In the rapidly evolving world of artificial intelligence and digital audio, choosing the right AI voice generation tool is more crucial than ever. Two major players leading the field in 2024 are Fish.audio and ElevenLabs. Both platforms offer state-of-the-art text-to-speech functionality, but which one is the best fit for your needs?
Whether you’re a content creator, game developer, or audio engineer, understanding the key differences between these tools can help you save time, money, and creative energy. In this comparison, we break down features, pricing, usability, and performance to help you make an informed decision.
TL;DR
Both Fish.audio and ElevenLabs offer powerful AI voice synthesis capabilities, but they serve slightly different purposes. Fish.audio shines with its ultra-realistic tones and highly customizable audio pipeline, making it perfect for creative professionals. ElevenLabs, on the other hand, leads in voice cloning speed and multi-language support, ideal for content localization and rapid prototyping. If you want more control over audio specs, go with Fish.audio; if scalability and language variety matter more, ElevenLabs is your pick.
What is Fish.audio?
Fish.audio is an AI voice generation platform emphasizing hyper-realistic, studio-quality voice synthesis. It is tailored for sound designers, musicians, audiobook producers, and content creators who need premium output. One of its standout features is the integration of fine-grain audio editing capabilities directly within its web-based workspace.
Key advantages of Fish.audio include:
- Multi-track voice layering for dialogue-rich scenes
- 4K audio fidelity with custom EQ settings
- Vocal mood tuning like anger, boredom, or whisper
- Seamless integration with DAWs like Ableton Live and Logic Pro
- APIs for real-time TTS applications
Fish.audio targets audio professionals who want creative freedom with the precision of manual sound engineering—all powered by AI.
What is ElevenLabs?
ElevenLabs is another big name in AI voice synthesis, known for its robust, developer-friendly platform and fast, accurate voice cloning system. Its standout feature is the ability to generate nearly any voice—real or synthetic—based on a short sample. Hugely popular among YouTubers, developers, and accessibility professionals, ElevenLabs is designed for high-volume, multilingual voice generation use cases.
Core strengths of ElevenLabs include:
- Instant voice cloning with samples under 60 seconds
- Support for 28+ languages with adaptive accent rendering
- Extensive API documentation for fast integration
- Real-time audio playback and streaming
- Affordable plans for startups and indie creators
ElevenLabs is ideal for projects needing speed, scale, and linguistic variety without compromising too much on voice quality.
Audio Quality
This is where the battle gets intense. Both tools offer excellent voice synthesis, but they differ in nuance and crispness.
Fish.audio offers studio-quality sound with higher bitrate outputs and manual fine-tuning options. This makes it perfect for albums, short films, theater, or ad work where quality must meet commercial standards. The integrated visual waveform editor also lets users see and arrange syllable stress, pitch, and breathiness.
ElevenLabs focuses more on natural delivery and speech coherence, particularly for narration or real-time applications. Although it may fall slightly short of Fish.audio in raw audio fidelity, its overall quality still ranks high—especially given its faster turnaround times.
Voice Library and Customization
A major differentiator between these two platforms lies in their respective voice libraries and how much you can adjust the vocal tones.
Fish.audio:
- Over 75 fully tunable AI voices across different age ranges, genders, and vocal styles
- Allows phoneme-by-phoneme editing
- Offers “Emotion Packs” to adjust emotional delivery mid-sentence
- Custom voice training (premium only)
ElevenLabs:
- Dozens of community-generated voices with realistic personas
- Supports voice cloning using your own voice samples
- Flexible tone presets but less incremental tweaking
- Limited direct emotion control compared to Fish.audio
For users wanting to craft unique digital voice personas with extreme control, Fish.audio is leagues ahead. However, if you’re just looking to replicate a voice or use pre-made ones at scale, ElevenLabs suffices.
Language Support
Another area where ElevenLabs truly excels is multilingual synthesis. As of 2024, ElevenLabs supports over 28 languages including complex ones like Hindi, Polish, and Mandarin with accent-specific rendering.
Fish.audio supports major global languages (English, Spanish, German, Japanese), but its focus is more regionalized and less robust in non-European language coverage. That said, it allows for accented English creation (e.g., British, Australian), giving voice color to English-centric content.
Platform Interface and Usability
User experience can be a deal-maker or breaker, especially when speed and ease of iteration matter.
Fish.audio:
- Sleek, professional-grade interface with a built-in audio timeline
- Supports drag-and-drop SFX, musical scores, silence gaps
- Saves session presets for audio consistency across projects
ElevenLabs:
- Minimalist, fast-loading dashboard
- Straightforward voice creation pipeline
- Less customizable but more beginner-friendly
If you come from a DAW background or require granular control similar to a recording studio, Fish.audio will feel natural. If you’re looking for a fast, frictionless workflow—especially for MVPs—ElevenLabs stands out.
Pricing and Subscription Tiers
Fish.audio is priced more for professionals. There’s a free trial version, but most advanced features come under pro or enterprise tiers. Monthly pricing starts at $29/month and scales depending on output minutes and voice packs.
ElevenLabs offers more budget-friendly tiers. The basic plan starts at $5/month for 10,000 characters, with reasonable costs for API usage. It’s a sensible option for indie developers, educators, and small teams.
Summary of Pricing:
| Platform | Starting Price | Free Tier | Voice Cloning | Advanced Controls |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fish.audio | $29/mo | Yes (Limited) | Yes (Pro+) | Extensive |
| ElevenLabs | $5/mo | Yes | Yes (Basic+) | Moderate |
Which One Should You Choose?
It largely depends on your goals and how deep you want to go with your audio production:
- Go with Fish.audio if: You need high-end editing options, studio-grade output, and full creative control.
- Go with ElevenLabs if: You want scalable voice generation, multi-language support, and ease of use for fast prototyping or content deployment.
For example, a game developer designing character voiceovers with emotional nuance may prefer Fish.audio. Meanwhile, an eLearning company needing narration in several languages would benefit more from ElevenLabs.
Final Thoughts
Both Fish.audio and ElevenLabs are pushing the boundaries of AI vocal synthesis, but they do it from different angles. Fish.audio is for those who need their AI tools to match creative precision. ElevenLabs is the speedster built for global reach and effortless delivery.
Ultimately, your choice will depend on your specific use case and how much control, scalability, or language diversity
