My name is Supriya, and reviewing differen different SaaS tools with my own hands and finding out their strength and weaknesses is my hobby. That’s where my ElevenLabs reviews article comes in.
After testing multiple AI voice generators over the last three months, I’ve found ElevenLabs to be one of the most impressive, but…..
Is it right for you?
Don’t worry because, in this review article, I’ll walk you through ElevenLabs text to speech, Voice cloning, voice changer, dubbing studio features, along with a over the shoulder view of real user feedback from Reddit and community forums.
Plus, I’ll share some micro information, pro tips, specific use cases, and my honest experience about using each feature so that it helps you decide if this is the voice solution that’ll finally let you produce studio-quality audio in minutes instead of hours!
So, let’s start…
Table of Contents
ElevenLabs Text to Speech: What You Need to Know Here?
I’ve used multiple TTS tools before, but what I experienced with ElevenLabs text to speech is purely amazing.
In one sentence, I really felt that ElevenLabs TTS has voices with depth, emotional range, and a naturalness that actually feels like hearing a real person.
ElevenLabs Voices List
One of the first things you’ll notice when you log into ElevenLabs is the voice library, and trust me, it’s impressive.
ElevenLabs offers you a growing collection of pre-made voices that have unique characteristics. Here, you’ll find…
- Language: Multiple language options are available.
- Different accents: American, British, Australian, and more.
- Tone variety: Narration, Warm and friendly, conversational, youthful.
- Gender options: Male, female, and gender-neutral voices.
- Age ranges: From younger-sounding voices to mature, seasoned tones.
What I love about the ElevenLabs voices list is that you can preview each one instantly before making your final voiceover. It’s very simple, just click, listen, and compare. No guessing games.
If you love any voice, simply save it in your library….
Pro Tip From My Experience:
Always listen to full sentence previews so that you can get an idea of whether it fits properly in your script or not.
Best ElevenLabs Voice for Documentary
When I was researching on Reddit forums, I found that most of the creators are looking for perfect documentary voices for their YouTube channels.
So, I thought to experiment with some voices that are really good for documentaries. Plus, this can also help me, as I am also working with a documentary YouTube channel.
After testing multiple voices for documentary-style content, here’s what I found works best:
Top recommendations for documentary narration
- “Adam” – Deep, authoritative, perfect for serious or investigative documentaries.
- “Frederick Surrey” – Professional & calm.
- “True” – Crime and horror narrator.
- “Jon” – Warm & grounded storyteller.
- “A top narrator VO PRO” – Professional American male narrator.
In my experience, the best ElevenLabs voice for documentary work also depends on your subject matter, just like a true crime documentary needs a different tone than a wildlife documentary.
But the good news is, ElevenLabs gives you enough variety to match your specific project.
ElevenLabs Emotion Tags List
This is where ElevenLabs really pulls ahead of the competition, and honestly, this feature alone has saved my projects multiple times.
Friends…. ElevenLabs v3 emotion tags list lets you control how the AI delivers your text.
Instead of settling for a monotone reading, you can add emotional depth by adding simple emotion tags properly in your script.
My Honest Take:
I feel that this feature has the power to transform generic TTS into something you’d actually want to use in professional content. If you’re just reading facts, you might not need it. But if you’re telling stories, building suspense, or creating engaging marketing videos, emotion tags are a game-changer.
ElevenLabs Text to Speech Workflow
So, I think, you’ve already got my point on ElevenLabs TTS power.
Now, it’s time to walk you through exactly how I use ElevenLabs text to voice technology in my daily workflow because, honestly, ease of use matters just as much as quality.

Step-by-step process (based on my experience):
- Visit the OFFICIAL WEBSITE and sign up first.
- Then choose the “ElevenLabs Text to Speech” option from the left side..
- Now paste your script.
- Now adjust settings like voice, Model, and Stability.
- Now add emotion tags properly. (Add emotion tags at the beginning of the sentence)
- Hit generate speech.
- Preview the output immediately.
- If you’re happy, download as MP3 or WAV. If not, tweak settings and regenerate (unlimited attempts on paid plans)
Important Tip:- Try to choose the ElevenLabs V3 model as this is the most expressive one and supports 70+ languages.
Don’t expect perfection on the first generation. Try to plan to iterate 2-3 times, especially with complex scripts.
My Honest Take:
The text-to-speech functionality isn’t just “good for AI,” but it’s legitimately good. Between the voice variety, emotion control, and straightforward workflow, you’re getting a tool that can handle everything from quick social media voiceovers to full-length podcast episodes.
If you’re still manually recording everything, you’re working way harder than you need to.
ElevenLabs Voice Cloning: What You Need to Know Here?
If you’ve ever wanted to scale your content without recording every single voiceover yourself, ElevenLabs voice cloning is about to become your best friend.
You can clone your own voice (or someone else’s with permission) and use it across unlimited content.
For content creators and marketers, this means you can maintain your authentic voice across your YouTube videos, podcasts, and courses without spending hours on recording house.
For documentary producers, you can create consistent narration even when your voice actor isn’t available. The ElevenLabs voice generator handles the heavy lifting while you focus on creating great content.

How ElevenLabs Voice Cloning Works
ElevenLabs offers four different voice cloning methods, as you see above, each designed for different needs and quality levels.
1. Voice Design
Design an entirely new synthetic voice in less than a minute from a text prompt, no audio recording needed.
2. Instant Voice Clone
Clone any voice with just 10 seconds of audio within 2 minutes. But you need to be at least on the starter plan to use this feature.
3. Professional Voice Clone
Create the most realistic digital replica of your voice using at least 30 minutes of clean audio. But you need to be at least on the creator plan (check ElevenLabs voice cloning pricing) to use this feature.
4. Voice Remixing (Alpha) — NEW
Transform existing voices with text prompts to create entirely new variations.
My Honest Take:
Try to go with the “Professional Voice Clone” option because the quality difference is noticeable.
ElevenLabs Voice Changer: What You Need to Know Here?
If you’ve ever recorded audio that sounded almost perfect but needed a different voice or tone, the ElevenLabs voice changer is going to save you from re-recording everything.
For content creators and podcasters, this means you can take existing audio files (or videos) and completely change the voice while preserving the original emotion and pacing.
Here’s exactly how I use this feature and what you need to know to get professional results.

How to use Elevenlabs voice changer
The ElevenLabs voice changer workflow is surprisingly straightforward, but there are some settings you need to understand to get the best output.
Let me walk you through my exact process based on my own projects.
- Upload your audio or video file [Upto 50MB per file] or record your own voice directly.
- Then adjust settings for your target audience.
- Choose any voice from the ‘VOICE SELECTION’ section.
- Then select your preferred ‘MODEL’. [ElevenLabs offers 2 models. One for cutting-edge, multilingual speech-to-speech and another for a state-of-the-art speech-to-speech model optimized SPECIFICALLY FOR ENGLISH]
- Next, adjust the ‘CLARITY’ and ‘SIMILARITY’ sliders.
- Now adjust the ‘STYLE EXAGGERATION’ slider for emotional emphasis and dramatic flair.
- Now, use the ‘REMOVE BACKGROUND NOISE’ option to remove background noise, hums, clicks, and other audio artifacts from your source file before voice transformation.
- Finally, click ‘GENERATE SPEECH.’
My Honest Take:
After using this feature extensively for my ElevenLabs reviews, here’s what I’ve experienced:
- Make sure your original audio is as clean as possible before uploading.
- Always prefer recording on Adobe Audition or Audacity, where you have more control, and then upload the file here.
- Always preview the target voice with a sample sentence first.
- Use the Eleven Multilingual v2 model only for global audiences. [Multilingual content or non-English audio → Eleven Multilingual v2]
- Use the Eleven English v2 model only if you want to be laser-focused on English. [English content only → Eleven English v2].
Overall, the ElevenLabs voice changer is a legitimate production tool, not just a gimmick. If you create audio or video content regularly, this feature alone justifies the subscription cost.
Real User Feedback: ElevenLabs Reddit & Community Reviews
This is one of the best parts of my whole ElevenLabs review because this is the section where I spent hours digging through ElevenLabs Reddit threads, community forums, and user feedback to understand what real creators, podcasters, and professionals actually think about this tool.
What Users Love About ElevenLabs (The Pros)
1. Exceptional Voice Quality
This is the NUMBER ONE REASON people choose ElevenLabs, and it comes up in almost every discussion I’ve seen on ElevenLabs Reddit.
What Reddit users are saying:
- “ElevenLabs quality of voices is amazing”
- “I use it when I need a specific sounding voice I can’t find anywhere else”
- “I was using ElevenLabs too and loved the quality”
- “ElevenLabs offers the most natural-sounding pronunciation”
- “ElevenLabs is currently #1. Make sure you use a voice that was trained on their latest model.”
- “Conversational & emotional voices there are hard to beat.”
My Honest Take:
I completely agree. After testing competitors, ElevenLabs text to speech consistently produces the most lifelike voices. The emotional range, pacing, and naturalness are noticeably better. If voice quality is your top priority (and it should be for professional work), this is where ElevenLabs justifies its price.
2. Efficient Workflow for Professional Users
Video editors and content creators specifically praise the platform’s studio interface and editing workflow.
What Reddit users are saying:
- “11 labs is probably the best”
- “I’m a professional video editor & have been using 11labs for nearly 2yrs”
- “Very efficient workflow”
My Honest Take:
I’ve used ElevenLabs for YouTube video voiceovers, and the workflow looked pretty smooth. You can draft, preview, tweak, and export without jumping between multiple tools. For professional creators working under tight deadlines, this efficiency is a huge selling point.
3. Passive Income Opportunities via Professional Voice Clone (PVC)
This is a lesser-known feature, but it’s gaining traction in the community, and some users are making serious money from it.
How it works:
- You create a Professional Voice Clone (PVC) of your voice.
- Submit it to the ElevenLabs voice library for public use.
- Earn royalties every time someone uses your voice.
What Reddit users are saying:
- “You earn a small royalty every time someone uses your voice.”
- “The second voice I created was a bit more specific in its use because of the accent, but it’s still earning very well.”
- “It’s legit. I’ve earned 1000 dollar. I’m still shocked, since my voice isn’t that lovely.”
My Honest Take:
I’ve not tasted this feature, but this is brilliant if you have a unique or professional-sounding voice.
4. Convincing Voice Changer with Human-Like Imperfections
The speech-to-speech (voice changer) feature is also good as it keeps your voice sounding natural and realistic.
What Reddit users are saying:
- “I use it for YT, 10.5k subs in 60 days. There is a right and wrong way to use it. Wrong way, cut/paste your script and put that lifeless voice on your content and barely grow. Right way, record your script with your voice and use voice changer. Now it sounds real..,”
My Honest Take:
I tested this, and users are right because ElevenLabs voice changer keeps the “umms,” slight pauses, and natural rhythm of human speech. This makes transformed audio feel real instead of artificially polished. For content where authenticity matters, this is a massive advantage for you.
What Users Complain About (The Cons)
1. The Cost
This is the no 1 complaint across every community discussion I’ve found.
What Reddit users are saying:
- “it costs a lot. That’s the main issue”
- “I was using ElevenLabs too and loved the quality, but the costs got pretty crazy for longer videos.”
- “elevenlabs is so expensive”
My Honest Take:
Track your monthly character usage for a few weeks before committing to a plan.
2. Strict Verification Requirements
This is a newer issue that has seriously frustrated professional users.
What Reddit users are saying:
- “the new “verification required” flag for instant voice cloning of your own voice and other people’s voices makes this platform useless for my purpose.”
My Honest Take:
This is a double-edged sword. From a safety and ethics perspective, verification makes sense as you shouldn’t be able to clone someone’s voice without their explicit consent. But from a professional workflow perspective, this absolutely creates friction.
My Final Honest Take On ElevenLabs
In my own experience, ElevenLabs is genuinely the best AI voice technology on the market right now, but it’s not perfect. The cost and policy changes are real barriers for some users. However, if you can afford it and work within its limitations, the QUALITY is unmatched.
FAQs
How realistic is ElevenLabs?
Elevenlabs is considered one of the most realistic AI voice generators in modern times.
Is ElevenLabs free?
Yes, ElevenLabs offers a free tier, but it’s extremely limited.
Can I use ElevenLabs voices for commercial projects?
Yes, but only if you’re on a paid plan.
Is ElevenLabs better than other AI voice generators?
For voice quality, yes, ElevenLabs is currently the market leader. But “better” depends on your priorities.
