Cartesia vs ElevenLabs for Voice Agents (2026): Pricing, Speed Claims and When to Use Each

Cartesia launched Managed Agents on 29 October 2026, a full platform for AI phone agents built on its own voice models. That puts it head to head with ElevenLabs Agents, the self-serve option most small teams look at first. Both let you build an agent that answers calls, looks things up and books appointments. This page compares what they charge, what they include, and what each says about speed. For the wider field of voice platforms, see our Retell AI vs Vapi vs Synthflow comparison.

Key takeaways

Verdict in one minute

• Cheaper per minute on paper: Cartesia. $0.03 a minute for the agent plus $0.014 for a Cartesia phone number, against ElevenLabs’ $0.08 a minute beyond included minutes. Both add the AI model on top.
• Bigger voice and language range: ElevenLabs. It lists 10,000+ voices and 90+ languages. Cartesia lists 44 languages.
• Phone lines: Cartesia can give you a number and bill the line. ElevenLabs connects to your own provider, such as Twilio.
• Speed claims: Cartesia says it ranks first of 30 on Artificial Analysis’ Speech Agent Arena and leads on ServiceNow’s EVA-Bench. ElevenLabs says its agents respond in under a second. Neither claim is ours.
• For a 1,000-minute month, our list-price maths gives about $44 on Cartesia and $80 to $99 on ElevenLabs, before the AI model and, for ElevenLabs, the phone line.

Research-based comparison. We haven’t placed test calls on either platform. Everything here comes from the vendors’ published pages, read on 30 October 2026. Prices are USD, before tax.

At a glance: Cartesia Managed Agents vs ElevenLabs Agents (USD, list prices)

Tool	Free plan	Per-minute rate	Phone line	Concurrent calls
Cartesia Managed Agents	$0 with $1 of agent usage (about 33 minutes); no commercial use	$0.03 a minute, plus AI model; each plan includes prepaid agent dollars equal to its price	Cartesia number $0.014 a minute; 1 to 10 numbers by plan	8 to 60 by plan
ElevenLabs Agents	$0 with 15 minutes; no commercial use	Plans include minutes; $0.08 a minute beyond them, plus AI model	Your own provider (Twilio, SIP and others)	4 to 40 by plan

List prices before tax, read on 30 Oct 2026. Both bill the AI language model separately. Speed and ranking claims are each vendor's own; we haven't measured them. Facts checked 30 Oct 2026 on each maker's own pages. Prices change, so check before you buy.

What Cartesia launched

Cartesia’s blog post describes Managed Agents as an end-to-end platform where its listening, turn-taking, reasoning, tool-calling and speech are tuned together. It includes telephony, knowledge bases, tool calls and outbound call campaigns. Cartesia says agents work in 44 languages, with switching languages mid-call available now in English, Spanish, Hindi, French and Japanese, and the rest “coming soon”. It also says the platform has already handled “tens of millions of conversations”. Cartesia lists SOC 2 Type II and offers on-premises or private-cloud setups.

Pricing compared

Cartesia plans

Plan	Per month	Prepaid agent usage	About this many agent minutes	Phone numbers	Concurrent calls
Free	$0	$1	33 minutes	1	8
Pro	$5	$5	2 hours 47 minutes	3	12
Startup	$49	$49	27 hours 13 minutes	5	20
Scale	$299	$299	166 hours 7 minutes	10	60
Enterprise	Custom	Custom	Custom	Custom	Custom

Cartesia’s minute estimates leave out telephony and the AI model. Past your prepaid amount, Cartesia says calls keep running at $0.03 a minute. Free has no commercial licence; Pro adds it. Each plan also includes credits for Cartesia’s separate voice and transcription APIs, which matter only if you use those directly.

ElevenLabs Agents plans

Plan	Per month	Minutes included	Concurrent calls
Free	$0	15	4
Starter	$6	75	6
Creator	$22	275	10
Pro	$99	1,238	20
Scale	$299	3,738	30
Business	$990	12,375	40

Beyond the included minutes it’s $0.08 a minute, and going over your concurrency limit costs $0.16 a minute (up to three times the limit). The AI model is billed separately, and the phone line comes from your own provider. Starter adds the commercial licence. ElevenLabs was showing first-month discounts on Starter and Creator on 30 October; we’ve used the regular prices. Enterprise adds BAAs for health data and single sign-on.

1,000 minutes a month: our maths

Option	Sum	Monthly total
Cartesia Pro	$5 plan (covers about 167 minutes) + 833 × $0.03 + 1,000 × $0.014 phone line	About $44, plus AI model
Cartesia Startup	$49 plan covers it + 1,000 × $0.014 phone line	About $63, plus AI model
ElevenLabs Creator	$22 + (1,000 − 275) × $0.08	About $80, plus AI model and your phone provider
ElevenLabs Pro	$99, 1,238 minutes included	$99, plus AI model and your phone provider

On Cartesia, Startup costs more than Pro for exactly 1,000 minutes, but it gives 20 concurrent calls instead of 12 and covers up to about 1,633 minutes. The AI model can be a large part of the bill on both, so add your chosen model’s price before deciding.

Speed and quality: what each vendor claims

Cartesia’s claims. Cartesia says Managed Agents ranks first of 30 systems on Artificial Analysis’ Speech Agent Arena, with an Elo rating of 1115, ahead of entries it lists for Gemini Live models and Eleven Realtime v1 Max (1003). On ServiceNow’s EVA-Bench, Cartesia reports 87.4% for accuracy and 90.7% for conversation experience. Its chart shows lower scores for ElevenLabs Agents set-ups, but Cartesia notes the benchmarks were run with GPT-5.5 as the reasoning model. Cartesia also says 85% of its conversations had no turn-taking problems (talking over the caller or pausing too long), against 67% for others, from its own internal data.

ElevenLabs’ claims. ElevenLabs says its agents have “sub-second responsiveness” and that more than 5 million agents have been launched on its platform.

These are vendor numbers, chosen by the vendor. Leaderboards like these change often, so check the live arena before relying on a ranking. We’ll only say which feels faster on a real call once we’ve measured it.

Features side by side

	Cartesia Managed Agents	ElevenLabs Agents
Languages	44; mid-call switching in five now	90+
Voices	Cartesia’s own; instant cloning from Pro, pro cloning from Startup	10,000+ voice library
Phone	Cartesia-provided numbers at $0.014 a minute; bringing your own carrier not confirmed	Twilio, Genesys, Vonage, Telnyx, Plivo, SIP
Business tools	Tool calls, knowledge bases, outbound campaigns	Zapier, Stripe, Cal.com, Zendesk, HubSpot and more
Developer access	Platform and APIs	WebSocket API; JavaScript, React, Python and iOS SDKs
Compliance	SOC 2 Type II; on-premises or private cloud	SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR; data residency and zero-retention modes

What we checked, and what we haven’t tested

We read both pricing pages, Cartesia’s launch post and ElevenLabs’ product page on 30 October 2026. We haven’t built an agent or placed a call on either, so we can’t compare voice quality, response time or setup effort. When we test, the plan is the same booking script on both free plans: a booking request, an interruption mid-sentence and a silent pause, timing each reply.

Pros and cons

	Pros	Cons
Cartesia	Low per-minute rate; phone numbers included; Cartesia reports top benchmark rankings; on-premises option	New platform; fewer languages; AI model rates not listed
ElevenLabs	Huge voice library; 90+ languages; many ready integrations; HIPAA options	Higher overage rate; phone line billed by your own provider; AI model billed on top

Who it's for

Which should you pick?

• You want the lowest cost per call minute: Cartesia, on list prices.
• You need many languages or a specific voice style: ElevenLabs, for its range.
• You don’t have a phone provider yet: Cartesia can provide the number.
• You already use Twilio or a SIP line, or your tools are Zapier, HubSpot or Zendesk: ElevenLabs connects to those directly.
• You handle health data: ElevenLabs lists HIPAA and BAAs on Enterprise; ask Cartesia about its terms before you start.
• You just want a receptionist that works: a finished product may suit you better than either platform; see our best AI receptionist for small business roundup.

Build or buy?

Both platforms suit you if someone on your team can write the agent’s instructions, connect a calendar and test calls. If you’d rather have it built and linked to your booking system, CRM and follow-up messages, AIFix can do that for you. That’s our own service.

See how AIFix Automation handles this: AIFix Automation for phone calls and bookings.

FAQ

Is Cartesia cheaper than ElevenLabs for voice agents?

On list prices, yes. Cartesia charges $0.03 a minute plus $0.014 for its phone line; ElevenLabs charges $0.08 a minute beyond included minutes, plus your phone provider. Both add the AI model.

Is Cartesia faster than ElevenLabs?

Cartesia says so, citing first place on Artificial Analysis’ Speech Agent Arena and its EVA-Bench results. ElevenLabs says its agents respond in under a second. We haven’t measured either.

Do both have a free plan?

Yes. Cartesia’s Free plan includes about 33 agent minutes and ElevenLabs’ includes 15. Neither free plan allows commercial use.

Can I use my own phone number?

ElevenLabs uses your own provider, such as Twilio or a SIP line. Cartesia provides numbers on every plan; we didn’t confirm whether you can connect your own carrier instead, so ask Cartesia.

Which supports more languages?

ElevenLabs lists 90+; Cartesia lists 44, with mid-call switching in five so far.

Related reading

• Retell AI vs Vapi vs Synthflow
• Best AI receptionist for small business
• ElevenLabs Realtime voice agent models
• Best AI voice generator for YouTube