ElevenLabs announced its latest text‑to‑speech model, Eleven v4, and a real‑time variant called v4 Turbo. The company says the new voices are more expressive and can keep a character’s tone consistent across long scripts. Both models are available now via the ElevenAgents platform, the ElevenCreative app, and the public API.
What’s new and how much does it cost?
Eleven v4 can handle up to 10,000 characters in a single request – roughly ten minutes of audio – and supports more than 90 languages, up from about 70 in the previous v3 model. The Turbo version is built for voice agents and can start speaking in about 150 ms, a noticeable speed boost over the 262 ms the company measured for a competitor.
Pricing for API use is $0.08 per 1,000 characters for the standard v4 model (that’s $80 per million characters) and $0.04 per 1,000 characters for v4 Turbo ($40 per million). Until Oct 12 the rates are discounted to $0.022 and $0.011 per 1,000 characters respectively.
Why it matters to creators
The lower rates and faster Turbo response make high‑quality, expressive AI voices more affordable for indie podcasters, game developers, and small businesses that need real‑time voice agents. The longer character limit also reduces the need to split long scripts, saving time when producing audiobooks or tutorials.
Why it matters
For everyday users, the cheaper per‑character cost means lower bills for projects that need a lot of spoken content. The faster Turbo model lets developers build real‑time voice assistants that sound natural without noticeable lag.
