ElevenLabs
ElevenLabs generates AI voiceovers and clones voices, priced $5-$22/month for solo commercial use. Ranked #13 on Solos Gems (6.1/10), it's best for voiceovers, video narration, and podcast intros, though the free tier is watermarked and non-commercial.
ElevenLabs clones a convincing voice from a short sample, which is exactly as impressive and mildly unsettling as it sounds. The free tier is watermarked, presumably so nobody accidentally starts a crime spree.
- Value for price5.5/10
- Capability8/10
- Ease of use6.5/10
- Trial safety5/10
ElevenLabs does AI voice generation and cloning, text-to-speech that sounds close to a real human voice, plus the ability to clone a specific voice (including your own) for consistent narration across content.
ElevenLabs lets you preview genuinely distinct voice styles, narration, conversational, character voices, instantly in-browser (shown above), rather than generating a single generic text-to-speech voice.
Example from elevenlabs.io. Not independently tested by Solos Gems.Pricing breakdown
- Free: $0; 29 languages, a selection of pre-made voices, up to 3 custom voice clones, watermarked audio, no commercial use
- Starter: $5–6/month; 30,000 characters/month, commercial rights, enough for a few short videos or podcast intros
- Creator: $22/month; professional voice cloning, dubbing studio, higher character allowance
- Pro: $99/month; 500,000 credits/month, expanded API access for automated workflows
- Scale: $299/month; Business: $1,320/month or $13,200/year; Enterprise: custom
Annual billing saves roughly 17% (about two months free) across paid tiers.
What the plans don't include
Your LLM, telephony provider (if building a voice agent), and any usage beyond your plan's included character/credit limit are all billed separately on top of the subscription. If you're evaluating ElevenLabs for something beyond simple narration, like a voice-based customer interaction, budget for those add-ons before committing to a tier.
Pros
- Voice quality is genuinely close to human, not obviously synthetic to most listeners
- Starter tier at $5-6/month is a low-risk way to get commercial rights
- Voice cloning lets a solopreneur maintain a consistent "voice" across content without re-recording
Cons
- Free tier's no-commercial-use restriction makes it a demo, not a real trial for business use
- Character/credit limits on lower tiers get eaten quickly by longer-form content
- Jump from Creator ($22/mo) to Pro ($99/mo) is steep if you outgrow Creator's limits