What is ElevenLabs?
ElevenLabs is an AI platform specializing in text-to-speech (TTS), voiceover, and transcription. Unlike traditional TTS systems, ElevenLabs is capable of generating human-like voice readings with natural tones, rich emotions, and contextual awareness.
ElevenLabs was founded in 2022 by Piotr Dąbkowski, a former Google machine learning engineer, and Mateusz Staniszewski, a former Palantir strategist. In early 2024, the platform raised $80 million, officially becoming a unicorn startup with a company valuation of more than $1 billion.
Advantages & Disadvantages of ElevenLabs
ElevenLabs Advantages
Considered by many to be one of the platforms that created the current AI technology boom, ElevenLabs possesses many advantages that you will hardly find in other text-to-speech applications.
- High-quality voice generation: ElevenLabs can generate voice readings with superior quality, impressively simulating human voices.
- User-friendly Interface: With its easy-to-use interface design, ElevenLabs is suitable for everyone, even beginners.
- Free Trial: ElevenLabs’ free trial plan includes 10,000 characters and three custom voices per month, making it a great option for users to try before they buy.
- High Security: Ensures high level of security for all voice processing, protects user data and maintains privacy.
- Extensive documentation: Comprehensive support system including a dedicated Discord channel with detailed instructions, AI-powered auto-reply bot, and full support form, to quickly resolve any user issues.
- Versatile: ElevenLabs can be applied in many different areas such as podcasting, presentations, and video production.
Disadvantages of ElevenLabs
Despite its many advantages, ElevenLabs still has some limitations:
- High Cost: The price of paid plans can be a barrier for users on a budget.
- Results are not always accurate: ElevenLabs’ results are highly dependent on the quality of the input text. If the user’s input is unclear or the pronunciation is incorrect, the output voice may not be satisfactory.
- Lack of mobile apps: limits usability for those who frequently work on mobile devices or need to access services away from their computers.
- Internet Dependency: ElevenLabs requires a stable internet connection to function effectively, which can be a limitation in areas with low internet connectivity.
Key Features of ElevenLabs
Text to Speech
This is the core feature of ElevenLabs . It has two modes: simple and advanced, and you can easily switch between them.
Simple mode will convert your text to speech, but won’t let you choose or change voices. Advanced mode offers a variety of voices to choose from, along with sliders to adjust the speaking style.
Speech to Speech
ElevenLabs also allows you to upload an audio sample to the app, which will then convert and clone the voice while directly copying the intonation of the input audio sample.
API Integration
ElevenLabs also provides an API that allows users to convert text to speech and create artificial voices into their applications. This feature allows you to easily use ElevenLabs in software or website projects that require the use of AI voice, such as chatbot systems or automated customer service.
Multilingual support
ElevenLabs has the ability to generate voices in multiple languages, which is convenient for developers or content creators who want to use AI to create multilingual content.
How to use ElevenLabs basically
Step 1. Create an account
Go to elevenlabs.io , select Log in and fill in the necessary information such as email and password to create an account. You can also quickly log in via Facebook, GitHub, Google or SSO account. On the first login, ElevenLabs will ask you to fill in your name and choose the purpose of use.
Free plan users will receive 10,000 credits per month, enough to create 10 minutes of audio for personal use.
If you need to use it for commercial purposes, or want to clone your own voice, you’ll have to upgrade to a paid plan, which starts at $5 per month.
Step 2. Start creating Voice
Enter the text you want to convert to speech in the input box. Then, select the Voice and Model you want to use.
Step 3. Customize voice
Adjust the voice, speed, and tone in the Stability section to your liking. Finally, tap Generate speech to convert text to audio.
Advanced Usage of ElevenLabs
In addition to the basic usage of ElevenLabs mentioned above, MindX will share advanced steps so you can make the most of the power of this application.
Step 1. Choose a voice
In this step, you need to choose whether to use the default ElevenLabs voice or create your own voice.
If you want to create a new voice, click Voices => Add a New Voice in the Control Panel Menu. You can choose Voice Library or Voice Design . The Voice Design menu allows you to choose the tone, age, and gender.
Step 2. Create your own sound
Once you have a voice, it’s time to create the sound you want. Go to the Speech option in the sidebar and add text to the box, or upload or record the audio you want to use.
The recording option is a great way to transform your voice into a different version that you desire.
Next, select Generate Speech and wait while your audio is generated by the AI. You can also see your credits decrease each time you generate a sound, which is a fun experience.
Step 3. Edit the audio
Customize your sound using the Settings or Advanced options . Here you can adjust voice settings like voice stability or style gain, and listen to the results by pressing Generate again.
Note that the number of audio creations is limited if you use the free version, so it’s best to experiment with a short piece of text to save money.
Once you are satisfied with the sound produced, you can tap the Download icon in the lower right corner of the screen to download a high quality MP3 file, and then use this file as needed.
Tips for using ElevenLabs effectively
To get the most out of ElevenLabs, users should keep in mind the following tips:
Should slow down the speed of speech
Slowing down your speech will help you sound more natural. You can do this by:
- Write prompts in a narrative style. This can also be used to change the tone to match a certain emotion.
- Use the <break time=”1.5s” /> tag. This tag will create a pause in the voice.
Try to process the input audio files
In case you use the Speech to Speech feature, make sure that the input audio files are completely de-noised and only the audio that you want ElevenLabs to process remains.
Use different audio files
Continuing with the voice-to-speech feature, you should use many different audio files to get the most realistic results.
If you are having trouble understanding this tip, let’s say you are trying to use ElevenLabs to create sounds for Doraemon. You should use audio files of Doraemon in different situations, like talking normally, angry, or happy. You will find that the output sound is much more realistic.
Hopefully this article has helped you better understand what ElevenLabs is, how to use ElevenLabs, as well as the features and tips to use this tool most effectively.