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AI · head to head

Cartesia vs Scaleway

Cartesia logo

Cartesia

AI

Real-time voice AI platform for speech generation, transcription, and voice agents

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Scaleway logo

Scaleway

Cloud

European cloud for developers

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Cartesia instant and professional voice cloning are gated behind paid Pro and Startup tiers, unavailable on the free plan.; Scaleway no free tier or trial period mentioned on homepage
  • They diverge on capability: Cartesia covers Sonic text-to-speech, Scaleway covers Virtual Instances.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cartesia and Scaleway actually diverge.

Attributes where Cartesia and Scaleway differ
AttributeCartesiaScaleway
Pricing modelfreemiumusage-based
Platformsweb, apiWeb, Api, Cli
CategoryAICloud
FoundedUnknown1999

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Cartesia

  • Sonic text-to-speech
  • Ink speech-to-text
  • Line voice agent platform
  • Instant and professional voice cloning
  • Flexible deployment
  • Telephony integration

Only in Scaleway

  • Virtual Instances
  • Bare Metal
  • Kubernetes Kapsule
  • Object Storage
  • Serverless Functions
  • Managed Databases
  • Container Registry
  • Load Balancer

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Cartesia

  • Building low-latency voice agents for customer supportnot Scaleway
  • Real-time transcription for conversational applicationsnot Scaleway
  • Voice cloning for branded synthetic voicesnot Scaleway
  • On-device or on-premise voice AI for regulated industriesnot Scaleway

Scaleway

  • Web hostingnot Cartesia
  • Container orchestrationnot Cartesia
  • Development environmentsnot Cartesia
  • Data storagenot Cartesia

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Cartesia

  • Instant and professional voice cloning are gated behind paid Pro and Startup tiers, unavailable on the free plan.
  • Voice agent calls carry a separate per-minute usage fee ($0.06/minute) on top of subscription credits.
  • Enterprise features like SSO and BAAs require a custom sales conversation rather than self-serve upgrade.
  • Free tier concurrency limits (2 TTS, 8 STT concurrent requests) may be restrictive for testing production-like load.

Scaleway

  • No free tier or trial period mentioned on homepage
  • Specific pricing requires navigating to individual product category pages
  • Base pricing starts at 4.99 EUR per month but varies significantly by service type

Pricing, plan by plan

Cartesia

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 20,000 credits/month
    • TTS and STT included
    • 2 concurrent TTS requests, 8 concurrent STT requests
  • Pro$4/month
    • 100,000 credits/month
    • Commercial use license
    • Instant voice cloning
  • Startup$39/month
    • 1.25M credits/month
    • Professional voice cloning
    • Organizations support
  • Scale$239/month
    • 8M credits/month
    • Priority support
    • High concurrency limits

Scaleway

Free
  • DEV1-S$7.99/month
    • 2 vCPU
    • 2GB RAM
    • 20GB SSD

Which should you pick?

Choose Cartesia if

  • You need sonic text-to-speech.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on web, api.
  • You also want ink speech-to-text.
Cartesia review

Choose Scaleway if

  • You need virtual instances.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api, Cli.
  • You also want bare metal.
Scaleway review

Questions people ask

Is Cartesia or Scaleway better?
Neither clearly leads. Cartesia starts at Free and Scaleway at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cartesia or Scaleway?
Cartesia starts at Free and Scaleway at Free.
Does Cartesia or Scaleway run on more platforms?
Cartesia runs on web, api. Scaleway runs on Web, Api, Cli.
Can I use Cartesia for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Cartesia best used for?
Cartesia is most often used for building low-latency voice agents for customer support, real-time transcription for conversational applications, voice cloning for branded synthetic voices, on-device or on-premise voice ai for regulated industries. Of those, building low-latency voice agents for customer support and real-time transcription for conversational applications are not what Scaleway is typically brought in for.
What can Cartesia do that Scaleway cannot?
Cartesia covers Sonic text-to-speech, Ink speech-to-text, Line voice agent platform, Instant and professional voice cloning. Scaleway covers Virtual Instances, Bare Metal, Kubernetes Kapsule, Object Storage.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Cartesia: What does Cartesia cost?

Cartesia offers a free plan, Pro at $4/month, Startup at $39/month, Scale at $239/month, and custom Enterprise pricing, each including a monthly credit allotment, with annual billing saving 20%.

Source
Scaleway: Does Scaleway have a free tier?

Scaleway does not mention a free tier or trial period on its pricing or homepage. Users must select specific services to see rates.

Source
Cartesia: Is there a free plan, and what are its limits?

The Free plan includes 20,000 credits per month, both TTS (Sonic) and STT (Ink), 2 concurrent TTS requests, 8 concurrent STT requests, and 1 voice agent slot.

Source
Scaleway: What is Scaleway's pricing model?

Scaleway uses transparent, usage-based pricing that varies by service. Different categories (bare metal, compute, AI, storage, network) have separate pricing. Dedibox servers start at 4.99 EUR per month.

Source
Cartesia: How is usage metered?

Usage draws down a monthly credit allotment, with voice agent calls additionally billed at $0.06/minute and telephony via Cartesia phone numbers at $0.014/minute.

Source
Scaleway: How does Scaleway billing work?

Scaleway emphasizes transparent, predictable billing where customers know exactly what they'll pay. Users must select products and view pricing within each category.

Source
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