Cartesia vs Inworld AI (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Cartesia grades higher than Inworld AI: 2.4 against 2.0 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, ease of use and platforms. Inworld AI grades higher on features. They get the same grade on the free plan.
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
Inworld AI
Text-to-speech, speech-to-text and LLM API with monthly credit plans
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 Inworld AI if
- Fits if you are building a real-time voice agent or companion
- Works for game or app teams that need many custom voices
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want to paste a script and download, because this is an API product
- Watch out: the 70 free minutes aren't described as monthly, so don't count on them renewing
- Watch out: zero data retention starts at Developer ($300), and HIPAA and BAA are Growth add-ons
- Pricey if you go over the credit: overage bills at the plan's own rates, and extra credits expire after a year
How we grade them
| 2.4GPACartesiaFair | 2.0GPAInworld AIFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CCreator is $25 a month in credits, with TTS-2 at $20 per 1M characters, dropping to $12.50 at the $1,500 Growth tier. The cheapest plan is in the dearer half of the category. |
| 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. | COn-Demand is $0 pay as you go with up to 70 minutes of speech included. The page doesn't say it renews monthly, so treat it as a trial amount. |
| 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. | BTTS, speech to text and an LLM API, 100 to 30,000 custom voices by plan, professional clones from Creator. It covers the job for agents and games. |
| 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. | DNo store rating on record. It is an API-first product that expects developers. |
| 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. No integrations or apps are listed. |
| Best for | speech through an API for voice agents | real-time voice for agents and companions |
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 Inworld AI. 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. Inworld AI starts at $25 a month and scores 2.0.
Cartesia scores higher and starts $20 a month lower. Of the other AI voice generators on the chart, none scores higher than Cartesia for less, and 19 score higher than Inworld AI 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 | Inworld AI | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $5 per month for 100,000 credits, billed monthly | $25 per month, 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. | On-Demand: $0 pay as you go with up to 70 minutes of text to speech included; 100 custom voices, commercial license. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Cartesia | Inworld AI |
| Price read from | cartesia.ai | inworld.ai |
| 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.
Inworld AI
- Overage is billed at the plan's own rates, and extra credits expire one year after purchase.
- The 70 free minutes on On-Demand are not described as monthly, so treat them as a trial amount.
- Zero data retention starts at Developer, and HIPAA and BAA are Growth add-ons.
- The page showed monthly prices; a Yearly toggle advertises 2 months free, so the annual amounts were not read.
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.
Inworld AI
- Realtime TTS-2 and TTS-2 Flash
- Two text-to-speech models priced per million characters, with steering on TTS-2, speaking rate and temperature controls, and 200+ languages.
- Voice cloning and design
- Instant cloning and voice design are on every plan; professional voice clones are capped by tier, from 2 to 40 and 100+ on Enterprise.
- Speech to text and speech to speech
- Real-time STT from $0.15 an hour on On-Demand and low-latency speech-to-speech conversations on the same credits.
- LLM inference
- Hosted open and third-party models are billed per token from the same credit balance, from $0.07 per 1M input tokens.
- Credits that roll over
- Unused subscription credits carry over for up to 3 months while a paid plan of equal or higher value stays active.
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.
Inworld AI
On-Demand$0
Pay as you go: TTS-2 $25 per 1M characters, TTS-2 Flash $15. Up to 70 min of TTS included.
Creator$25
per month, billed monthly
$25 in credits a month. TTS-2 $20 per 1M characters, Flash $10. 500 custom voices, 4 professional clones.
Builder$100
per month, billed monthly
$100 in credits. TTS-2 $17.50 per 1M characters, Flash $9. 3,000 custom voices, higher concurrency.
Developer$300
per month, billed monthly
$300 in credits. TTS-2 $15 per 1M characters, Flash $8. 10,000 custom voices, zero data retention.
Growth$1,500
per month, billed monthly
$1,500 in credits. TTS-2 $12.50 per 1M characters, Flash $7. 30,000 voices, HIPAA and BAA as add-ons.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom limits and terms, SLA, DPA, EU and India data residency; TTS-2 from as low as $5 per 1M.
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.
Inworld AI
- Annual discount
2 months free on yearly billing
Inworld's pricing page has a Yearly toggle labeled as giving 2 months free compared with monthly billing.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Cartesia or Inworld AI?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Cartesia is cheaper to start with: $5 a month, against $25 a month for Inworld AI. Cartesia starts at $5 per month for 100,000 credits, billed monthly, and Inworld AI starts at $25 per month, billed monthly.
Which has a free plan, Cartesia or Inworld AI?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Cartesia and Inworld AI 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.