Software · head to head
Cartesia vs Zeplin

Cartesia
Software
Real-time voice AI platform for speech generation, transcription, and voice agents
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
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.; Zeplin the free plan is limited to 1 project and 100 screens and works only in a personal workspace
- They diverge on capability: Cartesia covers Sonic text-to-speech, Zeplin covers Design specs.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Cartesia and Zeplin actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).
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 Zeplin
- Design specs
- Asset export
- Code snippets
- Design tokens
- Comments
- Version control
- Handoff workflow
- Accessibility checks
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 Zeplin
- Real-time transcription for conversational applicationsnot Zeplin
- Voice cloning for branded synthetic voicesnot Zeplin
- On-device or on-premise voice AI for regulated industriesnot Zeplin
Zeplin
- Handing off design specs from Figma or Sketch to developersnot Cartesia
- Sharing screens, assets and style guides with an engineering teamnot Cartesia
- Reviewing and commenting on design versionsnot 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.
Zeplin
- The free plan is limited to 1 project and 100 screens and works only in a personal workspace
- Free plan AI reviews are capped at 3 per week
- Role based permissions require the Advanced plan or higher
- Single sign on, multi factor authentication, activity logs and invoiced billing are Enterprise only
- Priority 24 hour support is Enterprise only
- Basic plan caps screens at 1,000 per project and is priced per project rather than per seat
- Enterprise pricing is by quote with no published rate
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
Zeplin
Free- FreeFree
- 1 project
- 1 workspace
- Basic specs
- Starter$19/month
- Unlimited projects
- Multiple workspaces
- Advanced specs
- Professional$49/month
- Everything in Starter
- Team collaboration
- Admin controls
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.
Choose Zeplin if
- You need design specs.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Desktop, Mobile.
- You also want asset export.
Questions people ask
- Is Cartesia or Zeplin better?
- Neither clearly leads. Cartesia starts at Free and Zeplin at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Cartesia or Zeplin?
- Cartesia starts at Free and Zeplin at Free.
- Does Cartesia or Zeplin run on more platforms?
- Cartesia runs on web, api. Zeplin runs on Web, Desktop, Mobile.
- 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 Zeplin is typically brought in for.
- What can Cartesia do that Zeplin cannot?
- Cartesia covers Sonic text-to-speech, Ink speech-to-text, Line voice agent platform, Instant and professional voice cloning. Zeplin covers Design specs, Asset export, Code snippets, Design tokens.
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%.
SourceCartesia: 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.
SourceCartesia: 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.
SourceRelated pages
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