Fish Audio vs ElevenLabs
Mihai (Mike) Bizz Business, entrepreneurship, tech & AI - Published
- 4 min read
On this page Fish Audio vs ElevenLabs at a glance
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Fish Audio vs ElevenLabs: Drama 3 open weights and Plus from $11/mo vs ElevenLabs Free to Business at $0-$990. Plans, cloning, who should pick which TTS.
Fish Audio shipped Drama 3 on October 13, 2026 — emotive TTS with open weights on Hugging Face — while ElevenLabs is pushing Eleven v4 and a refreshed Creative pricing grid. We re-checked fish.audio/plan and elevenlabs.io/pricing on October 16, 2026. This is a buyer guide, not a lab listening test.
Fish Audio vs ElevenLabs at a glance
| Fish Audio | ElevenLabs | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | $0 · 8,000 credits · up to ~7 min | $0 · 10,000 credits |
| Entry paid | Plus $11/mo annual · $15 monthly | Starter $6/mo (first month $1 until Oct 18) |
| Creator tier | Pro $75/mo annual · $100 monthly | Creator $22/mo (often $11 first month) |
| Top list tiers | Max $749/mo annual · Enterprise custom | Pro $99 · Scale $299 · Business $990 |
| Open weights | Drama 3 on HF (Community License) | Closed models |
| Best fit (our take) | Directed emotion + self-host option | Studio/API ecosystem + team seats |
Verified prices (Oct 16, 2026)
On Fish Audio plans: Free $0 (8,000 credits, up to 7 minutes, 500 chars/generation, 3 public voice slots). Plus $11/mo when billed annually ($132/year) or $15 monthly, with 250,000 credits and up to 200 minutes. Pro $75/mo annual or $100 monthly (2,000,000 credits). Max $749/mo annual or $999 monthly. Fish FAQ says each minute of generation costs roughly 600 to 625 credits.
On ElevenLabs pricing: Free $0 (10k credits). Starter $6/mo (30k; first month $1 until Oct 18). Creator $22/mo (121k; first month often $11). Pro $99 (600k). Scale $299 (1.8M, 3 seats). Business $990 (6M, 10 seats). Annual billing is listed as 10 months for 12. For V2 Multilingual TTS, ElevenLabs FAQ says 1 text character equals 1 credit.
Important: do not convert credits into a universal “price per minute” across vendors without measuring your own scripts. Models, languages, and regenerations change the bill.
Drama 3 open weights vs closed Eleven v4
Drama 3 is a 35B-parameter MoE TTS model with about 3B active parameters, multi-speaker tags (up to 16), voice cloning, and natural-language direction in square brackets. Weights live at fishaudio/drama-3. The Fish Audio Community License v1.0 allows free commercial use under a US$500,000 revenue cap; above that, or to offer hosted TTS/cloning as a service, you need a Fish license. Vendor claim: #1 on Artificial Analysis Pronunciation Robustness at 93.2% — treat that as reported, not our test.
ElevenLabs markets Eleven v4 as its most emotive model. The product stack also covers STT, sound effects, music, dubbing, and Studio projects. Models stay closed; you buy credits and seats. Instant Voice Cloning starts on Starter; Professional Voice Cloning starts on Creator.
Who should pick which?
- Choose Fish Audio if you want Drama 3 direction tags, open weights under the Community License, or Plus pricing around $11–$15 for creator volume.
- Choose ElevenLabs if you need Studio/team seats, a wider Creative product set, or you already meter Eleven credits across TTS, STT, and dubbing.
- Self-host Drama 3 only if you have the GPU budget — Fish’s own streaming benches use H200-class hardware. A laptop Free/Plus account is the lighter path.
- Compare more options on our best ElevenLabs alternatives roundup and the ElevenLabs tool page.
Our take: for emotive, directed lines with a path to self-host, Drama 3 is the interesting new pick. For a mature multi-product voice stack with clear team tiers, ElevenLabs still wins on breadth. See also our Fish Audio Drama 3 tool page when it is live after deploy.
Frequently asked questions
Is Fish Audio cheaper than ElevenLabs?
On list plans, Fish Free is $0 with 8,000 credits (~7 minutes). Plus is $11/mo annual or $15 monthly. ElevenLabs Free is $0 with 10,000 credits; Starter is $6, Creator $22, Pro $99, Scale $299, Business $990. Which is cheaper depends on how many minutes or characters you burn.
Does Fish Audio Drama 3 have open weights?
Yes. Weights are on Hugging Face at fishaudio/drama-3 under the Fish Audio Community License v1.0: free for research/non-commercial, and free for commercial use if you and affiliates are under US$500,000 annual revenue. Hosted TTS services need a separate Fish license.
What is ElevenLabs v4?
ElevenLabs calls Eleven v4 its most emotive model yet on the pricing and marketing pages. Treat that as a vendor claim. We did not run a head-to-head listening test for this post.
Can I clone voices on both?
Fish lists enhanced voice cloning on Free and above, with Voice Design on Plus+. ElevenLabs lists Instant Voice Cloning from Starter and Professional Voice Cloning from Creator.
Which should I pick?
Pick Fish if you want Drama 3 direction tags, open weights under the Community License, or Plus pricing around $11–$15. Pick ElevenLabs if you already live in its Studio/API stack, need team seats at Scale/Business, or want the broader ElevenCreative product set.
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