ElevenLabs Music $0.15/min vs a flat Lyria generation: 1, 3, 5 minutes
ElevenLabs lists Music at $0.15 a minute with a 5-minute cap. Sume Music charges a flat $0.125 per generation. Costs at 1, 3 and 5 minutes of ElevenLabs audio.
ElevenLabs lists its Music API at $0.15 per minute with a 5-minute cap, so a 1-minute track is $0.15, a 3-minute track is $0.45, and a 5-minute track is $0.75. Sume Music charges a flat $0.125 per generation on Lyria 3.5, whatever length the track comes out.
The two meters answer different questions, because Sume has no duration setting. You can price an ElevenLabs track exactly before you run it, but you cannot choose a length on Sume.
The numbers
ElevenLabs figures come from its API pricing page. The Sume figure comes from the Music docs and the router catalog.
| Track length requested | ElevenLabs Music at $0.15/min | Sume Music, Lyria 3.5 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 minute | $0.15 | $0.125 per generation |
| 3 minutes | $0.45 | $0.125 per generation |
| 5 minutes (ElevenLabs cap) | $0.75 | $0.125 per generation |
How to read it honestly
A cheaper number only helps if the output is the one you need.
- ElevenLabs lets you set the length up to 5 minutes. Sume's music request has a prompt of 1 to 5,000 characters and no duration field.
- Sume does not state a track length for Lyria 3.5 in its docs, so do not assume a 3-minute song for $0.125. Generate one and measure the file.
- If Sume's take is short, you can join takes with timeline audio at $0.01 per job.
- If you need a sound effect or a specific runtime, ElevenLabs lists those as separate products, and Sume Music is for tracks.
Test before you budget
Write one prompt, run it on both services, and measure what you get: the length of each file, how usable the ending is, and whether you needed a second try. Sume's flat price makes a second try cost $0.125. ElevenLabs' per-minute price makes a second 3-minute try cost another $0.45. Multiply by the number of tries you expect, not by one, and the comparison usually moves.
A decision rule
Choose ElevenLabs when you must have a 3-minute track and want the price to be predictable per minute. Choose Sume when you want a bed for a short video, you are happy to trim, and you want a flat cost per try. At $0.125 you can generate eight candidates for $1.00 and keep the best.
Whichever you use, check the licence terms for commercial use on the vendor's own page before you publish, since this post does not summarise them.
Sources
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