ElevenLabs vs Cartesia: Voice APIs Pricing (2026)
Compare / ElevenLabs vs Cartesia
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Team size
25 seats

ElevenLabs vs Cartesia

Voice APIs pricing comparison · 2026

ElevenLabs pricing ranges from $0–$990/month, while Cartesia ranges from $0–$299/month. These products use different pricing models (Hybrid (seat + usage) vs Per-seat subscription), so a direct price comparison isn't meaningful — costs depend on usage volume and mix.

Visit
See pricing on each vendor's site
Above-the-fold path — each link opens the vendor's pricing page in a new tab.
Visit ElevenLabs pricing
Free plan limits → Discount programs →
Affiliate partner — does not affect ranking.
Visit Cartesia pricing
Free plan limits → Discount programs →
Compare
2 products · AI Voice Tools
Side-by-side · live
ElevenLabs
As of October 2026, ElevenLabs pricing starts free (10,000 credits/month) and runs $6/mont
verified 10d ago
$6.6K $15K
View pricing →
Cartesia
Cartesia is a text-to-speech API platform offering plans from $0/month (Free, with 10K cre
verified 11w ago
$6.6K $15K
View pricing →
Annual license estimate
ElevenLabs costs $8.1K less than Cartesia · 25 seats where applicable
Cheapest $6.6K
Spread 55%
Estimated license cost
at 25 seats
List price × seats. Click a tier below to lock it.
Creator
$6.6K/yr
year 1 license · $22/seat
Startup
$15K/yr
year 1 license · $49/seat
REF · 01

Sources & confidence

Every dollar amount and contract clause below traces back to a sourced fact. We don't manufacture composite scores.

Where this data comes from
Vendr · TrustRadius · Reddit · BBB · official docs
Sources 48 sourced facts
44 hidden-cost · 3 contract · 1 review platform
Last verified 1w ago
Confidence Medium confidence
Sources 5 sourced facts
4 hidden-cost · 1 contract
Last verified 2mo ago
Confidence High confidence
REF · 02

Plans at a glance

Every tier per product. Lock one to drive the cost row above and reveal a tier-specific outbound CTA.

Tier ladder
Click a tier to lock the cost row to it. Locking surfaces a tier-specific Visit CTA.
REF · 03

Hidden costs

Each cost is severity-ranked, with the dollar range quoted from its source (Vendr, Reddit, TrustRadius, BBB, official docs) — never our estimate.

Beyond the sticker
Severity-ranked, sourced
5 documented
  • Premium Voice Model Surcharge
    100% premium on high-quality voices
    1 source
  • Conversational AI Per-Minute Charges
    $5.50/hour for conversational AI calls
    2 sources
  • Concurrent Agent Limits
    Requires multiple accounts for scaling
    1 source
  • Multiple Voice Slots Require Higher Tiers
    $67-$197/month for multiple voices
    1 source
  • Credit Burn from Regenerations and Errors
    10-30% of license costs
    4 sources
4 documented
  • Overage Charges
    1 source
  • Pro Voice Cloning Training Fee
    1 source
  • Telephony Rates
    $0.06/minute
    1 source
  • Lack of Enterprise Features
    1 source
REF · 04

Contract terms

The fine print, surfaced. Green = buyer-friendly. Each clause backed by a quoted source.

ElevenLabs
Cartesia
Auto-renewal
Yes
—
Cancellation
No published window; users report being charged after cancellation attempts and difficulty confirming cancellation through AI-only support
—
Commitment
✓ Monthly or annual depending on plan chosen
one year to receive a 20% discount
Price escalation
No published schedule; one user reports subscription jumping from $40 to $400 without consent — could reflect usage overages or unauthorized upgrade
—
Can downgrade
✓ Yes
—
Based on 4 verified sources (Vendr · TrustRadius · BBB)
REF · 05

What users say

Aggregated, with sample sizes. We use whichever review platform has data.

User reviews
TrustRadius · Trustpilot · G2
Trustpilot
1.4out of 5 (23)
Best for
Building and testing for free
Watch out
Credits wiped upon subscription cancellation with no refund
No public ratings yet
Best for
Starting free with basic text-to-speech and speech-to-text usage
Watch out
Limited Voice Library and Language Support
Decide
Get a quote from each vendor
Each link opens the vendor's pricing page in a new tab.
Visit ElevenLabs pricing
Free plan limits → Discount programs →
Affiliate partner — does not affect ranking.
Visit Cartesia pricing
Free plan limits → Discount programs →
License cost is computed from publicly listed plans (real math, list price × seats). Median annual cost is from Vendr's deal flow when available — see source badges. Hidden costs and contract terms each cite their own sources. We do not invent composite scores.
Option A

ElevenLabs

$0–$990
/month
7 plans · Free tier
Full pricing breakdown →
VS
Option B

Cartesia

$0–$299
/month
5 plans · Free tier
Full pricing breakdown →
⚖

Different Pricing Models

Direct price comparison isn't meaningful here — ElevenLabs uses Hybrid (seat + usage) pricing while Cartesia uses Per-seat subscription pricing. Your actual cost will depend on usage volume, team size, or both. Here's each product in its native unit.

Hybrid (seat + usage)

ElevenLabs

$0–$990 / month
From $0.17 per extra minute
See full ElevenLabs pricing →
vs
Per-seat subscription

Cartesia

$0–$299 / month
See full Cartesia pricing →

ElevenLabs and Cartesia are both voice apis competitors. This page compares their list pricing tier by tier so you can see which is cheaper for your workload shape.

Plan-by-Plan Pricing

Plan ElevenLabs Cartesia
Free Free /month Free /user/month
Starter $6 /month $5 /user/month
Creator $22 /month $49 /user/month
Pro $99 /month $299 /user/month
Scale $299 /month Custom
Business $990 /month —
Enterprise Custom —

Cost at Scale

Total cost of ownership — licenses, implementation, and hidden costs included.

ElevenLabs

16 scenarios
$0/month (free tier with basic features)
Solo / Getting Started
$99/month
Growing Business
Custom pricing — typically negotiated annually, contact sales for quote
Enterprise (100+ users)
See all 16 scenarios →

Cartesia

7 scenarios
$0/month (Free plan)
Individual Developer
$4/month (Pro plan)
Pro User
$48/year
$39/month (Startup plan)
Early-Stage Startup
$468/year
See all 7 scenarios →

Hidden Costs

Beyond the sticker price — what catches buyers off guard.

ElevenLabs 24 hidden costs

high
Premium Voice Model Surcharge 100% premium on high-quality voices
critical
Conversational AI Per-Minute Charges $5.50/hour for conversational AI calls
medium
Concurrent Agent Limits Requires multiple accounts for scaling
medium
Multiple Voice Slots Require Higher Tiers $67-$197/month for multiple voices
high
Credit Burn from Regenerations and Errors 10-30% of license costs
See all ElevenLabs hidden costs →

Cartesia 4 hidden costs

high
Overage Charges
medium
Pro Voice Cloning Training Fee
medium
Telephony Rates $0.06/minute
critical
Lack of Enterprise Features
See all Cartesia hidden costs →

Contract Terms

Term ElevenLabs Cartesia
Auto-renewal Yes —
Cancellation No published window; users report being charged after cancellation attempts and difficulty confirming cancellation through AI-only support —
Minimum commitment Monthly or annual depending on plan chosen one year to receive a 20% discount
Price escalation No published schedule; one user reports subscription jumping from $40 to $400 without consent — could reflect usage overages or unauthorized upgrade —
Can downgrade Yes —

Continue researching

ElevenLabs

Cartesia

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