Every direct duel, counted
Each duel: one ElevenLabs voice against one Cartesia voice, same gender, same ad script, names hidden, loudness matched; the listener picks one or says "too close". Counted from both listeners' result files.
| Pairing | ElevenLabs won | Cartesia won | Too close |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eleven v4 vs Sonic 3.6 | 4 | 0 | 2 |
| Eleven v4 Turbo vs Sonic 3.6 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| All direct duels | 6 | 0 | 2 |
Listen to both
Female voices
ElevenLabs v4 · Jade (9–0–6)
Cartesia Sonic 3.6 · Jacqueline (8–4–3)
Male voices
ElevenLabs v4 · Kaelen (11–0–7)
Cartesia Sonic 3.6 · Daniel (7–3–3)
Cartesia's samples were re-recorded on its paid plan after the test, with the same voice and settings; the duels used earlier takes made on Cartesia's free plan, which we may not publish. Takes vary: Cartesia "Jacqueline" was clearly better on her second take in our test.
What we did not test
- Speed (latency). Most comparisons of these two are about how fast the first audio arrives, which matters for live voice agents. We measured how a finished ad sounds, not speed.
- Other scripts. The duels above are on one 30-second ad. Long reads, phone menus and pronunciation may come out differently.
- Other voices. We tested the voices picked by a fixed rule: Jacqueline and Daniel for Cartesia; Jade, Kaelen, Talia and Darian for ElevenLabs.
The whole field: every voice ranked and ElevenLabs alternatives.
Price and commercial use, side by side
At API list prices, Cartesia Sonic 3.6 costs about $0.05 a minute on its Pro plan, ElevenLabs Eleven v4 about $0.08 and Eleven v4 Turbo about $0.04.
One minute is about 1,000 characters; our clips used 800 to 1,000. Prices from each company's own pricing page; we keep a dated copy of every page we quote.
| Engine | List price | Per minute | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| ElevenLabs Eleven v4 (our winner) | $0.08 / 1,000 chars | $0.08 | |
| ElevenLabs Eleven v4 Turbo | $0.04 / 1,000 chars | $0.04 | |
| Cartesia Sonic 3.6 | Pro $5/mo for 100K credits | $0.05 |
Can you use it commercially?
| Tool | Commercial use | Cheapest option for it | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| ElevenLabs | Paid plans only; the free plan is non-commercial | Starter, $6/month | |
| Cartesia | Paid plans only: Pro and up include a commercial license (ads included, by our reading of the terms); the free plan is non-commercial | Pro, $5/month |
Questions people ask
Cartesia vs ElevenLabs: which sounds better?
For a 30-second ad, ElevenLabs sounded better to our blind listeners: in 8 direct duels ElevenLabs won 6, 2 were too close, and Cartesia won 0. Cartesia Sonic 3.6 was still a clear second of 8 companies.
Is Cartesia cheaper than ElevenLabs?
Than Eleven v4, yes: about $0.05 a minute on Cartesia's Pro plan against about $0.08 for Eleven v4 at API list price. ElevenLabs' Eleven v4 Turbo is about $0.04.
Can I use Cartesia for ads?
On a paid plan. Cartesia's commercial license starts with Pro (Pro, $5/month); the free plan is non-commercial. Checked on October 30, 2026.
Which is faster, Cartesia or ElevenLabs?
We did not test speed (latency). Our test compares how a finished ad sounds to blind listeners.
Is ElevenLabs v4 Turbo better than Cartesia?
In our test, yes: Eleven v4 Turbo won all 2 of its direct duels with Cartesia Sonic 3.6, and it costs about $0.04 a minute against about $0.05.
How we tested
Same script for every tool, the vendor's newest model on the test day, voices chosen by a fixed rule, two takes per voice. Clips leveled to the same loudness, names hidden, sides shuffled per listener: two voices at a time, the listener picks the better one, until one is left. Every clip was transcribed by speech-to-text, and flagged spots were re-checked with 4 models.
The ad script every voice read:
Still wrapping gifts at midnight? Meet Novalo, the gift box that lights up the moment it opens. One tap, and your present feels like a little show. Order today for just fifty-nine ninety-five, and get free shipping across the US. Novalo. Make every gift a moment.
- Engines
- 12, from 8 companies
- Head-to-heads
- 92 (ranked script: 30-second ad)
- Voices
- 24 (12 per gender)
- Scripts
- ad, explainer, UGC, pronunciation, warm, phone menu
- Listening
- Blind, 2 listeners
- Loudness
- All at −16 LUFS
- Run
- Oct 26–30, 2026
- Tested by
- Nick
Independent. Rankings come from the test, never from commissions, and vendors don't see results before we publish. Disclosure
Changelog
- : First version: direct blind duels, prices, commercial licenses.