Our verdict
ElevenLabs has one of the fairer credit systems in AI audio: paid credits roll over for two months instead of vanishing every cycle. The weak spots are the money-back rules and the data defaults. A refund is only possible within 14 days and only if you have not touched your credits, and your content feeds model training until you flip the opt-out switch. Pay monthly first, turn off training on day one, and only then consider the annual discount.
Good fit if you…
- Creators who need commercial voiceovers from $6 a month
- Developers who want published per-plan credit volumes
- Uneven workloads that benefit from credit rollover
Skip it if you…
- You want a no-questions refund after trying the voices
- You need commercial rights without paying anything
- You will not remember to switch off training on your content
The fine print, graded
Five questions, graded A (best for you) to E from ElevenLabs's own pages. How grades work.
Pricing clarity · Are prices public and free of traps?
Every tier from Free to Business is listed in US dollars with monthly and yearly prices and the credit volume attached. Two things to read twice: the pricing page says prices exclude taxes, levies and duties, and the $1 and $11 first-month offers revert to the full price on renewal. The Terms also let ElevenLabs change prices; if you reject a change you must cancel at least 7 days before it takes effect.
SourceCancel & refunds · Can you leave, and get money back?
You can cancel at any time and keep access until the cycle ends, then drop to Free. Money back is narrow: the Terms say all sales are final with refunds at ElevenLabs' sole discretion, and the help centre limits refund requests to 14 days from payment and only if no credit quota was used in that period. Prepaid credit purchases are non-refundable.
SourceLimits & credits · What is capped, and do credits expire?
Better than most: on an active paid plan, unused credits roll over for up to two months, with the balance capped at 3x your monthly quota (top-up credits are outside that cap). The catch is exit: downgrading or cancelling forfeits unused credits at the end of the cycle, and the Terms say prepaid credits generally expire 12 months after purchase with no advance warning.
SourceYour data · Is your content used to train models?
Training is on by default. The Terms give ElevenLabs a perpetual, royalty-free license to use your content to improve the services and models, and the privacy policy confirms inputs and outputs are used for training. There is a real self-serve opt-out under the Data use menu in the account's Terms and Privacy section, but it only applies going forward. Data generated about your voice is kept up to 3 years after your last interaction.
SourceOutput rights · Can you use what you make commercially?
Paid users retain all rights in their output and may use it commercially, subject to the Prohibited Use Policy. Free users may only use the services for non-commercial purposes, which in practice means the $6 Starter plan is the real entry ticket for monetized content. The Terms add that other users may receive the same or similar output.
SourceWhat users say about ElevenLabs
User reviews · What do paying users report?
Opinion splits sharply by audience: business review sites (G2 4.5, Capterra 4.7) and the iPhone app (4.8 from about 24K ratings) rate the voices highly, while Trustpilot sits at 2.9 from 1,232 reviews. The most repeated complaint is billing and credits: duplicate or unexpected charges, credits lost after plan changes, and an AI-first support desk that makes reaching a human hard. The most repeated praise is how natural the voices sound, for voiceovers, audiobooks and cloning.
| Platform | Rating | Reviews | Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trustpilot | 2.9/5 | 1,232 | November 5, 2026 |
| G2 · figure from the search listing | 4.5/5 | 1,293 | November 5, 2026 |
| Capterra · figure from the search listing | 4.7/5 | 25 | November 5, 2026 |
| Apple App Store | 4.8/5 | 24,000 | November 5, 2026 |
Recurring complaints
- Billing problems: double charges, charges people say they did not authorize, and unused credits lost after a downgrade or a payment change
- Credits run out fast, and regenerations or failed outputs still use them, even on paid plans
- Support answers mostly through an AI agent and a human is hard to reach
- Account access trouble: lockouts, repeated verification errors, and at least one report of a hijacked account running up charges
- Output can be inconsistent: odd pronunciations of uncommon names and takes that miss the wanted tone
What users like
- Voices sound natural and varied, including in languages other than English
- Easy to start: people get usable speech within minutes
- Useful for audiobooks, voiceovers and voice cloning
- Some reviewers got quick refunds or restored credits once they reached a human
Ratings are the platforms' own figures on the date shown. Review sites attract unhappy customers and some vendors invite happy ones, so we average platforms instead of trusting one. How the user grade works.
ElevenLabs plans and prices
| Plan | Price | Billing | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | free | 10,000 credits a month, 3 Studio projects; non-commercial use only |
| Starter | $6/month ($5/month billed yearly, $60/year) | monthly or yearly | 30,000 credits a month, commercial license, Instant Voice Cloning, Dubbing Studio; first month shown at $1 |
| Creator | $22/month ($18.33/month billed yearly, $220/year) | monthly or yearly | 121,000 credits a month, Professional Voice Cloning; first month shown at $11 |
| Pro | $99/month ($82.50/month billed yearly, $990/year) | monthly or yearly | 600,000 credits a month, 44.1 kHz PCM output via the API |
| Scale | $299/month ($249.17/month billed yearly, $2,990/year) | monthly or yearly | 1.8M credits a month, 3 seats, 3 Professional Voice Clones |
| Business | $990/month ($825/month billed yearly, $9,900/year) | monthly or yearly | 6M credits a month, 10 seats, 10 Professional Voice Clones |
| Enterprise | Custom | contract | Custom terms, DPA and SLAs, HIPAA BAAs, SSO, custom seats and credits |
Prices as shown on ElevenLabs's pricing page on November 4, 2026. Taxes may apply.
Pros
- Paid credits roll over for up to two months, capped at 3x the monthly quota
- Commercial license included from the $6 Starter plan
- Self-serve opt-out from model training in account settings
- All self-serve tiers priced publicly in USD, with credit volumes
- Cancel any time from the account, with access to the end of the cycle
Cons
- Refunds only within 14 days and only if no credits were used
- Content is used for training unless you opt out
- Cancelling or downgrading forfeits unused credits
- Prepaid credits expire after 12 months without advance notice
- Free plan output is restricted to non-commercial use
What you are actually buying
ElevenLabs sells one currency, credits, and spends it across text to speech, voice cloning, dubbing, sound effects and music. Each plan is really a monthly credit allowance with features unlocked on top. The pricing page translates the allowance into approximate minutes of speech: about 10 minutes on Free, about 30 on Starter, about 121 on Creator, and so on up to around 6,000 minutes on Business.
The jump that matters for most buyers is from Free to Starter. Free gives you 10,000 credits but, according to the Terms, only for non-commercial purposes and with a personal email address. Starter at $6 a month adds the commercial license and Instant Voice Cloning. Creator at $22 adds Professional Voice Cloning, the higher-fidelity clone built from longer recordings. Above that, Pro, Scale and Business mostly add volume, API audio quality and seats.
Credits: the rollover rule is the good news
Most AI subscriptions wipe your balance every month. ElevenLabs does not, as long as you stay on a paid plan. The pricing FAQ says unused credits roll over for up to two months, and your balance can reach at most three times your monthly quota. Top-up credits are not subject to that cap. Rollover does not apply to the Free plan.
There are two exits where credits disappear:
- Downgrading or cancelling forfeits unused credits at the end of the cycle. Upgrading carries them forward.
- Prepaid credits generally expire 12 months after purchase, the Terms say, and ElevenLabs gives no advance notice before removing them. Expired credits cannot be reinstated, transferred or gifted.
Our read: if you produce audio in bursts, the rollover makes a smaller plan viable. Just spend the balance before you downgrade.
Refunds and cancellation
The Terms of Use are blunt: all sales are final, and refunds are at ElevenLabs' sole discretion. The help centre is slightly more generous and sets out the conditions: a request must be made within 14 days of payment, and only if no credit quota was used in the period you want refunded. You email support from your account address and give a reason.
That second condition is the trap. Generating a single test clip counts as using your quota, so in practice the refund only protects you against a mistaken purchase, not against being disappointed by the voices. Cancelling itself is easy: it is done in the account, access continues to the end of the billing cycle, and the account then drops to Free.
Your voice, your data and model training
Voice cloning means handing over biometric-grade material, so this section deserves attention. Under the Terms, you grant ElevenLabs a broad, perpetual, royalty-free license to use your content to provide and improve the services and develop new products. The privacy policy states that personal information is used to build, train and improve its AI models, including models that learn patterns in speech and audio.
What you can do about it:
- Open the account's Terms and Privacy section and use the Data use menu to opt out of training. The policy says the opt-out only applies to training after you switch it off.
- Delete voice models you no longer need from your account.
ElevenLabs also says it will not commercialize your voice on a standalone basis without permission, and that data it generates about your voice is kept no longer than 3 years after your last interaction, unless the law requires otherwise.
Other clauses worth knowing
Disputes go to binding individual arbitration with JAMS under New York law, with a class-action waiver. You can opt out of arbitration within 30 days of first accepting the Terms, by email or certified mail. Prices on the pricing page exclude taxes. The Terms we read were last updated on 9 October 2026.
Bottom line: ElevenLabs is clear about what each dollar buys and generous with unused credits. It is stingy with refunds and opportunistic with training data by default. Neither is a dealbreaker if you know about it before you subscribe.
FAQ
Can I get a refund from ElevenLabs?
Only in a narrow case. The help centre says requests must be made within 14 days of payment and only if no credit quota was used in that period; otherwise the Terms treat sales as final.
Do ElevenLabs credits roll over?
Yes, on paid plans. Unused credits roll over for up to two months and the balance is capped at three times your monthly quota. Cancelling or downgrading forfeits them at the end of the cycle.
Can I use the ElevenLabs free plan commercially?
No. The Terms say free users may only use the services for non-commercial purposes. The commercial license starts on the $6 Starter plan.
Does ElevenLabs train its models on my voice and text?
By default, yes. You can opt out in the Data use menu of your account's Terms and Privacy section; the opt-out applies only to training after you switch it off.
Who owns audio made with ElevenLabs?
The Terms say you retain all rights in your output. Paid plans may use it commercially, subject to the Prohibited Use Policy, and similar output may be generated for other users.
Sources
- ElevenLabs pricing page and FAQ (read November 4, 2026)
- ElevenLabs Terms of Use (last updated 9 October 2026) (read November 4, 2026)
- ElevenLabs Privacy Policy (last updated 9 October 2026) (read November 4, 2026)
- ElevenLabs help centre: How can I request a refund? (read November 4, 2026)
- ElevenLabs help centre: What is your refund policy? (read November 4, 2026)
- ElevenLabs: AI Voice Generator, Apple App Store listing and reviews (read November 5, 2026)
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