# ElevenLabs SDK review

> ElevenLabs SDK is the official Python library for the ElevenLabs API, covering text-to-speech, voice cloning, streaming audio and voice agents.

Devtoolwatch Board, the week of Oct 25–31, 2026. Canonical page: https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/elevenlabs-sdk/

## TL;DR

ElevenLabs SDK is the official Python SDK for the ElevenLabs API. It is for Python developers adding speech synthesis, voice cloning or real-time voice agents to their apps. It includes sync and async clients, audio streaming, ElevenAgents conversations with custom tools, and Speech Engine for server-side agents that use any LLM.

## ElevenLabs SDK at a glance

- **Category:** [Voice and realtime](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/categories/voice-and-realtime/)
- **Maintained by:** ElevenLabs (organization, [@elevenlabs](https://github.com/elevenlabs) on GitHub)
- **License:** MIT
- **Language:** Python
- **Repository:** [github.com/elevenlabs/elevenlabs-python](https://github.com/elevenlabs/elevenlabs-python)
- **Website:** [elevenlabs.io/docs/api-reference/overview](https://elevenlabs.io/docs/api-reference/overview)
- **npm package:** [@elevenlabs/elevenlabs-js](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@elevenlabs/elevenlabs-js) 2.74.0
- **PyPI package:** [elevenlabs](https://pypi.org/project/elevenlabs/) 2.74.1
- **Latest release:** [v2.74.1](https://github.com/elevenlabs/elevenlabs-python/releases/tag/v2.74.1) on GitHub, Oct 20, 2026
- **First published:** Mar 26, 2023

## What ElevenLabs SDK does

- ElevenLabs SDK converts text to speech with models such as eleven_v3, eleven_multilingual_v2, eleven_flash_v2_5 and eleven_turbo_v2_5.
- ElevenLabs SDK streams audio in real time as it is generated. You can play it locally or process the bytes yourself.
- ElevenLabs SDK lists your available voices and reads default voice settings. It also creates instant voice clones from sample audio files.
- ElevenLabs SDK runs ElevenAgents conversations with real-time audio input and output. Agents can call sync or async tools you register.
- ElevenLabs SDK Speech Engine runs a WebSocket server that receives user transcripts and streams LLM responses back for speech synthesis.
- ElevenLabs SDK auto-detects LLM stream formats from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google Gemini when sending Speech Engine responses.
- ElevenLabs SDK exposes raw responses with headers, including the character cost and request IDs for each generation.

### How it works

ElevenLabs SDK is a Python client for the ElevenLabs HTTP API. You create an ElevenLabs or AsyncElevenLabs client with an API key. For Speech Engine, your server acts as a WebSocket endpoint. ElevenLabs connects to it and sends transcripts, and your handler replies. If the user interrupts mid-response, the SDK cancels the previous handler automatically. Speech Engine can also plug into FastAPI or Starlette through create_session().

## How to install ElevenLabs SDK

**With pip**

```
pip install elevenlabs
```

**Node.js library**

```
npm install @elevenlabs/elevenlabs-js
```

### Requirements

- Python >=3.8 and <4.0.
- An ElevenLabs API key. Voice cloning explicitly requires one.
- Node.js >=18.0.0 for the separate JavaScript library.

### First steps

1. Install the package with pip install elevenlabs.
2. Provide your API key, either with api_key= on the client or through the ELEVENLABS_API_KEY environment variable.
3. Call elevenlabs.text_to_speech.convert with text, a voice_id and a model_id, then play the result with play().
4. List the voices available to you with elevenlabs.voices.search().

## Who ElevenLabs SDK is for

- Python developers adding text-to-speech or streaming audio to applications.
- Teams building voice agents that call custom tools during real-time conversations.
- Backend developers who want to pair their own LLM with ElevenLabs voice over WebSockets.

### Limitations

- Speech Engine is async-only and available only on AsyncElevenLabs.
- The library is generated programmatically, so pull requests to the code cannot be merged as-is.
- Disabling Speech Engine authentication lets any client that can reach the server open sessions, unless a network restriction such as an IP allowlist is in place.
- With a custom event loop in ClientTools, you manage the loop's lifecycle yourself.

## Usage data (the week of Oct 25–31, 2026)

- Board rank: #173 overall, #10 in Voice and realtime, momentum score 48
- Downloads that week: 4M (+15% vs 4-week average)
- New GitHub stars per week (last 12 weeks): Aug 9: 7; Aug 16: 13; Aug 23: 6; Aug 30: 5; Sep 6: 9; Sep 13: 10; Sep 20: 11; Sep 27: 14; Oct 4: 8; Oct 11: 12; Oct 18: 10; Oct 25: 15

## ElevenLabs SDK alternatives

| Rank | Tool | Stars | Downloads/wk |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | [faster-whisper](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/faster-whisper/) | 26.4k | 4.4M |
| #2 | [Kokoro](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/kokoro/) | 9.8k | 150.7k |
| #3 | [Chatterbox](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/chatterbox/) | 27.5k | 73.2k |
| #4 | [VoiceMem](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/xzf-thu-voicemem/) | 2.8k | – |
| #5 | [Pipecat](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/pipecat/) | 17k | 348.5k |
| #6 | [WhisperX](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/whisperx/) | 25k | 158.6k |

## ElevenLabs SDK FAQ

### Is ElevenLabs SDK free and open source?

Yes. ElevenLabs SDK's source code is on GitHub (elevenlabs/elevenlabs-python) under the MIT license, so you can use it for free. Its website also links to a pricing page (https://elevenlabs.io/pricing/api) for any paid plans.

### How do I install ElevenLabs SDK?

Run `pip install elevenlabs`. It needs Node.js >=18.0.0. The install section above has the other options from the project's README.

### Is ElevenLabs SDK still maintained?

Yes. The elevenlabs/elevenlabs-python repository was last updated on Oct 20, 2026, and the latest release, v2.74.1 on GitHub, came out on Oct 20, 2026.

### How popular is ElevenLabs SDK?

ElevenLabs SDK has 3.2k GitHub stars as of Nov 1, 2026. It gained 15 new stars in the week of Oct 25–31, 2026, against a 12-week average of 10 a week. Its main package had about 4M downloads that week, +15% against its own 4-week average. That made it #10 among voice and realtime AI tools on the Devtoolwatch Board.

### What are the best alternatives to ElevenLabs SDK?

Other voice and realtime AI tools on the Devtoolwatch Board in the week of Oct 25–31, 2026, by momentum: faster-whisper (#1), Kokoro (#2), Chatterbox (#3), VoiceMem (#4), Pipecat (#5). The alternatives table above has their numbers.

### Which text-to-speech models can the ElevenLabs SDK use?

ElevenLabs SDK examples use four main models. Eleven v3 supports 70+ languages and multi-speaker dialogue. Eleven Multilingual v2 supports 29 languages and is recommended for most use cases. Eleven Flash v2.5 offers ultra-low latency. Eleven Turbo v2.5 balances quality and latency.

### Does the ElevenLabs SDK support async code?

Yes. ElevenLabs SDK provides AsyncElevenLabs for asynchronous API calls. Speech Engine is available only through this async client.

### Can I use my own LLM with ElevenLabs voice agents?

Yes. ElevenLabs SDK Speech Engine passes user transcripts to your handler, which can use any LLM. session.send_response() accepts strings or async iterators. It auto-parses OpenAI, Anthropic and Google Gemini streams.

### How does the ElevenLabs SDK secure Speech Engine servers?

ElevenLabs SDK verifies the X-Elevenlabs-Speech-Engine-Authorization header on every incoming connection. It rejects requests that ElevenLabs did not sign. You can pass disable_auth=True, but only behind an IP allowlist or a similar restriction.

### How can I track character costs with the ElevenLabs SDK?

ElevenLabs SDK provides with_raw_response calls, such as text_to_speech.with_raw_response.convert. These return the response headers. The character-cost header gives the cost, and request-id and x-trace-id help with debugging.

## Sources

1. [elevenlabs/elevenlabs-python on GitHub](https://github.com/elevenlabs/elevenlabs-python)
2. [ElevenLabs SDK README](https://github.com/elevenlabs/elevenlabs-python/blob/main/README.md)
3. [@elevenlabs/elevenlabs-js on npm](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@elevenlabs/elevenlabs-js)
4. [elevenlabs on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/elevenlabs/)
5. [ElevenLabs SDK website](https://elevenlabs.io/docs/api-reference/overview)
6. [Release v2.74.1 (Oct 20, 2026)](https://github.com/elevenlabs/elevenlabs-python/releases/tag/v2.74.1)
7. [Release v2.74.0 (Oct 20, 2026)](https://github.com/elevenlabs/elevenlabs-python/releases/tag/v2.74.0)
8. [Release v2.73.1 (Oct 17, 2026)](https://github.com/elevenlabs/elevenlabs-python/releases/tag/v2.73.1)
9. [Hacker News: This Voice Doesn't Exist – Generative Voice AI](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34361651)
10. [Hacker News: Eleven v3](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44194521)
11. [Hacker News: Eleven Music](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44799479)
12. [Devtoolwatch Board, the week of Oct 25–31, 2026](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/)