ElevenLabs SFX V3 Text-to-SFX API

elevenlabs/sound-effects-v3

ElevenLabs Sound Effects V3 Text-to-SFX generates sound effects, ambience, and multi-part audio scenes from text descriptions for video, games, ads, and sound design workflows. Ready-to-use REST inference API, best performance, no coldstarts, affordable pricing.

Sound Effects Generation
Input

Idle

$0.002per run·~500 / $1

ExamplesView all

A heavy antique door slowly creaks open, followed by two crisp footsteps on a wooden floor. A small brass bell rings brightly overhead, its delicate resonance fading into the quiet room. Clear sequential sounds, realistic textures, no speech or music.

Related Models

README

ElevenLabs Sound Effects V3

ElevenLabs Sound Effects V3 generates sound effects and ambient audio from text descriptions. Describe a single sound, an environment, or a sequence of events to create audio for videos, games, advertising, and other creative projects.

Why Choose This?

  • Multi-part sound effects — Describe several sounds in the order they should happen.
  • Ambient sound design — Generate environmental sounds, atmospheres, and background audio.
  • Vocal and musical elements — Include vocal effects or short musical sounds in your prompt.
  • Flexible duration — Generate audio from 0.5 to 30 seconds.
  • Loop support — Create sound effects designed to repeat smoothly.

Parameters

ParameterRequiredDescription
promptYesDescribe the desired sound, environment, and sequence of events.
durationNoRequested duration from 0.5 to 30 seconds. Default: 5.
loopNoGenerate a sound effect designed to loop smoothly. Default: false.
prompt_influenceNoControls how closely the result follows the prompt, from 0 to 1. Default: 0.3.

How to Use

  1. Write a prompt — Describe the sound effect, atmosphere, or sequence of sounds you want.
  2. Choose duration — Select a length from 0.5 to 30 seconds.
  3. Configure optional settings — Enable looping or adjust prompt_influence when needed.
  4. Submit — Generate, preview, and download the audio.

Pricing

$0.002 per billed second.

DurationPrice
5s$0.01
10s$0.02
30s$0.06

The requested duration is rounded up to the next whole second for billing. Decimal durations are supported; for example, a 1.5-second request is billed as 2 seconds ($0.004).

loop and prompt_influence do not add separate charges.

Best Use Cases

  • Video sound design — Create impacts, movement sounds, transitions, and environmental effects.
  • Game audio — Generate interface sounds, actions, ambience, and world effects.
  • Advertising — Add custom sound effects to product and campaign content.
  • Ambient audio — Create rain, crowds, nature, machinery, interiors, and other environments.
  • Creative audio projects — Generate unusual or stylized sounds from text descriptions.

Pro Tips

  • Describe concrete sound sources, environment, intensity, and timing.
  • For multi-part effects, describe events in the order they should happen.
  • Use loop=true when generating repeating ambience or background effects.
  • Adjust prompt_influence when you need stronger or looser adherence to the description.
  • Keep prompts focused when precise sound timing matters.

Notes

  • Output is an MP3 audio file.
  • Each request generates one sound effect.
  • duration supports 0.5–30 seconds and defaults to 5.
  • loop defaults to false.
  • prompt_influence defaults to 0.3.
  • For multi-part sound effects, describe the events in their intended order.
  • Exact timing and repetition may vary between generations.

Related Models

Note:This website uses AI models provided by third parties. Documentation prices are for reference and may be outdated. The Generate button shows an estimate; the final task charge prevails.

Sound Effects v3 API — Quick start

Grab a WaveSpeedAI API key, then call POST https://api.wavespeed.ai/api/v3/elevenlabs/sound-effects-v3 with your input as JSON. The endpoint returns a prediction id. Start polling the result endpoint around every 2 seconds, increase the interval for long-running tasks, and stop on any terminal status. On completed, read output values from data.outputs. Examples for Sound Effects v3 below.

HTTP example
set -euo pipefail

: "${WAVESPEED_API_KEY:?Set WAVESPEED_API_KEY}"

REQUEST_BODY=$(cat <<'JSON'
{
    "prompt": "A cinematic shot of a city at sunset, soft golden light",
    "duration": 5,
    "loop": false,
    "prompt_influence": 0.3
}
JSON
)

# 1. Submit the prediction.
SUBMIT_RESPONSE=$(curl --silent --show-error --fail-with-body \
  -X POST "https://api.wavespeed.ai/api/v3/elevenlabs/sound-effects-v3" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $WAVESPEED_API_KEY" \
  -d "$REQUEST_BODY")

TASK=$(printf '%s' "$SUBMIT_RESPONSE" | jq 'if has("data") then .data else . end')
PREDICTION_ID=$(printf '%s' "$TASK" | jq -r '.id')
if [ -z "$PREDICTION_ID" ] || [ "$PREDICTION_ID" = "null" ]; then
  printf 'Submission response did not contain a prediction id
' >&2
  exit 1
fi
RESULT_URL="https://api.wavespeed.ai/api/v3/predictions/$PREDICTION_ID/result"

# 2. Poll until the prediction finishes.
while true; do
  RESPONSE=$(curl --silent --show-error --fail-with-body "$RESULT_URL" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer $WAVESPEED_API_KEY")
  RESULT=$(printf '%s' "$RESPONSE" | jq 'if has("data") then .data else . end')
  STATUS=$(printf '%s' "$RESULT" | jq -r '.status')
  case "$STATUS" in
    completed) printf '%s\n' "$RESULT" | jq '.outputs'; break ;;
    failed|cancelled|timeout|deleted) printf '%s\n' "$RESULT" | jq . >&2; exit 1 ;;
    *) sleep 2 ;;
  esac
done
Node.js example
const submitUrl = "https://api.wavespeed.ai/api/v3/elevenlabs/sound-effects-v3";
const apiKey = process.env.WAVESPEED_API_KEY;
if (!apiKey) throw new Error('Set WAVESPEED_API_KEY');

async function requestJson(url, options = {}) {
  const response = await fetch(url, options);
  if (!response.ok) throw new Error(await response.text());
  return response.json();
}

// 1. Submit the prediction.
const body = await requestJson(submitUrl, {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "Authorization": `Bearer ${apiKey}`,
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
        "prompt": "A cinematic shot of a city at sunset, soft golden light",
        "duration": 5,
        "loop": false,
        "prompt_influence": 0.3
}),
});
const task = body.data ?? body;
if (!task.id) throw new Error("Submission response did not contain a prediction id");
const resultUrl = `https://api.wavespeed.ai/api/v3/predictions/${task.id}/result`;

// 2. Poll until the prediction finishes.
while (true) {
  const resultBody = await requestJson(resultUrl, {
    headers: { "Authorization": `Bearer ${apiKey}` },
  });
  const result = resultBody.data ?? resultBody;
  if (result.status === "completed") {
    console.log(result.outputs);
    break;
  }
  if (["failed", "cancelled", "timeout", "deleted"].includes(result.status)) throw new Error(JSON.stringify(result));
  await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 2000));
}
Python example
import json
import os
import time
from urllib.request import Request, urlopen

api_key = os.environ["WAVESPEED_API_KEY"]
headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {api_key}", "Content-Type": "application/json"}
payload = {
    "prompt": "A cinematic shot of a city at sunset, soft golden light",
    "duration": 5,
    "loop": False,
    "prompt_influence": 0.3
}

def request_json(url, data=None):
    request = Request(url, data=data, headers=headers, method="POST" if data else "GET")
    with urlopen(request) as response:
        return json.load(response)

# 1. Submit the prediction.
body = request_json("https://api.wavespeed.ai/api/v3/elevenlabs/sound-effects-v3", json.dumps(payload).encode())
task = body.get("data", body)
if not task.get("id"):
    raise RuntimeError("Submission response did not contain a prediction id")
result_url = f"https://api.wavespeed.ai/api/v3/predictions/{task['id']}/result"

# 2. Poll until the prediction finishes.
while True:
    result_body = request_json(result_url)
    result = result_body.get("data", result_body)
    status = result.get("status")
    if status == "completed":
        print(result.get("outputs", []))
        break
    if status in {"failed", "cancelled", "timeout", "deleted"}:
        raise RuntimeError(result)
    time.sleep(2)

Sound Effects v3 API — Frequently asked questions

What is the Sound Effects v3 API?

Sound Effects v3 is a ElevenLabs model for sound effect generation, exposed as a REST API on WaveSpeedAI. ElevenLabs Sound Effects V3 Text-to-SFX generates sound effects, ambience, and multi-part audio scenes from text descriptions for video, games, ads, and sound design workflows. Ready-to-use REST inference API, best performance, no coldstarts, affordable pricing. You can call it programmatically or try it from the playground above.

How do I call the Sound Effects v3 API?

POST your input parameters to the model's REST endpoint (shown in the API tab of this playground) with your WaveSpeedAI API key in the Authorization header. Submission returns a prediction ID. Poll the result endpoint starting around every 2 seconds, increase the interval for long-running tasks, and stop on any terminal status. The playground generates Python, JavaScript, and cURL examples for submitting requests and polling results. Full request/response shape is documented at https://wavespeed.ai/docs/docs-api/elevenlabs/elevenlabs-sound-effects-v3.

How much does Sound Effects v3 cost per run or per second?

Sound Effects v3 starts at $0.002 per run or per second. That figure is the base price — the final charge scales with the parameters you set in the form (output size, length, count, references, or whatever knobs this model exposes), so a higher-quality or larger output costs more than a minimal one. The exact cost for your current input is shown live next to the Generate button before you submit, and the actual per-call charge is recorded on the prediction afterwards.

What inputs does Sound Effects v3 accept?

Key inputs: `prompt`, `duration`, `loop`, `prompt_influence`. The full JSON schema (types, defaults, allowed values) is rendered above the Generate button and mirrored in the API reference at https://wavespeed.ai/docs/docs-api/elevenlabs/elevenlabs-sound-effects-v3.

How do I get started with the Sound Effects v3 API?

Sign up for a free WaveSpeedAI account to claim starter credits, copy your API key from /accesskey, then call the endpoint shown in the API tab of the playground. The playground also auto-generates a code sample in Python, JavaScript, or cURL for the parameters you've set.

Can I use Sound Effects v3 outputs commercially?

Commercial usage rights depend on the model's license, set by its provider (ElevenLabs). Check the provider's applicable terms and WaveSpeedAI's Terms of Service before commercial use.

llms.txt — elevenlabs/sound-effects-v3 for AI agents and LLMs