HeyGen

HeyGen is an AI video platform built around avatars. You choose or create an avatar, type or upload a script, and it produces a video of a presenter speaking it with matching lip movement. It also translates and dubs existing videos into many languages, clones voices and offers templates, which makes it popular for marketing, training and sales videos made without a camera.

Quick facts

• Made by: HeyGen, a company founded in 2020
• Free plan: Yes. You can make 3 videos a month, each up to 1 minute, with a watermark.
• Paid plans: Creator, Pro and Business, plus a custom Enterprise plan
• Works on: Web, with an API for developers
• Pricing last checked: October 2026, using several recent published sources. HeyGen sells credits, not minutes, and credit costs change by avatar model, so confirm on HeyGen’s official pricing page.

What HeyGen is best at

• Presenter videos without filming: turn a script into a talking-avatar video in minutes.
• Translation and dubbing: convert a video into other languages, with optional lip-sync.
• Your own digital twin: create an avatar of yourself, with consent, for repeat videos.
• Voice cloning: keep a consistent voice across videos on paid plans.
• Team and training use: shared workspaces, single sign-on and course-format export on higher plans.

Plans and pricing

How credits work

Credits are one balance for all video creation and translation, and each feature spends them at a different rate. Reported rates include about 3 credits per minute for the older Avatar III model, about 20 credits per minute for Avatar IV and V (this rises for more expressive options), 2 credits per minute for audio dubbing and 5 credits per minute for lip-synced translation. On Creator, 600 credits cover roughly 30 minutes of top-quality avatar video, or around 200 minutes with Avatar III. Unused credits are reported to roll over for one extra month on monthly plans. Confirm the current rates on HeyGen’s official page, since they vary by avatar type and look.

Best for

• Marketers, trainers and sales teams who need many short presenter videos.
• Businesses that want to localise existing videos into several languages.
• Creators who want a consistent on-screen presenter without being on camera.

Less suited to

• Content that depends on real emotion or authentic people, where audiences may notice and dislike an avatar.
• High-volume production at the best avatar quality, because credits run out quickly.
• Any use of a real person’s likeness or voice without their clear permission.

How to get started

1. Sign up for the free plan and make a short test video with a stock avatar.
2. Write the script to be spoken aloud, with short sentences and one message per video.
3. Test how many credits a minute costs with the avatar model you want before you plan a month’s work.
4. Try translation on a short clip to check that the lip-sync and tone suit your audience.
5. Move to a paid plan only once you know your monthly minutes, and label AI-made videos clearly where appropriate.

Prompt ideas to copy

Write a 60-second explainer script for [product], aimed at [audience]. Open with the problem, give three benefits in plain language and end with one clear next step. Use short sentences written to be spoken aloud.

Turn this blog post into a 90-second video script with a hook in the first five seconds, three key points and a closing call to action.

Rewrite this training script so it sounds natural when spoken. Mark pauses and keep every sentence under 20 words.

Translate this script into [language], keeping the tone friendly and professional. Flag any phrase that does not translate well.

Limitations and things to watch

• Credits, not minutes, set your real limit, and premium avatars use them fast.
• Avatar videos can look artificial to some viewers, so test with your audience.
• Only create avatars and cloned voices with the person’s consent, and follow local rules on labelling AI content.
• Plans, credit rates and features change often.

Alternatives

Compare Runway for generative video clips, ElevenLabs for voices and dubbing, and Leonardo AI for image-to-video.