How to use ElevenLabs?
Create a free account at elevenlabs.io, open the Text to Speech tool, paste your text, choose a voice, and click Generate to get downloadable audio in seconds. The free plan gives 10,000 credits (~10 minutes) a month. Paid plans from $6/month add commercial rights, voice cloning, dubbing, and more.
Why — the first-principles explanation
ElevenLabs is built around one simple loop: text in, speech out. The whole interface exists to make that loop fast, so the fastest way to learn it is to run the loop once. You paste text, the model reads it on ElevenLabs' servers, and a finished audio file comes back. Everything else, cloning, dubbing, settings, is an optional layer on top of that core action.
The two dials worth understanding are voice and credits. The voice is the identity doing the speaking, either a built-in preset or one you clone. Credits are the meter: about one credit per character, roughly 1,000 credits per minute of audio. Watching your credit balance tells you how much monthly usage you have left, and it resets each billing cycle.
Beyond plain text-to-speech, the same engine powers Studio for long projects like audiobooks, Dubbing to translate videos into other languages, and an API so developers can generate speech from their own apps. You don't need any of that to start, but knowing they share one account and one credit pool explains why a single subscription stretches across so many tasks.
An example that makes it click
Using ElevenLabs is like using a microwave. The core action is dead simple: put your food in, press a button, get it hot, here you paste text, press Generate, and get audio. A microwave also has extra buttons like defrost or popcorn that you can ignore until you need them; ElevenLabs' extras, like cloning your voice or dubbing a video, work the same way. And just as a microwave uses electricity you pay for, each clip you generate spends credits, about a thousand for every minute of audio.
How to do it
- Sign up for a free account at elevenlabs.io.
- Open the Text to Speech tool from the dashboard.
- Paste or type the text you want spoken.
- Pick a voice from the library, and optionally adjust stability and clarity settings.
- Click Generate, then listen and download the audio file.
- To do more, explore Voice Cloning, Studio for long projects, or Dubbing for other languages, upgrade to a paid plan for commercial use.
Key facts
- ElevenLabs runs in a web browser; no install is needed.
- The core workflow is paste text, pick a voice, click Generate, download audio.
- The free plan includes 10,000 credits (~10 minutes) per month.
- Usage costs about 1 credit per character, or ~1,000 credits per minute.
- Paid plans from $6/month add commercial rights, voice cloning, dubbing, and Studio tools.
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Here's how to use ElevenLabs. Start by creating a free account at elevenlabs.io. Once you're in, open the Text to Speech tool. Paste in whatever you want spoken, then pick a voice from the library, there are lots of preset options. Click Generate, and in a few seconds you'll have natural-sounding audio you can play and download. That's the core loop: text in, speech out. Each generation uses credits, about a thousand credits per minute of audio, and the free plan gives you around ten minutes a month. When you're ready for more, the same account unlocks extra tools: clone your own voice, dub videos into other languages, or use Studio for long projects like audiobooks. Just remember, to use the audio commercially you'll need a paid plan, which starts at six dollars a month.
What authoritative sources say
People also ask
Do I need to download software to use ElevenLabs?
No. It works in a web browser. Developers can also use its API to generate speech from their own apps.
How do I make my first audio clip?
Open the Text to Speech tool, paste your text, pick a voice, and click Generate. The audio is ready to play and download in seconds.
Is using ElevenLabs free?
You can start free with 10,000 credits (~10 minutes) a month, but commercial use and voice cloning require a paid plan from $6/month.
What are the extra tools beyond text-to-speech?
Voice cloning, video dubbing into other languages, Studio for long-form projects like audiobooks, and a developer API.