# ElevenLabs launches v4 speech model with 10,000-character limit and Turbo variant

Digest AI · Agents & Tools · published 2026-09-29T14:45:17Z

Canonical: https://digestai.news/story/elevenlabs-launches-v4-speech-model-with-10-000-character-limit-and-tu

## Summary

ElevenLabs released **Eleven v4**, a speech model that better follows tone, pacing, and context cues while keeping voices consistent across long productions. The update supports over **90 languages**, up from about **70** in v3, and handles up to **10,000 characters per request**—roughly ten minutes of audio. Users can now direct pronunciation via phonetic spelling or tags, and cloned voices retain native accents when speaking other languages without drifting back to their original tone.

ElevenLabs also introduced **Eleven v4 Turbo**, a faster variant optimized for real-time voice agents like customer service or game characters. It starts producing speech in **150 milliseconds**, compared to **262 ms** for Cartesia Sonic 3.6 and **814 ms** for OpenAI’s GPT-4o mini TTS. The company claims v4 ranks ahead of competitors on **Artificial Analysis’ Provider Voice Arena leaderboard**, scoring **91.7%** on pronunciation benchmarks—up from **85.6%** in v3. Blind tests showed about **three-quarters of listeners** preferred v4 over models from Cartesia, Inworld, and Google.

Both models launch with temporary pricing cuts: **$22 per million characters** for v4 (down from **$80**) and **$11** for Turbo (down from **$40**). Users on the **$22 Creator plan** or higher can access v4 in ElevenCreative for two weeks at no extra cost, with usage capped at twice their monthly credits. Enterprise customers can store data in isolated EU, India, or Singapore environments, though some processing may occur outside the chosen region.

## Key points

- ElevenLabs’ v4 model improves tone, pacing, and pronunciation consistency with phonetic spelling support and 90+ languages
- v4 Turbo responds in **150 ms**, faster than Cartesia Sonic 3.6 (**262 ms**) and OpenAI’s GPT-4o mini TTS (**814 ms**)
- Temporary pricing cuts: **$22** for v4 (from **$80**) and **$11** for Turbo (from **$40**) until October 12

## Why it matters

Faster, more expressive AI voices expand use cases for voice agents, audiobooks, and multilingual dubbing, while lower pricing could accelerate adoption for creators and businesses.

## Sources

1. [ElevenLabs' new v4 speech model makes AI voices more expressive and consistent](https://the-decoder.com/elevenlabs-new-v4-speech-model-makes-ai-voices-more-expressive-and-consistent) (The Decoder, 2026-09-29)

Part of the developing story: [ElevenLabs Voice AI Expansion and Model Launch](https://digestai.news/thread/elevenlabs-ceo-discusses-voice-ai-market-share-and-government-contracts) (2 stories)

## Cite

Digest AI, "ElevenLabs launches v4 speech model with 10,000-character limit and Turbo variant", 29 September 2026, https://digestai.news/story/elevenlabs-launches-v4-speech-model-with-10-000-character-limit-and-tu

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