ElevenLabs wins on our tests — it scores 9.4 against Whisper's 9.0. Note that Whisper is open source, so it wins on data control and self-hosting even if it scores lower.
Head to head Audio & Voice
ElevenLabs vs Whisper
Two audio & voice tools, one honest verdict — scores, pricing and free tiers compared side by side.
 ElevenLabs |  Whisper | |
|---|---|---|
| Our score | 9.4/10 | 9.0/10 |
| Pricing | Free plan | Free |
| Free version | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Open source | No | ✓ MIT |
| GitHub stars | — | ★ 75k |
| Partner deal | ✦ available | — |
ElevenLabs in short
Voices you can’t tell from human. Clone, dub, narrate — in seconds. It is free to start, with paid upgrades.
Whisper in short
OpenAI’s speech-to-text, free and local — transcription that just works. It is completely free.
FAQ
Which is better, ElevenLabs or Whisper?
ElevenLabs scores 9.4/10 and Whisper scores 9.0/10 in our hands-on tests. ElevenLabs comes out ahead overall.
Is ElevenLabs free?
Yes, ElevenLabs has a real free version.
Is Whisper free?
Yes, Whisper has a real free version.
Can I try both for free?
Yes — both have free versions, so test them on the same task and keep the winner.
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