Around the 5th of last month, I cloned and shared my voice model on ElevenLabs, which is a nearly completely passive income source.
Recently, ElevenLabs announced a brand new version of their Voice Library on X, and they have paid voice actors over $5 million in total, which motivated me to write this article and share my experience.
📌 What is ElevenLabs?#
ElevenLabs is a company focused on AI voice generation, offering ultra-realistic text-to-speech (TTS) and voice cloning technology. Their Voice Library allows users to upload their own voices, create professional voice clones (PVC), and earn income by sharing them for use by other users.
Whether for audiobooks, game voiceovers, or advertisement narrations, your voice can become a source of passive income!
🎙️ Preparing Cloning Material#
A few months ago, I saw a post on Reddit mentioning that someone earned AUD 250 (about USD 164) per month through ElevenLabs' Voice Library. I felt it was worth a try.
I registered an account on the ElevenLabs official website and chose the "Creator" plan (USD 11 per month, USD 1 for the first month).
As required, I recorded 30 minutes of clear audio using a decent quality microphone, ensuring there was no background noise. Tip: Be sure to select "Professional Voice Clone" instead of "Instant Voice Clone," as the latter cannot be used for earning money through sharing.
👆 Uploading and Review#
After uploading the audio, I named my voice, added a description (like "warm Chinese male voice, suitable for audiobooks"), and verified my identity through the Voice Captcha. The platform's review process was quick, taking about 2 days to complete.
Sharing to the Voice Library:
Enable the "Discoverability" option in the cloned voice model to make the voice appear in ElevenLabs' Voice Library for users worldwide to search and use.
Currently, it seems you can only choose the default character-based billing model (approximately USD 0.017 per 1000 characters).
🌟 Earnings Analysis#
In the first month after starting, I was a bit nervous, worried that no one would use my voice. But it turned out my worries were unnecessary! Here’s my income situation:
First week: Earned $8.50. Although it wasn't much, I was super excited to see my first income come in! This corresponds to about 500,000 characters being used, possibly because someone used my voice for a short video or podcast.
First month: Earned a total of $75.25, withdrawals require linking to Stripe.
❓ How to Increase Earnings#
Based on my observations, income depends on the uniqueness and usage of the voice. To increase my earnings, I tried some methods:
Improving audio quality and uniqueness, I re-recorded some audio, extending it to 1 hour to ensure a more stable voice.
Optimizing tags:
I added specific tags like "warm," "social media," and "news" to make my voice easier for target users to find. The new Voice Library's search function is more powerful, which is especially important!
Privacy: Voice verification through Voice Captcha is required before sharing the voice to ensure it is your own. The platform also offers content review options to prevent misuse of the voice (such as restricting certain types of content).
Of course, a good microphone is also very important, as it is the key step to improving the quality of your audio material.
🌟 Summary and Outlook#
The recent update of the Voice Library has me particularly excited, as the new design makes it easier for users to discover multilingual voices, and my Chinese voice may see more opportunities! If you have a unique voice, you might want to give this platform a try.