kitio.aiElevenLabs vs Cartesia Sonic
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 $6 for ElevenLabs.
At a glance
Best for
Category
Pricing model
Starting price
Free plan
Made by
Based in
Rating
Key features
- Instant and professional voice cloning
- Multilingual text to speech
- AI dubbing studio
- Sound effects generator
- Voice agents platform
- Streaming API
- Real-time speech under 90ms
- 44 languages
- Instant voice cloning
- Emotion and laughter control
- Voice localisation
| Feature | ElevenLabs | Cartesia Sonic |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Lifelike AI voices for narration, dubbing, cloning and sound effects | Low-latency text-to-speech API for voice agents |
| Category | Audio & voice | Audio & voice |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting price | $6/mo | $5/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Made by | ElevenLabs | Cartesia |
| Based in | United States | 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 $6 for ElevenLabs.
Free plan
Cheapest paid plan
Top plan
Free trial
6 plans
Free
Free
- 10k credits per month
- Text to speech and speech to text
- 3 Studio projects
Starter
$6/mo
- 30k credits per month
- Commercial license
- Instant voice cloning
Creator
$22/mo
- 121k credits per month
- Professional voice cloning
- Additional credits
Pro
$99/mo
- 600k credits per month
- 44.1kHz PCM output via API
- 192kbps audio
Scale
$299/mo
- 1.8M credits per month
- 3 workspace seats
- 3 professional voice clones
Business
$990/mo
- 6M credits per month
- 10 workspace seats
- Low-latency TTS from 5c/min
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
Prices in USD, checked Oct 28, 2026 or later. Plans change often, so confirm on each tool's site before you buy.
Pros and cons
ElevenLabs
- Very natural, expressive voices
- Voice cloning from short samples
- Covers TTS, dubbing, SFX and music
- Credits run out fast on long projects
- Professional cloning needs a higher plan
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
Which one should you choose?
Choose ElevenLabs if you want:
- Very natural, expressive voices
- Voice cloning from short samples
- Covers TTS, dubbing, SFX and music
Watch out: credits run out fast on long projects.
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.
ElevenLabs vs Cartesia Sonic FAQ
What is the difference between ElevenLabs and Cartesia Sonic?
ElevenLabs: Lifelike AI voices for narration, dubbing, cloning and sound effects. Cartesia Sonic: Low-latency text-to-speech API for voice agents. Both are audio & voice tools.
Is ElevenLabs or Cartesia Sonic cheaper?
Cartesia Sonic has the lower starting price: about $5 a month, against $6 for ElevenLabs.
Do ElevenLabs and Cartesia Sonic have free plans?
ElevenLabs: Yes. Cartesia Sonic: Yes.
Who makes ElevenLabs?
ElevenLabs is made by ElevenLabs, based in United States.
Who makes Cartesia Sonic?
Cartesia Sonic is made by Cartesia, based in United States.
Which should I choose, ElevenLabs or Cartesia Sonic?
Choose ElevenLabs if you value very natural, expressive voices and voice cloning from short samples. Choose Cartesia Sonic if you value very fast time to first audio and wide language coverage in one model.