ElevenLabs vs Speechify: Making Audio vs Listening to It
Updated October 2, 2026
Short version: Decide which Speechify you mean. Against the reader app, there is no contest: ElevenLabs makes audio you publish, the reader makes audio you listen to, and its terms say reader output is not for commercial use. Against Speechify Studio, the trade is ElevenLabs' breadth and expressiveness against Studio's low yearly price per minute. Both offer dubbing; both offer cloning on paid plans.
About ElevenLabs
ElevenLabs is the broadest voice platform on the market: text to speech, instant and professional voice cloning, a Studio editor, dubbing into 90+ languages, sound effects, a voice isolator and a conversational-agent stack, drawing on one credit balance. Its Eleven v4 models list 90+ languages. Plans run from a free tier of 10,000 credits a month to Starter at $6, Creator at $22, Pro at $99 and Scale at $299, with a commercial license from Starter, professional cloning from Creator, and unused credits rolling over for up to two months.
About Speechify
Speechify is two products. The reader app turns documents and articles into audio for you to listen to, with 1,000+ voices in 60+ languages on Premium at $29 a month, and its terms say reader output is not for commercial use. Speechify Studio is the creator product for voiceover, dubbing and avatar video, sold as a separate subscription at $100 or $300 a year, with commercial rights and voice cloning on paid plans. Studio spends one credit per second of voiceover, which works out to about $0.05 to $0.07 a minute.
Feature comparison
| Feature | ElevenLabs | Speechify Studio |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Expressive speech across many products | Voiceover, dubbing and avatar video for creators; the reader app is a separate product |
| Voices and languages | 10,000+ voices; 90+ languages on Eleven v4 | Over 1,000 voices in 60+ languages on its voice generator page; about 20 languages named on the Studio pricing page |
| Voice cloning | Instant from Starter; professional from Creator | From Studio Starter |
| Billing unit | Credits per character of text | Credits per second of output: 1 for voiceover, 3 for dubbing, 30 for avatars |
| Billing period | Monthly or yearly | Yearly prices shown; a one-month plan mentioned without a price |
| Free plan | 10,000 credits a month, non-commercial | 600 credits; downloading needs a paid plan; no commercial rights |
| Commercial use | From Starter | Paid Studio plans; reader output is not for commercial use |
| Dubbing and avatars | Dubbing into 90+ languages; no avatars | Dubbing and avatar video |
| Reader app | ElevenReader | The Speechify reader, Premium at $29 a month |
| API | Yes | Yes, with separate plans from $10 a month |
ElevenLabs figures are as shown on elevenlabs.io/pricing, elevenlabs.io/docs and elevenlabs.io/terms-of-use and Speechify figures on speechify.com/pricing, speechify.com/pricing-studio and speechify.com/terms, both read on October 2, 2026, and may have changed. Promotional first-month prices are left out. LeapFun figures are on the pricing page.
Pricing per minute
| Plan | Price | Audio | Cost per minute |
|---|---|---|---|
| ElevenLabs Starter | $6 a month | about 30 minutes a month | $0.20 |
| ElevenLabs Creator | $22 a month | about 121 minutes a month | $0.18 |
| Speechify Studio Starter | $100 a year | 24 hours a year of voiceover | about $0.07 |
| Speechify Studio Creator | $300 a year | 96 hours a year of voiceover | about $0.05 |
ElevenLabs minutes follow its statement that a minute of audio costs approximately 1,000 characters; Speechify hours follow its rate of one credit per second. Speechify Studio is far cheaper per minute if you commit to a year; ElevenLabs lets you start at $6 for a month.
Which should you choose?
Choose ElevenLabs if:
- Emotional range, the voice library or the widest product set matters.
- You want to pay monthly and scale up and down.
- You build on an API.
Choose Speechify if:
- You mainly want to listen to documents and articles: the reader app.
- You produce many hours of voiceover, dubbing or avatar video a year and are happy to pay yearly.
A third option for long-form creators
Neither is organised around a manuscript. If the job is a book, a series or a channel with chapters, re-takes and subtitle files, that is a different kind of tool. LeapFun is built for that: a chapter-based Studio with paragraph re-takes, loudness-mastered exports with subtitle files, voices in 130+ languages on Leap Ultra, self-serve cloning with consent recorded, and commercial rights from $6 a month. It has a REST API, but no video dubbing or streaming endpoint, and its voice library is smaller. The previews below are unedited LeapFun output.
Previews above are real LeapFun output. Hit Generate to hear your script — 3,000 free credits on sign-up, no card required.
Frequently asked questions
Is Speechify cheaper than ElevenLabs?
Speechify Studio is cheaper per minute on a yearly plan, about $0.05 to $0.07 against $0.18 on ElevenLabs Creator. ElevenLabs has the cheaper way in, at $6 for a month.
Can I use Speechify audio commercially?
Paid Speechify Studio plans include commercial usage rights. Speechify's terms say its other services, including the reader app, are not intended for commercial use.
Which has more voices and languages?
ElevenLabs lists 10,000+ library voices and 90+ languages on Eleven v4. Speechify's voice generator page says over 1,000 voices in 60+ languages.
Does Speechify have a reader like ElevenReader?
Yes, the reader is Speechify's original product. ElevenLabs offers ElevenReader for listening to books, articles and PDFs.
Is there a better option for long-form narration?
For workflow, LeapFun: a chapter-based Studio, paragraph re-takes, mastered exports with subtitles and monthly billing from $6 with commercial rights. It has no reader app and no dubbing.
Try it on your script
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