Build Your Own Podcast Generator with n8n and ElevenLabs in 15 Minutes
Podcasting is booming — but recording, editing, and publishing episodes manually takes hours. What if you could automate the entire pipeline from text to a fully voiced audio file, ready to publish? With n8n and elevenlabs, that's exactly what you can do — in about 15 minutes.
In this guide, you'll learn how to connect n8n workflows with the elevenlabs text-to-speech API to generate realistic, professional-sounding podcast episodes automatically. No coding required. No audio engineering degree needed.
What You'll Need
- n8n — self-hosted or cloud version
- elevenlabs account — free tier works for testing
- A script source: RSS feed, Google Sheets, Notion, or a static text node
- Optional: cloud storage (Google Drive, Dropbox, or S3) to save your audio files
Why This Combination Works So Well
n8n is one of the most flexible workflow automation tools available. It lets you connect hundreds of apps and APIs visually, without writing a single line of code. elevenlabs is the industry leader in AI voice synthesis — producing voices so natural they're nearly indistinguishable from human recordings.
Together, n8n and elevenlabs form a powerful content automation engine. You feed in text, and out comes a polished audio file. Simple as that.
Step-by-Step: Building the Workflow
Step 1 — Trigger Your Workflow
Start your n8n workflow with a trigger. You have several options:
- Schedule Trigger — run daily or weekly automatically
- Webhook Trigger — fire when new content is published
- Manual Trigger — for on-demand generation during testing
For a true set-and-forget podcast pipeline, use the Schedule Trigger in n8n set to run every morning.
Step 2 — Pull Your Script Content
Next, connect a data source. Popular choices inside n8n include:
- RSS Feed Node — convert blog posts into podcast scripts automatically
- Google Sheets Node — maintain a spreadsheet of episode scripts
- HTTP Request Node — fetch content from any API or CMS
Add a Set Node in your n8n canvas to clean up and format the text before passing it to elevenlabs.
Step 3 — Connect to ElevenLabs API
This is where the magic happens. Add an HTTP Request Node in n8n and configure it to call the elevenlabs Text-to-Speech API:
- Method: POST
- URL:
https://api.elevenlabs.io/v1/text-to-speech/{voice_id} - Headers: Add your elevenlabs API key as
xi-api-key - Body: Pass your formatted script text as JSON
Choose from elevenlabs' library of over 120 voices — or clone your own voice for a truly personalized podcast. The elevenlabs response will return a binary audio file (MP3 format) directly inside your n8n workflow.
Step 4 — Save and Distribute Your Audio
Once n8n receives the audio from elevenlabs, route it to your preferred destination:
- Google Drive Node — save the MP3 to a podcast folder
- Dropbox or S3 Node — upload to cloud storage for hosting
- Email or Slack Node — notify your team that a new episode is ready
- HTTP Request Node — push directly to a podcast hosting platform API
Step 5 — Test and Activate
Run the workflow manually once inside n8n to verify everything works. Check that the elevenlabs audio output sounds correct and the file lands in your storage destination. Once confirmed, activate the workflow and let n8n handle everything automatically going forward.
Pro Tips for Better Results
- Use SSML tags — elevenlabs supports speech markup for pauses, emphasis, and pronunciation control
- Add an intro/outro script — prepend and append static intro text in n8n before sending to elevenlabs
- Monitor voice quotas — set up a n8n alert if your elevenlabs character quota drops below a threshold
- Batch episodes — use n8n's loop nodes to process multiple scripts in one workflow run
Real-World Use Cases
This n8n + elevenlabs pipeline isn't just for podcasters. Here are a few creative applications:
- Convert your blog posts into audio articles automatically
- Generate daily news briefings from RSS feeds
- Create internal training audio from company documentation
- Produce multilingual podcast versions using different elevenlabs voice models
Conclusion
Automating your podcast production with n8n and elevenlabs is one of the smartest content workflows you can build today. In just 15 minutes of setup, you unlock a repeatable, scalable pipeline that turns any text into professional audio — on autopilot.
Whether you're a solo creator, a marketing team, or a developer building content tools, this n8n + elevenlabs combination delivers serious value with minimal effort. Start building today and let your content speak for itself — literally.
This post was created with tools we use and recommend: n8n for workflow automation, Turbotic as an AI-native automation alternative, ElevenLabs for AI voiceover, Placid for visual content creation, and Hostinger for reliable VPS hosting. Some links are affiliate links.