# Can I use ElevenLabs AI voices commercially?

**Short answer:** Yes, if the audio was generated while you had a paid ElevenLabs plan; no, if it came from the Free plan. ElevenLabs' Terms of Service (non-EEA version, last updated October 9, 2026) say Free Users may use the Services only for non-commercial purposes and Paid Users may use them commercially, always subject to the Prohibited Use Policy. Its help page adds that every paid plan includes a commercial license (except for Beta Services), that content generated during a paid subscription can be used commercially indefinitely, and that content created outside a paid subscription, before or after, cannot be used commercially and needs attribution ("elevenlabs.io" or "11.ai" in the title) when shared. As between you and ElevenLabs you keep the rights in your Output, but the policy still forbids cloning a living person's voice without their explicit consent, political campaigning without ElevenLabs' written consent, and using Output to train AI models.

## Checklist
1. Generate anything commercial (monetized videos, ads, client work, paid courses, apps) while a paid plan is active. Starter is the first self-serve plan whose pricing page lists a Commercial License. Keep the invoice or plan history that shows the dates.
2. Don't upgrade and reuse old Free-plan audio commercially: content created outside a paid subscription stays non-commercial. Regenerate it on the paid plan.
3. Check whether the feature you used is a Beta Service: under the Beta Services Addendum, beta output can't be used commercially or in production, even on a paid plan.
4. Only clone voices you are authorized to use: the Prohibited Use Policy bans cloning or impersonating any living person's voice without their explicit and informed consent, and you warrant you have the rights to every Input.
5. Voice Library voices: note the voice's notice period. If its owner stops sharing it, you keep access only for that period (none, or 30 days to 2 years), though outputs generated before the end of the period stay usable. Keep the audio files, not just the voice ID.
6. Building an app or agent on the API: don't offer your end users the Services or Output on terms more permissive than your own, and read the ElevenAgents or ElevenAPI Service-Specific Terms and the OEM Terms if you bundle ElevenLabs into your product.
7. Disclose AI where the law requires it or where people would otherwise be materially misled, and don't strip ElevenLabs watermarks or provenance metadata.
8. Don't use Output to train, fine-tune or improve an AI model, or put it in a training dataset, unless the terms you're under expressly allow it.
9. Political campaign audio needs ElevenLabs' prior written consent, and impersonating candidates or officials is banned.

## Who owns the audio
- The Terms say that, as between you and ElevenLabs, you retain all rights in your Input and your Output; the voice models themselves stay ElevenLabs'. You also grant ElevenLabs a broad license to your Content to provide and improve its services, and you can opt out of training use in your account's data-use settings.
- ElevenLabs warns that Output may not be unique: two users can receive the same or similar Output. Whether AI-generated audio is protected by copyright at all is a separate question of law; in the US, works need a human author.

## Where you live changes which terms apply
- The non-EEA Terms are with Eleven Labs Inc. and apply outside the EEA, Switzerland and the UK; users there have a separate set of ElevenLabs Terms. Both set the same free versus paid split on commercial use.

## Ask Rightshold (free, no key)
Add the MCP server https://www.rightshold.com/mcp to Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT, Grok or VS Code (one-click setup: https://www.rightshold.com/start?ref=seo), then ask: "We made our product demo voiceover on ElevenLabs Free last month and just upgraded to Starter. Can we use the old audio in an ad?"

```json
{
  "tool": "ask_rightshold",
  "arguments": {
    "question": "Can audio generated on the ElevenLabs Free plan be used commercially after upgrading to a paid plan?"
  }
}
```
- Free. Rightshold reads the license or terms you point it at and explains what they allow; it doesn't see your ElevenLabs account, plan history or generations.
- issue_rights_receipt (with an API key) binds the audio file's SHA-256 to the license basis and intended use you record, signs it and commits it to the ledger, so you can later show which plan you relied on and when.
- check_rights_batch checks every audio file, image, font and package in a project in one call before you ship.

_Rightshold does not grant or confirm ElevenLabs rights, and it doesn't analyze audio. Only ElevenLabs' terms and your account records decide which plan audio was made on. Not legal advice._

## Sources
- [ElevenLabs Terms of Service (non-EEA), last updated October 9, 2026](https://elevenlabs.io/terms-of-use)
- [ElevenLabs help: Can I publish the content I generate on the platform?](https://elevenlabs.io/docs/help-center/legal/can-i-publish-the-content-i-generate-on-the-platform)
- [ElevenLabs Prohibited Use Policy (October 9, 2026)](https://elevenlabs.io/use-policy)
- [ElevenLabs pricing (Commercial License from Starter)](https://elevenlabs.io/pricing)
- [ElevenLabs Voice Library Addendum (Notice Period)](https://elevenlabs.io/vla)
- [ElevenLabs help: What is a notice period?](https://elevenlabs.io/docs/help-center/product/voices/voice-library/what-is-a-notice-period)
- [ElevenLabs Service-Specific Terms](https://elevenlabs.io/service-specific-terms)

## Related
- [When Suno commercial rights lock in](https://www.rightshold.com/answers/do-suno-commercial-rights-lock-in-when-you-make-the-song)
- [Can I use Midjourney images commercially on every plan?](https://www.rightshold.com/answers/can-i-use-midjourney-images-commercially-on-every-plan)
- [Who owns code written by an AI coding agent](https://www.rightshold.com/answers/who-owns-code-written-by-an-ai-coding-agent)
- [How to dispute a YouTube Content ID claim on royalty-free music](https://www.rightshold.com/answers/how-to-dispute-a-youtube-content-id-claim-on-royalty-free-music)

_Not legal advice. Updated 2026-10-29. JSON: https://www.rightshold.com/answers/can-i-use-elevenlabs-ai-voices-commercially.json_