kitio.aiCartesia Sonic vs Unreal Speech
A side-by-side look at pricing plans, free tiers, features, pros and cons, updated for 2026. Cartesia Sonic has the lower starting price: about $5 a month, against $10 for Unreal Speech.
At a glance
Best for
Category
Pricing model
Starting price
Free plan
Made by
Based in
Rating
Key features
- Real-time speech under 90ms
- 44 languages
- Instant voice cloning
- Emotion and laughter control
- Voice localisation
- Streaming TTS API
- Per-word timestamps
- Up to 10-hour audio requests
- 48 voices in 8 languages
- Speed and pitch controls
- Web studio
| Feature | Cartesia Sonic | Unreal Speech |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Low-latency text-to-speech API for voice agents | Low-cost text-to-speech API with streaming and word timestamps |
| Category | Audio & voice | Audio & voice |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting price | $5/mo | $10/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Made by | Cartesia | Unreal Speech |
| Based in | United States | – |
| Rating | No ratings yet | No ratings yet |
| Key features |
|
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Pricing compared
Cartesia Sonic has the lower starting price: about $5 a month, against $10 for Unreal Speech.
Free plan
Cheapest paid plan
Top plan
Free trial
5 plans
Free
Free
- 20K credits per month
- Text to speech and speech to text
- $1 of prepaid voice agent usage
Pro
$5/mo
- 100K credits per month
- Commercial use license
- Instant voice cloning
Startup
$49/mo
- 1.25M credits per month
- Professional voice cloning
- $49 of prepaid agent usage
Scale
$299/mo
- 8M credits per month
- Priority support
- High concurrency limits
Enterprise
Contact sales
- Custom credits and volume pricing
- SSO and DPAs
- Shared Slack channel
6 plans
Free
Free
- 250K characters
- About 6 hours of audio
Starter
$10/mo
- 500,000 characters
- About 11 hours of audio
Basic
$49/mo
- 3M characters
- About 67 hours of audio
- $4.99 for the first 6 months
Plus
$499/mo
- 42M characters
- About 933 hours of audio
Pro
$1499/mo
- 150M characters
- About 3,000 hours of audio
Enterprise
$4999/mo
- 625M characters
- About 14,000 hours of audio
Prices in USD, checked Oct 29, 2026 or later. Plans change often, so confirm on each tool's site before you buy.
Pros and cons
Cartesia Sonic
- Very fast time to first audio
- Wide language coverage in one model
- Cloning from ten seconds of audio
- Aimed at developers more than casual users
- Credit system takes a while to understand
- Commercial license needs a paid plan
Unreal Speech
- Much cheaper than most TTS APIs
- Word timestamps for synced text
- Generous free character allowance
- Only 8 languages
- Smaller voice selection than rivals
- No voice cloning listed
Which one should you choose?
Choose Cartesia Sonic if you want:
- Very fast time to first audio
- Wide language coverage in one model
- Cloning from ten seconds of audio
Watch out: aimed at developers more than casual users.
Choose Unreal Speech if you want:
- Much cheaper than most TTS APIs
- Word timestamps for synced text
- Generous free character allowance
Watch out: only 8 languages.
Cartesia Sonic vs Unreal Speech FAQ
What is the difference between Cartesia Sonic and Unreal Speech?
Cartesia Sonic: Low-latency text-to-speech API for voice agents. Unreal Speech: Low-cost text-to-speech API with streaming and word timestamps. Both are audio & voice tools.
Is Cartesia Sonic or Unreal Speech cheaper?
Cartesia Sonic has the lower starting price: about $5 a month, against $10 for Unreal Speech.
Do Cartesia Sonic and Unreal Speech have free plans?
Cartesia Sonic: Yes. Unreal Speech: Yes.
Who makes Cartesia Sonic?
Cartesia Sonic is made by Cartesia, based in United States.
Who makes Unreal Speech?
Unreal Speech is made by Unreal Speech.
Which should I choose, Cartesia Sonic or Unreal Speech?
Choose Cartesia Sonic if you value very fast time to first audio and wide language coverage in one model. Choose Unreal Speech if you value much cheaper than most tts apis and word timestamps for synced text.