Cartesia
Low-latency speech models and voice agents for developers
Cartesia report card
Fair · out of 4.0 · graded Oct 18, 2026
Best for fast speech for developers' voice agents
Cartesia is for developers building voice agents and phone bots, not for people making voiceovers by hand, so we graded it against its alternatives. Its speech models stream fast, cloning starts on the $5 plan, and that plan covers about 133 minutes of speech. But there's no voiceover editor and no app: you work through the API or a web playground.
Who Cartesia is for
- Great if you're building a voice agent or phone bot and speed matters
- Handy when you want speech and transcription through one API
- Good for startups that can win the 12-month credit grant
Who Cartesia is not for
- Skip it if you want an editor to make voiceovers by hand
- Not for you if you don't write code
- Tight if you leave overages off, since requests stop when credits run out
Why Cartesia gets a 2.4
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- BValue for moneyPro 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 the cheapest paid plan, which undercuts its alternatives for the same amount.
- CFree plan and trial20,000 credits a month, about 27 minutes of speech, plus $1 of agent usage. Plenty for testing, but there's no commercial use license, so nothing built on it can go live.
- CFeaturesStreaming 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.
- CEase of useNo 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.
- BPlatforms and integrationsWeb 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.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Cartesia's own pages on 18 October 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/cartesia#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/cartesia.svg" alt="Cartesia: 2.4 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where Cartesia stands among AI voice generators
Cartesia's GPA of 2.4 is higher than 4 of the 9 other AI voice generators we grade, and level with 2.
It stands best on value for money (B, above 9 of 9) and worst on free plan and trial (C, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $5 a month, against a middle price of $14 for the category: 0 of the 9 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. Nothing scores higher for less, though at least one tool matches that score at a lower price.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 10 AI voice generators we grade, cut by the letter each got. Cartesia’s own letter is outlined.
- BValue for moneyAbove 9 of 9
- CFree plan and trialAbove 0 of 9, level with 8
- CFeaturesAbove 0 of 9, level with 3
- CEase of useAbove 0 of 9, level with 6
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 2 of 9, level with 6
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 10 AI voice generators. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.
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
Keep Cartesia, or make your own?
Keep it
To replace Cartesia you would be making a voice model, which you can rent by the minute but not make. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
It costs $60 a year.
What you could not
- A voice model, which you can rent by the minute but not make.
- A voice model trained on your recordings.
- Speech turned into text you can trust.
- It plugs into other products, LiveKit, Pipecat and Rasa among them, and has an API.
What this rests on. Cartesia’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is Cartesia?
Cartesia is aimed at developers building real-time voice products rather than at people making voiceovers. It sells the Sonic text-to-speech and Ink speech-to-text models through an API, with voice cloning, and Managed Agents for voice agents that answer and place phone calls. Plans are a monthly pool of credits plus prepaid dollars for agent minutes.
Cartesia has a free plan. Paid plans start at $5 per month for 100,000 credits, billed monthly. See every plan
Good for
- Developers building real-time voice agents and phone bots
- Apps that need fast streaming speech and transcription through one API
- Startups that can use the 12-month credit grant
Worth knowing
- 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 $0.06 a minute from the plan's prepaid dollars, plus $0.014 a minute on a Cartesia phone number.
Key features
- 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.
Cartesia pricing
- Starts at
- $5 per month for 100,000 credits, 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.
- Free trial
- None listed
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | $5per 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 | $49per 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 | $299per 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. |
| Enterprise | Custom | Volume pricing, custom concurrency, DPAs and BAAs, SSO, a shared Slack channel and on-premise or private cloud deployment. |
Read from cartesia.ai on Oct 18, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Cartesia before you buy.
Ways to pay less
- StartupsStartups 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.
Stated on cartesia.ai
Works with
- LiveKit
- Pipecat
- Rasa
- Genesys
Cartesia alternatives
- Cartesia vs ElevenLabs
Free plan · from $5/mo
- Cartesia vs Murf
Free trial · from $19/mo
- Cartesia vs Typecast
Free trial · from $5/mo
- Cartesia vs Respeecher
Free trial · from $18/mo
Common questions
Is Cartesia free?
Cartesia has a 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. Paid plans start at $5 per month for 100,000 credits, billed monthly.
How much does Cartesia cost?
Cartesia lists 5 plans. Free: $0. Pro: $5 per month for 100,000 credits, billed monthly. Startup: $49 per month for 1.25M credits, billed monthly. Scale: $299 per month for 8M credits, billed monthly. Enterprise: custom pricing. Prices were read from cartesia.ai on Oct 18, 2026.
What platforms does Cartesia work on?
Cartesia is available on Web.
Does Cartesia offer any discounts?
Cartesia publicly lists the following: Startups Grant: 12 months of credits.
Does Cartesia have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 18, 2026. Cartesia is listed for Web.
Does Cartesia have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 18, 2026. Cartesia is listed for Web.
Is Cartesia open source?
Cartesia is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Oct 18, 2026.
Does Cartesia have an API?
Yes. Cartesia offers a public API, according to its own site.
What does Cartesia integrate with?
Cartesia's listing names LiveKit, Pipecat, Rasa and Genesys. A listing names up to eight integrations, so it may connect to more.
Who makes Cartesia?
Cartesia is made by Cartesia.
What are the alternatives to Cartesia?
The closest alternatives to Cartesia in our directory are ElevenLabs, Murf, Typecast and Respeecher. Each one has a side-by-side comparison with Cartesia.
How does Cartesia compare with other AI voice generators?
Cartesia's GPA of 2.4 is higher than 4 of the 9 other AI voice generators we grade, and level with 2. It stands best on value for money (B, above 9 of 9) and worst on free plan and trial (C, above 0).
Is Cartesia good value for money?
ToolGPA grades Cartesia B for value for money. Its paid plans start at $5 a month, against a middle price of $14 for the category: 0 of the 9 others that charge start lower. On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. Nothing scores higher for less, though at least one tool matches that score at a lower price.
Could I make my own version of Cartesia?
To replace Cartesia you would be making a voice model, which you can rent by the minute but not make. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one. It costs $60 a year. What you could not make: A voice model, which you can rent by the minute but not make. A voice model trained on your recordings. Speech turned into text you can trust. It plugs into other products, LiveKit, Pipecat and Rasa among them, and has an API. This is a judgement from its listing. We have not built one.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 18, 2026.