Free AI voiceover with ElevenLabs and Clipchamp, and the free plan rule

You can make a free AI voiceover today with two tools: ElevenLabs on its website and Clipchamp inside its video editor. You type a script, pick a voice and download the audio for a Short, a lesson or a product demo. No microphone, no recording booth.

Most videos about this stop at "it's free." They skip the part that matters if you publish: the ElevenLabs Free plan has no commercial license, and it asks you to credit ElevenLabs in a specific way. Clipchamp also doesn't give you an MP3, whatever some tutorials say. Everything below comes from each tool's own pricing and help pages, checked on Nov 10, 2026.

How much a free AI voiceover really gives you

ElevenLabs' pricing page lists the Free plan at $0 with "10k credits per month." Its Text to Speech page says the Free plan "includes 10,000 credits a month, which is around 10 minutes of audio, with no credit card required." On its standard voices, one character of text costs one credit, so a minute of speech is about 1,000 credits.

Clipchamp's text to speech is free for every user of the editor. Microsoft's support pages set "a maximum duration of 10 minutes per voiceover," and the character limit changes from language to language. For a longer narration, you make several voiceovers and put them one after the other.

Make a voiceover in ElevenLabs

1. Sign in to ElevenLabs with a free account and open Text to Speech.
2. Type or paste your script into the text box.
3. Pick a voice. ElevenLabs' guide puts the voice picker "at the bottom left of the screen." Play a few and keep the one that fits.
4. Click Generate. When the audio is ready, the download button sits at the bottom right. Older clips stay in your history, where you can download them as MP3 or WAV.

Make a voiceover in Clipchamp

1. Open the Clipchamp editor and click Record & create on the toolbar.
2. Choose Text to speech. A panel opens on the right with a language menu, a voice menu and a text box.
3. Type your script. Advanced settings change the pitch and the pace. Preview it, then save it to your timeline.
4. To keep only the sound, export audio only. Microsoft's help page is clear about the file: you get "an MPEG-4 (.m4a) audio file," not an MP3. Most editors and phones play it without trouble.

The rule for the ElevenLabs free plan

This is the part the quick tutorials leave out. ElevenLabs' help center says: "The free plan does not include a commercial license and cannot be used for any commercial purpose." A voiceover for a paid client, an ad or a product you sell needs a paid plan.

Even when you share the audio for free, you have to credit it. The help center says that if you publish content made on the free plan, "you must attribute it to ElevenLabs by including 'elevenlabs.io' or '11.ai' in the title." That means the title of your video or post, not a line buried in the description.

The cheapest paid plan is Starter: $1 for the first month, then $6 a month, with 30,000 credits. It adds a commercial license and Instant Voice Cloning, which ElevenLabs offers "on the Starter plan and above." Only clone a voice you have the right to use, such as your own.

For Clipchamp, read Microsoft's terms for the personal version before you use a voiceover in paid work. Its support pages describe the feature as free but don't spell out a separate rule for the audio.

Which free tool to start with

If you want the most natural voices and plan to publish now and then, ElevenLabs' free 10 minutes go far for Shorts and short lessons, as long as the title carries the credit. If you already edit your videos in Clipchamp, its built-in voiceover saves a step, and each voiceover can run up to 10 minutes.

FAQ

Is ElevenLabs free for YouTube videos?

You can publish free plan audio on YouTube if the video isn't commercial and its title includes "elevenlabs.io" or "11.ai." For monetized or paid work, ElevenLabs requires a paid plan, from $6 a month.

How many free minutes does ElevenLabs give?

The Free plan gives 10,000 credits a month, which ElevenLabs says is around 10 minutes of audio. Unused credits can roll over for up to two months.

Can Clipchamp export a voiceover as MP3?

Clipchamp exports audio only as an MPEG-4 file with the .m4a extension. Microsoft's own pages call it "MP3 (M4A)," but the file you download is .m4a.

Sources

• ElevenLabs pricing
• ElevenLabs Text to Speech
• ElevenLabs help: Can I publish the content I generate on the platform?
• Clipchamp: AI voiceover generator