HeyGen vs ElevenLabs: Tried Both, Here’s the Best One for You

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I’ve tried both HeyGen (Read my review) and ElevenLabs (Review here), and while they both use AI, they’re built for different purposes. Choosing between them is like deciding between a camera and a microphone—you need the right tool for the job.

This guide will break down their key features so you can pick the one that fits your needs.

You'll learn:

• What HeyGen and ElevenLabs are designed for
• How they compare in video creation, voice cloning, and translation
• The pros and cons of each tool
• Which one offers better value for your projects

By the end, you’ll know which tool works best for you. Let’s get started.

Here’s a breakdown of my HeyGen vs. Elevenlabs guide:

Features unique to HeyGen:

• AI Video Creation – Create full AI-generated videos with avatars and voiceovers, while ElevenLabs focuses only on voice.
• Custom AI Avatars – Choose from a library of avatars or create your own for a more personalized touch.
• Video Templates – Use pre-made templates designed for different industries to make video creation faster and easier.
• AI Script Assistance – Get help refining your script for better clarity and engagement.
• Interactive Avatars – Use avatars that can respond dynamically, making videos feel more interactive.
• One-Click Translation – Translate your videos into multiple languages instantly while keeping the original voice style.
• Video Personalization – Customize video content to fit different audiences or individuals.

Features unique to Elevenlabs:

• Advanced Voice Cloning – Create a digital copy of any voice with a short audio sample.
• Context-Aware Speech – AI understands tone and emotions for more natural speech.
• Text-to-Sound Effects – Turn text descriptions into sound effects.
• Voice Isolation – Remove background noise for clearer audio.
• Long-Form Speech Synthesis – Generate long audio content like audiobooks.
• Text-to-Music – Convert text into music or background sounds.
• AI Speech Classifier – Detect if audio is AI-generated.

HeyGen vs Elevenlabs? Which tool do I need?

If you're deciding between HeyGen and ElevenLabs, it comes down to whether you need AI-powered videos or top-tier AI voices.

When choosing between HeyGen and ElevenLabs, it's important to consider who each tool is best suited for:

Opt for HeyGen if...

• You're a marketer or business aiming to create engaging video ads tailored to platforms like YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, or TikTok. Heygen
• You're an educator seeking to develop interactive video content for teaching purposes.
• You're a social media influencer looking to differentiate yourself with interactive and personalized video content.

Choose ElevenLabs if...

• You're a YouTuber or podcaster in need of high-quality, natural-sounding AI voices for your content.
• You're an audiobook creator aiming to produce lifelike narrations without hiring voice actors.
• You're a filmmaker or game developer requiring realistic voiceovers for characters.
• You're a business or developer looking to integrate advanced voice experiences into applications or services. 

HeyGen vs. Elevenlabs: A Detailed Side-by-Side Comparison

1. What They Do

To the core, these are very different tools.

HeyGen is all about AI-powered videos. You type a script, pick an avatar, and the AI turns it into a talking video—no need for a camera or microphone.

It’s a fast way to create professional content for businesses, educators, and marketers.

ElevenLabs, on the other hand, focuses only on AI voices. It takes text and makes it sound like a real person speaking.

You can even clone voices, creating an AI version of someone’s speech with just a short audio sample. It’s great for audiobooks, podcasts, and voiceovers that need a natural, human-like sound.

2. AI Voices

HeyGen

HeyGen gives you OVER 300 AI voices with different accents, languages, and tones. Whether you need a professional, casual, or playful voice, there’s an option for you.

These voices work well for business videos, ads, and training materials.

However, they still sound slightly robotic at times, especially in longer scripts where the speech might lack natural emotion and variation.

ElevenLabs

ElevenLabs takes a more ADVANCED approach. Its AI voices sound incredibly real, with natural tone changes, pauses, and speech patterns.

This makes the voices sound more human and easier to listen to.

Whether you're making audiobooks, podcasts, or virtual assistants, this helps create a more natural and engaging experience.

One of its biggest advantages is voice cloning—you can recreate a real person’s voice using just a short audio clip.

This can be useful for content creators, voiceovers, and accessibility tools.

It also helps businesses personalize customer interactions, create automated assistants, or preserve the voices of loved ones.

ElevenLabs also lets you fine-tune voices for different emotions, making them more expressive.

When it comes to NUMBERS, ElevenLabs doesn’t have a fixed set of voices like HeyGen.

Instead, it allows you to create and save custom voices, with limits depending on your plan:

• Starter Plan – Up to 10 custom voices
• Creator Plan – Up to 30 custom voices
• Pro Plan – Up to 160 custom voices
• Scale & Business Plans – Up to 660 custom voices

3. AI Avatars

HeyGen

HeyGen gives you animated AI avatars that can speak using text-to-speech.

You can choose from a variety of avatars, each with different styles and expressions. 

This is great for marketing, training videos, and social media content. 

With this feature you can:

• save time
• eliminate the need for on-camera talent
• make content creation more accessible for everyone.

Another cool features you can't miss is face-swapping, which lets you replace an avatar’s face with a custom one, making videos feel more personal.

This makes HeyGen a great option for marketing, training, or social media content where a virtual presenter can keep things engaging.

ElevenLabs

ElevenLabs, on the other hand, does NOT offer any avatars. It focuses entirely on AI voice generation.

If you need lifelike speech without a visual component, ElevenLabs is the better fit. But if you want a talking avatar to go with your AI voice, HeyGen is the way to go.

4. Supported Languages

HeyGen supports voiceovers in over 40 languages, making it a great choice for creating videos that reach a global audience. 

ElevenLabs supports 32 languages, but it focuses more on making voices sound as natural as possible.

Here's a comparison of the languages that HeyGen and ElevenLabs support:

5. Dubbing & Translation

HeyGen and ElevenLabs both help translate and dub content, but they work in different ways.

HeyGen 

HeyGen translates videos into different languages and syncs the new voice with the speaker’s lip movements.

This makes it look like the person is actually speaking the new language, which is great for making multilingual videos feel natural.

ElevenLabs

ElevenLabs focuses more on keeping the original speaker’s voice and emotions.

It translates and dubs speech into other languages while making sure the voice still sounds like the same person.

This is useful for podcasts, audiobooks, and videos where voice consistency matters more than perfect lip sync.

If you need realistic lip movement matching, HeyGen is the better choice. If you care more about keeping the original voice and tone, ElevenLabs does it best.

6. Custom Voices

HeyGen 

HeyGen lets you record your own voice and adjust the volume for a more personal touch in videos.

It also gives you over 300 AI voices in different languages and accents, but you can’t fully customize them. You have to pick from the voices they provide.

ElevenLabs

ElevenLabs, on the other hand, lets you clone and create new voices. With just a short audio clip, the AI can copy a real person’s voice and make it sound almost identical.

The cloned voice keeps the same tone, pitch, and natural flow, making it feel more lifelike.

This is great if you need a specific voice for podcasts, audiobooks, or other professional projects.

If you want a big selection of AI voices but don’t need custom ones, HeyGen works well. If you need a fully cloned, realistic voice, ElevenLabs is the better choice.

7. Pricing

HeyGen and ElevenLabs have different pricing because they focus on different things. HeyGen is for making videos, while ElevenLabs is all about AI voices.

HeyGen Pricing:

• Free Plan ($0/month) – Make 3 short videos per month (up to 3 minutes) in 720p quality.
• Creator Plan ($24/month) – Make unlimited videos (up to 5 minutes), remove watermarks, and export in 1080p.
• Team Plan ($69/month per person) – Everything in Creator, plus custom avatars, team collaboration, and faster processing.
• Enterprise (Custom Pricing) – Unlimited video length, 4K quality, multiple custom avatars, and priority support.

ElevenLabs Pricing:

• Free Plan ($0/month) – 10 minutes of AI voice generation and basic translation.
• Starter Plan ($5/month) – 30 minutes of AI voice generation and simple voice cloning.
• Creator Plan ($22/month, first month $11) – 100 minutes of AI voice, better audio quality, and professional voice cloning.
• Pro Plan ($99/month) – 500 minutes of AI voice, higher quality audio, and usage tracking.
• Scale Plan ($330/month) – 2,000 minutes of AI voice with enterprise tools.
• Business Plan ($1,320/month) – 11,000 minutes of AI voice, faster processing, and priority support.

Conclusion: Is HeyGen or Elevenlabs better?

HeyGen and ElevenLabs are both powerful AI tools, but they serve different purposes. The best choice depends on what you need.

HeyGen is designed for creating AI-powered videos. It offers customizable avatars, text-to-speech voiceovers, and automatic translations. This makes it a good option for businesses, educators, and content creators who need professional-looking videos without filming or voice recording.

ElevenLabs focuses on AI-generated voices. It provides high-quality voice cloning, natural speech synthesis, and multilingual support. This is useful for audiobook creators, podcasters, and businesses looking for realistic AI voices.

Here’s a quick way to decide:

• Choose HeyGen if you need AI-generated videos with talking avatars.
• Choose ElevenLabs if you need high-quality AI voices for narration or voiceovers.

Both tools offer unique benefits, so it depends on whether you need visuals, voices, or both. If you create videos, HeyGen is the better fit. If you focus on voice content, ElevenLabs is the stronger choice.

Think about your projects and how you plan to use AI. Picking the right tool will help you get the best results.