Independent guides / checked Sep 2026
AI avatars now learn you from a short phone clip, then present anything you type in 175+ languages. We read the fine print behind the demos, so you know what you get before you pay.
Or start on HeyGen's free plan. We earn 20% of what you pay HeyGen in your first 12 months if you subscribe through our links. It never changes what we publish, including the parts HeyGen would rather we skipped.
HeyGen's filming guide asks for one uninterrupted two-minute take in 1080p or better, starting with a two to three second pause. Its newest model, Avatar V, can start from just 15 seconds. A phone or a webcam is fine.
Minimum 15 s / recommended 2 minThe avatar delivers your script with your face and gestures, and with a voice clone, your voice. Avatar V clips run up to three minutes each, and each minute costs 48 credits. That cost is the number to plan around.
$29 plan / about 12 min of Avatar VVideo translation re-voices a finished video and re-syncs the lips. At 6 credits a minute it costs far less than generating new avatar footage, which makes it the cheapest way to multiply one good video.
6 credits per minute with lip-syncSources: heygen.com/pricing, HeyGen help centre credit table, G2 figure as shown on heygen.com, Trustpilot. All checked 25 Sep 2026.
The exact HeyGen workflow from a 2-minute phone clip: filming specs, consent, training, scripting, translating, and what each step costs.
Read the guide → Review / buyerWhat $29 really buys in minutes, why its Trustpilot and G2 scores disagree, how it compares with Synthesia, and who should skip it.
Read the review →"AI video" covers six different jobs, and the best tool for one is often wrong for the next. The last line of every card says whether that company pays us. Most of them do not, and we recommend them anyway.
Training, sales explainers, onboarding, product updates. You write; an avatar presents on camera.
Your own face and voice, trained from footage you film once, then reused for every video after.
Re-voice and lip-sync an existing video into other languages without filming again.
B-roll, scenes and shots that never existed. No presenter and no script delivery; a different category.
Narration for faceless channels, podcasts and ads. A voice tool is cheaper than an avatar tool here.
Turning long recordings into shorts, removing filler words, captioning. Editing, not generation.
An AI clone is legal and useful. Posting one without these five things is how accounts get limited and audiences feel tricked.
HeyGen requires a consent video from the same person who appears in the footage, and it does not accept other people's videos without permission or footage made by other AI generators.
YouTube asks creators to mark realistic altered or synthetic content in YouTube Studio. Its Partner Program also restricts "inauthentic", mass-produced content, so a twin reading unique scripts is fine; a channel of templated uploads is at risk.
Both platforms apply AI labels and expect you to disclose photorealistic AI video and realistic synthetic voices when you post.
The Act's transparency duties (Article 50) apply from 2 August 2026. Realistic AI video of a real person is the textbook case for a "this is AI-generated" label.
If a video recommends a product that pays you, say so plainly, as this site does. It is a legal requirement in most markets and it is also what keeps an audience trusting you.
General information, not legal advice. Platform rules change; check each platform's current policy before you publish.
There is a free plan: 3 videos a month, up to 1 minute each, 1080p, one custom avatar, with a watermark. Paid plans start at $29 a month (Creator), or $24 a month billed annually.
Yes. HeyGen's own filming tips say a phone or webcam works. Lock focus and exposure by pressing and holding on your face before recording, use good light, and look straight into the lens.
It depends on the avatar model. 600 credits buys about 12.5 minutes of Avatar V, about 19 minutes of Avatar IV, or 150 minutes of the older Avatar III. Our credit calculator shows every combination.
Technically it is realistic synthetic video of a real person, which is why the disclosure rules above apply. Made of yourself, with consent, and labelled, it is an ordinary production tool.
HeyGen pays us 20% of what a customer we refer pays in their first 12 months. No other tool on this site pays us. We run ads to these guides and track clicks to HeyGen; see privacy and disclosure.
Start on HeyGen's free plan, build your twin, and only pay once you know how many minutes you actually need.
Affiliate link. We earn 20% of what you pay HeyGen in your first 12 months. The free plan costs nothing.