Cartesia rates higher than both Hume models, generates speech faster, and costs less.

Q: Which Hume models does this compare against?

Octave 2 and Octave TTS, which is how Artificial Analysis lists Hume's two text to speech models. Hume's own documentation calls them Octave 2, which it labels a preview, and Octave 1.

Q: How is the quality score measured?

It comes from Artificial Analysis, an independent benchmark. Listeners hear two clips of the same line without being told which model produced either, and pick the one they prefer. The Provider Voice Arena lets every model speak in its own voices. Cartesia's Sonic 3.6 also ranks first on their Controlled Voice Arena, which gives every model the same set of cloned voices.

Q: Can I use my own voice with Cartesia?

Yes. An instant clone takes 10 seconds of audio and a professional clone takes 30 minutes. Both are on the public API, rather than reserved for an enterprise agreement.

Q: Can I run Cartesia on my own infrastructure?

Yes. Cartesia deploys on-prem and air-gapped, which teams in healthcare, finance, and government use to keep audio inside their own network, backed by a 99.9% uptime SLA.

Q: How long does it take to switch from Hume?

One to two weeks for most teams. Cartesia is integrated into the major voice agent platforms and every model is on the public API, so there is no platform to move onto and nothing to unpick later.

ServiceNow, Decagon, and Quora run their production voice agents on Cartesia. One model, 44 languages, first audio in under 90ms, running inside your own network when you need it.

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Voice quality

Cartesia rates higher than both Octave models

The Provider Voice Arena rates every model on its own voices, so a voice roster counts alongside the model that speaks it.
Hume sells Octave on emotional intelligence and natural-sounding speech. Sonic 3.6 rates above both Octave models on a blind listening test, and it is first on the Artificial Analysis Controlled Voice Arena, which gives every model the same voices.

Provider Voice Arena Elo

Higher is better

October 2026

1291

1056

1038

Sonic 3.6

Cartesia

Octave 2

Hume

Octave TTS

Hume

Speed

Cartesia generates nearly three times as fast as either Octave model

Artificial Analysis measures generation speed for every model on the board, so both sides are timed by the same harness.
That headroom over playback is what keeps a long turn from stalling mid-sentence, and it holds whichever Octave model you call.

Characters per second

Higher is better

August 2026

127.8

45.6

45.4

Sonic 3.5

Cartesia

Octave 2

Hume

Octave TTS

Hume

Price

Cartesia costs less per character than either Octave model

Artificial Analysis prices every model on the board the same way, per million characters of text.
The cheaper model here is also the one listeners rate higher, so the saving does not come out of quality.

Price per 1M characters

USD, lower is better

August 2026

87.5

Sonic 3.6

Cartesia

Octave 2

Hume

Octave TTS

Hume

Reasons why companies choose Cartesia over Hume AI

Sonic 3.6

Octave 2, Octave TTS

CartesiaHume AI

Human-like naturalness
Intonation, pacing, pronunciation, emotion, and audio quality that drive higher completion rates
Cartesia
1291 Elo
October 2026
Hume AI
1056 EloOctave 21038 EloOctave TTS
October 2026
Latency
Decides whether it feels like a conversation or a phone tree.
Cartesia
<90ms to first audio
Hume AI
~100msOctave 2 preview~200msOctave TTS
Languages
Comprehension and trust across a global customer base.
Cartesia
44 languages from one model
Hume AI
11 languagesOctave 2 previewEnglish and SpanishOctave TTS
Custom voices
How much audio it takes, and who is allowed to use one.
Cartesia
Instant clone from 10 seconds, professional clone from 30 minutes, on the public API
Hume AI
Cloning on every plan, with API access to a cloned voice on their Enterprise plan
Deployment
Decides whether regulated teams can use it at all.
Cartesia
VPC, on-prem, on-device, or air-gapped, behind a 99.9% uptime SLA
Hume AI
A cloud API, with SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, and HIPAA on their Enterprise plan
End-to-end stack
How many vendors it takes to run one call.
Cartesia
TTS, STT, and Agents from one vendor, on one API. The only provider ranked first on both speech and transcription
Hume AI
Text to speech and a speech-to-speech voice interface

Frequently asked questions

Which Hume models does this compare against?

Octave 2 and Octave TTS, which is how Artificial Analysis lists Hume's two text to speech models. Hume's own documentation calls them Octave 2, which it labels a preview, and Octave 1.

How is the quality score measured?

It comes from Artificial Analysis, an independent benchmark. Listeners hear two clips of the same line without being told which model produced either, and pick the one they prefer. The Provider Voice Arena lets every model speak in its own voices. Cartesia's Sonic 3.6 also ranks first on their Controlled Voice Arena, which gives every model the same set of cloned voices.

Can I use my own voice with Cartesia?

Yes. An instant clone takes 10 seconds of audio and a professional clone takes 30 minutes. Both are on the public API, rather than reserved for an enterprise agreement.

Can I run Cartesia on my own infrastructure?

Yes. Cartesia deploys on-prem and air-gapped, which teams in healthcare, finance, and government use to keep audio inside their own network, backed by a 99.9% uptime SLA.

How long does it take to switch from Hume?

One to two weeks for most teams. Cartesia is integrated into the major voice agent platforms and every model is on the public API, so there is no platform to move onto and nothing to unpick later.