# ElevenLabs Voice Cloning and Voice Design API vs PlayHT Voice Cloning API

> ElevenLabs Voice Cloning and Voice Design API has a score of 73.8 (BB) against PlayHT Voice Cloning API's 4.2 (F). Both do voice clone. The largest gap is agent ergonomics, 85 points. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

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- Updated: 2026-10-04

ElevenLabs Voice Cloning and Voice Design API has a score of 73.8 (BB) against PlayHT Voice Cloning API's 4.2 (F). Both do voice clone. The largest gap is agent ergonomics, 85 points.

- ElevenLabs Voice Cloning and Voice Design API: grade BB, 73.8/100, rank #53 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/elevenlabs-voice-cloning.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/elevenlabs-voice-cloning.json
- PlayHT Voice Cloning API: grade F, 4.2/100, rank retired, not ranked. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/playht-voice-cloning.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/playht-voice-cloning.json

## Which one, for what

Pick ElevenLabs Voice Cloning and Voice Design API for reliability (+63), schema & documentation (+56), agent ergonomics (+85), security & auth (+84), payments & pricing (+30), maintenance & community (+85), transparency & trust (+48).

Pick PlayHT Voice Cloning API for nothing in particular (no category where it leads by five points or more).

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | ElevenLabs Voice Cloning and Voice Design API | PlayHT Voice Cloning API | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 63 | 0 | ElevenLabs Voice Cloning and Voice Design API +63 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 87 | 31 | ElevenLabs Voice Cloning and Voice Design API +56 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 85 | 0 | ElevenLabs Voice Cloning and Voice Design API +85 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 84 | 0 | ElevenLabs Voice Cloning and Voice Design API +84 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 0 | ElevenLabs Voice Cloning and Voice Design API +30 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 85 | 0 | ElevenLabs Voice Cloning and Voice Design API +85 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 84 | 36 | ElevenLabs Voice Cloning and Voice Design API +48 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -4 | |
| **Total** | | **73.8 · BB** | **4.2 · F** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | ElevenLabs Voice Cloning and Voice Design API | PlayHT Voice Cloning API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model API | Model API |
| Vendor | ElevenLabs | PlayHT |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.elevenlabs.io/v1` | `https://api.play.ht/api/v2` |
| Transports | HTTP, stdio | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Paid |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT (SDKs) | Apache-2.0 (Python SDK) |
| Tools exposed | none | none |
| Context cost (tools/list) | n/a | n/a |
| p95 latency | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Availability (30d) | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | not listed | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-09-28 | 2025-05-21 |
| Popularity | 3.1k stars, 1.1M npm/wk, 2.2M PyPI/wk | 218 stars, 14k npm/wk, 6.6k PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | 3.5/5 (2) | 1/5 (2) |

## Verdicts

**ElevenLabs Voice Cloning and Voice Design API.** Instant clones from 1 to 2 minutes of audio on the $6 Starter plan. Instant clones rely on an attestation, not a check.

**PlayHT Voice Cloning API.** The API reference is still readable at docs.play.ht, useful for mapping old integrations. Shut down, api.play.ht doesn't resolve.

## Before you call either

### ElevenLabs Voice Cloning and Voice Design API

1. Keep the source samples. A clone can't be downloaded and re-cloning sounds slightly different
2. Check `requires_verification` in the create response before using the voice ID
3. List your own clones with `GET /v2/voices?category=cloned` instead of paging the whole library
4. On `system_busy` retry with backoff. On `too_many_concurrent_requests` queue instead, the plan cap won't lift
5. PVC is asynchronous. Create, add samples, verify, train, then poll `fine_tuning_state`

### PlayHT Voice Cloning API

1. Don't call `api.play.ht`. The host doesn't resolve
2. Ignore docs.play.ht for new work. It documents an API that no longer exists
3. Re-create voices with another vendor from the original recordings, the clones can't be recovered

## Other comparisons with ElevenLabs Voice Cloning and Voice Design API or PlayHT Voice Cloning API

- [Cartesia Voice Cloning API + MCP vs ElevenLabs Voice Cloning and Voice Design API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cartesia-voice-cloning-vs-elevenlabs-voice-cloning.md)
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