ElevenLabs alternatives
Default voice layer for talking agents. Combine with Twilio for phone; watch cloning policy.
Overall 8.27 (curated_estimate, high) · score asOf 2026-09-14 · last reviewed 2026-09-14. This is not an Elo and not a live price board. Provider · JSON
Jobs: voice, speech-synthesis, speech-to-text, voice-agents, realtime-tts, voice-agent-platform
| Provider | Why listed | Overall | Δ vs subject | asOf |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deepgram Default STT and strong voice-agent platform. Standard Flux TTS / Voice Agent rates live since 2026-09-15… | same_jtbd_pick, same_jtbd_runner · speech-to-text, realtime-tts, voice-agent-platform | 8.5high | +0.23 | 2026-10-19 |
| Cartesia Top pick for realtime low-latency voice agents. ElevenLabs for voice library breadth. | same_jtbd_runner, same_jtbd_pick · speech-synthesis, realtime-tts, voice-agent-platform | 7.81high | -0.46 | 2026-09-14 |
| Twilio Default when agents need SMS/voice globally. For email-only, don't drag Twilio in. | same_jtbd_pick, same_jtbd_runner · voice, voice-agents | 8.26high | -0.01 | 2026-10-19 |
| Vapi Depot pick for shipping a phone/voice agent without assembling vendors. LiveKit when you want OSS + realtime… | same_jtbd_pick · voice-agent-platform | 8.09high | -0.18 | 2026-09-14 |
| Rime Realtime TTS latency peer. Depot pick stays Cartesia; ElevenLabs for library; Hume expressive; Rime when Mist… | same_jtbd_runner · voice, speech-synthesis, realtime-tts | 8.27high | 0 | 2026-09-14 |
| Retell AI Best Vapi peer for balanced inbound voice agents with clear $/min math. Vapi remains Depot default; Bland for… | same_jtbd_runner · voice-agents, voice-agent-platform | 8.2high | -0.07 | 2026-09-14 |
| OpenAI Media (Images/Audio) Convenient if you're already on OpenAI. For best image variety/cost, keep Fal in the toolkit. | same_jtbd_runner · speech-synthesis, speech-to-text | 8.15high | -0.12 | 2026-09-14 |
| Bland AI Pick for high-volume outbound when bundled $/min and dialer features beat BYOK flexibility. Vapi/Retell when… | same_jtbd_runner · voice-agents, voice-agent-platform | 7.78high | -0.49 | 2026-09-14 |
| Hume AI A/B vs Cartesia when emotional prosody is the product. Cartesia remains the low-latency default; ElevenLabs… | same_jtbd_runner · speech-synthesis, realtime-tts | 7.63high | -0.64 | 2026-09-14 |
| LiveKit Cloud Default when the agent is a realtime session (voice or video) you want to own. Vapi for turnkey telephony… | same_jtbd_runner · voice-agent-platform | 8.48high | +0.21 | 2026-09-14 |
| Telnyx SMS/voice peer when $/part and published carrier fees matter. Twilio remains default toolkit gravity; Bird… | same_jtbd_runner · voice | 8.42high | +0.15 | 2026-09-14 |
| Speechmatics Depot pick for multilingual/production STT beyond English-first stacks. Deepgram remains default $/min… | same_jtbd_runner · speech-to-text | 8.24high | -0.03 | 2026-09-14 |
Prices are not ranked on this page. For a job, use the sourced quote (separate input and output rows, Depot Pick unchanged): voice, speech-synthesis, speech-to-text, voice-agents.
Alternatives are other catalog providers that share a JTBD as pick or runner-up. If fewer than three exist, same-category active providers fill the list and are labeled same_category. Overall deltas are catalog scores. kind=curated_estimate is not a lab measurement. Pricing rows are sourced or explicitly null. Do not parse pricingNotes. A single normalized USD figure is set only for a provider with exactly one token row.