Cartesia pricing: plans, credits and cost per minute
Quick answer
Cartesia's plans are Free ($0, 20K credits a month), Pro ($5, 100K), Startup ($49, 1.25M) and Scale ($299, 8M). Its Sonic text to speech uses 1 credit per character, "about 750 to 800 credits per minute of audio". Cartesia's own table counts about 133 minutes a month on Pro, which works out to about $0.038 a minute. Overage on paid plans is $65, $45 or $38 per 1 million credits. Checked November 9, 2026 against Cartesia's pricing page.
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Key takeaways
- 1 credit = 1 character of Sonic text to speech.
- A commercial use license starts on Pro.
- Paid plans can turn on overages; with overages off, new requests are blocked once credits run out.
- You can hold up to 2x your monthly credits with rollover.
- Each plan also includes prepaid dollars for voice agents, equal to the plan price.
Plans
| Plan | Price | Credits a month | TTS minutes a month (Cartesia's count) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 20K | ~27 |
| Pro | $5/mo | 100K | ~133 |
| Startup | $49/mo | 1.25M | ~1,667 |
| Scale | $299/mo | 8M | ~10,667 |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom |
Source: cartesia.ai/pricing. Checked November 9, 2026.
Cost per minute and per 1M credits, worked out
| Plan | Per included minute | Per 1M credits | Overage per 1M credits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pro | about $0.038 ($5 / 133) | $50 | $65 |
| Startup | about $0.029 ($49 / 1,667) | $39.20 | $45 |
| Scale | about $0.028 ($299 / 10,667) | about $37.38 | $38 |
These assume the whole allowance goes to text to speech. Speech to text (Ink) draws from the same credits at "3 credits per second of audio".
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FAQ
How much does Cartesia cost?
Pro is $5 a month, Startup $49 and Scale $299. Free is $0 with 20K credits a month.
How many credits is a minute of Cartesia audio?
Cartesia says about 750 to 800 credits per minute of audio, at 1 credit per character.
What happens when Cartesia credits run out?
Paid plans can turn on overages at $65 (Pro), $45 (Startup) or $38 (Scale) per 1 million credits. With overages off, new requests are blocked.
Is Cartesia cheaper than ElevenLabs?
It depends on the plan and model. ElevenLabs vs Cartesia, by price lines up both on the same units.
Next steps
References
- https://cartesia.ai/pricing
- https://cartesia.ai/legal/terms (operator: Cartesia AI, Inc.; California law)