7 best AI lip sync video tools (2026 comparison)

Searching for a lip-sync generator “from a photo” usually means you need a talking-photo workflow: a still portrait has no original mouth motion to retime. Use this mobile talking-photo app comparison to choose a portrait-first tool; use the lip-sync tools below when the starting asset is already a video.

Best AI lip sync video tools at a glance

Magic Hour publishes this guide and is included in the comparison. Provider documentation establishes current inputs, limits, prices, and workflows; it does not establish comparative output quality. We have not assigned quality scores because we do not have a controlled, same-source benchmark across all seven tools. Product and pricing sources were checked September 14, 2026.

1. Magic Hour: start with a short recording

Use Magic Hour when the person is already on video and you want to replace the spoken line, create a dubbed version, or synchronize a performance to new audio. You supply the voice track; lip sync does not establish that a translation is correct.

The browser tool offers three guest attempts per day, up to ten seconds each, with watermarked free video results. It accepts MP4 and MOV footage. Start with one visible face and clear speech, then watch the full result before choosing a longer job.

For example, record “Pick the blue box. Pause. Now press play.” Include the pause in your audio. Check whether the lips stop during it and whether the face stays consistent when the speaker turns. This is a suggested trial, not a measured accuracy score.

Check mouth movement and both trim windows. In the signed-in Lip Sync editor, Standard and Pro require mouth movement in the source video. Choose footage where the speaker is already moving their mouth; a higher-detail mode is not a remedy for a motionless mouth. Finish generating any cloned voice track before submitting the lip-sync job.

Timing example: a 12-second video selection paired with an 8-second audio selection produces an 8-second output, because the shorter selected segment determines duration. Align the start of the intended line in the audio selection and check both end points. Lip sync does not automatically stretch the video to fill a longer voiceover or fix the audio tempo. See the current mode and timing guide before committing a longer clip. This example illustrates the duration rule, not a measured output test.

If you only have a portrait, open Talking Photo directly. There is no need to invent a separate moving clip first. For setup images and upload steps, follow the lip sync tutorial.

Magic Hour’s current commercial-use Terms permit commercial output use with a paid subscription, credit-pack purchase or separately agreed paid usage-based billing, subject to source rights and those Terms. Without one of those paid arrangements, use is personal and non-commercial. Watermark and export allowances are separate checks—confirm them for the chosen account and route. Choose after the sample meets your requirements; extra credits cannot repair an unsuitable source. Entitlement checked October 10, 2026.

2. HeyGen: presenters and translated video

HeyGen combines avatar creation with video translation. Its current help center says the Free plan provides one to three videos depending on region, up to one minute each, through a 720p sharing link. Creator is $29/month with 600 credits, 1080p export, and watermark removal. This is not unlimited premium generation. Keep the studio subscription and API quote separate when comparing costs.

For a translated recording, judge the rewritten meaning and voice before judging the mouth. A fluent reviewer should check names, numbers, and the requested action. Reject an otherwise convincing video if it changes the message.

3. Sync: lip sync through an API

For organizations on legacy usage billing, Sync's current pricing separates the subscription from model usage. Legacy Hobbyist is $5/month and Creator is $19/month. On those tiers, lipsync-2 is $0.05/second, lipsync-2-pro is $0.08325/second, and sync-3 is $0.1334/second at 25 FPS. Legacy Creator removes the watermark and raises the maximum video length from one to five minutes.

At those legacy entry-tier rates and 25 FPS, three 20-second attempts cost $3 with lipsync-2, about $5 with lipsync-2-pro, or about $8 with sync-3, before the subscription. Record the selected model, frame rate, attempts, and completed charge rather than quoting one price for the entire service.

Check which Sync billing model your organization uses

Sync’s billing documentation explicitly labels Hobbyist, Creator, Growth and Scale as legacy usage plans. Organizations enrolled in credit billing use the plans below instead. Availability depends on the organization; check Studio billing before comparing offers.

Credit billing includes the monthly pool instead of separate usage invoices. One credit covers $0.01 of generation usage; this is not the price of purchased top-ups. At the documented approximate five credits/second for lipsync-2 at 25 FPS, one 30-second attempt needs about 150 credits and two need about 300. That uses the entire nominal Hobby grant before other work. These are budget calculations, not accepted-output or quality results; the account’s quote is authoritative.

Hobby credit-plan outputs have a watermark; Starter and higher include watermark-free output when a clean output is available. Purchased top-ups have plan-specific prices: 500 credits are $6.50 on Hobby and $5 on Team. Monthly grants carry forward for one additional billing period. Cancellation forfeits remaining credits, including purchased top-ups, when the subscription ends.

Before a batch, use Sync’s Estimate Cost endpoint with the selected model, billable duration and FPS. It creates no generation and returns estimated frames, dollars and credits; estimatedCredits is null for dollar-billed organizations. For cut_off mode, budget the shorter audio/video duration. Billing-source scope checked October 10, 2026.

4. Hedra: animate a character from an image

Hedra Character 3 accepts a start image and required audio, with 540p, 720p, and 1080p options listed. It fits a character who needs to speak or sing from a still image. It is a different starting workflow from replacing dialogue in existing footage.

The current plan page lists Basic at $20/month, Pro at $50/month, Ultra at $100/month and Teams at $75/month, all with monthly billing; Enterprise pricing is custom. A plan's credits are not a fixed number of finished videos. The Hedra guide explains the first-clip workflow and current pricing.

5. D-ID: presenter-led video

D-ID Creative Reality Studio supports videos built from images, text, or audio. Consider it when a presenter is part of an explainer or training layout. Its pricing FAQ says Trial and Lite outputs have watermarks and usage rounds up to 15-second intervals.

Check the presenter type as well as the plan. An advertised output resolution for one presenter does not establish that every uploaded portrait uses the same generation path.

6. Runway Act-Two: performance transfer

Runway retired its standalone Lip Sync tool on May 27, 2026 and directs users to Act-Two. Act-Two takes a driving-performance video plus a character image or video, then transfers speech, expression, and motion. It is the better fit when the source performance should drive more than the mouth.

Runway lists up to 30 seconds, 24 FPS, web access, and five credits per second with a three-second minimum. A character image supports gesture control; a character video retains its existing environment and camera motion but does not support gesture control. Compare it as performance capture, not as a drop-in video-plus-audio API.

Current Act-Two documentation is the source to use for this workflow. Previous Act-Two product-page URL is retained here as a historical reference; it returned 404 when checked on October 2, 2026.

7. LatentSync 1.6: local video lip sync

ByteDance LatentSync takes an existing video and replacement audio, then generates synchronized mouth motion locally. Version 1.6 uses 512-by-512 face-region training and the project is licensed under Apache 2.0. It is a closer fit for video lip sync than a talking-photo model because the input already contains motion.

Choose it when local operation and code-level control justify setup work. The current inference path targets CUDA, so verify your environment before committing to it. Review the 1.6 changelog, model files, face coverage, and full output; an open-source license does not guarantee that every input or output is suitable for commercial use.

Compare the same clip before buying

Use a recording representative of the work you will actually publish. Keep the source, audio, crop, and requested duration unchanged across tools.

Use one clip that exposes common failures

For a free browser trial, keep the clip within the tool’s limit. Magic Hour’s current free lip-sync tool permits up to ten seconds. Include a visible B, M or P phrase, such as “Pick the blue box,” plus a silent pause. For an account or endpoint that supports a longer test, extend to 20–30 seconds with a profile turn, brief lower-face occlusion and fast speech. Keep source footage, audio, crop, output target and duration identical across candidates. Label different-duration or different-input workflows separately; they are not a matched comparison. Free-tool limit checked October 1, 2026.

Record cost per accepted clip

For every attempt, record model or mode, render time, charge, failure, and whether the output passed the checks below. Cost per accepted clip equals all charges for that tool divided by accepted outputs. This captures retries that a plan price or cost-per-second headline misses. Publish the source assets, settings, raw outputs, and rejection notes if you report a winner or numeric score.

Watch at normal speed first, then inspect the difficult moments. Do not award a winner from one attractive still frame. For free allowances, use the free lip sync comparison.

How to estimate the cost of a finished clip

Write down the planned duration, attempts per version, number of languages, and required export. Compare the total subscription and usage bill for that workload, not the cheapest advertised entry price.

Magic Hour's API documentation lists one credit per rendered frame for Lite and Standard, and two for Pro. A ten-second, 30-FPS job is approximately 300 credits at the one-credit rate or 600 at the two-credit rate. The completed charge is authoritative; mode access also depends on the subscription. Keep this API calculation separate from the guest website allowance.

Continue learning

Continue learning: AI lip sync explainer, and realistic talking-avatar guide.