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Free ElevenLabs Alternatives: Open-Source and Free-Tier Options

Last checked: . Prices and limits change often, so each listing links to the page we checked.

Short answer

If you want free text to speech or voice cloning, you have two routes. You can run an open-source model on your own computer (free software, but a decent machine helps), or use a hosted tool's free tier (no install, but with limits and often no commercial use).

Our picks:

Is ElevenLabs free?

Yes, ElevenLabs has a Free plan, but it is limited. On its ElevenLabs pricing page (checked 2026-10-23), the Free plan costs $0 and includes:

What the Free plan does not include, per the same page:

So if you only need to try voices for personal projects, the Free plan may be enough. If you need to publish audio commercially or clone a voice, you either pay or use one of the alternatives below.

Comparison table

ToolTypeLicense or free planVoice cloning (per vendor)Commercial use on free?Hardware (per vendor docs)PlatformsSource (checked 2026-10-23)
VoiceboxLocal open-source appMITYesMIT license on the app; each engine's model has its own termsLocal GPU inference (Metal, CUDA, ROCm, Intel Arc, DirectML) or a remote machinemacOS, Windows; Linux from sourcevoicebox.sh
Kokoro-82MOpen-weight modelApache-2.0Not stated on model cardYes (Apache-2.0)Not stated; small 82M-parameter modelPythonModel card
ChatterboxOpen-source modelMITYes (zero-shot, from a reference clip)Yes (MIT)Nano model runs on CPU; others on GPU, CPU or Apple MPS per READMEPythonGitHub
Qwen3-TTSOpen-source modelApache-2.0Yes (3-second clone, Base models)Yes (Apache-2.0)Not stated; README suggests FlashAttention 2 to cut GPU memory usePythonGitHub
PiperOpen-source engineGPL-3.0No cloning feature listed; you can train new voicesGPL-3.0 terms applyNot stated; "fast and local"Python, C/C++, CLI, web serverGitHub
F5-TTSOpen-source modelCode MIT; pretrained models CC-BY-NCYes (from reference audio)No for the pretrained models (non-commercial)Install guide covers NVIDIA, AMD and Intel GPUsPython, DockerGitHub
Fish AudioHosted free tier$0: 8,000 credits a monthEnhanced voice cloning not on FreeNo (personal, non-commercial only)None (web)Webfish.audio/plan
TTSMakerHosted free toolFree: 20,000 characters a weekNo cloning feature listedSite says yesNone (web)Webttsmaker.com
SpeechifyHosted reader appFree plan: 10 "robotic sounding" voicesNot on FreeNot statedNoneWeb, mobile, desktop, browser extensionsspeechify.com/pricing

Open-source options you run yourself

These cost nothing to download and use. You do need a computer that can run them, and some setup. Licenses differ, so check the one that applies to the model you use.

Voicebox

Voicebox is a free, open-source desktop app (MIT license) that calls itself "a free and local alternative to ElevenLabs." It bundles several speech engines, including Qwen3-TTS, Chatterbox and Kokoro, behind one interface.

  • What it does: voice cloning from a short sample, preset voices, multi-voice "stories" editing, audio effects, and dictation into other apps.
  • Platforms: downloads for macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel) and Windows. The README says Linux has no pre-built binaries yet and points to build-from-source instructions.
  • Hardware: runs GPU inference locally (Metal, CUDA, ROCm, Intel Arc or DirectML) or on a remote machine you connect to.
  • Good for: people who want a point-and-click app instead of Python scripts.

Source: voicebox.sh and GitHub README (license: MIT per GitHub) · checked 2026-10-23

Kokoro-82M

Kokoro is an open-weight text-to-speech model with 82 million parameters, released under Apache-2.0. Its model card says the Apache license lets you deploy it "anywhere from production environments to personal projects." Version 1.0 lists 8 languages and 54 voices.

  • Voice cloning: the model card doesn't describe a cloning feature, so we don't claim one.
  • Watch out: the model card warns that websites with "kokoro" in their domain name are not run by the model's author.

Source: Kokoro-82M model card · checked 2026-10-23

Chatterbox (Resemble AI)

Chatterbox is a family of open-source TTS models from Resemble AI, under the MIT license.

  • Models: Chatterbox-Turbo (350M parameters, English), Chatterbox-Nano (110M, English, runs on CPU) and Chatterbox-Multilingual V3 (500M, 23+ languages).
  • Voice cloning: the README's examples use a short reference clip to clone a voice.
  • Note: every file it generates carries Resemble AI's Perth watermark, which is inaudible but detectable.

Source: Chatterbox on GitHub (license: MIT per GitHub) · checked 2026-10-23

Qwen3-TTS

Qwen3-TTS is an open-source speech model series from the Qwen team, in 0.6B and 1.7B sizes, under Apache-2.0.

  • Voice cloning: the Base models support "3-second rapid voice clone" from your own audio.
  • Voice design: a separate model builds a voice from a written description.
  • Languages: 10 (Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean, German, French, Russian, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian).

Source: Qwen3-TTS on GitHub (license: Apache-2.0 per GitHub) · checked 2026-10-23

Piper

Piper is "a fast and local neural text-to-speech engine" maintained by the Open Home Foundation. It's used in projects such as Home Assistant and the NVDA screen reader.

  • License: the current repository is GPL-3.0. The older rhasspy/piper repository (MIT) is archived.
  • Ways to use it: command line, web server, Python API, and C/C++ API. You can also train new voices.
  • Good for: offline reading, smart-home voices, and accessibility tools, rather than cloning.

Source: Piper on GitHub (license: GPL-3.0 per GitHub) · checked 2026-10-23

F5-TTS

F5-TTS is an open-source voice-cloning TTS project. Its code is MIT-licensed, but the README says the pretrained models are CC-BY-NC "due to the training data."

  • Commercial use: not allowed with the pretrained models. Use it for personal or research projects only.
  • Hardware: the install guide covers NVIDIA, AMD and Intel GPUs, and there's a Docker image.

Source: F5-TTS on GitHub · checked 2026-10-23

Free hosted options (no install)

These run in your browser. Nothing to set up, but each has limits.

Fish Audio free tier

Fish Audio's Free Tier costs $0 and needs no credit card. Per its plan page:

  • 8,000 credits a month (Fish Audio says a minute of generation costs roughly 600 to 625 credits)
  • Up to 7 minutes of generation and up to 500 characters per generation
  • 3 public voice slots
  • Enhanced voice cloning and commercial use are crossed out on Free. The FAQ says free users "can only use generated content for personal, non-commercial projects."
  • Unused minutes don't roll over.

Paid plans start with Plus, which adds commercial use. We don't quote its price here because a promotion was running when we checked.

Source: Fish Audio plans · checked 2026-10-23

TTSMaker

TTSMaker is a free web text-to-speech tool. Its page shows a limit of 20,000 characters per week, and says "some voices support unlimited free use." Each voice also has its own per-conversion character limit.

  • Commercial use: TTSMaker's page says you can "download the audio files for commercial use (it's completely free)."
  • Voice cloning: no cloning feature is listed.

Source: ttsmaker.com · checked 2026-10-23

Speechify free plan

Speechify is mainly a reading app: it reads documents and web pages aloud. It's not a voice generator in the same way ElevenLabs is. The Free plan includes 10 "robotic sounding voices," listening at up to 1.5x speed, and text-to-speech features only. Premium is $29 a month.

Source: Speechify pricing · checked 2026-10-23

Which one fits you

Licenses decide what you can do with the audio:

A note on cloning: only clone a voice if you own it or have the speaker's clear permission. Copying someone's voice without consent can break platform rules and the law, and it's unfair to the person.

If you outgrow free tools

If you need commercial rights, Instant Voice Cloning and more minutes without running your own hardware, ElevenLabs' paid plans start with Starter at $6 a month (Creator is $22 a month) on its pricing page. Check the current price before you buy, because introductory offers change.

FAQs

Is ElevenLabs free?

ElevenLabs has a Free plan at $0 a month with 10,000 credits, which its pricing page lists as about 10 minutes of text to speech. It includes 3 custom voice slots and 74 languages. Commercial use and Instant Voice Cloning are not included; they start on the $6-a-month Starter plan (checked 2026-10-23).

Is ElevenLabs free for commercial use?

No. On the ElevenLabs pricing page, the commercial use row is unchecked for the Free plan and checked from Starter ($6 a month) upward. If you need free audio for commercial work, look at permissively licensed open-source models such as Kokoro, Chatterbox or Qwen3-TTS, or TTSMaker, whose site says its output is free for commercial use.

What is the free version of ElevenLabs?

The free version is the ElevenLabs Free plan. It gives 10,000 credits a month, shared across products like text to speech, speech to text, sound effects and music, plus 3 Studio projects. Credits reset each billing cycle, and ElevenLabs says rollover of unused credits does not apply to the Free plan.

Is there an open-source ElevenLabs alternative?

Yes. Voicebox is an MIT-licensed desktop app that describes itself as a local alternative to ElevenLabs. If you're comfortable with Python, Kokoro-82M (Apache-2.0), Chatterbox (MIT), Qwen3-TTS (Apache-2.0), Piper (GPL-3.0) and F5-TTS (code MIT, models non-commercial) are open-source text-to-speech projects you can run yourself.

What is the best free ElevenLabs alternative for voice cloning?

It depends on your setup. Voicebox is the easiest because it's a desktop app with cloning built in. Chatterbox and Qwen3-TTS clone from a short reference clip and have permissive licenses. F5-TTS also clones, but its pretrained models are non-commercial. Whatever you use, only clone voices you have permission to use.

Is there a free unlimited alternative to ElevenLabs?

Open-source models you run locally, such as Kokoro, Chatterbox, Qwen3-TTS or Piper, have no usage caps; your hardware is the only limit. Among hosted tools, TTSMaker has a 20,000-character weekly limit but says some of its voices support unlimited free use. Most hosted free tiers, like Fish Audio's, have monthly limits.

Can I run an ElevenLabs alternative locally?

Yes. Voicebox runs on your own machine on macOS and Windows, with Linux available by building from source. Kokoro, Chatterbox, Qwen3-TTS, Piper and F5-TTS can all be installed and run locally. Chatterbox-Nano is described as running on CPU; most other models expect a GPU for good speed.

ElevenLabs vs Speechify: what's the difference?

Speechify is mainly a reader app that reads documents and web pages aloud. Its free plan has 10 "robotic sounding" voices, and Premium is $29 a month. ElevenLabs is a voice generation platform with voice cloning, dubbing, sound effects and an API, and has a limited Free plan with 10,000 credits a month.

How we picked and checked

Sources

All checked 2026-10-23.