ElevenLabs vs Kokoro
A side-by-side look at pricing plans, free tiers, features, pros and cons, updated for 2026. Kokoro is completely free, while ElevenLabs is freemium.
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
- 82M parameter model
- Preset multilingual voices
- CPU-friendly inference
- ONNX and browser ports
- Apache 2.0 license
| Feature | ElevenLabs | Kokoro |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Lifelike AI voices for narration, dubbing, cloning and sound effects | Tiny open-weight text-to-speech model that runs on almost anything |
| Category | Audio & voice | Audio & voice |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Free |
| Starting price | $6/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes, fully free |
| Made by | ElevenLabs | hexgrad |
| Based in | United States | – |
| Rating | No ratings yet | No ratings yet |
| Key features |
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Pricing compared
Kokoro is completely free, while ElevenLabs is freemium.
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
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
Kokoro
- Very fast even without a GPU
- Permissive commercial license
- Easy to embed in apps
- No voice cloning
- Fewer voices than commercial services
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 Kokoro if you want:
- Very fast even without a GPU
- Permissive commercial license
- Easy to embed in apps
Watch out: no voice cloning.
ElevenLabs vs Kokoro FAQ
What is the difference between ElevenLabs and Kokoro?
ElevenLabs: Lifelike AI voices for narration, dubbing, cloning and sound effects. Kokoro: Tiny open-weight text-to-speech model that runs on almost anything. Both are audio & voice tools.
Is ElevenLabs or Kokoro cheaper?
Kokoro is completely free, while ElevenLabs is freemium.
Do ElevenLabs and Kokoro have free plans?
ElevenLabs: Yes. Kokoro: Yes, fully free.
Who makes ElevenLabs?
ElevenLabs is made by ElevenLabs, based in United States.
Who makes Kokoro?
Kokoro is made by hexgrad.
Which should I choose, ElevenLabs or Kokoro?
Choose ElevenLabs if you value very natural, expressive voices and voice cloning from short samples. Choose Kokoro if you value very fast even without a gpu and permissive commercial license.