Best AI voice and audio tools with an API

Updated 16 Oct 2026 · Prices from vendor pages only · How we rank →

The short answer

Each of these AI voice and audio tools offers an API, so you can build it into your own product or workflow. ElevenLabs comes first: top-tier voice quality with a free tier and a cheap Starter plan that adds commercial rights. The cheapest verified paid plan here is Cartesia Pro ($5/month). 7 of the 7 have a free plan we could confirm. Every price below is from the vendor’s own page, checked 16 Oct 2026.

Ranked shortlist

ElevenLabs: Top-tier voice quality with a free tier and a cheap Starter plan that adds commercial rights. Plan: Starter: $6/month
30k credits, commercial license, instant cloning
Murf: Studio voiceovers with AI voices. Plan: Not yet verified
Cartesia: Low-latency text-to-speech API for real-time voice. Plan: Pro: $5/month
Deepgram: Speech-to-text and voice agent API. Plan: Not yet verified
AssemblyAI: Speech-to-text and audio intelligence API. Plan: Not yet verified
Resemble AI: Voice cloning and deepfake detection. Plan: Growth tier: $350/month
Superwhisper: Mac/iOS voice dictation with local and cloud models. Plan: Not yet verified

Order follows ToolRank’s editorial ranking in Voice & Audio, filtered to tools that fit this page. Anything we couldn’t confirm on a vendor page says “Not yet verified”.

Side by side

Rank	Tool	Relevant plan	Starting price	Free plan	Best for	Main limitation	Last checked
#1	ElevenLabs	Starter: $6/month 30k credits, commercial license, instant cloning	$6/month (Starter)	10k credits/month, 3 Studio projects, no commercial license	Creators and developers needing realistic voiceovers or voice agents	Free plan (10k credits/month) has no commercial license; cloning and higher quality need paid tiers.	16 Oct 2026
#2	Murf	Not yet verified	Pay as you go API ($0.01/1,000 characters, Falcon TTS)	$10 free API credit	Text-to-speech voiceovers and voice agents	Studio plan prices not verified	16 Oct 2026
#3	Cartesia	Pro: $5/month	$5/month (Pro)	Free: $0/month, 20K credits/month	Developers building low-latency voice and TTS	Credit-based; heavy use needs higher tiers	16 Oct 2026
#4	Deepgram	Not yet verified	Pay as you go (Nova-3 from about $0.0048/min)	$200 free credit, then pay-as-you-go	Developers adding speech-to-text to apps and voice agents	API only, no end-user app	16 Oct 2026
#5	AssemblyAI	Not yet verified	Pay as you go (Universal-2 $0.15/hour)	Free to start, then pay-as-you-go	Developers transcribing recorded audio at scale	API only, no end-user app	16 Oct 2026
#6	Resemble AI	Growth tier: $350/month	Not yet verified	$0/month: no subscription fee, buy credits as you go	Deepfake detection and voice AI via API	Pricing page now centres on detection; voice-cloning plan prices not separately verified	16 Oct 2026
#7	Superwhisper	Not yet verified	Not yet verified	Free tier forever; Pro features free for the first 3,000 words	Dictation on the desktop	Pro price could not be read reliably from the page	16 Oct 2026

Prices as listed by each vendor on the last-checked date, USD, before tax. Plans and limits change, so follow the sources below.

Who should pick which

Pick ElevenLabs for creators and developers needing realistic voiceovers or voice agents (Starter: $6/month); think twice if you need commercial audio for free. Pick Murf for text-to-speech voiceovers and voice agents (Pay as you go API ($0.01/1,000 characters, Falcon TTS)). Watch out: studio plan prices not verified. Pick Cartesia for developers building low-latency voice and TTS (Pro: $5/month). Watch out: credit-based; heavy use needs higher tiers. Pick Deepgram for developers adding speech-to-text to apps and voice agents (Pay as you go (Nova-3 from about $0.0048/min)). Watch out: API only, no end-user app. Pick AssemblyAI for developers transcribing recorded audio at scale (Pay as you go (Universal-2 $0.15/hour)). Watch out: API only, no end-user app. Pick Resemble AI for deepfake detection and voice AI via API (Growth tier: $350/month). Watch out: pricing page now centres on detection; voice-cloning plan prices not separately verified. Pick Superwhisper for dictation on the desktop (free plan: Free tier forever; Pro features free for the first 3,000 words). Watch out: pro price could not be read reliably from the page.

FAQ

Which of these is cheapest?

Cartesia Pro ($5/month) is the lowest paid price we verified on this list (https://cartesia.ai/pricing, checked 16 Oct 2026). Check the vendor page for tax, billing period and usage limits.

Which of these have a free plan?

ElevenLabs: 10k credits/month, 3 Studio projects, no commercial license; Murf: $10 free API credit; Cartesia: Free: $0/month, 20K credits/month; Deepgram: $200 free credit, then pay-as-you-go; AssemblyAI: Free to start, then pay-as-you-go; Resemble AI: $0/month: no subscription fee, buy credits as you go; Superwhisper: Free tier forever; Pro features free for the first 3,000 words.

How were these tools chosen?

They are the tools in ToolRank's rankings with an API listed by the vendor, confirmed on the vendor's own website on 16 Oct 2026. Tools we could not verify are left out rather than guessed, and anything unconfirmed is marked Not yet verified.

Sources

ElevenLabs: ElevenLabs pricing checked 16 Oct 2026
Murf: Murf pricing checked 16 Oct 2026
Cartesia: Cartesia pricing checked 16 Oct 2026
Deepgram: Deepgram pricing checked 16 Oct 2026
AssemblyAI: AssemblyAI pricing checked 16 Oct 2026
Resemble AI: Resemble AI pricing checked 16 Oct 2026
Superwhisper: Superwhisper pricing checked 16 Oct 2026

Related comparisons

All comparisons →

Profiles: ElevenLabs · Murf · Cartesia · Deepgram · AssemblyAI · Resemble AI · Superwhisper

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