What Is ElevenLabs? Features, Plans and How to Get an API Key

What is ElevenLabs? It's an AI platform from Eleven Labs Inc. that turns text into natural-sounding speech, plus tools for voice cloning and dubbing. Small businesses can try it on the Free plan, or pay for an API key and commercial usage rights.

What is ElevenLabs and what is it used for

ElevenLabs is the product of Eleven Labs Inc., an AI company founded in 2022 in London and New York, co-founded by Piotr Dąbkowski (a former Google machine-learning engineer) and Mati Staniszewski (a former strategist at Palantir). According to the company's "About" page, ElevenLabs runs three main products:

• ElevenAPI — a REST interface for developers to embed AI voice into their own apps, websites, or chatbots.
• ElevenCreative — a no-code web app for creating and editing voice, music, images, and video.
• ElevenAgents — a platform for building voice-based conversational agents, such as AI call centers or automated AI receptionists.

In short, if you need to turn text into speech, dub audio into another language, or build a voice assistant for customers, ElevenLabs is one of the tools worth checking.

Main features of ElevenLabs

Text to speech and the Eleven v3 model

According to the official announcement, Eleven v3 is ElevenLabs' newest text-to-speech model, announced on 3 June 2025, initially released as an alpha research preview and now generally available. The company describes it as its "most expressive" model yet: it supports audio tags placed directly in text, such as [excited], [whispers], [sighs], to control emotion and non-verbal reactions; it has a Dialogue mode for multi-speaker conversations with natural interruptions; and it supports more than 70 languages.

One thing to know before choosing it: the company recommends Eleven v3 for pre-produced content (audiobooks, videos, ads), not for applications that need real-time responses such as callbots or voice assistants — for those, it recommends the v2.5 Turbo/Flash models instead.

Voice cloning

ElevenLabs splits voice cloning into two tiers, per the official pricing page:

• Instant Voice Cloning — a quick clone from a short sample, available from the Starter plan.
• Professional Voice Cloning — a more accurate clone meant for a long-term brand voice, available from the Creator plan and up, with the allowed number of cloned voices increasing by plan (Creator: 1, Scale: 3, Business: 10).

API for developers

Per the official API documentation, every request to ElevenLabs must include an API key in the xi-api-key HTTP header. The company provides official SDKs for Python and JavaScript/TypeScript so you don't have to build raw requests yourself, plus a "single-use token" option for cases where you don't want to expose the API key on the client side (for example, a web page or mobile app).

Other tools

Beyond text-to-speech, ElevenLabs also offers: Speech to Text (product name Scribe), video dubbing (with a watermark on some lower-tier plans), a voice isolator to strip voice from background noise, sound effect generation, music generation, and Reception AI, an automated AI receptionist aimed at small businesses.

ElevenLabs pricing: which plan to choose

The official pricing page is structured around a monthly "credit" allowance rather than a fixed price — credits convert to characters or minutes of audio depending on the model you use. Here's a comparison of the allowances and features across plans (check the official pricing page for the actual cost):

What the Free plan gets you, and its limits

The Free plan gives 10,000 credits per month and still grants access to most tools (Text to Speech, Speech to Text, Studio, Sound Effects, and more), but according to the official pricing page, this plan has no commercial license and does not unlock Professional Voice Cloning. It's suitable for testing the voices, learning how the tool works, or making personal, non-monetized content — not for monetized videos, paid courses, or commercial products.

When to upgrade

• You need the output for monetized content (ad-supported videos, paid courses, client work) → at least the Starter plan.
• You need one fixed cloned voice for long-term brand use → Creator or above, for Professional Voice Cloning.
• You manage several brands or clients at once → Scale or Business, for several cloned voices in parallel.
• You need a custom contract, an SLA, or specific security requirements → contact sales about Enterprise.

How to get an API key and start using the ElevenLabs API

1. Create an account with your email on the ElevenLabs sign-up page — the Free plan activates right after sign-up.
2. Go to the account settings in the dashboard to generate a new API key.
3. Attach the API key to the xi-api-key header on every request sent to the API, as described in the official documentation.
4. If you're using Python or JavaScript/TypeScript, install the official ElevenLabs SDK instead of building raw requests yourself — it already handles authentication.
5. If the API key will run on the client side (browser, mobile app) where users could inspect the source code, use a "single-use token" instead of embedding the API key directly, to avoid leaking it.

Does ElevenLabs support Vietnamese well

ElevenLabs' official documentation lists Vietnamese among the 70-plus languages Eleven v3 supports, but the company doesn't publish separate accuracy figures for Vietnamese. According to some Vietnamese tech sites that have tested it, ElevenLabs handles Vietnamese tone marks and intonation reasonably well, with several regional accents available, though some words are still mispronounced occasionally — this is the testers' own opinion, not a figure published by ElevenLabs.

When ElevenLabs is a good fit, and when it isn't

If your needs match one of the "yes" rows above, a reasonable next step is to go straight to the company's own site to see the full pricing table, the API docs, and listen to sample voices before paying for anything. Eleven Labs Inc. is the company behind ElevenLabs. The link above is a partner link: Dùng Gì may earn a commission if you sign up or buy through it.

Frequently asked questions

What is ElevenLabs?

ElevenLabs is an AI platform from Eleven Labs Inc. that turns text into natural-sounding speech, with additional tools for voice cloning, dubbing, speech-to-text, and building voice-based conversational agents.

Is ElevenLabs free?

Yes, there's a Free plan with 10,000 credits per month, enough to try Text to Speech and a few other tools, but it has no commercial license and doesn't unlock Professional Voice Cloning. For monetized content you need a paid plan — check the official pricing page for details.

Where do I get an ElevenLabs API key?

After creating an account with your email, go to the account settings in the dashboard to generate an API key, then attach it to the xi-api-key header on every request, as described in the official documentation.

How is the Creator plan different from Free and Starter?

The Free plan has no commercial rights and no professional voice cloning. Starter adds commercial rights and Instant Voice Cloning but not Professional Voice Cloning. Creator adds one Professional Voice Cloning slot, which suits creators who need one consistent brand voice used regularly.

What is Eleven v3, and how is it different from older models?

Eleven v3 is ElevenLabs' newest text-to-speech model, announced in mid-2025, adding audio tags to control emotion within a sentence and a Dialogue mode for multi-speaker conversations. The company recommends v3 for pre-produced content, while apps that need an instant response should use the v2.5 Turbo/Flash models instead.