ElevenLabs: The most natural AI voice generating tool? Alex, June 26, 2023June 29, 2023 If you’re interested in voice technology and the idea of translating text into lifelike, emotional speech, hang on to your hats because we’re about to embark on a revolutionary journey. Consider this: a platform that adjusts its tone and tempo according on the context of the language spoken, where your words can come to life, speaking volumes (literally) beyond the boundaries of printed text. Hold that thinking if it feels like we’re about to walk onto the set of a science-fiction film! This isn’t some far-off technology from a galaxy far, far away. It’s right in front of us, and it’s causing a stir in the world of AI-powered text-to-speech solutions. Interested in learning more? Stay with us, because we’re just getting started. The wonder we’re referring to is none other than… ElevenLabs! But wait, we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s take a step back and paint a complete picture of what ElevenLabs has to offer. What is ElevenLabs and why it is special ElevenLabs – a truly next-gen software company from US that’s making big waves in the world of text-to-speech and speech synthesis tech. It was co-founded back in 2022 by Piotr Dabkowski, a genius who used to work at Google as a machine learning engineer, and Mati Staniszewski, a strategic whizz from Palantir. They launched their beta platform in January 2023, and it quickly caught everyone’s attention thanks to its ability to create incredibly lifelike speech. What’s really cool about ElevenLabs is their web-based software. It’s a bit like having a personal AI assistant that can turn any text into speech. It doesn’t just read the words; it actually adjusts the tone and pace based on the context of the language you feed into it. And you know what’s even cooler? Premium users can upload their own voice samples to create brand new vocal styles! The tech has already seen some pretty awesome applications. A company called Super-Hi-Fi teamed up with ElevenLabs in 2023 to create “AI Radio”, which is essentially a fully automated radio service. It even has a virtual DJ that gets its prompts from ChatGPT. Plus, some famous faces, including comedian Drew Carey and Polish broadcaster Jarosław Kuzniar, have used the voice cloning tool for their own projects. But like any good superhero story, there’s a bit of controversy too. Because the software can imitate voices so closely, there have been some instances where users have made it say things that celebrities and public figures never actually said. This has understandably raised a few eyebrows, and people are calling for more safeguards to stop misuse. ElevenLabs took this to heart and promised to add more protective measures. They’ve also made the voice cloning feature available only to paid subscribers, to ensure people are held accountable. A user who gave ElevenLabs a test run over the past week had some pretty good things to say about it. They found it to be the best voice cloning tool they’ve used, even better than previous services like Resemble.ai, Descript, and Speechify. They did point out a few things that could be better, like making the accents more authentic and the aging aspects of voices more realistic, and they would like to see more comprehensive API documentation. But all in all, they were really impressed by the quality and realism that ElevenLabs brought to the table. So, it seems like the future of AI voice tech is in pretty good hands! ElevenLabs knows human emotions ElevenLabs has created an AI that is not only fluent and rich in precise intonation, but also brimming with emotion. It’s almost as though it has its own heart and spirit! The AI absorbs and understands the emotions given through the written word after being trained on a massive amount of data (almost 500k hours, if you can believe that). So, whether your content requires a cheerful, furious, sad, or neutral tone, the friendly AI has you covered. Laughter as a means of expressing happiness Is there any other AI that can laugh? ElevenLabs has reached that milestone by developing an AI model that can generate a lifelike chuckle sound based on the context of the text. It’s not just about making a ‘laughing sound,’ but about expressing true joy or enjoyment. It’s really astounding and demonstrates how far AI has progressed. Capturing a broad range of emotions The ElevenLabs AI model encompasses a wide range of emotions, from happy to amusement, rage to grief. Each of these emotional reactions is unique, giving authenticity and involvement to the synthesized speech. When the speaker is overjoyed with a win, the AI makes realistic laughter, and when the speaker finds something outrageously entertaining, the AI can enhance the reaction suitably. Isn’t it’sooooo funny’? Situational awareness The magic does not end there. ElevenLabs’ AI goes beyond merely reading words to comprehend the full context. It’s like a good detective piecing together the context to determine the appropriate intonation, mood, and even word meaning based on their usage. It’s intelligent enough, for example, to distinguish between’read’ in the present tense and’read’ in the past tense, or’minute’ as a unit of time and’minute’ as something small, all dependent on context. Isn’t that amazing? Balancing written versus spoken word This is yet another feather in its crown. The ElevenLabs model recognizes the narrow line that separates written and spoken language. It understands when to pronounce acronyms differently from UNESCO or NASA, such as FBI, TNT, and ATM. It understands that $3tr is great in writing, but when read vocally, it must become ‘three trillion dollars’. That is really clever technology! Human involvement One of ElevenLabs’ primary goals is to reduce the need for human intervention. After all, they created this application so you can create an audiobook in minutes rather than hours of listening to audio and rewriting the entire text. ElevenLabs is building a technique for indicating ambiguity in the model, which currently understands many pronunciation rules. Users may instantly observe which sections of the text the model found difficult and assist it in understanding how these parts should be spoken. ElevenLabs speech synthesis: Pricing for everyone Alright, let’s talk dollars and cents – or rather, how ElevenLabs has done a great job of offering something for everyone in their pricing structure. First up, if you’re just dipping your toes into the world of AI speech synthesis, their free plan is a fantastic starting point. This isn’t some watered-down trial either. It’s packed with solid features that give you a good feel for what their speech synthesis tech can do. You can submit your text, choose from an array of default voices, and hey presto, you’ve got yourself an audio file that’s so much more than a robotic monotone. I mean, how cool is that? The free plan does have a usage limit though, which is only fair when you’re getting to use such cutting-edge tech at zero cost. But let’s say you’re completely sold on the whole concept and you can’t wait to explore further. That’s when you might want to consider their unlimited plan. This is where ElevenLabs pulls out all the stops. You know how they say ‘the world is your oyster’? Well, with the unlimited plan, the world of voice synthesis is your oyster. You can do everything you can in the free plan, but with no usage limits. Talk about freedom! And that’s not all. Remember when I told you about their cool feature where you can upload custom voice samples? Yeah, that’s included in the unlimited plan too. Imagine being able to create your own unique vocal styles – your podcast, your audiobook, or even your virtual assistant could have a voice no one else in the world has! There’s no one-size-fits-all with ElevenLabs. Their pricing caters to everyone, from the curious first-timer to the dedicated aficionado. So why not give it a go? It’s time to let your words be heard in a whole new light. Pricing plans Free plan The Free Plan, perfect for hobbyists looking to try out top-tier speech synthesis, won’t cost you a penny. It includes: Long-Form Speech Synthesis (No Commercial License) 10,000 characters per month Up to 3 custom voices Voice Design for creating random voices Speech creation in multiple languages: English, German, Polish, Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese, and Hindi API access Attribution to elevenlabs.io is required. Starter plan At just $5 per month (with an 80% discount for the first month), the Starter Plan is ideal for creators wanting to publish more content. It offers: Everything from the Free Plan Commercial License for Long-Form Speech Synthesis 30,000 characters per month Up to 10 custom voices Access to Instant Voice Cloning Creator plan Designed for content creators seeking compelling narration, the Creator Plan is priced at $22 per month. Features include: Everything from the Starter Plan 100,000 characters per month (~2hr of generated audio) Additional usage-based characters at $0.30 per 1000 characters Up to 30 custom voices High-quality 96kbps audio outputs Independent publisher plan At $99 per month, the Independent Publisher Plan is perfect for independent authors and publishers wanting to engage their audience with audio. You’ll get: Everything from the Creator Plan 500,000 characters per month (~10 hours of generated audio) Additional usage-based characters at $0.24 per 1000 characters Up to 160 custom voices Growing business plan Designed for growing businesses, the Growing Business Plan is $330 per month. This plan provides: Everything from the Independent Publisher Plan 2,000,000 characters per month (~40 hours of generated audio) Additional usage-based characters at $0.18 per 1000 characters Up to 660 custom voices Enterprise plan The Enterprise Plan is tailored for businesses requiring a custom plan. You’ll need to contact ElevenLabs to discuss your needs. It offers: Custom quotas for Speech Synthesis and VoiceLab Volume-based discounts Professional voices Priority rendering queue The highest quality of speech Priority access to features Enterprise-level SLAs Dedicated Enterprise support AI Tools