Can You Use AI Voices Commercially? Licences, Free Plans and the Law

Yes, with a commercial licence. Most free AI voice plans, Leelo's included, are for personal use; a paid plan gives you the right to use the audio in videos you monetize, ads, courses, audiobooks, apps and games. Beyond the licence, two things matter: never use a real person's voice without their permission, and label deepfakes where the law or the platform asks.

Checked on 24 October 2026. This is a practical guide, not legal advice.

What does a commercial licence let me do?

On any paid Leelo plan, or a lifetime deal, you may use the audio you make commercially: "in videos, podcasts, audiobooks, courses, ads, apps and games, including after your plan ends". That last part matters: a video you published while subscribed doesn't need a plan forever.

Audio made on Leelo's free plan is for personal, non-commercial use. That's typical: many free tiers in this market exclude commercial use, so check before you publish something you earn from.

Who owns the audio and the voices?

You own your scripts, your uploads and the audio you make, as far as the law allows, and Leelo doesn't train AI models on them. A voice you clone or design belongs to your account (and your team, if you share it). Nobody else can use it.

Can I clone someone else's voice?

Only with their clear permission. Leelo asks you to confirm consent every time you clone a voice. Laws are catching up:

• Tennessee's ELVIS Act protects a person's voice, defined to include a sound "readily identifiable and attributable to a particular individual, regardless of whether the sound contains the actual voice or a simulation".
• The US NO FAKES Act, which would create a federal voice right, is still a bill as of October 2026.
• In the UK there's no specific personality right yet; the government is considering one.

Designed voices (made from a description) must not be built to sound like a specific real person either.

Do I have to label AI audio?

In the EU, sometimes. Since 2 August 2026, the AI Act requires anyone who publishes a deepfake ("image, audio or video content" that makes something false look real) to disclose that it's artificially generated. The European Commission's guidelines give two examples that settle most questions:

• A deepfake: "AI-generated audio involving voice cloning of a newspaper podcast's regular presenters".
• Not a deepfake: "AI voice replication for fictional characters (e.g., for audiobooks, games or animation) when there is no deception as to the identity of the narrators".

A licensed AI voice reading your own script isn't a deepfake. For creative or fictional work, a light disclosure that doesn't spoil it is enough, and personal use is outside the rule.

On platforms, often. YouTube, Udemy, Apple Podcasts, TikTok ads and the audiobook stores each have their own labels; see our platform-by-platform guide.

In phone calls, always (US). The FCC ruled in 2024 that calls using AI voices "require the prior express consent of the called party".

A short checklist

1. Make anything you'll earn from on a paid plan.
2. Clone only your own voice, or one whose owner agreed in writing.
3. Don't imitate real people, especially public figures, in anything that could deceive.
4. Label where the platform asks, and in the EU whenever a real person appears to speak.
5. Keep your script and settings, so you can show how the audio was made.

Plans and what they include: pricing.