Cartesia vs Fish Audio (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Cartesia grades higher than Fish Audio: 2.4 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 9, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 9, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Cartesia grades higher on value for money and platforms. Fish Audio grades higher on features. They get the same grade on the free plan and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Cartesia
Low-latency speech models and voice agents for developers
Fish Audio
Voice cloning and text to speech with credit plans and an API
Which one is for you
Pick Cartesia if
- Fits if you're building a voice agent or phone bot through an API
- Works for developers who want speech and transcription from one API
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you don't write code, or want a voiceover editor or a phone app
- Skip it if you hoped to go live on the free plan, which has no commercial use license
- Tight if you leave overages off, since requests stop when credits run out
- Watch out: overages run $65 per million credits on Pro, and agent calls cost $0.03 a minute plus $0.014 on a Cartesia number
- Pricey if you need a professional voice clone, which starts on the $49 Startup plan
Pick Fish Audio if
- Fits if you want cloned voices for videos or audiobooks on about $11 a month
- Works for developers who prefer paying per character with no subscription
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you need free output for commercial work, because the FAQ says free is personal use
- Tight if you stay free: 8,000 credits is about 7 minutes and 500 characters a generation
- Watch out: unused monthly credits and minutes do not roll over
- Watch out: the free S2.1 Pro API model is free only through November 30, 2026, with no SLA
- Pricey if you want to self-host the open-weight models, which is an Enterprise deal under a paid license
How we grade them
| 2.4GPACartesiaFair | 2.2GPAFish AudioFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BPro is $5 a month for 100,000 credits, about 133 minutes of speech, with a commercial license, instant cloning and $5 of agent calls. An hour a month fits on that plan, which is less than its alternatives charge for the same amount. Overages cost $65 per million credits on Pro. | CPlus is $11 a month yearly ($15 monthly) for 250,000 credits, Pro $75. That is mid-category. The API is billed separately and needs no plan. |
| Free plan and trial | C20,000 credits a month, about 27 minutes of speech, plus $1 of agent usage. Enough to try it, but there's no commercial use license, so nothing built on it can go live. | C8,000 credits a month, about 7 minutes, 500 characters a generation, no card. The FAQ says free-plan output is non-commercial, even though the card lists commercial use. |
| Features | CStreaming text to speech in dozens of languages, streaming transcription, instant and professional cloning, and voice agents with phone numbers. It does the developer job fully, but that's a narrower job: there's no voiceover editor, as the listing says. | BSpeech, instant cloning from about 30 seconds, professional voice slots, direction tags, speech to text, voice changer and audio tools. The core job is covered. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. It's built for developers: you call it from code with the Python or JavaScript SDK, or try voices in a web playground. Fine if you code, slow going if you don't. | CNo store rating on record. There is a text box for beginners and an API with SDKs for developers, but credits and voice slots need learning. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb and an API with regional endpoints, plus LiveKit, Pipecat, Rasa and Genesys for voice agents, and on-premise setups through sales. No phone or desktop app. | CWeb and an API with Python and TypeScript SDKs and WebSocket streaming. No desktop or phone app and no integrations listed. |
| Best for | speech through an API for voice agents | cloned voices and a pay-as-you-go speech API |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Cartesia and Fish Audio. How we grade
Price against what you get
Cartesia starts at $5 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Fish Audio starts at $11 a month and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and Cartesia starts $6 a month lower. Of the other AI voice generators on the chart, none scores higher than Cartesia for less, and 5 score higher than Fish Audio for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
At a glance
| Cartesia | Fish Audio | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $5 per month for 100,000 credits, billed monthly | $11 per month, billed annually ($15 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | 20,000 credits a month (about 27 minutes of text to speech or 1 hour 51 minutes of speech to text) and $1 of voice agent usage. No commercial use license. | 8,000 credits a month, about 7 minutes of generation, up to 500 characters per generation, 3 public voice slots. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Cartesia | Hanabi AI Inc. |
| Price read from | cartesia.ai | fish.audio |
| Checked | Nov 9, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Cartesia
- Cartesia is a developer platform: you use it through the API or a web playground, and there is no voiceover editor or mobile app.
- The Free plan has no commercial use license; it starts on Pro, which also adds instant cloning. Professional cloning needs Startup or above.
- Paid plans can go past their credits at $65 per million on Pro, $45 on Startup and $38 on Scale; with overages off, requests are blocked.
- Voice agent calls cost $0.03 a minute from the plan's prepaid dollars, plus $0.014 a minute on a Cartesia phone number.
Fish Audio
- The free tier caps each generation at 500 characters, and the FAQ says free-plan output is for personal, non-commercial use even though the card lists commercial use.
- Unused monthly credits and minutes do not roll over.
- The free S2.1 Pro API model is free only through November 30, 2026, with no SLA, and requests may be used to improve the model.
- Self-hosting the open-weight models is an Enterprise engagement under a paid commercial license.
Key features
Cartesia
- Sonic text to speech
- A streaming text-to-speech model built for live conversation, with dozens of languages and regional accents. One minute of audio uses about 750 to 800 credits.
- Ink speech to text
- A streaming transcription model with its own concurrency pool, so heavy transcription does not slow text to speech.
- Voice cloning
- Instant clones from 10 seconds of audio start on Pro; Professional clones start on Startup. Cartesia says to clone only your own voice or one you have explicit permission to use.
- Managed Agents
- Build voice agents that answer and make phone calls, with Cartesia-provided phone numbers, from 1 on Free to 10 on Scale.
- Deployment options
- Call the models through regional API endpoints with Python and JavaScript SDKs, or arrange on-premise, private cloud or on-device deployment with sales.
Fish Audio
- Text to speech
- Generates speech from a text box or API call. A minute of audio costs roughly 600 to 625 credits on the subscription plans.
- Voice cloning
- Instant cloning from about 30 seconds of audio, plus professional voice slots on paid plans and a browsable public voice library.
- Direction tags
- Inline tags such as warm or near-whisper steer delivery inside the text itself; the developer page cites 15,000+ tags.
- Developer API
- A pay-as-you-go API at $15 per million UTF-8 bytes, with Python and TypeScript SDKs and WebSocket streaming. No subscription needed.
- Other audio tools
- The product list also covers speech to text, a voice changer, audiobooks, audio separation, audio translation and sound effects.
Plans
Cartesia
Free$0
20,000 credits a month, about 27 minutes of text to speech, plus $1 of prepaid agent usage. Not licensed for commercial use.
Pro$5
per month for 100,000 credits, billed monthly
About 133 minutes of text to speech a month, $5 of agent usage, a commercial use license and instant voice cloning.
Startup$49
per month for 1.25M credits, billed monthly
About 1,667 minutes of text to speech a month, $49 of agent usage and 2 Professional Voice Clone slots.
Scale$299
per month for 8M credits, billed monthly
About 10,667 minutes of text to speech a month, $299 of agent usage, 4 Professional Voice Clone slots, priority support and higher concurrency.
EnterpriseCustom
Volume pricing, custom concurrency, DPAs and BAAs, SSO, a shared Slack channel and on-premise or private cloud deployment.
Fish Audio
Free Tier$0
8,000 credits monthly, up to 7 minutes of generation, standard speed. No card needed.
Plus$11
per month, billed annually ($15 billed monthly)
250,000 credits monthly (up to 200 minutes), 10 private voice slots, Voice Design and 1 professional voice slot.
Pro$75
per month, billed annually ($100 billed monthly)
2,000,000 credits monthly (up to 1,620 minutes), 3 team seats, unlimited voice slots, 5 professional voices.
Ways to pay less
Cartesia
- Startups
Startups Grant: 12 months of credits
Startups at any stage can apply for 12 months of Scale-level usage: 8 million credits a month plus $299 a month for Managed Agents. Students are considered case by case.
Fish Audio
- Annual discount
Save with annual billing
The plan page shows Plus at $11 a month billed annually against $15 monthly, and Pro at $75 against $100, with a banner of 3 months off.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Cartesia or Fish Audio?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Cartesia is cheaper to start with: $5 a month, against $11 a month for Fish Audio. Cartesia starts at $5 per month for 100,000 credits, billed monthly, and Fish Audio starts at $11 per month, billed annually ($15 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Cartesia or Fish Audio?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Cartesia and Fish Audio have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.