ElevenLabs and Speechify both turn text into speech, so they often end up in the same comparison. In practice they are built for different people. Speechify’s main product is a reading app that reads documents, articles, PDFs and emails aloud, with separate products for voiceovers (Speechify Studio) and developers (the Speechify API). ElevenLabs is a voice creation platform for narration, cloning, dubbing, music and voice agents. I checked both companies’ pricing and product pages on 27 October 2026 for this comparison.
Speechify vs ElevenLabs, the core difference
Speechify sells itself as a voice AI assistant: listen to text aloud, use voice typing and ask questions about a website or book. Its Premium plan adds 1,000+ natural voices, 60+ languages, listening at up to 5x speed, scan and listen for printed pages, AI summaries and chats, AI podcasts and voice typing. It has apps for iPhone, Android, Chrome, Edge, Mac, Windows and the web.
ElevenLabs is about making audio rather than consuming it. Its plans cover text to speech, speech to text, voice changer, sound effects, voice isolator, music, dubbing and a Studio for long-form projects, all from one shared credit pool, plus the ElevenAgents platform and the ElevenAPI for developers.
So if your goal is reading support or listening to articles on the move, Speechify is the tool to look at. If your goal is producing a voiceover, an audiobook or a voice feature in an app, ElevenLabs has the wider set of controls.
Text to speech listening and reader features
This is Speechify’s home ground. The free plan gives 10 basic voices (Speechify itself calls them robotic sounding) at up to 1.5x speed. Premium is $29 a month billed monthly, with a saving of up to 60% on yearly billing, and adds natural voices, 5x speed, scan and listen, integrations with Google Drive, Dropbox and Microsoft OneDrive, and AI features.
ElevenLabs does not position its main platform as a document reader, and its pricing page does not list a reader app. If listening to documents is the job, I would not choose ElevenLabs for it.
AI voice studio comparison
Both have a studio for creating voiceovers and dubbing.
- Speechify Studio: Free (600 credits, no commercial rights), Studio Starter at $100 a year (86,400 credits, commercial rights, stock media) and Studio Creator at $300 a year (345,600 credits). It includes a Voiceover Studio, Dubbing Studio and Voice Changer with 1,000+ voices.
- ElevenLabs: Free (10,000 credits, about 10 minutes of TTS), Starter $6 a month (30,000 credits, commercial licence, instant voice cloning, Dubbing Studio), Creator $22 (121,000 credits, professional voice cloning) and Pro $99 (600,000 credits, higher quality audio output).
ElevenLabs has more models to choose from (v4 for expressive speech with audio tags, v3 for dramatic and multi-speaker dialogue, and faster Turbo and Flash models), and voice cloning starts on its cheapest paid plan. Speechify’s studio is simpler and priced yearly, which may suit someone who just needs regular voiceovers without the extra tools.
Speech API and developer pricing
Speechify’s developer API is billed separately from the reader app. It has a free tier with 500,000 characters a month (no credit card), then Starter at $10 a month, Pro at $99 and Scale at $499, with published rates of $10, $8 and $6 per million characters on its Simba 3.0 and 3.2 models. Its newest model, Simba 3.5, covers 48 languages under one model id and lists at double those rates, though Speechify is billing it at the lower rate until 21 November 2026. Voice cloning, streaming and SSML are included on paid plans.
ElevenLabs’ API pricing is per 1,000 characters: $0.08 for v4 and v3, and $0.04 for v4 Turbo and Flash/Turbo, which equals $40 to $80 per million characters. ElevenLabs also publishes latency figures (about 75ms for Flash/Turbo and about 100ms for v4 Turbo) and adds speech to text, realtime speech to speech and agent pricing on the same page.
On the published rates alone, Speechify’s API is cheaper per character. ElevenLabs gives developers a wider product range from one vendor. As always with TTS APIs, run the same script through both and compare quality before deciding on price.
Plan and pricing summary
| Product | ElevenLabs | Speechify |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 10,000 credits a month | Reader free plan; Studio 600 credits; API 500K characters a month |
| Reader app | None | Premium $29 a month (cheaper yearly) |
| Studio | $6, $22 or $99 a month | $100 or $300 a year |
| API | $0.04 to $0.08 per 1,000 characters | $10, $99 or $499 a month plans; $6 to $10 per 1M characters |
Limits and drawbacks
- Speechify splits its products into three separate subscriptions (reader, studio and API), so you may pay for more than one.
- Speechify’s free reader voices are basic, and the free studio plan has no commercial rights.
- ElevenLabs is not designed as a reading app for documents and articles.
- ElevenLabs’ credits are shared across every tool, so heavy dubbing or music use leaves less for voiceovers.
How each fits a typical workflow
A student or busy professional using Speechify would usually install the browser extension or phone app, open an article, PDF or email and press play, adjusting speed as they get used to listening. The workflow is about consuming text faster.
A creator using ElevenLabs would write or paste a script into Studio, pick or clone an AI voice, adjust delivery with audio tags, then export audio for a video, podcast or audiobook. A developer would call the API from their own app and choose a fast model for real-time use or an expressive one for narration.
Developers comparing TTS APIs may also want to look at Cartesia, which sells fast speech models and voice agents with a free tier.
Which voice platform should you pick?
Pick Speechify if you want to listen to your reading list, study material or work documents, or if you need reading support. Its Premium app is the product most people mean when they say Speechify.
Pick ElevenLabs if you want to create audio: narration, character voices, cloned voices, dubbed videos or a voice feature in a product. It is the more capable creative and developer platform.
Alternative voice tools
- Murf AI: a business voiceover studio with a low-cost TTS API.
- Cartesia: a developer-focused TTS and voice agent provider.
- ElevenReader: ElevenLabs’ own reading app, if you want ElevenLabs voices for listening.
