AssemblyAI vs ElevenLabs: voice AI pricing compared
Updated 2026-11-06 · listed A to Z, not ranked
AssemblyAI sells speech-to-text models for pre-recorded files and live streams, speech-understanding add-ons, an LLM gateway and, since 2026, a text-to-speech API. Transcription bills per hour of audio, pay as you go, with custom rates on contract.
ElevenLabs sells AI voice products (text to speech, speech to text, dubbing, music, sound effects and voice agents) on monthly plans. Every plan gives you a pool of credits, and every product draws from the same pool at its own rate.
Listed A to Z, from assemblyai.com and elevenlabs.io. Every figure below is quoted from those pages.
- Main price table
- Pre-recorded, Pre-recorded, Realtime, Realtime, Realtime, Sync (single call, up to 20 min), Dictation API
- Free option
- None in the published plan table
- Published prices
- Universal-2 $0.15/hr, Universal-3.5 Pro $0.21/hr, Universal-Streaming $0.15/hr, Universal-3.6 Pro Realtime $0.45/hr, TTS $15 per 1M characters; free tier.
- Main price table
- Text to speech, Text to speech, Speech to text, Speech to text, Speech to text add-ons, Realtime voice models, Speech Engine, Music, Voice isolator, voice changer, sound effects, Dubbing
- Free option
- None in the published plan table
- Published prices
- ElevenLabs API pricing per minute and per 1k characters (TTS $0.04–$0.08, speech to text $0.22/hour, realtime voice $0.08/min), plus Starter $6 to Business $990 plans.
How we checked: Prices quoted from each official pricing page: AssemblyAI checked Nov 9, 2026, ElevenLabs checked Nov 6, 2026. Taxes, usage overages and promotions can change what you pay; confirm with each provider before you buy.
How they compare
- Main price table. AssemblyAI lists 7 entries (Pre-recorded, Pre-recorded, Realtime, Realtime, Realtime, Sync (single call, up to 20 min), Dictation API); ElevenLabs lists 10 (Text to speech, Text to speech, Speech to text, Speech to text, Speech to text add-ons, Realtime voice models, Speech Engine, Music, Voice isolator, voice changer, sound effects, Dubbing).
- Free option. AssemblyAI: none in the published plan table. ElevenLabs: none in the published plan table.
- How prices are quoted. AssemblyAI: “Speech-to-text models (pay as you go)”. ElevenLabs: “API pricing: per minute and usage-based billing (USD)”.
AssemblyAI plans and prices
| API | Model | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-recorded | Universal-3.5 Pro (18 languages) | $0.21 / hr |
| Pre-recorded | Universal-2 (99 languages) | $0.15 / hr |
| Realtime | Universal-3.6 Pro Realtime (32 languages) | $0.45 / hr |
| Realtime | Universal-Streaming (English) | $0.15 / hr |
| Realtime | Universal-Streaming Multilingual | $0.15 / hr |
| Sync (single call, up to 20 min) | Universal-3.5 Pro | $0.30 / hr |
| Dictation API | Built on Universal-3.5 Pro | $0.62 / hr, all features included |
| Add-on | Pre-recorded | Realtime |
|---|---|---|
| Speaker diarization | $0.02 | $0.12 |
| Keyterms prompting | $0.05 on Universal-3.5 Pro; included on Universal-2 | Included on 3.6 Pro Realtime; $0.04 on Universal-Streaming |
| Medical mode | $0.15 | $0.15 |
| PII text redaction | $0.08 (Guardrails) | $0.12 |
| Summarization | $0.02 low effort; $0.07 medium | — |
Text-to-speech: AssemblyAI-TTS-1 at $15 per 1M characters, billed on input characters; cloned voices and EU processing cost the same.
From assemblyai.com, checked Nov 9, 2026. Full breakdown: AssemblyAI pricing.
ElevenLabs plans and prices
| Product | Model / mode | Price on elevenlabs.io/pricing/api |
|---|---|---|
| Text to speech | v4, v3, v2 Multilingual | $0.08 per 1,000 characters (about $0.08 per minute of audio) |
| Text to speech | v4 Turbo, v3 Conversational, Flash / Turbo | $0.04 per 1,000 characters (about $0.04 per minute) |
| Speech to text | Scribe v2, Scribe v2 Medical | $0.22 per hour |
| Speech to text | Scribe v2 Realtime | $0.39 per hour |
| Speech to text add-ons | Keyterm prompting / transcript editing | $0.05 / $0.07 per hour (realtime $0.08 / $0.12) |
| Realtime voice models | v1 Mini, v1 Max | $0.08 per minute of connected audio, plus LLM tokens (Mini $0.20 in / $6.00 out, Max $1.80 / $9.00 per 1M) |
| Speech Engine | Standard / burst | $0.08 / $0.16 per minute |
| Music | Eleven Music | $0.15 per minute |
| Voice isolator, voice changer, sound effects | - | $0.12 per minute |
| Dubbing | v1 with / without watermark; v2 | $0.33 / $0.50 per minute; $2.20 per minute |
API usage is billed in US dollars, not plan credits. Prices exclude taxes. Checked Nov 6, 2026.
| Plan | Price per month | Credits per month | Annual billing, per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $6 | 30,000 | $5 |
| Creator | $22 ($11 for the first month) | 121,000 | $18.33 |
| Pro | $99 | 600,000 | $82.50 |
| Scale | $299 (3 seats) | 1,800,000 | $249.17 |
| Business | $990 (10 seats) | 6,000,000 | $825 |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom |
Annual billing is the monthly price × 10. The pricing page also showed a limited-time first-month offer on Starter when we checked.
From elevenlabs.io, checked Nov 6, 2026. Full breakdown: ElevenLabs pricing.
FAQ
How much does AssemblyAI cost?
Universal-2 $0.15/hr, Universal-3.5 Pro $0.21/hr, Universal-Streaming $0.15/hr, Universal-3.6 Pro Realtime $0.45/hr, TTS $15 per 1M characters; free tier. (checked Nov 9, 2026).
How much does ElevenLabs cost?
ElevenLabs API pricing per minute and per 1k characters (TTS $0.04–$0.08, speech to text $0.22/hour, realtime voice $0.08/min), plus Starter $6 to Business $990 plans. (checked Nov 6, 2026).
Do AssemblyAI and ElevenLabs have a free option?
AssemblyAI: none in the published plan table. ElevenLabs: none in the published plan table.
Where do these prices come from?
Each vendor's own pricing page: assemblyai.com (checked Nov 9, 2026) and elevenlabs.io (checked Nov 6, 2026). Prices change; confirm on the vendor's page before you buy.
Sources (official pages, read 2026-11-06)
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