Why is ElevenLabs so Popular? A lot of people talk about ElevenLabs. Here we are, doing it ourselves. Why is Eleven Lab so popular?

in TTS

April 11, 2024 9 min read
Why is ElevenLabs so Popular?

Generate AI Voices, Indistinguishable from Humans

Get started for free
Conversational
Conversational
Voiceover
Voiceover
Gaming
Gaming
Clone a Voice

Table of Contents

More and more AI companies are offering AI voice overs, but one that I keep hearing about is ElevenLabs. It seems to be a fan favorite so I decided to check out the platform to give you my honest thoughts. Let’s explore everything you need to know about ElevenLabs, including why it’s so popular. I’ll also reveal if there’s a better AI voice over platform out there for content creators.

What is ElevenLabs?

Before I go into detail about why ElevenLabs is so popular, let’s first talk about what ElevenLabs even is. ElevenLabs.io is an American artificial intelligence company that specializes in text to speech (TTS) and voice generation, including voice cloning. Many content creators use the platform to create lifelike and high-quality AI voice overs for a wide array of projects.

How ElevenLabs works

ElevenLabs offers a user-friendly platform powered by advanced speech synthesis, deep learning, and text to speech AI technology. To use ElevenLabs, I simply input or upload text, choose from a variety of voice and language options, and instantly generate humanlike speech. I can also use the platform’s editing interface to adjust the voice settings such as pitch, tone, pronunciation, volume, clarity, or stability of the voice over to suit my personal preferences. In addition to the voice library that features over 120 preset voices, I also cloned my own voice for one of the projects. This was also straightforward. I simply uploaded a small sample of my voice and hit “add voice.” I could then use this voice to create instant voice overs that sounded just like me.

ElevenLabs features

So that’s how ElevenLabs works, but let’s take a closer look at its features. ElevenLabs has a ton of beginner-friendly tools that make generating AI voices easier than ever. Here’s a brief look at ElevenLabs top features:

  • Large voice library: Elevenlabs offers a vast library of 120+ high-quality AI voices across 29 languages and 50 accents for diverse audio projects. This includes languages such as JapaneseGermanArabic,SpanishFrenchHindiTagalogBengaliUrduKoreanRussianItalian and more, It also supports various accents, including IndianBritishIrish , American, Australian, and Canadian.
  • Voice customization: With ElevenLabs’ voice design tools, I can be a voice wizard and tweak the AI voices for the perfect pitch, pace, clarity, inflection, style, pronunciation, and emotion.
  • Voice cloning: ElevenLabs also allows users to effortlessly clone their own voice with just a 30-minute audio sample for optimal results. This allows content creators to create unlimited content with their voice without more recording.
  • API access: Why stop at adding ElevenLabs voices to your audio and video projects? There’s also a text to speech API so you can seamlessly integrate Eleven voices into your applications.
  • AI dubbing: Do you want to reach a global audience? ElevenLabs allows you to instantly dub and translate content into 29 languages to help expand your reach.

ElevenLabs use cases

Since ElevenLabs offers realistic and natural-sounding voices, many users are turning to the platform instead of hiring voice actors. The ElevenLabs’ AI voices are versatile too. I could craft voice overs for anything from audio narration projects to full videos.

Here are just a few of the use cases of ways users can use AI-generated voices to unleash creativity:

  • Dubbing: With a wide range of languages available on the platform, ElevenLabs’ AI voices can seamlessly replace original dialogue in films or series, enabling multilingual accessibility without the need for traditional voice actors.
  • Audiobooks: AI-generated voices can bring written content to life and help authors produce audiobooks quickly and affordably.
  • Podcasts: Podcast creators can utilize ElevenLabs’ versatile voices to produce episodes, introduce new segments, or even create entirely AI-hosted shows.
  • Video games: Game developers can enhance character dialogue and narration, offering immersive storytelling experiences without the constraints of hiring multiple voice actors.
  • Customer support chatbots: ElevenLabs’ AI voices can provide natural and engaging interactions in customer service applications.
  • Social media content: Content creators can leverage the AI voices to produce diverse and engaging narratives for content such as TikToks and YouTube videos.

ElevenLabs reviews

Like any savvy consumer, I did my research before diving into ElevenLabs – and the reviews speak for themselves. With a 4/5 star rating on most review websites, it’s clear that ElevenLabs has struck a chord with creators and businesses alike, earning its reputation as a leading choice in the industry. However, that doesn’t mean it’s without limitations. I’ve compiled the top pros and cons of ElevenLabs based on reviews and my personal experience.

ElevenLabs pros

Some advantages ElevenLabs offers include:

  • High-quality voice overs: ElevenLabs delivers high-quality voice overs with remarkable similarity to the human voice.
  • Customization AI tools: The platform offers extensive customization options, allowing users to fine-tune voice settings to meet their precise requirements.
  • User-friendly interface: ElevenLabs features a user-friendly interface that caters to both beginners and experts, ensuring accessibility for all skill levels.
  • Free trial: ElevenLabs offers a generous free trial, including 10,000 characters and three custom voices every month, making it an attractive option for users to try before they buy.
  • Support: With its support system, including a dedicated Discord channel with tutorials, an AI-powered answer bot, and a comprehensive support form, ElevenLabs ensures users have immediate and detailed assistance for any issue.

ElevenLabs cons

Although ElevenLabs offers a mostly positive user experience, there are a few drawbacks such as:

  • Pricing: ElevenLabs’ pricing structure can be a barrier for users with limited financial resources.
  • Limited language support: The platform supports fewer languages than its competitors, potentially limiting its usefulness for users requiring multilingual options.
  • Inconsistent voices: Users might experience occasional inconsistencies in voice inflections with ElevenLabs, which can detract from the naturalness and quality of the audio produced.
  • No mobile app: The lack of a dedicated mobile app for ElevenLabs restricts users who rely on mobile devices for their workflows or need to access the service while away from their desktops.

ElevenLabs pricing

Since pricing is on the cons list, you may be wondering how much ElevenLabs costs and the truth is that it’s more expensive than most of its competitors. This is a brief breakdown of ElevenLabs’ pricing options:

Free plan – $0 forever

Despite its other more expensive plans, I did enjoy being able to try the free plan. It offers 10,000 characters per month which is approximately 10 minutes of audio. You can use this sample allowance to try up to 3 custom voices but the audio quality is limited to 128 kbps on this plan.

Starter plan – $60/year

For $60/year, you can create up to 30 mins of audio per month (or 30,000 characters), explore AI voice cloning features, create up to 10 custom voices, and get access to the Dubbing Studio. However, this plan is mostly for those who just want the basic features.

Creator plan – $132/year

The creator plan offers about 2 hours of audio per month (or 100K characters), the ability to create realistic digital replicas of your voice as well as create long-form content. With this plan, you also can create up to 30 custom voices, and get access to usage analytics. The voices are also of higher quality at 192 kbps.

Pro plan – $1188/year

The pro plan starts to get pricey but you’ll get 10 hours of audio (500K characters) per month and 44.1 kHz PCM audio output via API. Like the creator plan, you can also create up to 30 custom voices and explore a usage analytics dashboard.

Scale plan – $3960/year

The scale plan is for enterprises or those who have extensive audio needs and features up to 40 hours of audio (2M characters) per month and everything in the pro plan. You’ll also have access to priority support.

So, why is ElevenLabs so popular?

As we’ve explored everything you should know about ElevenLabs, you’ve probably learned why ElevenLabs is so popular but I’ll give you my final thoughts as well.

ElevenLabs offers a user-friendly interface, allowing even beginners to craft content with ease. In addition, users enjoy the ability to clone their voice or customize the AI-generated voices to reflect their style and personality – I know I sure did. The AI text to speech voices are also high-quality and lifelike.

And if you think that sounds like your style, let me also introduce you to my all-time favorite text to speech software for voice overs – PlayHT. PlayHT offers even more voice and language options.

PlayHT – The #1 ElevenLabs alternative & best AI voice generator

PlayHT is the ultimate alternative to ElevenLabs. PlayHT’s AI voice generator boasts the best text to speech voices on the market. Users can choose from over 900 natural-sounding AI voices spanning 142 languages and accents, including English, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, and more, that are indistinguishable from human voices.

With its unparalleled voice cloning technology, users can also generate voice clones based on their own voice, making future voice overs easier than ever to create. Additionally, the easy-to-use editing interface allows creators to customize all the voices on the platform to their heart’s content.

Elevate your projects with the best AI voice overs in the business and try PlayHT today.

What is the difference between a voice generator and voice changer?

A voice generator creates synthetic voices from text, while a voice changer modifies existing voices in real-time.

How do I generate a script for my video instantly?

Generate a script for your video instantly by inputting your ideas or keywords into ChatGPT and letting it compose the script based on your input.

Will ElevenLabs ever be free?

ElevenLabs offers a free plan so users can try the platform before they commit financially.

How much does text to speech cost?

The cost of text to speech depends on which TTS platform you use. However, PlayHT offers lifelike text to speech voices for an affordable price.

Recent Posts

Listen & Rate TTS Voices

See Leaderboard

Top AI Apps

Alternatives

Text To Speech Leaderboard

Company NameVotesWin Percentage
PlayHT606 (766)79.11%
ElevenLabs105 (203)51.72%
Speechgen26 (190)13.68%
TTSMaker67 (186)36.02%
Uberduck90 (182)49.45%
Listnr AI61 (181)33.70%
Resemble AI82 (167)49.10%
Narakeet72 (166)43.37%
Speechify72 (162)44.44%
Typecast47 (157)29.94%
NaturalReader19 (62)30.65%
Murf AI14 (50)28.00%
WellSaid Labs11 (48)22.92%
Wavel AI10 (44)22.73%
See Leaderboard

Similar articles