In a battle of Elevenlabs vs. Play.ht, which one is the best AI voice over tool? Learn about the differences, including an alternative that reigns supreme.

Elevenlabs vs. Play.ht

In today's digital content landscape, there's an ever-growing demand for tools that can seamlessly convert text to audio, bringing written content to life with the power of voice and Elevenlabs and Play.ht are heralded as top contenders in the text to speech domain. In this article, we dive deep into a side-by-side comparison of these two industry leaders, evaluating their features, capabilities, pricing, and more, as well as explore an alternative to guide you in making an informed decision.

What is ElevenLabs?

ElevenLabs, a renowned American software company, has made waves with its advanced text to speech (TTS) software. It capitalizes on artificial intelligence and deep learning, presenting lifelike, high-quality speech in a variety of languages and voices. The software's distinct advantage is its ability to convey emotions and nuances in its synthetic voices, rivaling the expressiveness of the human voice.

What is Play.ht?

Play.ht is a dynamic startup that leverages AI speech synthesis technology and machine learning to transform text into high-quality, natural-sounding voice overs suitable for various applications such as podcasts, audio content, and chatbots. This user-friendly AI voice generator is a cutting-edge solution for businesses and individuals alike.

ElevenLabs history

Based in New York City, ElevenLabs is an AI voice company that was established in 2022 by Piotr Dabkowski, an ex-machine learning engineer from Google, and Mati Staniszewski, a former deployment strategist at Palantir. Piotr Dabkowski now holds the title of CTO, with Mati Staniszewski as the CEO.

In a mere year after its formation, by January 2023, ElevenLabs had secured an impressive $2 million in pre-seed investments. Their progress was steadfast; by June 2023, they had procured a substantial $19 million in a Series A investment round, elevating their valuation to a commendable $100 million. Remarkably, they accomplished all this without a conventional office setup and a compact team of only 15 members.

Play.ht history

Play.ht began in 2016 as a Chrome extension that enabled users to add audio to their Medium articles. But visionaries and co-founders Syed Hammad Ahmed and Mahmoud Felfel, saw greater potential. In 2017, they broadened the service, turning Play.ht from simply a listening apparatus to a robust platform that helps both individuals and businesses create authentic audio content.

Play.ht's financial journey has been commendable. Initiating its funding milestones, the startup locked in its pre-seed funding on January 1, 2023. This crucial phase attracted hefty investments from two leading venture capital entities, Y Combinator and 500 Global, pooling in a combined amount of $125K into the burgeoning enterprise.

How ElevenLabs works

ElevenLabs, as an AI-driven voice over platform, generates human-like speech from text. Users typically start by inputting their written content into the platform, choosing from a wide range of voice types, accents, and languages available. Once the preferred settings are selected, the AI processes the text, and within moments, it delivers a realistic voice over. The platform’s flexibility allows users to customize the pitch, speed, and tone of the voice to best fit the intended purpose.

Additionally, with the continuous training of its models, ElevenLabs ensures that the quality of its voice overs remains state-of-the-art, making it an invaluable tool for businesses, content creators, and professionals seeking high-quality voice narrations without human intervention.

How Play.ht works

Play.ht provides a solution for converting written text into lifelike audio using its AI technology. To begin, users upload or type in their text on the platform. From there, they can select from an array of voice options, each with distinct tones, accents, and characteristics. Once a voice is selected, Play.ht's AI gets to work, analyzing the text and producing an audio file that closely mimics human speech.

Play.ht also offers features like the ability to adjust the speech rate, insert pauses, and emphasize specific words, allowing for tailored audio experiences. Designed with user-friendliness in mind, Play.ht serves a wide audience, from podcasters and educators to businesses looking to offer audio versions of their written content.

Pricing

In the competitive landscape of voice over AI platforms, both ElevenLabs and Play.ht have distinctive pricing models. ElevenLabs offers its users an attractive entry point at just $5 per month. This package not only includes 30,000 characters but also provides access to 10 custom voices, making it ideal for small-scale projects or individual content creators.

On the flip side, Play.ht adopts an annual subscription model priced at $374.40. While this might seem steep upfront, it caters to a larger scale of usage, accommodating 600,000 words and allowing users to utilize 15 instant voice clones, showcasing its value proposition for heavy-duty users and businesses.

Free trial

Understanding the importance of trial before commitment, ElevenLabs extends a free plan feature that generously offers 10,000 characters and three custom voices every month. This allows potential users to experience the platform's capabilities without any financial commitments.

Play.ht's approach to a free trial is slightly different. They offer 2,500 words and a single voice clone. However, it's essential to note that this is strictly for non-commercial uses, ensuring that businesses get a taste of what's in store without exploiting the platform's resources.

Natural-sounding voices

Diversity in voice options is crucial for any AI voice platform. While ElevenLabs provides a commendable array of over 50 natural-sounding voices, Play.ht takes it a step further. With an expansive library of over 800 different voices, users are spoilt for choice, ensuring there's a voice suitable for every context and audience.

Languages and accents

On the linguistic front, ElevenLabs boasts support for 28 different languages and accents, catering to a global audience and ensuring content resonates with listeners across geographies. In contrast, Play.ht, while offering a more limited range of 10 languages and accents, including English, Spanish, and more, still ensures quality and precision in each.

Voice cloning capabilities

The future of voice technology lies in cloning, and both platforms are at the forefront. ElevenLabs and Play.ht offer voice cloning features, enabling users to replicate or mimic specific voice patterns, adding a layer of authenticity to the generated content.

Customization and control

ElevenLabs stands out for its intricate customization capabilities. Users can tailor voice outputs by adjusting the gender, age, and accent, and even delve into nuances like strength, stability, and clarity of the voice. Beyond these, the platform uniquely offers similarity enhancement and style exaggeration.

Play.ht, while equally versatile, its customizable features include the ability to emphasize emotions and tones. Users can infuse attributes such as laughter, cheerfulness, and empathy, and even adopt specific styles like newscaster or conversational modes. The addition of custom phonetics ensures that every word is pronounced just right.

Audio generation limits

In terms of processing capabilities, ElevenLabs has set its starter plan monthly limits at 30,000 characters and 10 custom voices. This ensures consistent performance without overwhelming the system. Play.ht, adopting a broader approach, offers users an annual limit. This breaks down to 600,000 words (averaging 50,000 words monthly) and encompasses 15 instant voices for its lowest tier plan, ideal for sustained and regular usage.

Commercial usage

Recognizing the growing demand in the commercial sector, both ElevenLabs and Play.ht offer provisions for commercial usage. Whether it's for advertising, corporate presentations, or other business-related audio projects, both platforms are equipped to deliver.

Support

Customer support is the backbone of any service. ElevenLabs offers a multi-channel approach, with assistance available via a Discord channel, an AI-powered answer bot for immediate queries, and a comprehensive support form for detailed issues. Play.ht focuses on direct and personalized assistance with email support and a dedicated chat support system, ensuring users always have someone to turn to.

API access

For those with a technical inclination or businesses aiming to integrate voice over services into their existing systems, both ElevenLabs and Play.ht offer API access. This facilitates seamless integration and enhances the capabilities of both platforms for diverse applications.

Comparing ElevenLabs vs. Play.ht side-by-side

ElevenLabs pros

There are many advantages to using ElevenLabs, including the following:

• Pay-as-you-go option: ElevenLabs offers a flexible pay-as-you-go option, ensuring users only pay for their actual consumption, providing both cost-effectiveness and adaptability to varying requirements.
• Easy to use: The intuitive design and user-friendly interface of ElevenLabs ensure a smooth experience even for first-time users.
• Cloud-based interface: Being cloud-based, ElevenLabs facilitates accessibility from anywhere, eliminating the need for cumbersome downloads or installations.
• AI-powered text to speech: Leveraging state-of-the-art AI technology, ElevenLabs delivers remarkably realistic text to speech conversions.
• Fast processing: With ElevenLabs, users can expect swift audio processing, minimizing wait times and enhancing overall productivity.

ElevenLabs cons

While ElevenLabs offers many benefits, here is a look at some of the top issues users have reported:

• Inaccurate accents: ElevenLabs occasionally misses the mark on certain accents, like the German one, posing challenges for creators targeting specific regions.
• Struggles with long-form content: While ElevenLabs is proficient with short voice overs, it tends to falter when handling lengthier content.
• Pronunciation issues: Even when users provide phonetic guidance, ElevenLabs might still mispronounce certain words, diminishing the quality of the output.
• Inconsistency: Some users have noted that ElevenLabs' voice outputs can vary between sessions, resulting in an inconsistent user experience and repeated attempts to get the desired audio.
• Abuse policy: The platform's "Abuse buster" has been known to trigger erroneously, causing interruptions even when users are in full compliance with terms.
• Expensive: The pricing structure, based on characters, can get pricey, especially as charges accrue regardless of whether the audio is downloaded or utilized.
• Text generation limit: ElevenLabs imposes a restriction on the number of characters per request, which can be restrictive for those with substantial content needs.

Play.ht pros

Play.ht shines in many areas, including:

• Natural-sounding voices: Play.ht boasts impressively natural-sounding voices, ensuring a lifelike and authentic auditory experience for listeners.
• Multilingual support: With its diverse multilingual support, Play.ht effectively caters to a global audience, transcending linguistic barriers.
• Voice cloning: Play.ht's advanced voice cloning feature allows users to replicate specific voice patterns, adding a layer of customization and authenticity.
• Range of voice styles: The platform offers a broad spectrum of voice styles, enabling users to tailor their content to a specific tone or mood.
• Various emotions: Play.ht allows for the infusion of varied emotions into the voice overs, ensuring the audio resonates with the intended sentiment of the content.
• Pronunciation library: With its comprehensive pronunciation library, Play.ht ensures that every word is articulated accurately, enhancing the overall quality of the audio output.

Play.ht cons

While Play.ht offers many benefits, it also has some downsides, such as:

• Weak multi-speaker function: Play.ht's multi-speaker feature requires improvements in its user-friendliness to ensure a smoother experience.
• Preview mode glitches: Users have noted occasional stuttering and unexpected silences when previewing their voice overs on Play.ht.
• Slow UI: The platform's user interface can be sluggish, leading to extended wait times for voice over generation.
• Expensive: While Play.ht offers ultra-realistic voice options, they come at a steeper price point, which might be prohibitive for some users.
• Inaccurate tone: There have been instances where the tone of the generated voice does not align perfectly with the intended emotion or context.
• Glitchy WordPress plugin: Play.ht's WordPress plugin can exhibit glitches, potentially affecting seamless integration and user experience on the platform.
• Faltering pronunciation: Despite its pronunciation library, Play.ht occasionally falters in delivering consistent pronunciation, particularly noticeable with the Arabic accent.

Speechify Voice Over Studio – A better AI voice option

Speechify Voice Over Studio is the best AI voice generator on the market, combining all the mentioned features and more.

With the ability to convert text into 200+ AI-powered voices, combined with lifelike inflections, Speechify Voice Over studio ensures that content creators are treated to voice overs that are virtually indistinguishable from genuine voice actors. Plus, users gain granular word-level control, with the ability to intricately customize pronunciation, pauses, pitches, and more, allowing for a tailored auditory experience that fits every nuanced requirement.

From audiobook, tutorial, and YouTube video voice overs, to voice avatars for e-learning modules and chatbots, Speechify Voice Over Studio’s range of AI tools are unmatched and ready to level up any voice over project. Try Speechify Voice Over Studio for free today and take your projects to the next level.

FAQ

Is ElevenLabs voice over available on mobile?

While ElevenLabs doesn’t offer a mobile app, users can access it via any device, including Android, IOS, Mac, Amazon, and Windows devices, thanks to it being a web-based platform.

Where can I find real-time AI transcription?

Speechify Transcription service provides real-time AI transcription of audio or video files.

What are the use cases of text to speech software?

Text to speech software finds diverse applications in today's digital landscape, enabling accessibility features for individuals with disabilities and generating text to speech voice overs for multimedia content.

What is the best AI voice over program?

While there are many AI voice over platforms, including Murf.AI, LOVO, Microsoft Azure Text to Speech, and Resemble AI, Speechify Voice Over Studio offers the most realistic voice overs and even allows users to clone their own voice.

What is the difference between an AI video generator and voice changer?

An AI video generator creates visual content using artificial intelligence, while a voice changer alters the sound or tone of an existing audio recording.

Does ChatGPT offer text to speech?

ChatGPT does not currently offer text to speech but can be combined with a third-party AI text to speech tool such as Speechify.

What audio formats can I download my Speechify Voice Over Studio project in?

You can download your Speechify Voice Over Studio projects in any common audio format, such as WAV or MP3.