ElevenLabs is an AI audio company founded in 2022 by Polish engineers Piotr Dąbkowski and Mati Staniszewski, who grew up frustrated by poor dubbing in American films. Their goal was straightforward: use AI to make voices sound like real people – and it worked.

Today, ElevenLabs is valued at $11 billion and has paid out over $11 million to voice creators worldwide. In just three years, it became one of the fastest-growing audio AI companies ever built.

What is ElevenLabs?

ElevenLabs is a voice technology company that turns written text into natural-sounding speech. Unlike most tools that superimpose someone else's model, ElevenLabs builds its own foundational audio models from scratch. The platform covers voice cloning, dubbing, transcription, AI music, and conversational voice agents for businesses.

ElevenLabs voice models explained

ElevenLabs has built several generations of voice models, with Eleven v3 the most advanced model as of mid-2025. Earlier versions handled basic text-to-speech, but they lacked emotional depth and precise control.

Eleven v3 addressed that concern, as it supports audio tags like [excited] or [whispers], multi-speaker dialogue, and more than 70 languages. The style exaggeration controls and character-level timestamps provide users with far more precision than older models ever offered. It's the difference between a voice that sounds robotic and one that delivers emotion and dialogue like a real person. Most users working on serious content will notice the difference right away.

What products and tools does ElevenLabs offer?

Since its launch in 2022, ElevenLabs has grown beyond basic text-to-speech. The company now offers several products designed for different use cases.

Here are seven products and tools that are currently in its lineup:

Voice cloning

Clone any voice from a short audio sample and keep it consistent across every project. It's one of ElevenLabs' strongest features, and the main reason publishers, creators, and enterprises choose it over competing platforms.

Voice design

Build a brand-new synthetic voice from scratch without needing a real speaker or a recording studio. Users control the accent, tone, age, and gender to create a voice that fits their brand or content.

AI dubbing

Translate and re-voice video content into more than 20 languages while maintaining the original speaker's tone and emotion. It handles the full process automatically, from transcription and translation to audio sync, making it a practical tool for creators expanding into global markets.

Voice agents

Deploy conversational AI agents for business use through the ElevenLabs agents platform. Companies use them to handle customer calls, automate outreach, and run phone support at scale, without hiring additional staff.

Reader app

A mobile app for iOS and Android that reads articles, PDFs, and ePubs aloud using AI voices.

Eleven music

An AI music generator launched in 2025 that creates studio-quality music and vocals from natural language prompts, cleared for commercial use. It was built in collaboration with record labels and artists, making it a legitimate option for film, ads, podcasts, and gaming projects.

Scribe

A speech-to-text tool that transcribes audio with speaker identification and character-level timestamps. It's especially useful for teams working on multi-speaker recordings, interviews, or any project.

How does ElevenLabs voice cloning work?

Voice cloning on ElevenLabs starts with an audio upload, with as little as 30 seconds for a quick clone, or around two hours for higher accuracy. The platform analyzes the sample to capture tone, rhythm, pacing, and accent, then builds a synthetic replica of that voice.

There are two options: Instant Voice Cloning for fast results, and Professional VoiceCloning for better quality with more audio. Once the clone is ready, it can read any text you feed it. ElevenLabs requires consent verification and has strict policies against cloning voices without permission. This serves as a key safeguard against misuse.

How does ElevenLabs voiceover work?

Creating a voiceover on ElevenLabs is straightforward. You paste your script into the platform, pick a voice from the library or use a cloned one, and the system generates the audio. Users can adjust stability, similarity, and style exaggeration to fine-tune the final voice output.

The platform handles pacing and natural pauses well, even for longer scripts. Once complete, the output is a downloadable audio file ready to drop into video, podcast, or audiobook production. Most users go from text to finished audio in under a minute.

ElevenLabs vs other AI voice generators

Though ElevenLabs has become a leader in the AI voice space, there are other AI tools available beside it. Here's how it stacks up against the competition:

• Murf AI

  Perfect for non-technical teams, with a clean interface and solid collaboration tools. Also, its built-in video editor can produce polished voiceovers without any technical setup.

• PlayHT

  Supports over 140 languages and more than 600 voices, making it one of the broadest options available for multilingual content at scale. It’s suitable for global teams where language coverage matters more than voice depth.

• Resemble AI

  Built for enterprise-grade voice cloning, with HIPAA and SOC 2 compliance that makes it a serious option for healthcare and financial services. This platform is a fitting choice for regulated industries where data compliance is non-negotiable.

• OpenAI TTS

  OpenAI's voice features are tightly integrated into its broader AI ecosystem, making them a natural fit for teams already building on GPT.

• Google TTS

  Google's text-to-speech is reliable, cost-effective, and integrates seamlessly with its cloud ecosystem. It’s an excellent option for straightforward applications.

• Descript

  Designed for podcasters and video editors who want voice generation baked into an all-in-one editing workflow. It's a practical tool for that specific use case.

While these AI voice generators have their specific use cases, ElevenLabs stands out for voice quality, emotional nuance, and its voice cloning capabilities. All of these are areas most competitors have yet to catch up on.

ElevenLabs for AI dubbing

ElevenLabs' dubbing tool translates and re-voices video content into more than 20 languages, while keeping the original speaker's voice, tone, and emotional nuance. It handles the full process automatically: noise removal, speaker separation, transcription, translation, and timing synchronization. For brands producing video content across multiple markets, it's one of the most practical tools currently available.

ElevenLabs pricing: free plan and paid options

ElevenLabs offers a free plan that gives new users access to core features, including text to speech, speech to text, sound effects, voice design, music, and up to 3 projects in Studio. It also comes with 10,000 credits per month and no cost to sign up.

For creators and businesses ready to do more, here’s a list of ElevenLabs’ paid plans:

• Starter ($5/month): The entry point for anyone who needs commercial licensing. It adds instant voice cloning, access to Dubbing Studio, music for commercial use, and 20 projects in Studio, with 30,000 credits per month.
• Creator ($22/month): The most popular plan on the platform, and for good reason. It unlocks Professional Voice Cloning, 192kbps audio quality, and 100,000 credits per month. The first month is currently 50% off.
• Pro ($99/month): Built for serious producers who need higher output and better audio specs. It adds 44.1kHz PCM audio output via API and 500,000 credits per month.
• Scale ($330/month): It includes 3 workspace seats, team collaboration tools, and 2 million credits per month. This suits businesses handling a high volume of voice content across multiple team members.
• Business ($1,320/month): It comes with 5 seats, 11 million credits per month, 3 Professional Voice Clones, and low-latency text-to-speech as low as $0.05 per minute. Designed for companies running voice operations at real scale.
• Enterprise (custom pricing): It includes custom SSO, HIPAA-compliant BAAs, elevated concurrency limits, fully managed dubbing, significant volume discounts, and priority support. Pricing is available on request through ElevenLabs' sales team.

FAQs

Does ElevenLabs have a mobile app?

Yes. ElevenLabs launched its Reader App on iOS and Android in June 2024. It lets users listen to articles, PDFs, and ePubs read aloud using AI voices. It's designed for consuming content, not producing it, so it works differently from the full web platform.

Who should use ElevenLabs?

ElevenLabs is a strong fit for content creators, authors, publishers, game developers, marketers, and businesses running voice-driven operations. Audiobook producers and podcast creators use it for narration at scale. For automated phone support and automated outreach, businesses turn to Conversational AI agents.

What languages does ElevenLabs support?

ElevenLabs supports over 70 languages as of 2025, including Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Hindi, Arabic, and Portuguese. The AI Dubbing tool works across more than 20 of those. The company has been focusing on expanding the language coverage, especially since it's one of the things that sets ElevenLabs apart from competitors with limited reach.

Can users earn money from their voices?

Yes, through ElevenLabs' Voice Library, users can share a professional clone of their voice and earn cash rewards every time a paid subscriber uses it. Payouts are processed automatically via Stripe Connect, usually every 6 to 8 days once earnings pass the $10 threshold.

ElevenLabs has paid out over $11 million to voice creators so far, with top earners bringing in several thousand dollars a month. You'll need the Creator plan to create a Professional Voice Clone and get started.