Criterion Deepgram ElevenLabs
CategoryAI Voice & Audio ToolsAI Voice & Audio Tools
In one sentenceA speech-to-text, text-to-speech and voice-agent API built for developers, with a $200 signup credit.Text-to-speech, voice cloning, transcription, music and voice agents from one platform and API.
Problem it solvesAdding accurate transcription, natural speech or real-time voice agents to an application without building or hosting speech models.Recording professional voiceovers and translating audio is slow and expensive; ElevenLabs generates high-quality speech and transcripts on demand.
Free planYesYes
Developer APIYes — docsYes — docs
Open sourceNoNo
PlatformsAPIWeb, iOS, Android, API
Pricing (summary)Pay-as-you-go with a $200 signup credit and no credit card required; speech-to-text is billed per minute, text-to-speech per 1,000 characters and the Voice Agent API per minute. Enterprise plans add SLAs and HIPAA agreements. Verify current rates on Deepgram's pricing page.
Checked 2026-10-18
Free plan with 10,000 credits per month, then Starter $6, Creator $22, Pro $99, Scale $299 and Business $990 per month, with roughly 17% off annual billing. Credits map to about one minute of TTS per 1,000 credits. Enterprise is custom.
Checked 2026-10-19
Strengths
  • Generous documented starting credit with no card required
  • Covers transcription, speech synthesis and voice agents in one API
  • Published per-minute and per-character pricing
  • Wide product range from one account
  • Fast new model releases
  • Low entry price ($6/mo Starter)
  • Transparent API rates
Limitations
  • It is an API product, not a consumer transcription app
  • Usage is billed per minute or per character after the credit runs out
  • Accuracy varies by audio quality, language and model
  • Free plan lacks a commercial licence
  • Credits can run out quickly on long-form content
  • Voice cloning raises consent obligations