Cartesia
Budget voice generation and managed calls using their separate balances and telephony charges.
- Starting price
- Pro USD 5/month
- Free access
- 20K credits + USD 1 agents/mo
- Billing unit
- Model credits and call minutes
- Platform
- Voice APIs and managed agents
- Verified
- 22 Oct 2026
Overview
What you provide
- Send text for speech synthesis, audio for recognition or a configured conversation to a managed agent.
What you get
- Cartesia returns speech, recognized text or a managed voice conversation according to the chosen service.
Choosing this tool
Cartesia is useful when a developer needs speech models and a managed voice-agent option under one account. The Pro commercial license matters when moving beyond experimentation. Compare NaturalReader Commercial for a script-to-audio studio, or Deepgram when the core requirement is live speech recognition and a different voice stack.
A decision worked through
One hundred managed call minutes cost USD 6 at the listed call rate. Using a Cartesia phone number adds USD 1.40 in telephony, so the subtotal is USD 7.40 before prepaid balance, LLM changes or other charges. Model credits do not automatically pay this dollar balance.
Cartesia alternatives for real-time voice models and managed agents
Compare Cartesia with NaturalReader, Deepgram for real-time voice models and managed agents. Match billing units and operating responsibility before comparing rates.
| Product | Price / unit | Free allowance | Input → output | Key limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CartesiaRead profileOfficial source ↗ | Pro USD 5/mo | 20K model credits/mo | Text/audio becomes voice service. | Agent dollars and credits differ. |
| NaturalReaderRead profileOfficial source ↗ | Starter USD 198/user/year | Trial allowance unverified | Script becomes MP3 or WAV. | Personal plans exclude commerce. |
| Deepgram Aura-1Official source ↗ | Aura-1 USD 0.015/1k characters | USD 200 starting account credit | Text becomes synthesized speech. | TTS is separate from agent orchestration. |
Setup & workflow
- Choose a commercial plan if the project needs that license.
- Test model credits and managed-call balances independently.
- Review overage settings and include telephony before launch.
Requirements & installation
- Configure voice API access and a plan whose commercial and concurrency terms fit the project.
Limits & review
- Free access does not include the stated Pro commercial license. Paid overages can be enabled, and time-limited free LLM or evaluation offers should not be treated as permanent zero cost.
Your part
- Test interruptions, pronunciation and consent, then review actual call and model usage.
Sources & verification4
This profile is based on official sources, not a hands-on product test.
Vendor descriptions and demos document advertised features. Editorial guidance is based on these sources.
- Official Cartesia functionalitycartesia.ai
- Official Cartesia pricingcartesia.ai
- NaturalReader official referencehelp.naturalreaders.com
- Deepgram Aura-1 official referencedeepgram.com
