How to Get ElevenLabs API Key: Steps & Plans (2026)

How to get ElevenLabs API key: sign in to elevenlabs.io, open your dashboard, go to the API keys page, and generate a new key. The key itself is free on every plan including the free tier; usage draws from your credit balance at 1 credit per character. Checked 1 Nov 2026.

How to get your ElevenLabs API key: the official steps

The documentation’s quickstart describes the flow in one line: visit your ElevenLabs dashboard and create an API key, then set the ELEVENLABS_API_KEY environment variable. Expanded into clicks, the process is:

1. Sign in to elevenlabs.io — create a free account if you do not have one; the free plan’s 10,000 monthly credits work for API testing.
2. Open your dashboard.
3. Go to the API keys page at elevenlabs.io/app/developers/api-keys (the pricing page’s own footer links “API Key” to this page; it redirects to sign-in when you are logged out).
4. Create or generate a new API key.
5. Copy the key immediately and store it as the ELEVENLABS_API_KEY environment variable, exactly as the docs instruct.

Where the API key lives in your account

Key management sits inside the signed-in app at elevenlabs.io/app/developers/api-keys — reached from the dashboard through the developers and API section. The page is account-scoped: logged-out visitors are bounced to the sign-in screen, which is how you know the keys belong to your account and not to the public site. Keys can be created and revoked there, and revocation is instant — that page is your kill-switch if a key ever leaks.

Which plans include API access?

ElevenLabs publishes no plan gate for creating an API key: the documentation describes key creation from the dashboard without mentioning a required tier, and the pricing page’s comparison table lists API-relevant rows — concurrent requests and 44.1 kHz PCM audio output via API — with values in the Free column (2 concurrent requests). API access works on the free plan; paid plans raise the ceilings.

For the full tier-by-tier numbers, see our ElevenLabs pricing breakdown. If you are still deciding whether you need the API at all, our guide to using ElevenLabs covers what the dashboard alone can do.

What does the API key cost?

The key itself costs nothing — there is no per-key fee on any plan. What costs money is usage: every API call spends credits from your account balance at the same rates as the dashboard. Text to speech costs 1 credit per character, so 1,000 characters via API costs 1,000 credits — about $0.20 on Starter ($6 for 30,000 credits), about $0.18 on Creator ($22 for 121,000), and about $0.17 on Pro and above.

Model choice changes the bill: the docs note that Eleven Flash v2.5 carries 50% lower price per character for API generations, which makes it the economical pick for high-volume or latency-sensitive work. And if API usage outruns the subscription allowance, pay-as-you-go top-up credit exists for the overflow — the pricing FAQ treats top-up credit as separate from subscription credit.

API key security: the essentials

An API key is a bearer token: anyone who holds it can spend your credits. The docs’ own instruction — store it in the ELEVENLABS_API_KEY environment variable — is the first rule. Beyond that, the standard practices apply: never hard-code the key, never ship it in client-side code or mobile apps where it can be extracted, and never commit it to a public repository.

Use separate keys per project or environment so a leak can be revoked without touching everything else, and revoke immediately on the API keys page if a key is ever exposed — revocation there is instant. One more licensing note: the key inherits your plan’s commercial position, so API calls on free-plan credits are non-commercial under the terms of service, exactly like dashboard generation.

Do the API and dashboard share the same credit balance?

Yes. Credits are the unit of consumption shared across every ElevenLabs product, per the official documentation — the API draws from the same monthly allowance as the dashboard, and the pricing FAQ confirms top-up credit sits separately from subscription credit. That means a Starter account’s 30,000 credits can be split any way you like: 10,000 characters through the API and 20,000 in the dashboard, or all 30,000 through one channel.

The shared balance has two practical consequences. First, API experiments burn the same allowance your dashboard projects need, so prototype against the free plan’s 10,000 credits before pointing production traffic at a paid key. Second, the rollover rules follow the plan, not the channel: unused paid credits roll over up to two months whether they were spent via API or dashboard, and free-plan credits never roll over in either.

ElevenLabs API key: pros and cons

Who should NOT use the ElevenLabs API

Anyone generating audio by hand in the dashboard — the API adds complexity with no benefit if there is no code calling it. Teams that need guaranteed throughput should size the plan first: 2 concurrent requests on Free will throttle a busy integration, and the fix is a bigger plan, not a second key. And if your use case is commercial, the key needs a paid plan behind it, since free-plan credits stay non-commercial however they are spent. Our ElevenLabs review covers which tiers suit production workloads.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get an ElevenLabs API key?

Sign in to elevenlabs.io, open your dashboard, go to the API keys page (elevenlabs.io/app/developers/api-keys), and generate a new key. The documentation’s quickstart describes the same flow: visit the dashboard, create the key, then set the ELEVENLABS_API_KEY environment variable for your project.

Is the ElevenLabs API key free?

Yes — creating the key costs nothing on any plan, including the free tier. What you pay for is usage: API calls spend credits from your account balance at the standard rates (1 credit per character for text to speech). The key is free; the characters are not.

Which ElevenLabs plan do I need for API access?

No specific plan is required. The docs describe key creation without a tier gate, and the pricing comparison lists API rows — concurrent requests and PCM output — with Free-tier values (2 concurrent requests). Paid plans raise the ceilings: more concurrent requests and much larger credit allowances behind the same key.

Where do I find my API key after creating it?

On the API keys page in your dashboard at elevenlabs.io/app/developers/api-keys. Copy it immediately on creation and store it as the ELEVENLABS_API_KEY environment variable, per the docs. If you lose it, revoke it on that page and generate a new one — revocation is instant.

What happens if my API key leaks?

Revoke it immediately on the API keys page — revocation is instant and stops all spending on that key. Then generate a replacement and update the ELEVENLABS_API_KEY variable wherever it is deployed. Never commit keys to public repositories or ship them in client-side code where they can be extracted.

Can I use the API for commercial projects on the free plan?

No. API usage draws from the same credit pool as the dashboard, and free-plan credits are non-commercial under the terms of service. Commercial API use needs a paid plan — Starter at $6 a month adds the commercial license, and its first month was $1 as shown until Nov 8 when checked 1 Nov 2026.

Sources checked

Key creation flow and the ELEVENLABS_API_KEY variable come from the official documentation quickstart (https://elevenlabs.io/docs/overview/intro), checked 1 Nov 2026. The API keys page location (elevenlabs.io/app/developers/api-keys) is linked from the pricing page footer (https://elevenlabs.io/pricing). Concurrent request limits and PCM output tiers come from the pricing page comparison table; the non-commercial free rule from the Terms of Service (https://elevenlabs.io/terms-of-use).