot dress a video YouTube monetized advertising or a sponsored podcast. The free is used to validate that voice you like, not to produce.
The good news is that switching to a payer costs only 6 $. Fewtools place their first level so low, and that's what makes ElevenLabs accessible despite very expensive high formulas. We detail what the offer actually allows without paying in our article on on AI Voice free.
What the credits really are worth
An appropriation corresponds approximately to a text character converted to speech. This equivalence gives usable benchmarks.
- 10 000 appropriations, free plan: about 10 minutes of voice per month, that is some essays.
- 30 000 appropriations, Starter : about 30 minutes, enough to sound three to four short videos per month.
- 121 000 appropriations, Creator : about two hours, a regular production rhythm.
- 600 000 appropriations, Pro: about ten hours, for podcasts or audiobooks.
Note however: these markers apply to simple voice synthesis. Dubbing, voice conversion and music generation consume more, and the latest models do not all cost the same. Check the displayed count before starting a long processing.
💡 Tip: Read and correct your text before converting it. Each regeneration of a poorly written sentence consumes credits, while the upstream correction costs nothing.
Instant or Professional Cloning: the real hierarchy
This is what separates Starter from Creator, and the difference is more qualitative than budgetary.
| Instant Cloning | Professional Cloning | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum formula | Starter, 6 $ | Creator, 22 $ |
| Sample required | A few minutes | Thirty minutes or more |
| Deadline | Immediate action | Training |
| Loyalty | Good, recognizable | Very close to the original |
| Standard use | Voiceover regular | Brand, recurring character |
For the majority of creators, instant cloning is largely enough: it captures the general stamp and intonation, which makes it possible to voiceover One video to another is consistent. Professional cloning is justified when the voice becomes an active identity, for example for a brand or character that the public recognizes.
Our guide to clone his voice with ElevenLabs details the step-by-step procedure and the pitfalls to be avoided when recording the sample.
Want to test voice quality?
The free plan gives 10,000 credits per month, without credit card.
Audio quality, often overlooked
Point rarely mentioned in comparison, and yet determining if your sound passes through a editing. The free plan comes out in 128 kbps at 44,1 kHz. The Pro formula must be reached at 99 $, to obtain 192 kbps and PCM output 44,1 kHz per programming interface.
For a voiceover broadcast as it is on social networks, 128 kbps is indistinguishable. The difference becomes audible when the file undergoes several treatments: compression, mixing with music, reencoding by the platform. Each step degrades, and starting from a richer file leaves a margin.
In practice, the jump to 99 $ is justified only for serious audio production, professional podcast or audio book. A video creator doesn't need it.
Which formula to choose according to your use
| Your situation | Formula | Why? |
|---|---|---|
| You test the quality of the voices | Free | 10 000 credits are sufficient to judge, without broadcasting rights |
| Voiceover for monetized videos | Starter, 6 $ | Commercial licensing and instant cloning |
| Regular production, voice of brand | Creator, 22 $ | Professional Cloning and 121 000 credits |
| Podcast or audiobook | Pro, 99 $ | 192 kbps and hourly volume |
| Industrial team and volumes | Scale or Business | Shared seats and reduced latency |
To compare ElevenLabs to its direct competitors on the value for money, see our comparison ElevenLabs against Murf AI and our selection of the best voiceover AI in French. And to judgetool beyond its price, our review complete on ElevenLabs details the quality achieved.
Credit doesn't refer: what it implies
Management point that few comparatives report: credits included in a subscription ElevenLabs do not refer one month to the other. What you didn't consume on the 30th is lost on the 1st.
The consequence is counter-intuitive. On an irregular use, a generous formula is expensive for nothing: you pay 22 $ for 121,000 credits you consume 30,000 in calm months. It is better to stay on Starter and accept to be a little bit just the months loaded, even if to shift a production.
- Regular and predictable production: choose the formula that fits your monthly average.
- Production in peaks: Stay at the bottom, wastage of the hollow months costs more than the discomfort of the full months.
- Major one-time project: Go up from a formula the month concerned, then go down. The change is possible during subscription.
Another useful reflex: simple voice synthesis consumes much less than dubbing or voice conversion. If your quota emptys faster than expected, first look at what functions you use before concluding that you need the higher formula.
Finally, be aware that additional credits can be charged for use on the Creator formula, which avoids tilting on an entire plane for occasional overrun.
Our verdict on value for money
🎯 Verdict
ElevenLabs has the lowest paying first level of the market, and that's its real strength: 6 $ sufficient to obtain commercial license and voice cloning, the two functions absent from free. For a video creator, Starter covers the essentials and Creator 22 $ is justified only if the voice becomes a brand element. Forms to 99 $ and beyond are aimed at professional audio production, not creators. The trap to avoid: to produce voiceover on the free plan then discover that they cannot be monetized.
Frequently asked questions about pricesElevenLabs
ElevenLabs Is it free?
Yes, with 10,000 credits per month, or about ten minutes of votes. On the other hand, the free plan does not include commercial license or voice cloning: the files produced cannot be monetized.
How much does it cost ElevenLabs a month?
Start at 6 $, Creator at 22 $, Pro to 99 $Scale to 299 $ and Business at 990 $, with about 17% annual billing discount. An Enterprise formula on offer completes the range.
Can we use the voices? ElevenLabs Commercially?
Only from the Starter formula, to 6 $ per month, which includes the commercial licence. The free plan does not agree, which excludes any monetized video, advertising or sponsored podcast.
From what formula can you clone your voice?
Instant cloning is included from Starter to 6 $. Professional cloning, more faithful but requiring a long sample and training, requires the formula Creator at 22 $.
How many minutes with 30,000 credits?
About thirty minutes of voice synthesis voice, a credit corresponding to approximately one character. Dubbing and music generation consume more, and credits do not go back one month to the other.
Does audio quality change according to the formula?
Yes. The free comes out in 128 kbps at 44,1 kHz, and you need the Pro formula at 99 $ to reach 192 kbps and PCM output 44,1 kHz per programming interface. The difference is discernible only after several processings of the file.
