Alternatives · read on October 27, 2026
Best Cartesia alternatives in 2026: TTS models ranked by speed
Cartesia has 3 text-to-speech models in this index. 17 models from other providers have a lower P95 time to first audio than the fastest timed Cartesia model (374.4 ms). Below, where Cartesia stands, then the alternatives in rank order.
Where Cartesia stands
Its models, with their rank in the full ranking.
| Rank | Model | Speed tier | P95 | Speed (shorter is faster) | Median | Listener Elo | Price per 1M chars | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 |  Cartesia Sonic 3.6Cartesia | Visible delay | 374.4 ms | 285.8 ms | 1,292 | $39.2 to $50 | Customer service, Assistants, Entertainment, Knowledge sharing | |
| 19 |  Cartesia Sonic 3.5Cartesia | Visible delay | 390.5 ms | 279.3 ms | 1,190 | $39.2 to $50 | Customer service, Assistants, Entertainment, Knowledge sharing | |
| 62 (tie) |  Cartesia Sonic 3Cartesia | No tier | Not timed | Not timed | Not timed | 1,054 | $49 to $50 | Customer service, Assistants, Entertainment, Knowledge sharing |
The 15 highest-ranked alternatives
Models from other providers, in the order of the full ranking (speed tier, then P95, then listener Elo for untimed models). Ranks are the ones from the full ranking, so they skip the Cartesia models.
| Rank | Model | Speed tier | P95 | Speed (shorter is faster) | Median | Listener Elo | Price per 1M chars | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | | Headroom | 75 ms | 39.7 ms | Not rated | $9 | Voice agents | |
| 2 |  Gradium TTSGradium | Headroom | 104.3 ms | 53.7 ms | 1,174 | $36 to $57.8 | Customer service, Voice agents, Assistants, Entertainment, Knowledge sharing | |
| 3 |  Inworld Realtime TTS-2 FlashInworld | Headroom | 100.9 ms | 58.1 ms | 1,218 | $10.4 to $15 | Customer service, Voice agents, Assistants, Entertainment, Knowledge sharing | |
| 4 |  Alibaba Qwen3 TTS FastAlibaba (Qwen) | Headroom | 98.8 ms | 62.9 ms | Not rated | $10 | Voice agents | |
| 5 |  Alibaba Qwen3 TTS 1.7bAlibaba (Qwen) | Fast enough | 136.6 ms | 103.6 ms | Not rated | Not collected | Voice agents | |
| 6 |  SpeechifyAI Simba 3.0Speechify | Fast enough | 149.4 ms | 100.5 ms | 1,116 | $6.6 to $10 | Customer service, Voice agents, Assistants, Entertainment, Knowledge sharing | |
| 7 |  SpeechifyAI Simba 3.2Speechify | Fast enough | 161.1 ms | 104.3 ms | 1,249 | $6.6 to $10 | Customer service, Voice agents, Assistants, Entertainment, Knowledge sharing | |
| 8 |  Inworld Realtime TTS-2Inworld | Fast enough | 194.7 ms | 149.1 ms | 1,267 | $15 to $25 | Customer service, Voice agents, Assistants, Entertainment, Knowledge sharing | |
| 9 |  Palabra TTS v1Palabra | Fast enough | 214.3 ms | 105.1 ms | Not rated | $12 | Voice agents | |
| 10 |  Fish Audio Drama 3 PreviewFish Audio | Fast enough | 209.3 ms | 146 ms | 1,245 | $15 | Customer service, Voice agents, Assistants, Entertainment, Knowledge sharing | |
| 11 |  ElevenLabs Eleven v4 TurboElevenLabs | Fast enough | 238.6 ms | 188.9 ms | 1,333 | $40 | Customer service, Voice agents, Assistants, Entertainment, Knowledge sharing | |
| 12 |  ElevenLabs Flash v2.5ElevenLabs | Fast enough | 255.1 ms | 191 ms | 1,076 | $40 to $50 | Customer service, Voice agents, Assistants, Entertainment, Knowledge sharing | |
| 13 |  Deepgram Flux TTSDeepgram | Fast enough | 267 ms | 197.7 ms | 1,052 | $45 | Customer service, Voice agents, Assistants, Entertainment, Knowledge sharing | |
| 14 |  Soniox TTS RT v1Soniox | Visible delay | 319 ms | 258.3 ms | Not rated | $13 to $14.1 | Not rated | |
| 15 |  Soniox TTS Real-Time v2Soniox | Visible delay | 324.7 ms | 264.4 ms | 1,180 | $13 to $14.81 | Customer service, Assistants, Entertainment, Knowledge sharing |
See all 96 models in the full ranking
Frequently asked questions
- What are the best Cartesia alternatives for text-to-speech?
- Ranked by speed, the first alternatives are Fluxions vui, Gradium TTS and Inworld Realtime TTS-2 Flash. The table lists the 15 highest-ranked models from other providers; the full list has 93 more models.
- Is there a faster TTS API than Cartesia?
- Yes. 17 models have a lower P95 time to first audio than Cartesia's fastest timed model (374.4 ms), starting with Fluxions vui (75 ms), Gradium TTS (104.3 ms), Inworld Realtime TTS-2 Flash (100.9 ms), Alibaba Qwen3 TTS Fast (98.8 ms) and Alibaba Qwen3 TTS 1.7b (136.6 ms).
- Which alternatives cost less than Cartesia?
- Among timed models, Out of Set Airy TTS ($3.67), SpeechifyAI Simba 3.0 ($6.6 to $10), SpeechifyAI Simba 3.2 ($6.6 to $10), Fluxions vui ($9) and Alibaba Qwen3 TTS Fast ($10), cheapest first, list a lower price per million characters than Cartesia's lowest list price ($39.2). Prices are as the benchmarks print them.
- Where does the data come from?
- Coval, Speko, Artificial Analysis and Cekura, read on October 27, 2026. This page runs no test of its own.