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Model infoModelsSnapshot: 15 Oct 2026

Cartesia / Sonic 3

Cartesia Sonic 3 (2026-01-12)

Text-to-speech through Cartesia’s Sonic service.

Speech & voice
availableClosed weightsText-to-speech
Official documentation (opens in a new tab)Reviewed 12 Oct 2026
10 of 21 specification fields collected
Output formatsRaw PCM, WAV (Bytes only), MP3 (Bytes only)See specification notes below
Languages42 listedFull language list in specifications
Input billingSee ratesCartesia
Output billingSee ratesPublished units and conditions below

Specifications

Provider-documented facts. “Not collected” means we have not verified that field yet, not that the feature is unsupported.

Context / input limit
Not collected
Maximum output
Not collected
Input modalities
TextSource for Input modalities (opens in a new tab)
Output modalities
AudioSource for Output modalities (opens in a new tab)
Reasoning
Not collected
Tool calling
Not collected
Structured output
Not collected
Streaming
SupportedSource for Streaming (opens in a new tab)

Bytes and SSE stream audio from a complete transcript; WebSocket supports incremental text and audio. Retired snapshots are retained for historical reference.

Batch processing
Not collected
Fine-tuning
Not collected
Knowledge cutoff
Not collected
Release date
2026-01-12Source for Release date (opens in a new tab)
Parameters
Not collected
Architecture
Not collected
Languages
View all 42 entries
  • en
  • de
  • es
  • fr
  • ja
  • pt
  • zh
  • hi
  • ko
  • it
  • nl
  • pl
  • ru
  • sv
  • tr
  • tl
  • bg
  • ro
  • ar
  • cs
  • el
  • fi
  • hr
  • ms
  • sk
  • da
  • ta
  • uk
  • hu
  • no
  • vi
  • bn
  • th
  • he
  • ka
  • id
  • te
  • gu
  • kn
  • ml
  • mr
  • pa
Source for Languages (opens in a new tab)
Context caching
Not collected

Cartesia documents client-side caching of generated audio; provider inference caching is not verified.

Output formats
Raw PCM, WAV (Bytes only), MP3 (Bytes only)Source for Output formats (opens in a new tab)
Audio sample rates
8000 Hz, 16000 Hz, 22050 Hz, 24000 Hz, 44100 Hz, 48000 HzSource for Audio sample rates (opens in a new tab)
Usage metering
Approximately 1 credit per characterSource for Usage metering (opens in a new tab)

Transcript preprocessing can change the exact credit count. Dollar charges depend on the subscription and overage tier.

Voice controls
Speed, Volume, Emotion, Pronunciation dictionarySource for Voice controls (opens in a new tab)

generation_config is supported on Sonic 3 and newer. PVC voices learn pacing and volume from their training data, so runtime speed and volume have no effect on PVC output.

Audio infill
SupportedSource for Audio infill (opens in a new tab)

Generate speech between an audio prefix and suffix. This operation uses Sonic 3, not a separate model.

Access & pricing

Prices belong to an endpoint and billing tier. A provider listing does not guarantee access for every account or region.

Cartesia

Provider source (opens in a new tab)
API model ID
sonic-3-2026-01-12
Access
Native API with an eligible account and API key or access token. Credit balance and plan limits apply. No paid inference was performed.
Regions
api.cartesia.ai routes to the closest endpoint. Dedicated US, EU, UK, India and Australia deployments require Enterprise access.
API endpoint URL
POST https://api.cartesia.ai/tts/bytesSource for API endpoint URL (opens in a new tab)
Usage metering
Approximately 1 credit per characterSource for Usage metering (opens in a new tab)
Output formats
Raw PCM, WAV, MP3Source for Output formats (opens in a new tab)
API aliases
sonic-3Source for API aliases (opens in a new tab)

Family alias follows the stable offering; the dated selector pins a snapshot.

Prices retain their published currencies and billing units below.

Published billing units · original currency · observed 12 Oct 2026
CategoryUsageRateUnit
Subscription credit overageScale overage1$38.001M credits
Subscription credit overageStartup overage2$45.001M credits
Subscription credit overagePro overage3$65.001M credits

Rate conditions

  1. Scale subscription required. Charged only beyond included credits with overages enabled; monthly subscription fees are additional. These are credit prices, not per-million-token or per-million-character rates. Convert using this endpoint's documented credit meter.
  2. Startup subscription required. Charged only beyond included credits with overages enabled; monthly subscription fees are additional. These are credit prices, not per-million-token or per-million-character rates. Convert using this endpoint's documented credit meter.
  3. Pro subscription required. Charged only beyond included credits with overages enabled; monthly subscription fees are additional. These are credit prices, not per-million-token or per-million-character rates. Convert using this endpoint's documented credit meter.
Pricing source (opens in a new tab)

Data & enterprise terms

Enterprise customers may opt into ZDR for TTS/STT inference content; operational metadata is retained. Voice cloning and fine-tuning are excluded. General terms permit model improvement/training unless separately agreed or an opt-out is processed.

Read the service policy (opens in a new tab)

Cartesia

Provider source (opens in a new tab)
API model ID
sonic-3-2026-01-12
Access
Native API with an eligible account and API key or access token. Credit balance and plan limits apply. No paid inference was performed.
Regions
api.cartesia.ai routes to the closest endpoint. Dedicated US, EU, UK, India and Australia deployments require Enterprise access.
API endpoint URL
POST https://api.cartesia.ai/tts/sseSource for API endpoint URL (opens in a new tab)
Usage metering
Approximately 1 credit per characterSource for Usage metering (opens in a new tab)
Output formats
Raw PCMSource for Output formats (opens in a new tab)
API aliases
sonic-3Source for API aliases (opens in a new tab)

Family alias follows the stable offering; the dated selector pins a snapshot.

Prices retain their published currencies and billing units below.

Published billing units · original currency · observed 12 Oct 2026
CategoryUsageRateUnit
Subscription credit overageScale overage1$38.001M credits
Subscription credit overageStartup overage2$45.001M credits
Subscription credit overagePro overage3$65.001M credits

Rate conditions

  1. Scale subscription required. Charged only beyond included credits with overages enabled; monthly subscription fees are additional. These are credit prices, not per-million-token or per-million-character rates. Convert using this endpoint's documented credit meter.
  2. Startup subscription required. Charged only beyond included credits with overages enabled; monthly subscription fees are additional. These are credit prices, not per-million-token or per-million-character rates. Convert using this endpoint's documented credit meter.
  3. Pro subscription required. Charged only beyond included credits with overages enabled; monthly subscription fees are additional. These are credit prices, not per-million-token or per-million-character rates. Convert using this endpoint's documented credit meter.
Pricing source (opens in a new tab)

Data & enterprise terms

Enterprise customers may opt into ZDR for TTS/STT inference content; operational metadata is retained. Voice cloning and fine-tuning are excluded. General terms permit model improvement/training unless separately agreed or an opt-out is processed.

Read the service policy (opens in a new tab)

Cartesia

Provider source (opens in a new tab)
API model ID
sonic-3-2026-01-12
Access
Native API with an eligible account and API key or access token. Credit balance and plan limits apply. No paid inference was performed.
Regions
api.cartesia.ai routes to the closest endpoint. Dedicated US, EU, UK, India and Australia deployments require Enterprise access.
API endpoint URL
wss://api.cartesia.ai/tts/websocketSource for API endpoint URL (opens in a new tab)
Usage metering
Approximately 1 credit per characterSource for Usage metering (opens in a new tab)
Output formats
Raw PCMSource for Output formats (opens in a new tab)
API aliases
sonic-3Source for API aliases (opens in a new tab)

Family alias follows the stable offering; the dated selector pins a snapshot.

Prices retain their published currencies and billing units below.

Published billing units · original currency · observed 12 Oct 2026
CategoryUsageRateUnit
Subscription credit overageScale overage1$38.001M credits
Subscription credit overageStartup overage2$45.001M credits
Subscription credit overagePro overage3$65.001M credits

Rate conditions

  1. Scale subscription required. Charged only beyond included credits with overages enabled; monthly subscription fees are additional. These are credit prices, not per-million-token or per-million-character rates. Convert using this endpoint's documented credit meter.
  2. Startup subscription required. Charged only beyond included credits with overages enabled; monthly subscription fees are additional. These are credit prices, not per-million-token or per-million-character rates. Convert using this endpoint's documented credit meter.
  3. Pro subscription required. Charged only beyond included credits with overages enabled; monthly subscription fees are additional. These are credit prices, not per-million-token or per-million-character rates. Convert using this endpoint's documented credit meter.
Pricing source (opens in a new tab)

Data & enterprise terms

Enterprise customers may opt into ZDR for TTS/STT inference content; operational metadata is retained. Voice cloning and fine-tuning are excluded. General terms permit model improvement/training unless separately agreed or an opt-out is processed.

Read the service policy (opens in a new tab)

Cartesia

Provider source (opens in a new tab)
API model ID
sonic-3-2026-01-12
Access
Native API with an eligible account and API key or access token. Credit balance and plan limits apply. No paid inference was performed.
Regions
api.cartesia.ai routes to the closest endpoint. Dedicated US, EU, UK, India and Australia deployments require Enterprise access.
API endpoint URL
POST https://api.cartesia.ai/infill/bytesSource for API endpoint URL (opens in a new tab)
Usage metering
300 credits per request plus approximately 1 credit per transcript characterSource for Usage metering (opens in a new tab)
API aliases
sonic-3Source for API aliases (opens in a new tab)

Prices retain their published currencies and billing units below.

Published billing units · original currency · observed 12 Oct 2026
CategoryUsageRateUnit
Subscription credit overageScale overage1$38.001M credits
Subscription credit overageStartup overage2$45.001M credits
Subscription credit overagePro overage3$65.001M credits

Rate conditions

  1. Scale subscription required. Charged only beyond included credits with overages enabled; monthly subscription fees are additional. These are credit prices, not per-million-token or per-million-character rates. Convert using this endpoint's documented credit meter.
  2. Startup subscription required. Charged only beyond included credits with overages enabled; monthly subscription fees are additional. These are credit prices, not per-million-token or per-million-character rates. Convert using this endpoint's documented credit meter.
  3. Pro subscription required. Charged only beyond included credits with overages enabled; monthly subscription fees are additional. These are credit prices, not per-million-token or per-million-character rates. Convert using this endpoint's documented credit meter.
Pricing source (opens in a new tab)

Data & enterprise terms

Enterprise customers may opt into ZDR for TTS/STT inference content; operational metadata is retained. Voice cloning and fine-tuning are excluded. General terms permit model improvement/training unless separately agreed or an opt-out is processed.

Read the service policy (opens in a new tab)

Caching

Caching can reuse earlier input processing. Availability, lifetime and billing depend on the endpoint. A cache hit still generates a new response.

01 / INITIAL INPUTProcess & retain

The system processes eligible input and retains reusable state.

02 / LATER REQUESTCheck available state

Reuse depends on matching input, session state and the cache policy.

03 / CACHE HITReuse & generate

Reusing state can reduce repeated work. Any charges follow the billing rules below.

Cartesia

sonic-3-2026-01-12
Not verified

The documented cache is an application-owned audio-file cache, not provider inference caching.

How it works
Client-side stock-phrase audio reuseSource for How it works (opens in a new tab)
Minimum reusable input
Not collected
Lifetime & refresh
Controlled by your application storageSource for Lifetime & refresh (opens in a new tab)
How to enable it
Generate raw PCM once and store it locally; concatenate cached clips into live audioSource for How to enable it (opens in a new tab)
Usage fields
Playback bypasses the generation APISource for Usage fields (opens in a new tab)
Billing rules
Initial generation consumes credits; local replay makes no API requestSource for Billing rules (opens in a new tab)
Limits & data boundaries
Match model snapshot, voice, language, sample rate and encoding. WAV/MP3 headers prevent raw-stream concatenation.Source for Limits & data boundaries (opens in a new tab)

No verified cache rate for this endpoint. An empty rate is not a zero charge.

Caching reviewed 12 Oct 2026

Cartesia

sonic-3-2026-01-12
Not verified

The documented cache is an application-owned audio-file cache, not provider inference caching.

How it works
Client-side stock-phrase audio reuseSource for How it works (opens in a new tab)
Minimum reusable input
Not collected
Lifetime & refresh
Controlled by your application storageSource for Lifetime & refresh (opens in a new tab)
How to enable it
Generate raw PCM once and store it locally; concatenate cached clips into live audioSource for How to enable it (opens in a new tab)
Usage fields
Playback bypasses the generation APISource for Usage fields (opens in a new tab)
Billing rules
Initial generation consumes credits; local replay makes no API requestSource for Billing rules (opens in a new tab)
Limits & data boundaries
Match model snapshot, voice, language, sample rate and encoding. WAV/MP3 headers prevent raw-stream concatenation.Source for Limits & data boundaries (opens in a new tab)

No verified cache rate for this endpoint. An empty rate is not a zero charge.

Caching reviewed 12 Oct 2026

Cartesia

sonic-3-2026-01-12
Not verified

The documented cache is an application-owned audio-file cache, not provider inference caching.

How it works
Client-side stock-phrase audio reuseSource for How it works (opens in a new tab)
Minimum reusable input
Not collected
Lifetime & refresh
Controlled by your application storageSource for Lifetime & refresh (opens in a new tab)
How to enable it
Generate raw PCM once and store it locally; concatenate cached clips into live audioSource for How to enable it (opens in a new tab)
Usage fields
Playback bypasses the generation APISource for Usage fields (opens in a new tab)
Billing rules
Initial generation consumes credits; local replay makes no API requestSource for Billing rules (opens in a new tab)
Limits & data boundaries
Match model snapshot, voice, language, sample rate and encoding. WAV/MP3 headers prevent raw-stream concatenation.Source for Limits & data boundaries (opens in a new tab)

No verified cache rate for this endpoint. An empty rate is not a zero charge.

Caching reviewed 12 Oct 2026

Cartesia

sonic-3-2026-01-12
Not verified
How it works
Not collected
Minimum reusable input
Not collected
Lifetime & refresh
Not collected
How to enable it
Not collected
Usage fields
Not collected
Billing rules
Not collected
Limits & data boundaries
Not collected

No verified cache rate for this endpoint. An empty rate is not a zero charge.

What the measurements say

No benchmark observations have been added for this model. We do not turn a vendor description into a performance score.

Latency and throughput depend on the host, request size, reasoning settings and load. There is no measured speed or global usage figure in this record.

The record behind the model

Why it is included

Service terms prohibit downloading or distributing the hosted models and reserve provider model rights. These Sonic/Ink service variants are not in the reviewed official public-weight inventory. Classification is specific to the served variant: public Rene, Llamba, Mamba and H-Net weights are excluded; Ink Whisper is a provider-specific derivative, not a reclassification of baseline Whisper.

Classification evidence (opens in a new tab)

Lifecycle dates

Released12 Jan 2026Source (opens in a new tab)

Sources reviewed