What ElevenLabs Music is, and where music sits in their product line
ElevenLabs built its name on synthetic speech: text-to-speech, voice cloning, dubbing. Eleven Music is one product inside that platform, generating full tracks, with or without vocals, from a text description and optional lyrics, in a browser or through an API. It shares the platform's credit system: every plan has a monthly pool of credits, one credit is roughly one character of speech, and music draws from the same pool at 900 credits per minute. That design tells you who it is for: people already producing audio on the platform, who add music to a voice-over, a podcast or an app.
ReelMusic is the opposite shape. It is a single-purpose iPhone app for business and creator accounts. There is no prompt field, no voice product, no API. The input is a video from Photos; the output is the same video with an original instrumental track mixed in.
Prompt-driven vs. video-driven generation
Eleven Music
You describe the music: genre, mood, instrumentation, tempo, structure, length, lyrics if any. The model composes to the description. The quality of the result depends on the quality of the description, which suits producers and people who know what they want. ElevenLabs' Studio also includes a web-based video-to-music tool that reads a clip's motion and tone, which is the closest thing on the market to ReelMusic's approach, on a desktop.
ReelMusic
You pick a clip. The app reads its mood, pace and cut rhythm, shows you a one-line summary of what it found, and composes to that. Steering is five vibes and a slider. The result depends on the footage, which suits a shop owner who has a video and no vocabulary for music. Everything happens on the phone the video was shot on.
The prompt approach wins on specificity and range; the video approach wins on effort and fit. A prompt can ask for a female vocal over a trap beat with a key change; the video approach will never do that, and does not need to for a 20-second product Reel.
Plans, credits and minutes of music per month
ElevenLabs prices by credits, not by songs or minutes, so the useful number for a video maker is how many minutes of music a plan buys if nothing else is generated. The chart divides each plan's monthly credits by the published rate of 900 credits per minute.
Minutes of music per month included in ElevenLabs plans
Monthly credits divided by 900 credits per minute of Eleven Music. The grey bar is non-commercial. Credits are shared with speech, dubbing and other tools, so real music minutes are lower if you use those.
View as table
| Plan | Price per month (annual billing) | Credits per month | Minutes of music | Commercial use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 10,000 | ≈ 11 | No; attribution required |
| Starter | $6 ($5) | 30,000 | ≈ 33 | Yes |
| Creator | $22 ($18.33) | 121,000 | ≈ 134 | Yes |
| Pro | $99 ($82.50) | 600,000 | ≈ 667 | Yes |
| Scale | $299 ($249.17) | 1,800,000 | ≈ 2,000 | Yes |
| Business | $990 ($825) | 6,000,000 | ≈ 6,667 | Yes |
Read the chart with two caveats. First, a minute of generated music is not a minute of usable music: most people generate several versions to get one they like, and every version costs credits. Second, every draft is a full track, so for a 20-second Reel the credits pay for a lot of music you cut away. ReelMusic counts in tracks instead: a plan includes a monthly allowance of generations, each composed to the clip, with credit packs for more; the allowance is shown in the app and is small compared with ElevenLabs' minutes, because each track is short and already fitted.
Licence terms for commercial and client work on each
| Question | ElevenLabs (Eleven Music) | ReelMusic |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | No commercial use; attribution "Created in collaboration with ElevenLabs" or similar required wherever the output is published | Private, non-commercial use and evaluation only |
| Business account, ads, client work | Starter and above, per the Music Commercial Rights table for the plan | Any paid plan: organic posts, paid social and display ads, websites, client work |
| Excluded uses on self-serve plans | "Enterprise-only" uses such as TV and radio distribution, and streaming as a music product, per ElevenLabs' documentation; reseller and music-library arrangements need their own agreement | TV, radio, cinema, games; selling or releasing the track as music; Content ID or GEMA registration |
| Training data | ElevenLabs states Eleven Music is trained on licensed music | Generated through providers under commercial agreements that assign or license the output to ReelMusic (terms §7.1) |
| After you cancel | Music generated while subscribed remains licensed under the plan's terms; verify in the current terms | Tracks generated on a paid plan stay licensed |
| Content ID | Original output; not expected to be claimed | Original output; documentation provided for a false claim |
| Ownership | A use licence; AI-generated output is generally not copyrightable | A non-exclusive use licence, same reason |
ElevenLabs updates its music terms often; the version we read is dated 26 May 2026 and refers to a "Music Commercial Rights table" that sets the limits per plan. Before relying on it for a client, read the current table for your plan. The row that separates the two products for an agency is not the commercial right itself, which both sell, but the shape of it: ElevenLabs licenses audio you take somewhere else; ReelMusic licenses a track inside a finished video, which is why its terms let you pass the licence to a client with that video and not as a bare audio file.
Getting a track to fit a cut: length, structure, ending
Three things decide whether music feels made for a Reel: it is the right length, its energy moves where the video moves, and it ends instead of stopping. With Eleven Music you control all three through the prompt and then in an editor: ask for the length and structure you want, generate, then align the result with the clip and fade the ending in CapCut or Premiere. It works, and it gives an experienced editor more control than ReelMusic ever will. What it costs is a round trip: browser to download to editor to phone.
ReelMusic's answer is narrower and shorter. The track is composed to the clip's length; the studio view puts the filmstrip above the waveform so you can drag the music until the swell sits on the cut, and the fade handles and mix sliders finish it. There is no way to say "I want a chorus at second twelve"; there is a way to slide the music until the chorus is at second twelve. For a business owner that is usually the better trade.
Where ElevenLabs is the better choice
Choose ElevenLabs if you
- Need vocals, lyrics or a full song. ReelMusic is instrumental only.
- Already produce voice-over, dubbing or sound effects; one platform and one credit pool.
- Build a product and need an API.
- Want to describe the music precisely and iterate on the description.
- Work on a desktop or on Android.
- Need long tracks, or hundreds of minutes a month, at a low price per minute.
Choose ReelMusic if you
- Post short vertical video from a business account and want the music derived from the clip, not described.
- Shoot and post on an iPhone and do not want a desktop round trip.
- Do not want to write or refine prompts.
- Want the track positioned on your cuts and exported as a finished video in one app.
- Want a licence written for video: ads, client hand-over inside the video, survives cancellation.
Verdict table
| What matters for a business account | ReelMusic | ElevenLabs Music |
|---|---|---|
| Composed for your specific video | ✓ Watches the clip | ~ Prompt by default; web video-to-music tool in Studio |
| Safe to post from a business account | ✓ Every paid-plan track | ✓ Starter and above; free plan is non-commercial with attribution |
| Fits the length and cuts of the clip | ✓ Timed to the video, positioned by you | ✕ Set length in the prompt, align in another app |
| No prompt writing or music knowledge | ✓ One tap | ✕ Genre, tempo, mood by hand |
| Vocals, API, voice-over in the same tool | ✕ | ✓ |
| Where it happens | On your iPhone, video to export | Web, then your editor |
| Cheapest plan with commercial use | Monthly $14.99; Yearly $99.99 | Starter $6/mo, $5 on annual billing |
| Music per month on that plan | A monthly allowance of fitted tracks, shown in the app | ≈ 33 minutes of generated music, shared with speech |
| TV and radio | ✕ Excluded | ✕ Enterprise only |
FAQ
Can I use Eleven Music commercially on a business account?
On the Starter plan and above. The free plan excludes commercial use and requires attribution. ElevenLabs' music terms exclude some enterprise-only uses such as TV and radio distribution on self-serve plans; check the current Music Commercial Rights table for your plan.
How much music do I get per month on ElevenLabs?
Eleven Music costs 900 credits per minute. Starter's 30,000 credits are about 33 minutes, Creator's 121,000 about 134 minutes and Pro's 600,000 about 667 minutes, if you spend nothing on speech or other tools, which share the same credits.
Does ElevenLabs generate music from a video?
Its Studio includes a web-based video-to-music tool alongside the prompt-driven generator. ReelMusic is built only around the video and runs on an iPhone, from Photos back to Photos.
Which is cheaper for a few Reels a month?
ElevenLabs Starter at $6 a month is the lower price and covers around 33 minutes of music, far more than a few Reels need. ReelMusic Monthly is $14.99 and includes the analysis, positioning and export steps that ElevenLabs leaves to your editor. Which is cheaper in time depends on whether you already have an editing workflow.
Does either tool trigger Content ID claims?
Neither should: both generate original audio that no label or library has registered. ElevenLabs states Eleven Music is trained on licensed music; ReelMusic commits in its terms to provide documentation if an automated system raises a false claim.