Lindy
vs ElevenLabsThe most hands-off "AI employee" with voice/phone, if you want done-for-you.
alternatives
The cheapest alternative to ElevenLabs is Vapi ($0.05/min (platform fee; +model & telephony pass-through)). If you want to self-host, Retell AI can run on your own infrastructure. Below: the strongest alternatives, ranked, with the real reason to switch.
Pricing decoded and verified 2026-06-01 against each vendor's live page; volatile figures flagged "verify live".
ElevenLabs is elevenLabs is the leading AI voice platform, covering text-to-speech, voice cloning, dubbing, speech-to-text and a full Conversational AI / Agents stack for phone and chat. The core product is sold on monthly credit subscriptions, while voice agents are billed separately by the minute. It is the de facto standard for high-quality, low-latency multilingual voice in production apps. The drawback: Two meters: your monthly credit allowance covers TTS but Conversational AI / Agents bills separately per minute ($0.08/min standard), and the LLM you connect to an agent is charged on top at cost. The Creator $11 price is a promotional first month that reverts to $22/mo. No annual pricing or self-hosting; cloud only.
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Ordered by how cleanly they replace ElevenLabs.
The most hands-off "AI employee" with voice/phone, if you want done-for-you.
11x sells autonomous "digital workers" for go-to-market teams. Alice is an AI SDR that runs outbound prospecting end to end (lead research and enrichment from 50+ sources, ICP matching, and multi-channel sequencing across email, LinkedIn, SMS and phone), while Julian handles inbound voice and chat qualification.
Enterprise AI customer service platform branded "the AI concierge for every customer." It deploys AI agents across chat, email, and voice, configured with natural-language Agent Operating Procedures (AOPs) instead of code. Used by large brands like Notion, Duolingo, Eventbrite, and Rippling to deflect and fully resolve high support volume.
Enterprise "Agent OS" for customer experience. Sierra lets large brands build, optimize, personalize, and scale branded AI agents that resolve customer issues across chat, voice, SMS, WhatsApp, email and ChatGPT. Built by former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor and former Google exec Clay Bavor.
Developer-first voice AI platform for building, testing, and deploying low-latency phone and voice agents. Vapi orchestrates speech-to-text, an LLM, and text-to-speech behind one API, handling telephony, turn-taking, interruptions, and tool calling so you wire in your own providers.
Retell AI is a developer-friendly AI voice agent platform for automating inbound and outbound phone calls. It bundles speech-to-text, a proprietary low-latency turn-taking model (~600ms), TTS, LLM orchestration, telephony, batch calling and post-call analytics into one usage-based stack you can run via a no-code dashboard or API.
Enterprise AI voice-agent platform that automates inbound and outbound phone calls 24/7 on Bland's own proprietary, vertically integrated stack (LLM, real-time STT, premium TTS/voice cloning, and telephony all in-house). Built for high-volume teams that need sub-second latency, full call observability, and SOC 2 / HIPAA / PCI compliance.
Enterprise-ready, no-code AI voice agent platform for automating inbound and outbound phone conversations at scale. Positions as an end-to-end Voice AI platform with in-house telephony, a visual flow designer, and 200+ integrations across CRM, calendar, and helpdesk tools.
Enterprise AI agent platform for customer service, pairing a multi-model AI engine with on-the-ground local deployment teams to run multilingual voice, chat, and email agents that resolve customer requests at human level across 30+ markets. Sales-led and deployment-heavy, it reports an 80% resolve rate handling tens of thousands of requests a day.
"The AI Front Office for Home Services," an always-on AI workforce for service businesses (HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and other trades) that answers every inbound call, text, and chat, qualifies urgency, checks technician availability, and books jobs straight into ServiceTitan or Housecall Pro 24/7. It also runs outbound re-engagement campaigns and scores CSR calls for coaching.
AI Customer Concierge built for complex, regulated companies like fintech and healthtech. Unlike basic deflection chatbots, Lorikeet resolves end-to-end support issues across chat, email, SMS, WhatsApp, and voice by following the same multi-step workflows and judgment your human agents use, taking actions like refunds, billing changes, and account updates.
JustCall is an AI-powered business phone and contact-center platform built for sales and support teams. It combines a cloud phone system (calls, SMS, voicemail) with AI voice agents that handle inbound and outbound calls, plus AI transcription, call coaching and scoring. It plugs into 100+ CRMs like Salesforce and HubSpot to log and automate every conversation.
CloudTalk is a cloud business calling and AI call-center platform for sales and support teams. The core product is a per-seat phone system with call routing, recording and analytics, layered with usage-priced AI Voice Agents (receptionist and specialist) and AI conversation-intelligence add-ons. You build a calling stack with seats first, then bolt on AI minutes.
Cartesia is a real-time voice AI platform built around its low-latency Sonic text-to-speech and Ink speech-to-text models, plus Line voice agents for building phone and conversational experiences. It is aimed at developers who need fast, natural-sounding speech at scale via API. Billing is credit-based for TTS/STT and per-minute for voice agent calls.
Regal is an enterprise AI voice agent platform built by contact center operators for CX and sales teams running phone, SMS, and chat at scale. It handles both inbound (support, bookings, reminders) and outbound (lead qualification, collections, sales dialing) with multi-channel journey orchestration, real-time analytics, and forward-deployed engineering support. Pricing is fully quote-based and aimed at large operations rather than self-serve buyers.
The baseline against every option, decoded.
| tool | entry price | pricing model | free tier | self-host | mcp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ElevenLabs baseline | Free, paid ~$5/moverify live | Monthly subscription with a monthly credit (character) allowance for TTS, plus separate per-minute usage billing for Conversational AI / Agents. API is billed per 1,000 characters. | Yes. Free plan: $0/mo with 10,000 credits/month (text-to-speech, speech-to-text, sound effects, voice design, dubbing, 3 projects). Agents free tier includes 15 conversation minutes/month with up to 4 concurrent calls. | No | Both |
| $49.99/mo | per-credit | 400 credits/mo | No | Both | |
| $3,750/mo (Alice, billed annually) | per-worker annual contract, volume-based | None. No free plan or public trial | No | None | |
| Custom (~$50,000/yr platform fee + usage) | usage-based, custom · per-conversation or per-resolution + platform fee | None. No free plan or self-serve trial; access requires a sales call. | No | Both | |
| Custom (enterprise only); third-party estimates ~$150k+/yr plus $50k-$200k setup | Outcome-based, you pay per successfully resolved conversation, plus a base platform fee | None, no self-serve trial, enterprise sales only | No | Server | |
| $0.05/min (platform fee; +model & telephony pass-through) | per-minute usage (platform fee + model & telephony pass-through) | No ongoing free tier, ~60 free minutes at signup | No | Both | |
| $0.07/min (usage-based; realistic all-in $0.13–$0.31/min) | per-minute usage (voice) + per-message (chat) | Yes. Free account with $10 in credits, 20 free concurrent calls, full platform access, pre-built agent templates and simulation testing, plus community and email support. | Yes | Both | |
| Free, then $299/mo + $0.12/min | plan-based per-minute usage + platform fee | Start plan, $0/mo, no card, 2 free credits | Yes | Both | |
| $0.00/mo base (Pay As You Go); pay per min | per-minute usage, no flat fee | Free to build/test, pay on launch | No | Server | |
| Custom (quote-only) | Consumption-based (usage/impact-aligned), no setup fees, custom quote only | None (no free tier, no self-serve sign-up; access is via sales) | No | None | |
| Custom | Sales-led custom quote, scales with call volume and CSRs | None. No free trial and no self-serve sandbox or demo environment; access is sales-led only. | No | None | |
| $1,500/mo (Start, billed annually) | outcome-based per resolution + monthly platform fee | None, demo-led | No | Client | |
| ~$29/user/mo | per-seat + usage (AI voice agent per-minute) | No free plan, 14-day trial | No | None | |
| ~€19/user/mo | per-seat + per-minute (AI voice agents usage-based) | No free plan; 14-day trial (no card), incl. 50 AI Voice Agent minutes | No | None | |
| ~$4/mo | Credit-based subscriptions (TTS/STT billed in credits, ~1 credit per character) layered with usage-based per-minute rates for voice agent calls and telephony; tiers add included credits, concurrency, and features. | Free plan: $0/mo with 20K credits/month (~27 min TTS, ~1h 51m STT) plus $1 prepaid voice-agent usage, 1 agent slot, and 2/8 concurrent TTS/STT requests. | No | None | |
| Custom (contact sales) | Custom quote, usage-based (per-minute for voice plus contact volume and committed spend); volume and contract-length discounts | No free tier or self-serve trial; sales-led with a demo required. Targets teams with at least ~75 agents or ~150,000 calls/month. | No | None |
Dirr is independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by ElevenLabs. Tool names and logos are the property of their respective owners. Figures are decoded from public pricing and dated; verify volatile prices on the vendor site before buying.
The cheapest alternative to ElevenLabs is Vapi ($0.05/min (platform fee; +model & telephony pass-through)). For self-hosting, Retell AI can run on your own infrastructure. The right pick depends on whether you optimize for price, control, or hands-off automation.
Yes. n8n is free if self-hosted, and Gumloop's free tier gives 5,000 credits/mo. Most listed tools have a free plan to test before paying.
Common reasons: Two meters: your monthly credit allowance covers TTS but Conversational AI / Agents bills separately per minute ($0.08/min standard), and the LLM you connect to an agent is charged on top at cost. The Creator $11 price is a promotional first month that reverts to $22/mo. No annual pricing or self-hosting; cloud only.