How I Turned My Voice into Passive Income with ElevenLabs: Make Money While You Sleep
What Is ElevenLabs, and How Can It Help You Earn Passive Income?
Have you ever thought about making money while you sleep? I certainly do, and having listened to people on Reddit talking about making money from their voice, I thought "Well I've got a voice for radio! I want a piece of the action!"
That’s when I decided to try out ElevenLabs’ Professional Voice Cloning (PVC) feature to monetize my voice. As someone who’s always doing stupid voices to entertain my kids, while also on the lookout for passive income opportunities, I was super-curious to find out if my own voice, could become a source of steady income with minimal effort.
In this blog post, I’m going to share my personal experience with ElevenLabs, walk you through the steps to get started, and reveal how this side hustle is working out for me financially.
But first I have to give you the pre-requisites. You are gonna need:
- Confidence in your own voice and an ability to speak clearly
- A decent microphone (I use the Rode NT1A but any Condenser microphone will get the job done).
- A quiet place to record with no background noise.
If you tick all of the above and you're keen to make money passively online, keep reading!
What Is ElevenLabs, and How Can It Help You Earn Passive Income?
ElevenLabs is an AI-powered platform that specializes in creating hyper-realistic synthetic voices through text-to-speech and voice cloning technology. What sets it apart is its Professional Voice Cloning feature, which allows you to create a digital clone of your voice and share it in their Voice Library. Once your voice is in the library, other users - like content creators (think TikTok video makers), game developers, or businesses - can use it for their projects, and you earn royalties every time it’s used. It’s true it can be a passive income stream: after the initial setup, your voice works for you around the clock, even while you’re sleeping. I first heard about ElevenLabs through a post on Reddit where someone shared how they were earning £200 a month by cloning their voice. As someone who likes the sound of their own voice xD, I was intrigued. I decided to give it a shot, and so far I'm pretty glad I did. Not only has it been a fun experiment and given me a boost of confidence, it’s also added a nice little income stream that I hope will continue to grow.
Getting Started with ElevenLabs: What You Need to Do
Setting up your PVC voice on ElevenLabs is straightforward, but it does require a bit of effort upfront to ensure the best results. Here’s a step-by-step guide based on my experience:
1. Sign Up for an ElevenLabs Account - First, head over to the ElevenLabs website and sign up for an account. You’ll need to select a paid Creator Tier plan to access the Professional Voice Cloning feature. I wasn't keen on the idea of paying for a sub at first, but you only need to do this for the first month and can drop down to the $5 per month tier, once your PVC is live and making money for you.
The regular price is $22 per month (US) but you get the first month for $11 (at the time that was £10.53 in GBP paid from my bank account. If like me you plan on creating multiple voices, keep in mind that ElevenLabs allows only one PVC per account on the Creator Tier, but you can create multiple accounts (just use a new email address and be prepared to pay the $11 for the first month on each additional account).
2. Record and Upload Your Voice Samples - To create a professional voice clone, you need to upload at least 30 minutes of quality audio. I spent an afternoon recording myself reading various scripts - I used a mix of audiobook excerpts and random articles I found online. The key here is to use a good microphone like the Rode NT1A in a quiet space with no background noise or echo. ElevenLabs emphasizes the importance of clean audio for the best results, and I can confirm that quality matters, especially if you want to get the HQ badge and maximise your voice's presence in the library.
3. Create Your Professional Voice Clone - Once your audio is uploaded, head to the “Professional Voice Cloning” section in the Voice Lab. The platform will process your recordings to create a digital clone of your voice. You'll need to be patient here as the AI works it's magic on your sample, this step took about 4 hours for me. Once it has finished processing, you can test your voice clone to make sure it sounds how you expected. My advice here is to avoid rushing to get your PVC in to the library immediately. You should play around with it, give it a variety of prompts to recreate and be sure that you are happy with the results. You only get one Professional Voice Clone slot per subscription so use it wisely and make sure you've given it your best shot!
4. Share Your Voice in the Voice Library - Here’s where the passive income part comes in. After your voice is cloned, you can enable sharing and discovery in the ElevenLabs Voice Library. This makes your voice available for others to use in their projects, like audiobooks, video narrations, or even game character voiceovers. You’ll need to give it a name and write a description for your voice (think about including details like your accent, tone, or any unique traits). Once the ElevenLabs team manually approve your voice, that's it! You voice clone sits in the library and is available for anyone to use.
All ElevenLabs users have an allowance of credits to use each month - even on the free tier. When those credits get spent on your clone you will earn. It's as simple as that and your voice will stay in the library until you decide to delete it, so you've effectively set yourself up for passive income for life!
5. Set Up Your Payment Details - To get paid, you’ll need to connect a Stripe account to receive your royalties. I didn't really know much about Stripe and assumed it was for US customers only, but I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I just needed to connect my UK bank account details to get set up. ElevenLabs pays out weekly, which is great because you don’t have to wait long to see your earnings.
How Much Have I Earned So Far?
I set up my voice on ElevenLabs in the middle of March this year (2025) and was excited to see how it would perform. The first 10 days or so was slow, as expected, since my voice was new to the library. But after a couple of weeks, I started seeing some usage, and the royalties began trickling in.
So far, I’ve earned around £45 from my voice clone in 20 days since it got approved for sharing in the library. So around £2 per day - not amazing but not terrible. I love the thought of this £2 per day continuing indefinitely with no more work required by me. Trending voices probably earn a lot more and I'm hopeful that I will see an increase, especially now I've had experience and can perfect my next voice.
While it’s not a fortune, it’s completely passive, and it's awesome to think that my voice is being used in projects around the world while I go about my day. I’m planning to experiment with the description and tags for my voice to improve its search ranking in the library, which I hope will boost my earnings even more.
Tips for Success: How to Maximize Your Earnings on ElevenLabs
Based on my experience and some research, here are a few tips to help you get the most out of your ElevenLabs voice cloning venture:
- Highlight Your Unique Voice Traits: If you have an accent, a unique tone, or can do a character voice, lean into it! I noticed that my British accent seems to attract some users, which I think helped my voice stand out.
- Optimize Your Voice Description: Use descriptive tags and keywords in your voice description to improve its visibility in the Voice Library. For example, I included terms like “theatrical,” “Audiobook Narration,” and “British” to describe my voice.
- Consider Multiple Voices: If you’re up for it, you can create additional voices by setting up more accounts. Some users have reported success with this strategy, though you’ll need to pay for a subscription for each account.
Why I Love Using ElevenLabs for Passive Income
What I love most about ElevenLabs is how hands-off it is once you’re set up. Unlike other side hustles that require constant attention, this truly feels like passive income.
I also appreciate that ElevenLabs takes security seriously - they use voice captcha verification and manual moderation to ensure your voice isn’t misused, which gave me peace of mind. Another bonus is the flexibility. You can remove your voice from the library at any time (with a 30-day notice period to allow users to finish their projects), so you’re always in control. Plus, the platform is growing rapidly, and being an early adopter feels like a smart move .
Is ElevenLabs Right for You?
If you’re looking for an easy way to make money online and don’t mind the small upfront investment of time and a paid subscription, I highly recommend giving ElevenLabs a try. It’s perfect for anyone who wants to dip their toes into the world of AI voice technology without needing to be a professional voice actor. Whether you have a unique accent, a soothing tone, or an over-the-top expressive voice like mine, there’s potential to earn passive income with this platform. Ready to turn your voice into a money-making asset? Sign up for ElevenLabs today and start your journey to earning while you sleep.