The best AI avatar generator depends on what a finished minute costs you and what you're allowed to do with it. On the vendors' own pricing pages (checked 2026-10-01), a minute of avatar video works out to about $0.77 on HeyGen Creator with an Avatar IV photo avatar, about $1.05 on Synthesia Starter if you use the whole allowance, and about $8.00 on Captions Max. On 8frame, a minute from a portrait and a voice track costs 240 credits with Pruna Avatar at 720p: $2.40 at pack rate. The terms differ as much as the prices do. Synthesia's stock avatars can't appear in paid ads, and Captions caps AI Creator scripts at one minute. This page compares price and terms only. We haven't tested output quality on any of these tools.
This is the paid counterpart to best free AI avatar generators, which covers what the free tiers hold back.
TL;DR
- Cheapest minute we could compute: HeyGen Creator, $29 a month for 600 credits. An Avatar IV photo avatar uses 16 credits a minute, so about 37 minutes a month, or $0.77 a minute
- Synthesia Starter: $29 a month. 1,750 credits at about 100 per minute, plus 10 included minutes, gives about 27 minutes, or $1.05 a minute. Stock avatars are licensed for organic use only, not for paid promotion
- Captions Max: $24.99 a month for 500 credits. Its talking-video tool uses 16 credits every 6 seconds, so about 3 minutes, or $8.00 a minute. AI Creator scripts are capped at one minute
- 8frame: no minute allowance. You pay per clip: Pruna Avatar is 102 credits for 30 seconds at 720p, and a voice track is 13 credits per started 1,000 characters. A one-minute video is 240 credits ($2.40 at pack rate), with output watermark-free on every plan
- D-ID: its pricing page loads plan prices through a script, so we couldn't verify them. The page text says videos on Trial and Lite plans carry a D-ID watermark
- Consent: HeyGen and Synthesia both require the person in a custom avatar to record their own consent video. It doesn't matter which plan you're on
Price per finished minute
The subscription tools sell a monthly allowance, so each per-minute figure below assumes you use all of it. Prices are monthly billing in USD, from each vendor's pricing page and credit documentation on 2026-10-01.
| Tool and plan | Price a month | Allowance | Avatar rate | Minutes a month | Per minute |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HeyGen Creator, Avatar III photo | $29 | 600 credits | 7 credits/min | 600 / 7 = 85.71 | $29 / 85.71 = $0.34 |
| HeyGen Creator, Avatar IV photo | $29 | 600 credits | 16 credits/min | 600 / 16 = 37.5 | $29 / 37.5 = $0.77 |
| HeyGen Creator, Avatar IV video look | $29 | 600 credits | 31 credits/min | 600 / 31 = 19.35 | $29 / 19.35 = $1.50 |
| HeyGen Creator, Avatar V | $29 | 600 credits | 48 credits/min | 600 / 48 = 12.5 | $29 / 12.5 = $2.32 |
| Synthesia Starter | $29 | 1,750 credits plus 10 included minutes | about 100 credits/min | 17.5 + 10 = 27.5 | $29 / 27.5 = $1.05 |
| Captions Max | $24.99 | 500 credits | 16 credits per 6 s = 160/min | 500 / 160 = 3.125 | $24.99 / 3.125 = $8.00 |
Annual billing lowers these numbers. HeyGen Creator is $24 a month paid yearly, which brings the Avatar IV photo minute down to $0.64. Synthesia Starter is $18 a month paid yearly, for 15,000 credits a year on top of the free allowance, or 21,000 counting the 500 included each month. Its credits page says video uses "about 100 credits per minute of finished video," a little more when the avatar is on screen longer. Captions' pricing page notes that its prices are for iOS plans.
What happens to an unused allowance also differs. HeyGen's monthly credits roll over for one more billing cycle. Synthesia's reset every billing period. Captions lets a balance build up to 3x the monthly allowance. On HeyGen Creator and on standard Captions plans you can't buy extra credits, only upgrade. HeyGen Business can top up at $0.05 a credit, which makes an Avatar IV photo minute 16 x $0.05 = $0.80.
What a minute costs on 8frame
8frame doesn't sell a minute allowance. You bring a portrait, or generate one (Nano Banana 2 at 1K is 11 credits), add an audio track, and a lip sync model animates the portrait to it. Each clip is billed by its length. Clips have length caps, so one minute is built from several clips joined with Merge Videos, which is 10 credits per merge run. The voice can come from ElevenLabs text to speech, at 13 credits per started 1,000 characters (up to 5,000 per generation).
These figures assume one voice track per clip, each under 1,000 characters:
| Route | Lip sync for 60 s | Voice | Join | Total | At $0.01 a credit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pruna Avatar, 720p | 2 clips x 30 s = 2 x 102 = 204 | 2 x 13 = 26 | 10 | 240 | $2.40 |
| Pruna Avatar, 1080p | 2 clips x 30 s = 2 x 183 = 366 | 26 | 10 | 402 | $4.02 |
| Hailuo H3 Max Lip Sync, 768p | 5 clips x 12 s = 5 x 130 = 650 | 5 x 13 = 65 | 10 | 725 | $7.25 |
| OmniHuman 1.5 | 2 clips x 30 s = 2 x 672 = 1,344 | 26 | 10 | 1,380 | $13.80 |
| Runway Act Two | 2 takes x 30 s = 2 x 240 = 480 | none (a filmed performance drives it) | 10 | 490 | $4.90 |
A credit is $0.01 at pack rate. Paid from the $19 Starter plan's own 1,000 credits, each credit costs $0.019, so the Pruna Avatar minute is about $4.56 and the plan covers about four minutes. Credits roll over while you're subscribed. With your own recorded voice, drop the voice column.
The clip limits behind those splits:
- Pruna Avatar: output follows your audio, up to 35 s. It bills per second: 3.375 credits at 720p, 6.075 at 1080p.
- OmniHuman 1.5: 5 to 35 s, billed in 5-second steps at 22.4 credits a second.
- Hailuo H3 Max Lip Sync: about 15 s of audio per clip, 5 s minimum, at four resolutions up to 2K.
- Runway Act Two: 3 to 30 s of reference performance at 8 credits a second.
None of the four had production runs on 8frame in the 30 days to 2026-09-30, so we quote their prices, not their output. The full breakdown is on AI lip sync price by model, and the voice step is covered in how to use ElevenLabs TTS.
Watermark, commercial use and length
| Tool | Watermark | Commercial use | Longest single video |
|---|---|---|---|
| HeyGen | Free videos always carry it; paid plans can switch it off | Creator, Pro and Business: you own the output and may use it commercially. Free plan output is personal, non-commercial and for internal evaluation only (no ads, no client work) | 1 minute on Free, 30 on Creator and Pro, 60 on Business |
| Synthesia | Basic videos carry it; Starter removes the logo and adds downloads | Stock and synthetic avatars: organic use (training, website, social posts) but not paid ads, paid social, paid YouTube, programmatic or TV ads. Custom avatars: per your agreement with the person | not stated on the pricing page |
| Captions | Max and above export without it; Max-only features used on Basic, including AI Creator for non-grandfathered users, add one | "All videos made using AI Creator can be used for commercial use" | AI Creator scripts: 1 minute, 10 to 800 characters |
| D-ID | On Trial and Lite plans, full-screen for trial users | not verified | not verified; minutes are rounded up to the next 15 seconds |
| 8frame | None, on every plan | Cleared on paid plans | 35 s per clip (Pruna Avatar, OmniHuman), longer by joining clips |
The Synthesia row matters most if the video is an ad. Synthesia's licensing page lets stock avatars appear on your website, YouTube and social feeds, but not "in any form of paid promotion." If the presenter is going into a paid placement, you'll need a custom avatar of a person who has agreed to it, or a different tool.
Consent and likeness
The rule from the free tiers applies just as much to paid ones. Creating an avatar of a real person requires that person's documented permission. Serious platforms enforce this with a recorded verification step, where the subject states consent on camera. Both big platforms here do:
- HeyGen requires a consent video for every video-based digital twin. If you're making an avatar of someone else, "that person must record their own consent video," submitted at the same time as the avatar footage.
- Synthesia requires consent footage to be "recorded live" and to "include the on-screen passcode," recorded by the person the avatar represents.
This is not a formality to route around. A client asking you to build an avatar of their CEO needs the CEO's participation, not just the client's instruction. And it firmly rules out generating a likeness of anyone who hasn't agreed, including public figures. See synthetic talent and celebrity likeness in ads.
The same applies on 8frame. Pruna Avatar, OmniHuman and Hailuo H3 Max Lip Sync animate whatever portrait you give them, so use only a face and a voice you have documented permission to use.
Which to pick, by job
These suggestions are based on price and listed features only, not on output quality.
The most minutes for the money, with a stock or photo presenter: HeyGen Creator. At $0.34 to $0.77 a minute on Avatar III and IV photo avatars, it has the lowest rates on this page, and its terms allow commercial use on paid plans.
Training and internal video with a predictable monthly budget: Synthesia Starter, at about 27 minutes for $29 if you use them all. Keep stock-avatar videos to organic channels, because paid promotion isn't licensed.
Short social videos with AI actors: Captions Max. AI Creator output is licensed for commercial use, but scripts stop at one minute and the computed rate is $8.00 a minute.
Your own portrait and voice track, paid per clip with no allowance to use up: 8frame with Pruna Avatar. It costs 102 credits for 30 seconds at 720p, or 240 credits for a joined minute with a generated voice. Hailuo H3 Max Lip Sync goes up to 2K at 216 credits per 5 seconds.
A real actor's timing on a character: Runway Act Two on 8frame, at 8 credits a second of performance. It's a different job from script-to-avatar, because someone has to perform on camera.
Highest export resolution: HeyGen Pro lists 4K export from $49 a month. On 8frame, the highest lip sync output is 2K, on Hailuo H3 Max Lip Sync.
FAQ
What is the best AI avatar generator in 2026? It depends on the job and the channel. On price per minute, HeyGen Creator comes out lowest of the tools we could verify, at $0.77 a minute on an Avatar IV photo avatar. For paid ads, check the licence first: Synthesia's stock avatars aren't licensed for paid promotion.
How much does an AI avatar video cost per minute? From the vendors' pages on 2026-10-01: about $0.34 to $2.32 on HeyGen Creator (depending on the avatar model), $1.05 on Synthesia Starter, and $8.00 on Captions Max, each assuming you use the full monthly allowance. On 8frame, a one-minute talking portrait with a generated voice is 240 credits with Pruna Avatar at 720p, $2.40 at pack rate.
Can I use AI avatar videos in paid ads? On HeyGen's paid plans the terms allow commercial use, and Captions says AI Creator videos can be used commercially. Synthesia's stock and synthetic avatars can't be used in any paid promotion. On 8frame, commercial use is cleared on paid plans. Whatever the tool, a real person's likeness also needs that person's consent.
Do I need someone's permission to make an avatar of them? Yes. HeyGen and Synthesia both require the person themselves to record a consent video before a custom avatar is created. On any tool, including 8frame, use only a face and a voice you have documented permission to use.
Which AI avatar tools have no watermark? HeyGen's paid plans can switch the watermark off. Synthesia Starter removes the logo, and Captions Max exports without one. D-ID shows a watermark on Trial and Lite plans. 8frame output is watermark-free on every plan.
Sources
- HeyGen plans, credits per plan, maximum video length, export resolution, annual price: heygen.com/pricing, checked 2026-10-01
- HeyGen credits per minute by avatar model, Business top-ups, rollover, no top-ups on Creator: help.heygen.com: How to Use Credits on HeyGen, checked 2026-10-01
- HeyGen watermark on free videos, removal on paid plans: help.heygen.com: How to Remove the HeyGen Watermark, checked 2026-10-01
- HeyGen output ownership and commercial use by plan (terms last updated 2026-07-23): heygen.com/terms, checked 2026-10-01
- HeyGen consent video: help.heygen.com: Recording your Consent Video, checked 2026-10-01
- Synthesia plans, credits, included minutes, 100 credits per minute, watermark on Basic, annual price: synthesia.io/pricing, checked 2026-10-01
- Synthesia credit balances by plan (1,750 on Starter), no rollover: help.synthesia.io: credits on self-serve plans, checked 2026-10-01
- Synthesia stock and custom avatar licensing, paid promotion exclusion: help.synthesia.io: Synthesia Video Licensing, checked 2026-10-01
- Synthesia live consent recording with passcode: help.synthesia.io: personal avatar from a video, checked 2026-10-01
- Captions plans and credits, iOS pricing note: captions.ai/pricing (mirage.app/pricing redirects here), checked 2026-10-01
- Captions credit cost of Prompt to Video, rollover, no individual credit purchases: captions.ai/help/docs/ai-usage, checked 2026-10-01
- Captions plan features and no watermarks on paid plans: captions.ai/help/docs/subscriptions, checked 2026-10-01
- Captions watermark when Max-only features are used on Basic: captions.ai/help/docs/troubleshooting/watermark, checked 2026-10-01
- Captions AI Creator commercial use and one-minute script limit: captions.ai/help/docs/project/ai-creator, checked 2026-10-01
- D-ID minute rounding, minutes not carried over, watermark on Trial and Lite: d-id.com/pricing/studio, checked 2026-10-01 (plan prices on this page load through a script and were not verified)
- 8frame lip sync, text to speech and Merge Videos prices, clip lengths and billing rules: the credit cost functions in the 8frame tool registry, read 2026-10-01; production usage: 8frame production data, read-only, 2026-09-30
- 8frame plans, credit value, rollover, watermark-free output and commercial use: 8frame pricing catalog and content fact sheet, 2026-10-01
Price the minute, read the licence, get the consent on camera.
Try it without signing up: the 8frame canvas opens on a real board. The canvas is free and unlimited; generation is paid from $19/month.