Comparisons
Sonilo vs ElevenLabs vs Mirelo for AI Sound Effects
- Written by
- Sonilo Team
- Published
Sonilo covers both frame-accurate video-to-SFX and text-to-SFX with a published benchmark edge, ElevenLabs is a text-prompt SFX API without video awareness, and Mirelo is a narrow video-to-SFX specialist.
Quick answer
All three tools generate AI sound effects, but they cover different parts of the workflow. Sonilo Sound Effects 1.0 does both video-to-sound-effects (frame-accurate SFX synced to cuts, motion, objects, and UI actions in an uploaded clip) and text-to-sound-effects (isolated SFX from a written prompt), exposed through a REST API with Python and JS SDKs. ElevenLabs SFX is a mature text-prompt-driven sound-effects API — strong for one-off effects described in words, but it has no video-to-sound-effects equivalent; it doesn't analyze an uploaded video and place effects at the right frames. Mirelo is the opposite specialist: a video-to-sound-effects model that watches a clip and generates synced audio, without Sonilo's or ElevenLabs' breadth on the text-prompt side.
If your pipeline needs one API that handles both "generate SFX from this video" and "generate SFX from this text prompt," plus licensed output ready for commercial use, Sonilo is built for that. If you only need quick text-prompted effects and don't need video awareness, ElevenLabs SFX is a reasonable fit. If video-native generation is the only requirement and you're comparing specialist models, Mirelo is worth evaluating alongside Sonilo's video-to-sfx endpoint.
Side-by-side comparison
| Dimension | Sonilo | ElevenLabs SFX | Mirelo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Video-to-SFX (frame-accurate) | Yes — POST /v1/video-to-sfx, always async | No — text prompt only, no video input | Yes — video-to-sfx is its core specialty |
| Text-to-SFX | Yes — POST /v1/text-to-sfx, always async | Yes — core product, text-prompt driven | Optional text-prompt guidance alongside video, not a standalone text-to-SFX product |
| Developer API | Official REST API + Python/JS SDKs | Public REST API | API access via Mirelo Studio and partner inference platforms |
| Published benchmark result (audio-eval) | Led ElevenLabs SFX v2 on 16 of 24 text-to-SFX metrics (Clotho + AudioCaps); also benchmarked against Mirelo v1.6 on the video-to-SFX task | Compared against Sonilo on 24 text-to-SFX metrics across Clotho and AudioCaps | Compared against Sonilo on the video-to-SFX task |
| Licensing for commercial use | Fully licensed via Shutterstock — commercial-safe | See ElevenLabs' own terms of service | See Mirelo's own terms of service |
| Primary specialty | Full-stack SFX: video-aware and text-prompt in one API, built for production pipelines | Text-to-SFX at scale, part of a broader voice/audio suite | Narrow, research-driven video-to-SFX specialist model |
| Best for | Teams that need SFX synced automatically to video edits and text-prompted effects from one vendor | Teams that only need quick text-prompted one-off effects | Teams specifically comparing video-native SFX specialist models |
Benchmark results
Sonilo publishes its evaluation methodology and results in the open-source audio-eval repository, which benchmarks Sonilo Sound Effects 1.0 against both ElevenLabs SFX v2 and Mirelo v1.6. On the text-to-sound-effects task, run against the Clotho and AudioCaps datasets (12 metrics per dataset, 24 metrics total), Sonilo Sound Effects 1.0 led ElevenLabs SFX v2 on 16 of 24 metrics — 9 of 12 on Clotho and 7 of 12 on AudioCaps.
The same benchmark suite also evaluates Sonilo against Mirelo v1.6 on the video-to-sound-effects task, since Mirelo is a video-to-sound-effects specialist rather than a text-to-sound-effects tool. That pairing is a separate comparison from the ElevenLabs text-to-SFX numbers above, and we're not citing a specific metric count for it here — see the audio-eval repository for the full video-to-SFX methodology and results if you want the underlying numbers for that task.
FAQ
Does ElevenLabs generate SFX from video?
No. ElevenLabs' sound effects API is text-prompt driven — you describe the effect in words and it generates audio up to 30 seconds long. It does not accept video input, analyze frames, or place effects at specific moments in a clip. If you need sound effects that are automatically synced to what's happening on screen, that requires a video-to-sound-effects model like Sonilo's video-to-sfx endpoint or Mirelo.
What is Mirelo?
Mirelo is a Berlin-based startup and model family focused specifically on video-to-sound-effects generation: you upload a video clip and it produces synced audio — footsteps, impacts, engine noise, and similar effects — based on what happens in the frames, with optional text-prompt guidance. It's accessible through Mirelo's own Studio product and via third-party inference platforms rather than a general-purpose SFX API covering both text and video like Sonilo's.
What does the "16 of 24" benchmark result mean?
It's the result of Sonilo's open-source audio-eval benchmark comparing Sonilo Sound Effects 1.0 against ElevenLabs SFX v2 specifically on the text-to-sound-effects task, using the Clotho and AudioCaps datasets (12 evaluation metrics per dataset). Sonilo led on 16 of those 24 metrics — 9 of 12 on Clotho and 7 of 12 on AudioCaps. It's a separate comparison from Sonilo's benchmark against Mirelo v1.6 on the video-to-sound-effects task; the two pairings use different competitor models and shouldn't be conflated.
Is Sonilo's sound effects output licensed for commercial use?
Yes. Sonilo's sound effects generation is fully licensed via Shutterstock, so output from both the video-to-sfx and text-to-sfx endpoints is commercial-safe to use in client work, products, and published video without separate rights clearance.
Related Sonilo pages
- Full benchmark methodology and results: https://github.com/shwj114114/audio_eval
- Best AI sound effect generators for video in 2026: https://sonilo.com/blog/comparisons/best-ai-sound-effect-generators-for-video-2026
- Video-to-sound-effects API docs: https://platform.sonilo.com/docs/api/video-to-sfx
- Text-to-sound-effects API docs: https://platform.sonilo.com/docs/api/text-to-sfx
- Sonilo pricing: https://sonilo.com/pricing
