What’s allowed at each tier#
- Free tier: personal and non-commercial use only. You can generate audio for your own listening or testing, but you cannot publish it as part of a commercial product, monetized YouTube video, podcast with ads, or paid client work.
- Starter tier and above: commercial usage rights are granted. The audio you generate can be used in commercial projects, monetized content, ads, courses, and client deliverables.
This means if you’re producing anything that generates revenue directly or indirectly, you need at least the Starter tier.
Voice cloning rights#
Commercial rights to the audio you generate are granted at Starter and above. But ElevenLabs places a separate requirement on which voices you’re allowed to clone:
- Your own voice: full rights to clone and use commercially (Instant Voice Cloning is available at all paid tiers; Professional Voice Cloning is at higher tiers)
- Another person’s voice: requires their explicit consent. You must keep documentation of the consent
- Public figures or celebrities without consent: not allowed, regardless of tier
- Voices from the official Voice Library: usable per the terms of each voice’s contributor agreement
Common commercial use cases#
ElevenLabs is widely used for:
- Audiobook narration (especially long-form, where their TTS shines)
- Podcast intros and segments
- YouTube video voiceovers
- Course narration
- IVR / phone system prompts
- Multilingual content where one English script needs many language voiceovers
Each of these requires Starter or higher.
What about attribution?#
ElevenLabs does not require you to credit them in your output (no “Voice generated by ElevenLabs” overlay required) at any paid tier. The free tier may include an attribution requirement — check the current terms before publishing free-tier audio anywhere.
For current ElevenLabs pricing, see ElevenLabs tracker.