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ElevenLabs vs MiniMax Audio

Two fact sheets from our own research, side by side — pricing, platforms, API access and status re-checked by us rather than quoted from the vendors.

The short answer

Cheaper paid plan
MiniMax Audio — $5/mo vs $6/mo for ElevenLabs
Free plan
Both have one
Public API
Both have one
Higher Trust score
ElevenLabs — 88 vs 82 for MiniMax Audio
Best fit
ElevenLabs: Product teams adding narration or voice agents without training a model · MiniMax Audio: Creators making voiceovers, audiobooks or game dialogue in several languages

From our own records as of each tool's last check. Anything we have not confirmed is left out rather than guessed. How we verify

ElevenLabsSynthetic voices, cloning and dubbing sold by the creditMiniMax AudioText-to-speech and voice cloning studio with 300+ voices in 50+ languages, from the lab behind the MiniMax Speech models.

Side by side

FactElevenLabsMiniMax Audio
CategoryText-to-SpeechText-to-Speech
Pricing modelFreemiumFreemium
Starts at$6/mo$5/mo
Public APIYesYes
Trust score88 / 10082 / 100
PlatformsWeb, API, iOS, AndroidWeb, API
CompanyElevenLabsMiniMax
Launched2022—
Last verifiedSep 6, 2026Oct 2, 2026

What our research says

ElevenLabs

The quality bar for synthetic speech and the easiest voice API to start on, but the credit meter is the actual product and it empties faster than the plan names imply.

Pros

  • Output quality and language coverage remain ahead of most rivals
  • One account spans speech, dubbing, recognition, effects and agents
  • The first paid tier is $6, so testing commercially costs almost nothing

Cons

  • Credits rather than minutes, so cost per finished second shifts with model and settings
  • Commercial licence and instant cloning are both withheld from the free tier
  • Professional voice cloning starts only at Creator ($22)
  • Team seats do not appear until the $299 Scale plan

MiniMax Audio

A strong pick when you need natural multilingual narration and cheap voice cloning, and want to move from a web studio to an API without changing vendor. The point-based plans and per-voice fees take some reading, and the web studio itself reveals little until you sign in.

Pros

  • 300+ voices across 50+ languages and regional accents
  • Voice cloning from a short sample at $1.50 per voice via the API
  • Low entry subscription at $5/month, with the same models available by API
  • Documented per-character API pricing for both HD and Turbo models

Cons

  • Audio points and per-voice fees make real cost harder to estimate
  • Free access on the web is limited to a few trial generations before sign-in
  • The studio shows little detail without an account

Which one fits

Choose ElevenLabs if you need

  • Product teams adding narration or voice agents without training a model
  • Creators dubbing video into other languages with the speaker's timbre kept
  • Audiobook and podcast producers who need a licensable cloned voice

Choose MiniMax Audio if you need

  • Creators making voiceovers, audiobooks or game dialogue in several languages
  • Developers who want TTS and voice cloning through one API
  • Teams that need a large pool of preset voices plus custom ones

ElevenLabs vs MiniMax Audio: the questions people ask

Is ElevenLabs cheaper than MiniMax Audio?

On published entry prices, MiniMax Audio starts lower — $5/mo against $6/mo for ElevenLabs. Entry price is the lowest paid plan as we last verified it; what each plan includes differs.

Does ElevenLabs or MiniMax Audio have a free tier?

Both: ElevenLabs has a free tier, and MiniMax Audio has a free tier.

Which has a public API, ElevenLabs or MiniMax Audio?

Both ship a public API, so either can be built on; the fact table above shows the platforms each one runs on.

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