Pick Cartesia if
product teams shipping a live voice agent or TTS API who will stay on Sonic / Ink.
Read the Cartesia pageCartesia vs Rime
Our take
Pick Cartesia if you're on a product team shipping a live voice agent or TTS API who will stay on Sonic / Ink. Pick Rime if you're on a voice-agent team who will start on the $50 Free usage or Flex $/min. Skip Cartesia if you're narrators who only need a one-off MP3 of a script (WellSaid). Skip Rime if you're a creator who want a browser VO download (Listnr) without an API key.
Best for
Cartesia Voice that has to answer live
Rime A voice-agent voice with a public $/min
Free plan
Cartesia $0 · 20K credits / month. $1 prepaid agents / month. TTS + STT. No commercial-use license on this card
Rime $0 · / mo. $50 of usage every month, no card; does not roll over
Lowest paid
Cartesia Pro $5/mo
Rime Flex $0.030
Next step up
Cartesia Startup $49/mo
Rime Scale $100
Coding agent
Cartesia Managed voice agents
Rime
Runs where
Cartesia Hosted
Rime
Watch out
Cartesia Free is not a commercial license
Rime Free $50 does not roll over
Last checked
Cartesia 2026-10-22 · cartesia.ai/pricing
Rime 2026-10-27 · rime.ai/pricing
Which one, then?
Pick Rime if
voice-agent teams who will start on the $50 Free usage or Flex $/min.
Read the Rime page