HeyGen pricing (2026): free plan, credits & API costs

If you are choosing a presenter-video platform for a team, compare HeyGen and Synthesia. Review localization and collaboration requirements before selecting a monthly allowance.

Checked October 10, 2026. Budget for the selected avatar engine, Look type, motion controls and export workflow. HeyGen says costs and limits can vary by account creation date or region; the credit cost displayed before generation is the charge for that job.

Magic Hour publishes this guide and includes its own product in the comparison. Treat the recommendations as editorial guidance from a vendor, and verify the linked first-party product details and your own output requirements before choosing a tool.

HeyGen monthly plans compared

HeyGen pricing page, captured September 25, 2026. Billing selection, currency and any promotion are shown in the screenshot; recheck the live page and checkout before buying. View official source

Source: HeyGen's pricing page. Creator and Pro list up to 30 minutes per video; Business lists up to 60. A maximum video duration is not an included monthly generation allowance.

For example, three Business seats total $189/month before extra usage and taxes: $149 + $20 + $20. Additional seats do not automatically add generation credits. Budget the shared pool as well as the team.

Compare the presenter job, not a generic video prompt

Use the same authorized portrait and a short authorized speech recording for a talking-photo trial. Check pronunciation, mouth timing, facial stability, export requirements and the actual charge. Magic Hour Talking Photo covers the portrait-and-speech task; it is not a substitute for every HeyGen team, translation or presenter-production feature.

How many minutes do 600 HeyGen credits buy?

There is no universal “600 credits equals X minutes” conversion. The detailed guide uses different rates for each avatar engine and Look type. Custom motion, translation and generated assets draw from the same pool. Use the quote for your actual selection before projecting capacity.

The following scenarios use the detailed credit-based plan guide, checked October 10. Its standard published rates match the examples below; use the displayed generation quote if your account differs.

These are arithmetic ceilings if the entire balance funds that one feature. They exclude retries, other asset creation, and any billing increments or account-specific differences. They are not promised finished-video allowances.

A real budget structure for ten 30-second videos

Ten accepted 30-second clips contain five minutes of final footage. If each takes two attempts, the project generates ten minutes. At a quote of 16 credits/minute, that uses 160 credits; at 31, it uses 310; at 48, it uses 480.

All three examples fit a 600-credit pool before other work, but leave very different balances. The two-attempt assumption is hypothetical. Test one representative script to learn your actual charges and revision needs.

Include a difficult product name, a number, and a natural pause in that script. Approve the voice and wording before generating many versions. A script change after animation can require another paid attempt.

Custom motion can change the budget substantially. The current credit guide lists Custom Expressive Motion as an additional 40 credits/minute on Avatar IV. At its standard 16-credit Photo Look rate, a 30-second scene calculates to 8 base credits plus 20 for custom motion: 28 rather than 8. Check whether the motion instruction is needed and included in the displayed quote before generating a batch. This is an illustrative calculation, not a quality comparison.

Is HeyGen still unlimited?

New credit-based subscriptions are not the old Unlimited plans. HeyGen's legacy-plan notice says those plans stopped being offered after May 15, 2026. Eligible existing subscribers can retain their legacy terms while the subscription remains active and in good standing; canceling or switching can prevent a return.

If you see an older review promising unlimited Avatar III videos, check which plan it describes. Do not use a legacy subscriber's allowance to estimate a new account's capacity. Existing customers should inspect their actual plan before changing it.

What happens when you run out of credits?

The current help guide says Creator and Pro users obtain more capacity by upgrading their plan or Pro tier. Business users can buy additional credits and enable auto-reload. The documented Business top-up is $5 for 100 credits.

Monthly unused credits can carry into one additional billing cycle. Annual subscribers receive monthly allocations and can accumulate unused credits until annual renewal. Canceling to Free ends rollover. Verify those terms and your renewal total before committing annually.

HeyGen API pricing is a separate purchase

HeyGen's API pricing explanation describes pay-as-you-go funding separate from Creator, Pro and Business. The current Avatar IV table lists Photo Avatar at $2.31/minute and Digital Twin or Studio Avatar at $4.83/minute. Avatar III lists Digital Twin at $0.60/minute and Studio or Photo Avatar at $0.99/minute. These published API rates are different from web-subscription credit rates.

At the listed $2.31/minute Avatar IV Photo Avatar rate, ten 30-second API generations contain five generated minutes and calculate to $11.55 before other operations or taxes. Generating another five minutes calculates to another $11.55. This is rate arithmetic, not a guaranteed invoice or measured output test; confirm the selected endpoint and current charge.

Check the exact endpoint, engine, output resolution, and current developer terms. LiveAvatar streaming is another product; do not price a live interactive session using a rendered-video rate. There is also an integration exception: the current credit guide says supported integrations such as Zapier, Make and n8n can use regular feature credits, despite needing API setup. Direct pay-as-you-go API funding and an integration workflow are different billing paths.

Does HeyGen offer a free API tier?

HeyGen does not provide free API credits; its billing FAQ dates that change to February 2026. The free web plan is a separate trial. Standalone pay-as-you-go API funding does not require Creator, Pro or Business. HeyGen’s API billing FAQ says pay-as-you-go credits expire after 12 months; legacy API Pro and Scale credits expire after 30 days.

How much does HeyGen API lip sync cost?

For an existing video and your own audio, HeyGen lists API Lipsync Audio at $0.84/minute in Speed mode or $1.74/minute in Precision mode. Translation with lip sync is a different job: $0.81/minute for Speed or $1.50/minute for Precision. These are the published API rates, not a monthly web-plan fee. Choose the operation and mode before comparing costs.

Which workflow should you compare with Magic Hour?

Start with your input and intended output, then compare the same job. Magic Hour publishes this guide and is one of the alternatives below.

For a talking-photo comparison, reuse the same portrait and ten-second audio segment. Check pronunciation, mouth movement at pauses, face stability, the downloaded file, and the total cost of revisions. Upgrade when a required export or recurring workload justifies it, rather than assuming a higher plan makes every message more effective.

For a broader decision, compare consumer plans in the AI video generator pricing guide and exact developer billing units in the AI video pricing index.