{"schema_version":"1.2","slug":"elevenlabs","url":"https://www.launchpadhq.io/platform/elevenlabs/guide","data_url":"https://www.launchpadhq.io/data/v1/guides/elevenlabs.json","title":"Getting Started with ElevenLabs","tagline":"Turn text into remarkably natural speech — and, with permission, clone a specific voice — across dozens of languages.","archetype":"prompts","last_reviewed_at":"2026-10-14","changelog_url":"https://elevenlabs.io/changelog","how_it_works":"You paste text, choose a voice — a stock one, a community one, or one you've cloned from a sample — and it generates the audio. You listen, adjust the text or pick a different voice, and generate again until it sounds right, then keep the take you like.","what_it_is":["ElevenLabs is an AI voice platform. Its core is text-to-speech that sounds convincingly human; it also does voice cloning (making a synthetic version of a specific voice from a sample), dubbing, and sound effects. It's used for audiobooks, video narration, podcasts, and voice agents. You mostly drive it by typing the text you want spoken and picking a voice."],"before_you_start":["The free tier gives a monthly credit allowance and lets you try text-to-speech and cloning — but its output is non-commercial and must credit ElevenLabs. Commercial use starts on the cheapest paid plan, Starter (official FAQ, 2026-10-14); Creator, Pro and Scale add more credits and features.","If you're going to clone a voice, sort out consent first — this is the single most important thing about the platform (below).","Credits are metered by characters of text and reset monthly; unused credits generally don't carry over."],"getting_set_up_safely":null,"security":[{"kind":"list","label":"Voice cloning: consent is the rule, not a formality","items":["You may only clone a voice you own (your own) or one you have explicit, documented permission to use. Instant cloning asks you to confirm you have that right; professional cloning adds a verification step before it will train.","Cloning a public figure or any third party without consent is both against ElevenLabs' terms (accounts get suspended) and, increasingly, against the law: a dozen-plus US states have voice-likeness laws (Tennessee's ELVIS Act among them), and the EU requires AI-generated media to be labeled.","For anything client-facing, commercial, or persuasive, keep written consent on file. Treat a cloned voice like licensed talent, not a free asset."]},{"kind":"text","text":"When you upload a voice sample or generate audio, ElevenLabs keeps a broad, long-running license to use your voice data and content to improve its models. It commits not to commercialize your voice on its own without permission, but the training use is part of the deal — factor that in before uploading a sensitive or valuable voice."},{"kind":"text","text":"On the free tier, output is non-commercial and must attribute ElevenLabs; commercial rights begin on the paid plans (and persist for audio you already generated, even if you later cancel). Don't build a paid project on free-tier audio."}],"triad":{"best_at":["Natural-sounding narration for videos, audiobooks, and e-learning","Cloning your own voice to scale narration you'd otherwise record by hand","Multilingual speech and dubbing across dozens of languages"],"okay_at":["Highly emotional or performance-heavy delivery (very good, occasionally uncanny)","Real-time/low-latency voice agents (a specific model/plan territory)","Fine control over pacing and emphasis (improving)"],"avoid":["Cloning anyone's voice without documented consent","Impersonation, fraud, or anything deceptive (prohibited and often illegal)","Commercial use of free-tier output, which requires attribution and isn't licensed for it"]},"starter_actions":[{"title":"Hear a stock voice read your words","what_it_does":null,"why_here":"The fastest way to judge the quality — pick a built-in voice, paste text, generate, and listen. No cloning, no consent questions.","tweak":"Try the same line in two different voices to hear how much the voice choice matters.","prompt":"Welcome to the show. Today we are talking about something small that changed everything: the humble paperclip."},{"title":"Clone your OWN voice","what_it_does":null,"why_here":"Cloning your own voice is the standout feature and the one clone you can make with zero consent worries.","tweak":"Use a quiet room and a minute or two of clear audio for a noticeably better clone.","prompt":"[Record or upload a clean sample of your own voice reading a paragraph, then generate this line in your cloned voice:] Thanks for listening - I recorded this without touching a microphone twice."},{"title":"Try a short dub","what_it_does":null,"why_here":"Shows the multilingual side that makes ElevenLabs useful beyond English narration.","tweak":"Swap in a language your audience actually uses.","prompt":"Translate and speak this in Spanish, keeping a warm, friendly tone: \"Hi everyone, thanks so much for being here today.\""}],"pitfalls":["Consent isn't a checkbox to click past. Cloning someone else's voice without documented permission is a terms violation and, in many places, illegal.","Free output is watermarked-by-attribution and non-commercial. You can't quietly ship it in a paid project.","Credits are character-metered. Long scripts eat the monthly allowance faster than the \"minutes\" framing suggests."],"where_to_next":[{"label":"Voice & Speech","url":"https://www.launchpadhq.io/discover?category=voice-speech"},{"label":"Video Creation & Editing","url":"https://www.launchpadhq.io/discover?category=video-creation-editing"}],"tool":{"slug":"elevenlabs","name":"ElevenLabs","url":"https://www.launchpadhq.io/platform/elevenlabs","data_url":"https://www.launchpadhq.io/data/v1/tools/elevenlabs.json","category":{"slug":"voice-speech","name":"Voice & Speech"},"cost_tier":"FREEMIUM","lifecycle":"active","free_tier":{"available":true,"summary":"Free $0: 10,000 credits/month; 3 Studio projects"},"starting_price":"Free, from $5 equivalent, Creator $18.33, Pro $82.50)","lowest_paid":{"name":"Enterprise custom. Annual = 10 months (Starter","price_text":"$5 equivalent, Creator $18.33, Pro $82.50)","amount":5,"currency":"USD","period":null,"limits":null,"is_free":false},"data_as_of":"2026-10-14"},"prices_removed":0,"pricing_note":"Prices in this text come from the catalog, the same data as each tool's page and its record (tool.starting_price, tool.lowest_paid, and plans in /data/v1/tools/{slug}.json). Any sentence that typed a price by hand is removed; prices_removed counts them.","generated_at":"2026-10-27T02:04:05.974Z","sponsored":false,"attribution":"Data from Launchpad HQ (https://www.launchpadhq.io). Please credit Launchpad HQ and link to the tool's Launchpad HQ page."}