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ElevenLabs pricing runs from a free plan to $990 per month, and for most independent creators the right answer is either Starter at $6 per month or Creator at $22 per month. Which one depends on how many minutes of voice you publish, whether you need a commercial license (Free does not list one), and whether you want a professional clone of your own voice.
Every ElevenLabs plan is built on credits that are shared across text to speech, speech to text, sound effects, music and the other tools. Below we lay out each plan as of November 2026, explain how credits, rollover and annual billing work, translate credits into minutes, and give a simple way to pick a plan without paying for audio you never publish.
How we reviewed: based on ElevenLabs' official pricing page, its plan comparison table and pricing FAQ, checked November 7, 2026. We have not run a paid account test for this article. Prices exclude taxes and promotions change often, so confirm current figures on the ElevenLabs pricing page.
ElevenLabs pricing at a glance (November 2026)
Monthly prices in USD from the ElevenLabs pricing page, ElevenCreative tab, monthly billing. Prices exclude taxes, levies and duties.
| Plan | Price | Credits per month | Approx. TTS minutes | Key additions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 10,000 | Limited use | Core tools, 3 Studio projects |
| Starter | $6/month (first-month offer was $1 when we checked) | 30,000 | ~30 | Commercial license, Instant Voice Cloning, 20 Studio projects, Dubbing Studio |
| Creator | $22/month ($11 first month offer) | 121,000 | ~121 | Professional Voice Cloning, 192 kbps audio |
| Pro | $99/month | 600,000 | ~600 | 44.1kHz PCM output via API |
| Scale | $299/month | 1.8M | ~1,800 | 3 workspace seats, 3 Professional Voice Clones |
| Business | $990/month | 6M | ~6,000 | 10 seats, 10 Professional Voice Clones, low-latency TTS from 5 cents/minute |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom | Custom terms, DPA/SLA, SSO, HIPAA BAAs |
The $1 Starter first-month price was labeled “Until Nov 16” when we checked, so it may have ended by the time you read this. The Creator first-month price was shown as 50% off.
How ElevenLabs credits work
Credits are the currency for everything. According to the pricing FAQ:
- One shared pool. All products draw from one monthly credit pool, so the sound effects and music you generate reduce the credits left for narration.
- Cost depends on the tool and model. The FAQ gives approximate costs such as about 1 credit per character of text to speech (the exact cost depends on the model), 330 credits per minute of speech to text, and 200 credits per sound effect generation.
- You pay per generation, not per download. Regenerating a line five times to get the delivery right costs five times. This is the biggest hidden cost for creators.
- Credits reset each billing cycle, and unused credits roll over for up to two months, with your balance capped at three times your monthly quota.
- Downgrades and cancellations: your plan stays active until the cycle ends, then the account moves to Free and unused paid credits expire. Upgrading carries unused credits into the next cycle.
Practical rule of thumb from the plan table: about 1,000 credits per minute of standard text to speech. Starter’s 30,000 credits are listed as ~30 minutes, and Creator’s 121,000 as ~121 minutes.
ElevenLabs pricing per minute
The comparison table lists an approximate price for each extra minute of text to speech beyond what your plan includes. Dividing the monthly price by included minutes gives a similar picture:
| Plan | Included TTS minutes | Monthly price ÷ minutes | Listed extra minute |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Limited use | $0 | ~$0.36 |
| Starter | ~30 | about $0.20 | ~$0.20 |
| Creator | ~121 | about $0.18 | ~$0.18 |
| Pro | ~600 | about $0.17 | ~$0.17 |
| Scale | ~1,800 | about $0.17 | ~$0.17 |
| Business | ~6,000 | about $0.17 | ~$0.17 |
The per-minute cost falls sharply from Starter to Creator and then flattens. Above Creator, you are paying mainly for more volume, seats and voice clones, not a cheaper minute. That makes the choice simpler for solo creators: pick the plan whose included minutes match your real monthly output, with a margin for retakes.
Is ElevenLabs free?
Yes, there is a Free plan with 10,000 credits per month and access to text to speech, speech to text, sound effects, voice design, music, image tools and 3 Studio projects. It is enough to compare voices, test a script and hear how your content sounds.
Is ElevenLabs free for commercial use? The pricing page lists “Commercial License” as something Starter adds on top of Free, and Starter is also where “Music commercial use” appears. If you publish monetized videos, podcasts, ads, course lessons or client work, plan on at least Starter, and read ElevenLabs’ terms for the exact licensing conditions before you publish anything made on Free.
Which ElevenLabs plan should a creator pick?
Starter ($6/month): occasional narration
About 30 minutes of text to speech, commercial license, Instant Voice Cloning and 10 custom voice slots. Good for a weekly short-form channel, a few course lessons, or voiceovers for social clips. If you post a two-minute voiceover three times a week, that is roughly 24 minutes before retakes, which already uses most of Starter.
Creator ($22/month): regular publishing or your own voice
About 121 minutes, Professional Voice Cloning, 30 custom voice slots and 192 kbps audio. This is the plan for a weekly podcast-style narration, a YouTube channel with several long voiceovers per month, or anyone who wants a high-quality clone of their own voice. Rollover helps if your output is uneven: credits you do not use can carry into the next two months, up to three times your monthly quota.
Pro ($99/month): heavy output or API use
About 600 minutes and 44.1kHz PCM output via API. It makes sense for audiobook narrators, creators producing several channels, or anyone building ElevenLabs into an automated workflow. Solo creators rarely need it unless they publish hours of audio monthly.
Scale and Business: small teams
Scale adds 3 workspace seats and 3 Professional Voice Clones; Business adds 10 seats and 10 clones. These are for studios and small agencies sharing one account, not individual creators.
How to avoid overpaying for ElevenLabs
- Measure retakes first. Because you pay per generation, track how many attempts a typical paragraph takes. If it is three, your real usage is three times your published minutes.
- Edit the script before generating. Fix pronunciation notes, pauses and punctuation in text first. Regenerating long blocks to fix one word wastes credits; generate in shorter sections.
- Use annual billing only after three steady months. The FAQ says annual billing works out to two months free (you pay for ten). On Creator that is $220 a year instead of $264, but only if you would have stayed subscribed all year.
- Use rollover deliberately. If you batch-produce once a month, Creator’s rollover lets light months fund heavy ones, within the two-month and three-times-quota limits.
- Don’t downgrade with a big balance. Unused paid credits expire when you drop to Free at the end of the cycle. Spend them first.
- Watch first-month offers. The $1 Starter and $11 Creator first months are promotions; budget for the regular $6 and $22.
Annual billing and other plan details
- Annual billing: two months free. As a calculation from monthly prices, that is $60/year for Starter, $220 for Creator, $990 for Pro, $2,990 for Scale and $9,900 for Business.
- Languages: the comparison table lists 74 languages for text to speech on paid plans.
- Audio quality: 128 kbps, 44.1kHz on Starter; 128 and 192 kbps from Creator; WAV/PCM 44.1kHz output via API on Pro and above.
- Concurrent requests: about 3 on Starter, 5 on Creator, 10 on Pro, 15 on Scale and 25 on Business, which matters only if you generate many files at once through the API.
- Custom voice slots: 10 on Starter, 30 on Creator, 160 on Pro, 660 on Scale and 2,200 on Business.
What about ElevenAgents and the API?
The pricing page has separate tabs for ElevenCreative (the creator tools covered here), ElevenAgents (conversational voice agents) and ElevenAPI (developer access). This guide covers the ElevenCreative plans that most creators buy. If you plan to build a voice assistant for your community or call the API from your own app or automation, open those tabs and price them separately, because their units and limits can differ from the creator plans. ElevenLabs also promotes a Startup Grants program for companies building voice agents; it is aimed at startups rather than individual creators.
Limits and risks
- Voice cloning responsibility. Clone only your own voice or a voice you have clear written permission to use. Disclose AI voices where your platform or audience expects it.
- Credits can surprise you. Music, sound effects and dubbing share the same pool as narration. Check the remaining balance before a big batch.
- Promotions change. First-month prices and offers on the page are time-limited; plan your budget on regular prices.
- Licensing on Free. Free does not list a commercial license; do not build a monetized series on it.
For a look at how ElevenLabs performs in a narration workflow, read our ElevenLabs review for story-driven narration. Comparing tools? See our Murf AI review and Riverside vs ElevenLabs.
A one-week plan to choose your plan
- Day 1: on Free, generate the same 150-word script in three voices. Pick one.
- Day 2–3: produce one real piece of content end to end. Count published minutes and total generations, including retakes.
- Day 4: multiply by your monthly publishing schedule. Add 30% for retakes and experiments.
- Day 5: match the total to the plan table: under ~30 minutes, Starter; up to ~121, Creator; several hundred, Pro.
- Day 6–7: subscribe monthly, produce your next pieces, and check the credit balance at the end of the week. Adjust before the next billing date.
Budgeting your whole creator stack? See how to budget an AI stack for independent creators.
Verdict
ElevenLabs pricing is straightforward once you think in minutes and retakes. Free is for testing voices, Starter at $6 per month is the minimum for commercial content, and Creator at $22 per month is the sweet spot for creators who publish narration every week or want a professional clone of their own voice. Above that, you are paying for volume and seats rather than a cheaper minute. Start monthly, measure your retakes, and move to annual billing only when your output is steady.
Verdict
For most independent creators, ElevenLabs Creator at $22 per month is the best balance of minutes, quality and voice cloning, with Starter at $6 for lighter use. Count your retakes, start monthly, and switch to annual billing only after a few steady months.
Best for
- Starter: creators publishing up to about 30 minutes of voice a month who need a commercial license
- Creator: weekly narrators and anyone wanting a professional clone of their own voice
- Pro: audiobook-scale output or API-driven workflows
Look elsewhere if
- Monetized content on the Free plan (no commercial license listed)
- Solo creators buying Scale or Business for features they will not use
- Anyone who cannot get permission for a voice they want to clone
Frequently asked questions
Is ElevenLabs free?
Yes. The Free plan includes 10,000 credits per month and access to core tools, but it does not list a commercial license. Paid plans start at $6 per month (Starter).
Is ElevenLabs free for commercial use?
The pricing page lists the commercial license as an addition on Starter, not on Free. For monetized or client work, use at least Starter and check ElevenLabs’ terms.
How much does ElevenLabs cost per month?
As of November 2026: Starter $6, Creator $22, Pro $99, Scale $299 and Business $990 per month, with Enterprise custom. First-month promotions may lower the first payment. Prices exclude taxes.
How do ElevenLabs credits work?
All tools share one monthly credit pool. Text to speech costs about 1 credit per character depending on the model. Credits are charged per generation, reset each cycle and roll over for up to two months, capped at three times your quota.
What is ElevenLabs pricing per minute?
The plan table lists roughly $0.20 per extra minute on Starter, $0.18 on Creator and $0.17 on Pro and above, with about 1,000 credits per minute of standard text to speech.
Do ElevenLabs credits reset?
Yes, at the start of each billing cycle. Unused credits roll over for up to two months, but expire if you downgrade or cancel and drop to the Free plan.