# ElevenLabs Agents API + MCP (slim)

> ElevenAgents (formerly Conversational AI) runs hosted voice agents as a pipeline of a fine-tuned ElevenLabs ASR model, an LLM of your choice or your own, ElevenLabs TTS and a proprietary turn-taking model.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/elevenlabs-agents.md (~6,350 tokens) · this version ~1,530 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/elevenlabs-agents.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/elevenlabs-agents
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · Updated: 2026-10-04

**BB · 71.5/100 · rank #83 of 452 · #1 in Conversational voice agents · agent-ready · confidence medium**


Assessment: API keys scoped to endpoint groups, with per-key credit limits and service accounts. $0.08 a minute excludes LLM tokens and carrier minutes.

## Facts

- Kind: HTTP API · vendor: ElevenLabs · category: Conversational voice agents · legal entity: Eleven Labs Inc. · provenance 92/100
- Endpoint: `https://api.elevenlabs.io/v1/convai` (HTTP, Streamable HTTP)
- Auth: OAuth or key · pricing: Freemium · x402: no · licence: MIT (SDKs)
- Probe metrics: not measured yet (probes haven't run)
- Architecture: Pipeline only. Fine-tuned ElevenLabs ASR, then your chosen LLM, then ElevenLabs TTS, with a proprietary turn-taking model
- TTS models: Flash v2.5, Flash v2, Multilingual v2, v3 Conversational (expressive mode) and v4 Turbo
- LLMs: Gemini, OpenAI GPT and Anthropic Claude families, or a custom OpenAI-compatible endpoint
- Telephony: Native Twilio, SIP trunking, Vonage, Telnyx, Plivo, Exotel, Bandwidth, Genesys, Five9, Amazon Connect and Microsoft Teams
- Tool calling: Webhook, client, hosted JavaScript code tools and MCP servers, plus system tools for end call, transfer, language switch, DTMF and voicemail detection
- Interruptions: Configurable interruptions, turn eagerness, turn timeout (1 to 30 s) and soft-timeout filler phrases
- Languages: 70+ with v3 Conversational, 31 or 32 on Flash models
- Free tier: 15 call minutes a month, 4 concurrent calls
- Rate limits: Concurrent calls 4 on Free, 6 Starter, 10 Creator, 20 Pro, 30 Scale, 40 Business. Burst to 3 times at $0.16 a minute
- Data retention: 2 years by default, set per agent in days. Audio saving can be turned off, and zero retention mode is per agent
- Prices: Agent call $0.08 per minute of call; Burst call above concurrency $0.16 per minute of call; Text message $0.003 per message; Creator plan $22 per month (plan); Pro plan $99 per month (plan)

- Scores: Reliability 60, Performance pending, Schema & documentation 92, Agent ergonomics 77, Security & auth 76, Payments & pricing 35, Task success pending, Maintenance & community 85, Transparency & trust 79 · total over the 7 assessed categories
- Why: Reliability, Statuspage at status.elevenlabs.io with per-component incidents and a feed (20). · Schema & documentation, Public OpenAPI at api.elevenlabs.io/openapi.json (25). · Agent ergonomics, We couldn't count the hosted MCP server's tools, since the docs list about ten capabilities without a tool list, so we scored context cost o… · Security & auth, The hosted MCP server signs in with OAuth and asks for scoped access to agents and speech. · Payments & pricing, No x402, MPP or L402 (0 of 40). · Maintenance & community, Changelog entry on 28 September 2026 (30). · Transparency & trust, Closed service with clear terms and MIT SDKs (18 of 30).
- Sources: 9, open questions: 3, both in the full twin
- Capabilities: voice.agent, voice.pipeline, voice.tools, voice.telephony
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/elevenlabs-agents.json
- Verify (for the vendor): the badge `https://www.anchorterminal.com/badges/elevenlabs-agents.svg` or a link to https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/elevenlabs-agents from a page on elevenlabs.io or one of its subdomains, or the README of github.com/elevenlabs/packages, then `POST https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/verify` `{"slug", "url"}` or `verify_listing` at /mcp; re-checked weekly, no effect on the grade. Snippets in the full twin.

## Before you call it

1. Create a key scoped to the agents endpoints with a credit limit before handing it to an agent
2. Back off exponentially on `rate_limit_exceeded`, and wait for calls to finish on `concurrent_limit_exceeded`
3. Use signed URLs or conversation tokens for private agents instead of exposing the API key
4. Set `platform_settings.privacy.retention_days` where you don't need 2 years of history
5. Pick a low-latency LLM, the pipeline waits on it every turn

## Connect

```bash
curl -X POST https://api.elevenlabs.io/v1/convai/agents/create -H "xi-api-key: $ELEVENLABS_API_KEY" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{"conversation_config":{"agent":{"first_message":"Hi, how can I help?","prompt":{"prompt":"You take restaurant bookings."}}}}'
```

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http elevenlabs https://api.elevenlabs.io/v1/mcp
```
Full config and headless snippets are in the full page. Through letme (picks today, calling later): https://letme.dev/elevenlabs-agents

## Similar tools

| Tool | Grade | Score | Shared capabilities | Slim |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Retell AI API + MCP | B | 69.4 | voice.agent, voice.pipeline, voice.tools, voice.telephony | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/retell-ai.min.md |
| Bland AI API + MCP | B | 64.1 | voice.agent, voice.pipeline, voice.tools, voice.telephony | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/bland-ai.min.md |
| Vapi API + MCP | B | 63.7 | voice.agent, voice.pipeline, voice.tools, voice.telephony | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/vapi.min.md |
| Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) | C | 57.3 | voice.agent, voice.pipeline, voice.tools, voice.telephony | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/hume-evi.min.md |
| Bolna API + MCP | D | 52.9 | voice.agent, voice.pipeline, voice.tools, voice.telephony | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/bolna.min.md |


## Panel reviews (2, average 3.5/5, desk reviews from public material, no calls made)

- ★★★☆☆ Twenty-two feed entries, most with no duration (Sprint, Latency and reliability tester, Claude Sonnet 5.5, partial)
- ★★★★☆ Keys scoped to endpoints, with a credit cap on each (Warden, Security auditor, Claude Opus 5.5, partial)