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Amazon Polly vs ElevenLabs

Amazon Polly (Cloud-utility TTS at commodity prices) and ElevenLabs (Premium AI voice platform for creators and developers) are Text-to-speech APIs platforms, priced from $30/1M chars and $100/1M chars respectively. Below: the bottom line, verified head-to-head facts, and real production costs.

Text-to-speech APIs platforms · 29 facts compared · all sourcedPricing verified Jul 20, 2026
Bottom line

ElevenLabs and Polly each win 2 use cases, but ElevenLabs covers more modern requirements: 3,000 voices versus 100, instant voice cloning, a real-time WebSocket API, and 40,000 characters per request versus 3,000. These capabilities address the fastest-growing TTS demand segments. Polly leads on price (30 vs 100 per 1M chars for flagship) and language breadth (40 vs 32 languages), making it the safer pick for high-volume commodity workloads. However, ElevenLabs is the safer default for most buyers who need flexibility, voice quality, and real-time interaction, giving it a narrow overall edge.

ElevenLabs is our pick for most teams. Start there, or weigh the use-case verdicts below.

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Audiobooks
Amazon Polly
WINNER
Content Creators
ElevenLabs
WINNER
Dubbing
Amazon Polly
WINNER
Self-Hosted
Tie
TIE
Voice Agents
ElevenLabs
WINNER

Head-to-head facts

FactAmazon Polly logoAmazon PollyElevenLabs logoElevenLabs
Price per 1M characters (flagship model)30 $/1M charsJul 20100 $/1M charsJul 20
Cheapest paid plann/a$6Jul 20
Free tier quota5M chars/mo standardJul 2010,000 credits/monthJul 20
TTFB latency (vendor-claimed)n/a~75 msJul 20
Streaming audio output✓ YesJul 20✓ YesJul 20
Instant voice cloning✗ NoJul 20✓ YesJul 20
Languages supported40 languages and variantsJul 2032 languagesJul 20
Model weights licenseclosedJul 20closedJul 20
✓buyer-good  ·  ✗not available  ·  ◑gated or partial  ·  production cost ranges are our estimates, see our methodology.
Swipe → to compare both tools. Each value links its source and verified date.

Pricing: true cost at 3 usage tiers

Effective monthly bill from published rates. Subscription plans resolve to plan fee plus overage; ~950 characters ≈ 1 audio minute.
200K chars/moHobby project
Amazon PollyLOWEST$6
ElevenLabs$20
About 3.5 hours of audio. Free tiers may cover part of this.
2M chars/moProduct feature
Amazon PollyLOWEST$60
ElevenLabs$200
About 35 hours of audio a month.
20M chars/moAt scale
Amazon PollyLOWEST$600
ElevenLabs$2,000
About 350 hours of audio. Most vendors negotiate at this tier.

Verdicts by use case

Audiobooks → Amazon Polly

For audiobooks, per-character cost and long-input handling are the primary factors. Amazon Polly's flagship tier costs $30 per 1M characters versus ElevenLabs at $100 per 1M characters, a 3x cost advantage at scale. Polly also supports 40 languages versus 32 for ElevenLabs, useful for multilingual titles. ElevenLabs does handle 40,000 characters per request versus Polly's 3,000, which matters for long-form chunking. Polly's pronunciation dictionaries and SSML support are comparable to ElevenLabs. The cost gap is decisive enough for high-volume audiobook production to favor Polly, though ElevenLabs voice naturalness could be a factor not captured in these facts.

Content Creators → ElevenLabs

For content creators, voice quality and style range are primary. ElevenLabs offers 3,000 voices versus Polly's 100, giving far greater creative range. ElevenLabs also supports instant voice cloning while Polly does not, enabling creators to use their own voice. ElevenLabs has a predictable subscription starting at $6/mo. Polly's pure usage pricing can be less predictable. The cost premium of ElevenLabs is justified for creators prioritizing voice expressiveness over volume API efficiency.

Dubbing → Amazon Polly

For dubbing and localization, language coverage is critical. Amazon Polly supports 40 languages and variants versus ElevenLabs at 32 languages, giving Polly a meaningful edge in reach. Polly also has a pure usage pricing model at $4/1M chars for the fast model compared to ElevenLabs at $50/1M chars fast, making large-scale dubbing far more affordable. However, ElevenLabs offers instant voice cloning and a 3000-voice library which are useful for matching original speakers across languages, partially closing the gap. Language count and cost tip the decision to Polly, but only narrowly.

Self-Hosted → Tie

Both tools have closed model weights and neither offers a self-host or on-premises option. Amazon Polly is explicitly documented as having no self-host option, and both tools share the same closed-weights restriction. The use case requires open-weight models running on own hardware, which neither tool supports. This is a tie by disqualification, not by comparison.

Voice Agents → ElevenLabs

For voice agents, realtime responsiveness is decisive. ElevenLabs offers a realtime WebSocket API while Amazon Polly explicitly does not. ElevenLabs also claims a 75ms TTFB, making conversational turn-taking viable. Additionally, ElevenLabs supports 40,000 characters per request vs Polly's 3,000, giving more flexibility for longer agent utterances. Polly's lack of a WebSocket API is a fundamental architectural gap for phone agent use cases where continuous streaming connections are required.

Common questions

How much does Amazon Polly cost compared to ElevenLabs per million characters?+

Amazon Polly charges $30 per 1 million characters for its flagship model and $4 per 1 million characters for its fast model. ElevenLabs charges $100 per 1 million characters for its flagship model and $50 per 1 million characters for its fast model. Polly is significantly cheaper at both tiers.

Which tool has a better free tier, Amazon Polly or ElevenLabs?+

Amazon Polly offers 5 million characters per month on its free tier and permits commercial use. ElevenLabs offers 10,000 credits per month but restricts commercial use on its free tier. For production or revenue-generating projects, Polly's free tier is the stronger choice.

Does Amazon Polly support real-time websocket streaming?+

Amazon Polly does not offer a real-time WebSocket API, though it does support streaming audio output. ElevenLabs supports both streaming audio output and a real-time WebSocket API, making it the better fit for low-latency conversational applications.

Which service offers more voices, Polly or ElevenLabs?+

ElevenLabs offers a library of 3,000 voices, while Amazon Polly offers 100 voices. If voice variety is a priority, ElevenLabs has a substantially larger selection.

Can I clone a voice with Amazon Polly or ElevenLabs?+

ElevenLabs supports both instant voice cloning, which requires roughly 1 to 3 minutes of clean audio, and professional voice cloning. Amazon Polly supports professional voice cloning but does not offer instant voice cloning. ElevenLabs also requires consent verification for professional voice cloning.

Which tool supports more languages, Amazon Polly or ElevenLabs?+

Amazon Polly supports 40 languages and variants, while ElevenLabs supports 32 languages. Polly offers broader language coverage, which may matter for globally distributed audiences.

Is HIPAA compliance available on both Amazon Polly and ElevenLabs?+

Amazon Polly offers a HIPAA BAA broadly. ElevenLabs makes a HIPAA BAA available to enterprise customers only, meaning you must be on a custom plan above the $990 per month Business tier to access it.

Best Amazon Polly alternatives →Best ElevenLabs alternatives →

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