ElevenLabs vs Groq: Token Pricing, Speed & Intelligence

Full comparison of ElevenLabs and Groq — live token pricing, latency, throughput, context window, strengths, weaknesses, and best use cases. Updated July 2026.

ElevenLabs

Hyper-realistic AI voice and speech synthesis

ElevenLabs is the leading AI voice platform, offering text-to-speech and voice cloning APIs. Its multilingual v2 model supports 29 languages with near-human quality, and Flash v2.5 delivers ultra-low latency for real-time voice applications.

Text-to-speechVoice cloningAudiobook generationReal-time voice agents

Proprietary models

Groq

LPU-powered inference — the fastest tokens per second available

Groq runs custom Language Processing Units (LPUs) that deliver dramatically higher throughput than GPU-based inference — Llama 3.3 70B reaches 750+ tokens/second on Groq, versus 100–200 on typical GPU providers. Ideal for latency-sensitive applications, real-time chat, and high-volume batch workloads.

SpeedReal-time chatVoice AICost-efficiencyBatch processing

Open-weight hostHosts open weights

Key metrics

Cheapest input ($/1M)

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Cheapest output ($/1M)

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Peak throughput

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Best latency (TTFT)

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Intelligence score

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Context window

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Live token pricing

Strengths & weaknesses

ElevenLabs

Best-in-class voice quality

Ultra-low latency (Flash model)

29-language support

Voice/TTS only — no text generation

Per-character pricing can add up at scale

Groq

750+ tokens/sec on Llama 3.3 70B — fastest GPU-class inference

Sub-100ms time-to-first-token for real-time applications

Very competitive pricing on open-weight models

OpenAI-compatible API

Free tier available

Limited model selection vs. Together AI or Fireworks

No vision model support on most models

No fine-tuning capability

Key differentiators

ElevenLabs

ElevenLabs Flash v2.5 delivers sub-300ms latency for real-time voice applications, making it the go-to choice for voice AI agents.

Groq

Groq's custom LPU chips deliver 750+ tokens/sec on Llama 3.3 70B — 4–5× faster than any GPU-based provider.

Frequently asked questions

ElevenLabs FAQs

What is ElevenLabs used for?

ElevenLabs provides text-to-speech and voice cloning APIs. It is used for audiobook generation, voice agents, dubbing, and any application requiring high-quality synthetic speech.

How does ElevenLabs pricing work?

ElevenLabs charges per character of text converted to speech. Pricing varies by plan and model — Flash v2.5 is cheaper and faster, while Multilingual v2 offers higher quality.

Groq FAQs

How fast is Groq inference?

Groq delivers 750+ tokens/second on Llama 3.3 70B and 1,200+ tokens/second on Llama 3.1 8B. This is 4–5× faster than typical GPU-based providers, making it ideal for real-time applications.

How much does Groq cost?

Llama 3.3 70B costs $0.59/1M input and $0.79/1M output tokens. Llama 3.1 8B is just $0.05/$0.08 per 1M tokens — among the cheapest options for a capable open-weight model.

What is a Groq LPU?

A Language Processing Unit (LPU) is Groq's custom silicon designed specifically for sequential token generation. Unlike GPUs which are optimised for parallel matrix operations, LPUs excel at the autoregressive decoding step that dominates LLM inference latency.

Provider resources

ElevenLabs

Provider page Website Pricing Docs

Groq

Provider page Website Pricing Docs

ElevenLabs — Hyper-realistic AI voice and speech synthesis

ElevenLabs Flash v2.5 delivers sub-300ms latency for real-time voice applications, making it the go-to choice for voice AI agents.

Groq — LPU-powered inference — the fastest tokens per second available

Groq's custom LPU chips deliver 750+ tokens/sec on Llama 3.3 70B — 4–5× faster than any GPU-based provider.

Key strengths compared

ElevenLabs

▸Best-in-class voice quality
▸Ultra-low latency (Flash model)
▸29-language support

Groq

▸750+ tokens/sec on Llama 3.3 70B — fastest GPU-class inference
▸Sub-100ms time-to-first-token for real-time applications
▸Very competitive pricing on open-weight models

Provider category context

ElevenLabs is a inference api, founded in 2022. Groq is a inference api, founded in 2016. Both are inference api providers — the comparison is primarily about pricing, model selection, and feature differentiation within the same tier.

How to choose between them

Both ElevenLabs and Groq host open-weight models. The key differentiators are latency, throughput, and which specific model versions each provider offers. Check the speed metrics above — inference API providers often differ significantly on tokens-per-second for the same model. Pricing is typically competitive between them; availability of specific model versions (e.g., Llama 3.1 405B, DeepSeek V3) may be the deciding factor.