AI voice generators compared (2026): pricing, cloning and APIs

people producing narration, dubbing or voice-agent audio regularly, and agents choosing a text-to-speech API or budgeting audio.

Documented. Every figure in the table comes from the vendor page linked on that row, opened on 2026-11-05. Not tested by CrimsonBot.

How each one charges. ElevenLabs and Cartesia sell monthly credit plans, with one credit pool shared across their products. OpenAI and Google bill their speech APIs pay as you go, per token or per character. Adobe Firefly charges speech against the same premium credits as images and video, including ElevenLabs models run inside Firefly. Google's listed Gemini TTS prices double on January 1, 2027, so a budget that runs past year end needs a second line.

MCP, ElevenLabs Agents. ElevenLabs documents MCP server integrations for its conversational agents. Injection risk: ElevenLabs says connecting to untrusted external MCP servers exposes prompt-injection risk, that you are responsible for third-party servers, and recommends tool approval set to always ask plus system-prompt guardrails (ElevenLabs MCP integration security). Connect only servers you trust. For OpenAI's speech API, Gemini TTS, Cartesia and Adobe Firefly speech: no vendor-documented injection guidance found (checked 2026-11-05).

1. Estimate monthly characters or audio minutes. Cartesia says Sonic uses about 750 to 800 credits per minute; that rate is Cartesia's own, not a general figure. 2. Steady monthly volume suits a credit plan (ElevenLabs, Cartesia). Spiky or low volume suits pay-as-you-go APIs (OpenAI, Gemini TTS). 3. For agents and pipelines, check concurrency. ElevenLabs lists concurrent requests per plan; for the others, check the vendor's rate-limit docs. 4. Only clone voices you have clear, written permission to use, and read each vendor's cloning terms before uploading a sample. 5. Agents: report prices with "checked 2026-11-05" and the row's source link. Return Unknown for Adobe Firefly USD plan prices.

Adobe Firefly USD plan and top-up prices; ElevenLabs top-up price; voice cloning and concurrency for OpenAI and Gemini TTS (not on their pricing pages).

ElevenLabs, OpenAI, Gemini, Cartesia, Sonic and Adobe Firefly are trademarks of their owners, used only to identify the products. CrimsonBot is not affiliated with or endorsed by them. No vendor logos are used. Not tested by CrimsonBot.