Getting Started with ElevenLabs
Create your account, get your API key, and generate your first AI speech from the dashboard.
# Getting Started with ElevenLabs
ElevenLabs is the leading AI voice platform. Their API lets you add natural-sounding speech to any application — chatbots, audiobooks, video narration, accessibility tools, and more. The voices are so realistic that listeners often can't tell them from human recordings.
## Why the Starter Plan?
The free tier gives you limited characters per month and access to pre-made voices only. The Starter plan ($5/mo) unlocks the API with much higher character limits, **Instant Voice Cloning** (which we use in Lesson 2), access to all voice models, and commercial usage rights. You'll hit the free tier's limits almost immediately if you're building an app.
## Step 1: Create Your Account
Go to [elevenlabs.io](https://elevenlabs.io) and sign up. You'll land on the Speech Synthesis page — this is the playground where you can test voices before writing code.
## Step 2: Try the Playground
Type some text in the synthesis box — try a full paragraph, not just "hello world." Select different voices from the library and click Generate. Listen to how each voice handles: - Natural pacing and pauses - Emotional inflection - Technical terminology - Long sentences vs. short ones
This playground uses the same API you'll call from your code, so anything that sounds good here will sound good in your app.
## Step 3: Get Your API Key
Click your profile icon → **API Keys**. Generate a new key and copy it somewhere safe. This key authenticates all your API requests. Never commit it to Git or expose it in client-side code.
## Step 4: Understand Your Quota
On the Starter plan, you get a set number of characters per month. Each character of text you convert to speech counts against this quota. Check your usage at **Profile → Subscription**. A typical chatbot response is 200-500 characters, so you can generate thousands of responses per month.
## Step 5: Explore the Voice Library
Click **Voices** in the sidebar. ElevenLabs has hundreds of pre-made voices organized by: accent, age, gender, and use case. Browse the library and favorite 3-4 voices that fit your chatbot project. Note their voice IDs — you'll need these in Lesson 3.
## What We're Building
Over this course, you'll build **VoiceBot** — a web chatbot that responds with AI-generated speech. Users type a question, the bot generates a text answer, and ElevenLabs converts it to natural speech. You'll also clone a custom voice for your bot and deploy it to production.
## Next Up
In Lesson 2, you'll clone a voice using ElevenLabs' Instant Voice Cloning — your chatbot will have a unique voice identity.