Alternatives
Seagull Studio: an offline ElevenLabs alternative for Mac
Seagull Studio is an offline alternative to ElevenLabs for Apple Silicon Macs. It clones a voice from a 10-second sample and generates speech locally, so audio and scripts never leave the machine. Unlike ElevenLabs, which is a cloud service with monthly plans, Seagull Studio costs $11.99 once, includes 20 free generations, and keeps working without an internet connection after models are downloaded. It requires macOS 14 or later.
What is Seagull Studio?
Seagull Studio is a native macOS app for local voice cloning and text-to-speech that runs entirely on Apple Silicon, with no subscription and no cloud synthesis. You record or import a voice sample of at least 10 seconds, choose one of 6 on-device models, write your script, and generate audio on your own Mac. Results land in a generation history and export as WAV or MP3.
ElevenLabs is a cloud voice platform: a browser app and an API backed by server GPUs, sold as monthly plans with a credit balance. Both tools clone voices from short samples. Everything else about them differs, which is why "which is better" has no single answer — it depends on whether you are narrating your own work or shipping a product.
How does Seagull Studio differ from ElevenLabs?
| Seagull Studio | ElevenLabs | |
|---|---|---|
| Where synthesis happens | On your Mac | On ElevenLabs servers |
| Works offline | Yes, after the model is downloaded | No, it is a cloud service |
| Price | $11.99 once, lifetime unlock | $0–$990 per month, plus custom Enterprise |
| Free tier | 20 successful generations, no card needed | 10,000 credits per month, no commercial use, attribution required |
| Output limits | Unmetered after unlock | Metered in credits; unused credits roll over up to 2× your quota |
| Voice cloning from a short sample | Yes, from 10 seconds | Yes, from the $6 Starter plan up |
| Platform | macOS 14+ on Apple Silicon only | Any browser, plus API and integrations |
| HTTP API | No; local MCP tools for on-device agents | Yes, with SDKs and concurrency tiers |
| Team features | No; Family Sharing on the App Store | Yes, seats on Scale and Business plans |
| Languages | Up to 31, depending on the model | Broader coverage across its model range |
| Privacy posture | Data Not Collected label; samples stay local | Cloud processing under the vendor's policies |
What does each one cost?
This is usually the reason people look for an alternative. ElevenLabs sells monthly credits; a credit roughly maps to a character of text, and its plans work out to about a minute of audio per thousand credits.
| Plan | Monthly price | Credits per month |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 10,000, non-commercial, attribution required |
| Starter | $6 | 30,000 — about 30 minutes of audio |
| Creator | $22 ($11 first month) | 121,000 — about 2 hours, adds professional voice cloning |
| Pro | $99 | 600,000 |
| Scale | $299 | 1,800,000, 3 seats |
| Business | $990 | 6,000,000, 10 seats |
Seagull Studio has one price: $11.99 once, after 20 free generations, with restore purchases and Family Sharing. There is no credit balance to watch and no renewal date. A year of ElevenLabs Starter is $72 on monthly billing or $60 if you pay annually; Creator is $264 or $220. Seagull Studio is a single $11.99 line on your card.
The honest framing: you are not buying the same product cheaper. You are buying local, unmetered generation on hardware you already own instead of renting metered access to bigger models.
Where ElevenLabs is better
ElevenLabs is a strong product and pretending otherwise would not help you decide. It is clearly ahead here:
- Peak voice quality. Its best English voices, and its professional voice cloning tier, still set the standard. Server GPUs run models that do not fit on a laptop.
- APIs and scale. If audio has to be generated by your backend, on demand, for many users, that is what ElevenLabs is built for.
- Any device. A browser works on Windows, Linux, iPad or a borrowed machine. Seagull Studio needs an Apple Silicon Mac.
- Teams. Seats, shared voice libraries and workspace management come with the higher plans.
- Surrounding tools. Dubbing, transcription, long-form project management and language coverage beyond what local models reach.
Where Seagull Studio is better
- Privacy. The voice sample and the script stay on your Mac for synthesis. Nothing is uploaded to be cloned, and the App Store privacy label is Data Not Collected.
- Offline. Once a model is downloaded, generation does not need the network. Useful on a plane, and useful when a service has an outage.
- Cost over time. $11.99 once versus $60–$264 per year at the two most popular ElevenLabs tiers, depending on plan and annual billing.
- No metering. Regenerate the same paragraph thirty times while you tune it; nothing is deducted.
- It keeps working. A local app does not change its pricing tiers, deprecate your voice, or lock output behind a plan upgrade.
Can Seagull Studio replace ElevenLabs for your work?
| If you are doing this | Better choice | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Narrating your own videos, courses or audiobooks on a Mac | Seagull Studio | Long scripts, many retakes, no metering, your own voice stays yours |
| Preserving a voice for medical reasons (voice banking) | Seagull Studio | The recording never has to be uploaded, and access does not depend on a subscription staying active |
| Client work under an NDA | Seagull Studio | Audio never leaves the machine, which is far easier to justify in a contract |
| Generating speech from a server or app backend | ElevenLabs | You need an HTTP API, uptime and concurrency |
| A team producing audio together | ElevenLabs | Seats and shared voices are subscription features |
| Chasing the single best-sounding English read | ElevenLabs | Larger cloud models still win at the top end |
| Working on Windows or an iPad | ElevenLabs | Seagull Studio is macOS-only |
Side-by-side generation examples are coming soon — the same script through Seagull Studio and ElevenLabs, so you can hear the difference instead of taking anyone's word for it.
What you need to run it
Seagull Studio requires macOS 14 or later and an Apple Silicon Mac — Intel Macs are not supported. The app download is 377.5 MB, and models are optional downloads from about 0.7 GB to 13 GB, so budget disk space for the ones you keep. Larger models want more unified memory, and generation speed follows your chip.
Language support depends on the model you choose: an English-only fast model, a 23-language model at roughly 13 GB, and a compact multilingual option reaching up to 31 languages in about 0.7 GB. The app detects the input language automatically and preprocesses Russian stress marks and Japanese kana.
How to try it without committing
You get 20 successful generations free, which is enough to answer the only question that matters: does it sound good enough on your voice and your script? Record a clean 10-second sample, run the same paragraph through two or three models, and compare against whatever you use today. If it holds up, the unlock is $11.99 and there is nothing else to pay. If it does not, you have lost nothing.
A pragmatic setup many people land on: keep a cloud plan for the occasional job that truly needs it, and do everyday narration locally.
Questions, answered.
Is there an offline alternative to ElevenLabs?
Yes. Seagull Studio runs voice cloning and text-to-speech locally on Apple Silicon Macs. After a model is downloaded, generation works without an internet connection.
Is Seagull Studio cheaper than ElevenLabs?
Seagull Studio costs $11.99 once with no subscription. ElevenLabs starts at $6 per month for 30,000 credits, roughly 30 minutes of audio, so Seagull Studio costs less than two months of the entry plan and nothing after that.
Does Seagull Studio have an API like ElevenLabs?
No HTTP API. Seagull Studio exposes local MCP tools so compatible agents on the same Mac can list voices and models, upload a voice sample, and generate audio. If you need to call a voice service from a server, ElevenLabs is the better fit.
Is the voice quality as good as ElevenLabs?
It depends on the model and the voice. ElevenLabs still leads on the most polished English preset voices because it runs much larger models on server GPUs. Seagull Studio ships 6 on-device models, and the best choice varies by language and source recording, so compare them on your own script during the 20 free generations.
Can I use audio from Seagull Studio commercially?
The app does not meter or license your output, and there is no attribution requirement. You are responsible for having the rights to the voice you clone; see the Terms of Service for details.
What do I need to run Seagull Studio?
macOS 14 or later on an Apple Silicon Mac. Intel Macs are not supported. The app is 377.5 MB and models range from about 0.7 GB to 13 GB.
Does Seagull Studio store my voice in the cloud?
No. Voice samples and scripts stay on your Mac for local synthesis. The app carries Apple's Data Not Collected privacy label on the Mac App Store.