# ElevenLabs review

An AI audio platform for text to speech, voice cloning, music and text-to-sound-effects generation, free for 10,000 credits a month and paid from $6/month.

By Noah — last updated & pricing verified October 26, 2026.

> ElevenLabs is a generative audio company and platform best known for text to speech and voice cloning, which has grown into a suite covering speech to text, voice changing, dubbing, music generation, image and video tools, conversational voice agents and sound effects. Its Text to Sound Effects model takes a plain description, such as 'money notification' or 'footsteps on sand', and returns four candidate clips of up to 30 seconds; users can fix the duration (charged at 40 credits per second), make a loop with no audible start or end, and set how literally the model follows the prompt. A public library of generated effects can be browsed and downloaded, and a soundboard generator packages effects into buttons. Paid plans grant royalty-free commercial use, free users may use output only non-commercially, and the terms bar using output to build competing products. Developers reach the same models through the Sound Effects API or the hosted MCP server at api.elevenlabs.io/v1/mcp, which signs in with OAuth instead of a copied API key.

## Facts

- Website: https://elevenlabs.io
- Pricing: Free tier · paid from $6/mo (verified )
- License: Freemium
- Platforms: web, ios, android
- Best for: Generating realistic sound effects and voiceovers for a video or game from text prompts, with commercial rights from $6/month
- Standout feature: Breadth on one credit pool: text to speech, voice cloning, music and a text-to-sound-effects model that returns four 0.1-30 second takes per prompt, all reachable from an official MCP server.
- Biggest weakness: Everything draws on one monthly credit pool, so heavy use of one tool starves the others: a sound effect costs 200 credits, the 10,000-credit free plan covers about 50 and is non-commercial, and downgrading or cancelling forfeits unused paid credits.
- Categories: [AI audio](https://findalternative.to/categories/ai-audio)

## Pricing snapshot

| Plan | Price | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free | $0/mo | 10,000 credits a month (about 50 sound effects), text to speech, speech to text, sound effects, voice design and music; non-commercial use only. |
| Starter | $6/mo | 30,000 credits a month, commercial license, instant voice cloning, 20 Studio projects, dubbing; $5/month billed annually. |
| Creator | $22/mo | 121,000 credits a month, professional voice cloning and extra-credit purchases; $18.33/month billed annually. |
| Pro | $99/mo | 600,000 credits a month, 44.1 kHz PCM output via the API and 192 kbps audio; $82.50/month billed annually. |
| Scale | $299/mo | 1.8 million credits a month, 3 workspace seats and 3 professional voice clones; $249.17/month billed annually. |
| Business | $990/mo | 6 million credits a month, 10 seats, 10 professional voice clones and low-latency text to speech from 5 cents a minute; $825/month billed annually. |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom credits and seats, DPA and SLA terms, HIPAA BAAs, SSO, higher concurrency and priority support. |

## Pros and cons

- Pro: Text to Sound Effects returns four takes of 0.1-30 seconds per prompt, with looping and a prompt-influence control.
- Pro: One subscription covers text to speech, voice cloning, speech to text, music, dubbing and sound effects.
- Pro: The official MCP server is hosted with OAuth sign-in, so Claude, Cursor and other MCP clients can generate speech and sound effects.
- Pro: Unused paid credits roll over for up to two months, and annual billing costs ten times the monthly price.
- Pro: Native iOS and Android apps, rated 4.8 from 23K App Store ratings and 4.7 from 260K Google Play reviews.
- Con: Free-plan output is non-commercial; royalty-free commercial use starts at Starter ($6/month).
- Con: Shared credits: at 200 credits per sound effect, the free plan's 10,000 credits cover about 50 generations a month.
- Con: Sound effects can only be regenerated, not edited parameter by parameter, and WAV output is limited to non-looping effects.
- Con: Downgrading or cancelling forfeits unused paid credits at the end of the billing cycle.

## AI summary

- ElevenLabs plans cost $0 (10,000 credits), $6 Starter, $22 Creator, $99 Pro, $299 Scale and $990 Business per month; annual billing is ten times the monthly price.
- An ElevenLabs sound effect costs 200 credits per generation, or 40 credits per second when a duration is set.
- ElevenLabs Sound Effects produces clips from 0.1 to 30 seconds, as MP3 or as 48 kHz WAV for non-looping effects.
- ElevenLabs' iOS app is rated 4.8 from 23K ratings, and its Android app 4.7 from 260K reviews with 10M+ downloads.
- Free ElevenLabs users may use output only non-commercially; commercial use starts with the $6/month Starter plan.
- Best for: Generating realistic sound effects and voiceovers for a video or game from text prompts, with commercial rights from $6/month.
- Pricing: Free plan with 10,000 credits a month for non-commercial use; paid plans from $6/month (Starter) to $990/month (Business), with Enterprise priced on request.
- Top alternatives: SFX Engine, Fish Audio, Murf AI, Notify Sound, Zedge
- Limitation: The free plan is non-commercial and limited to 10,000 credits a month.
- Limitation: All tools share one credit pool, so sound effects compete with speech and music for credits.
- Limitation: Unused paid credits are forfeited on downgrade or cancellation.

## Alternatives

5 vetted alternatives to ElevenLabs: https://findalternative.to/elevenlabs — top picks: SFX Engine, Notify Sound, Zedge

## Comparisons

- https://findalternative.to/compare/elevenlabs-vs-sfx-engine

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