Sonic
By Cartesia
Real-time TTS API with AI laughter and emotion
- Pricing:
- Free plan
Overview
Cartesia is a real-time TTS API powered by Sonic-3.6, built on State Space Model architecture. It generates natural, expressive voices with AI laughter and emotion in 44 languages for AI agents and interactive apps. Sonic delivers sub-90ms latency with streaming playback before full generation, plus lower cost and higher concurrency than transformer models.
Deployment options include cloud API, on-prem, VPC on AWS/GCP/Azure, and OEM licensing, with SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA eligibility, GDPR compliance, and zero data retention. Voice cloning ranges from instant (under a minute of audio) to professional (15–30 minutes), and ranks #1 on blind naturalness benchmarks.
Core capabilities
- Real-time streaming
- Sub-90ms model latency with streaming support that lets playback begin before the full response is generated.
- AI laughter and emotion
- Generate natural, expressive voices with realistic laughter and emotional expression.
- 44 languages
- Built-in multilingual TTS support for global products and AI agents.
- SSM-based architecture
- State Space Model design delivers lower cost and higher concurrency than transformer-based TTS models.
- Top-rated naturalness
- Ranked #1 on third-party blind benchmarks with superior accuracy on alphanumerics and heteronyms.
- Flexible deployment
- Deploy via cloud API, on-prem/air-gapped, VPC on AWS/GCP/Azure, or OEM licensing.
- Voice cloning
- Instant cloning from under a minute of audio or professional cloning from 15–30 minutes, with verified consent.
- Enterprise security
- SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA-eligible with BAA, GDPR-compliant, and zero data retention options.
- Scalable plans
- Free tier with 20K credits, self-serve production plans, and enterprise contracts with higher SLAs.
Use cases
- Powering real-time conversational AI agents with natural, expressive speech
- Adding laughter and emotional nuance to interactive applications
- Deploying TTS in regulated or sovereign environments via on-prem/VPC with zero data retention
- Embedding text-to-speech directly into products through OEM licensing
- Building multilingual voice experiences across 44 languages
- Creating custom branded voices at scale with professional cloning
Who it's for
Builders of AI agents and interactive voice applications, Enterprise and government organizations needing on-prem, VPC, or air-gapped deployment, Healthcare, financial services, and regulated industries requiring HIPAA/GDPR and zero data retention, High-volume production teams needing low latency at scale, Product teams creating custom or cloned voices for brand experiences, Early-stage startups eligible for the startup grants program
Traffic analytics
cartesia.aiPricing
Free
$0Monthly
- 20K credits / month $1 prepaid agents / month Text to Speech Speech to Text
Pro
$5Monthly
- Select Pro 100K credits / month $5 prepaid agents / month Everything in Free, plus Commercial use license Instant voice cloning
Startup
$49Monthly
- Select Startup 1.25M credits / month $49 prepaid agents / month Everything in Pro, plus Pro voice cloning Organizations
Scale
$299Monthly
- Select Scale 8M credits / month $299 prepaid agents / month Everything in Startup, plus Priority support High concurrency limits
Enterprise
Custom
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