Current, verified pricing for every major TTS API in 2026 — ElevenLabs, OpenAI, Google Cloud, Amazon Polly, Azure, and LeanVox. Real numbers, real math, honest opinions.
Every time I try to compare TTS API pricing I end up on six different tabs, converting credits to characters to dollars. So here's the version I wish existed — current pricing, pulled directly from each provider's page this month, with actual math.
Fair warning: I built LeanVox, so I have skin in the game. I've tried to be accurate about the other providers.
Prices verified February 2026.
The quick version
| Provider | Price/1K chars | Voice Cloning | Languages | Subscription? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LeanVox Standard | $0.005 | — | 10 | No |
| LeanVox Pro | $0.01 | ✓ 10s sample | 23+ | No |
| ElevenLabs (Starter) | $0.167 | ✓ | 32 | Yes |
| ElevenLabs (Scale) | $0.165 | ✓ | 32 | Yes |
| OpenAI tts-1 | $0.015 | — | 6 | No |
| OpenAI tts-1-hd | $0.030 | — | 6 | No |
| Google Neural2 | $0.016 | — | 40+ | No |
| Google Chirp 3 HD | $0.030 | ✓ Custom | 35+ | No |
| Amazon Polly Neural | $0.016 | — | 30+ | No |
| Azure Neural TTS | $0.016 | Custom Neural | 140+ | No |
What this actually costs at real usage levels
| Provider | 500K chars/mo (~55 min) | 5M chars/mo (~9 hrs) | 50M chars/mo (~91 hrs) |
|---|---|---|---|
| LeanVox Standard | $2.50 | $25 | $250 |
| LeanVox Pro | $5 | $50 | $500 |
| ElevenLabs Starter | ~$83 + $5/mo | ~$835 + $5/mo | ~$8,350 + sub |
| OpenAI tts-1 | $7.50 | $75 | $750 |
| Google Neural2 | ~$6 (after 1M free) | ~$64 | $784 |
| Amazon Polly Neural | $8 | $80 | $800 |
| Azure Neural | ~$7 (after 500K free) | $72 | $784 |
My honest take on each provider
ElevenLabs
The quality is real. Best voice cloning in the market. But subscription + per-char rate makes it a terrible fit for experimentation or pre-revenue projects.
OpenAI TTS
Clean, simple, fine. Six voices, decent quality, no cloning. If you're already in the OpenAI ecosystem, it works.
Google Cloud TTS
Interesting tier sprawl. Legacy WaveNet at $0.004 (dated), Neural2 at $0.016 (solid), Chirp 3 HD at $0.030 (flagship). 4M chars/month free tier is the most generous.
Amazon Polly
Standard voices sound like 2018, Neural/Generative are better. 5M chars free for 12 months. Good if you're AWS-native.
Azure Neural TTS
140+ languages is the play here. If you need Swahili or Welsh, Azure is probably your only option.
LeanVox
I built this. The pitch: competitive quality, no subscription, credits don't expire, voice cloning at $0.01/1K. $0.50 free to try. Honest limitations: English-first, public beta, smaller voice catalog than ElevenLabs.
How to actually decide
- Pre-revenue and experimenting: Free tiers (Google/Polly) for volume, LeanVox for quality at minimal cost
- Need voice cloning: ElevenLabs = best quality, LeanVox = cheapest per-char
- Need 40+ languages: Azure or Google
- Scaling up and ElevenLabs pricing hurts: Try LeanVox — free credits, no card
Originally published at leanvox.com/blog
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