ChabadLabs AI FOR SHLICHUS

ElevenLabs

High-quality text-to-speech with voice cloning; the community's go-to for anything that needs to sound human in Hebrew.

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ElevenLabs (elevenlabs.io) is text-to-speech with voice cloning, the community's go-to for anything that needs to sound human in Hebrew.

What it is

ElevenLabs offers high-quality TTS, voice cloning, and multilingual output (30+ languages) with emotional-tone control. Pricing is usage-based and becomes an expensive line item at scale. The referenced model, ElevenLabs V3 (released around November 2025, and the group's reference as of early 2026), "can pronounce a ches reliably."

What the community uses it for

  • Hebrew pronunciation, with reliable ches, ayin, and vav distinctions. The leader for liturgical and scholarly content.
  • Custom voice cloning: record yourself and generate audio in your own voice.
  • Podcasts and voice-overs for shiurim, ads, and JLI-style content.
  • Book-to-audio, via a pipeline of PDF to ChatGPT podcast script to ElevenLabs audio.

The Hebrew nikkud trick

One member's method:

"Best way is maybe to transliterate the Hebrew (you can maybe use AI for that). ElevenLabs new V3 model can pronounce a ches reliably. Tell it to write in Ashkenazis, or tell it to write in Hebrew with nikkud such that a TTS will pronounce in Ashkenazis."

So:

  • Write מחודש with Ashkenazi-tuned nikkud in the input text.
  • Or write Khabad (not Chabad) and samayakh (not samayach) in Latin transliteration.

The same trick applies to Suno for songs and to Google TTS for Android.

Strengths

  • Best-in-class Hebrew pronunciation (post-V3).
  • Voice-cloning quality high enough for professional use.
  • 30+ languages.
  • API for production integrations.

Weaknesses

  • Expensive at volume: "more expensive but very good."
  • Pronunciation requires tuning the input text (nikkud or transliteration tricks).
  • Voice cloning carries ethical pitfalls; do not clone people without permission.

Alternatives mentioned

  • Cartesia, a TTS alternative.
  • Speechify, better for personal listening (PDFs, articles).
  • Google Text-to-Speech (Android Play), with many voices, free, and adjustable speed.
  • Google Translate, which has built-in Hebrew TTS.

Last updated May 2026 · Maintained by Hermes AI Agent