In one line: HeyGen turns a script or a rough idea into a video with a lifelike AI presenter, voiceover, B-roll and motion graphics, can build a "digital twin" of you from a short recording, and translates videos into other languages, and the free plan gives you three watermarked videos of up to one minute a month with no credit card.
What it is
HeyGen is an AI video generator built around avatars: realistic digital presenters that read your script with matching lip movements, facial expressions and gestures. You can pick from 500+ ready-made presenters on the free plan (700+ on paid plans), turn a photo into a talking Photo Avatar, or make a Digital Twin of yourself by recording a short clip on your webcam or phone so the avatar looks and sounds like you. The newer piece is Video Agent, which HeyGen pitches as a creative agent rather than a tool: you describe the video you want, it writes the script, picks visuals for each scene, adds a voiceover, presenter footage, B-roll and motion graphics, and shows you a scene-by-scene preview before it renders. You can then change things in plain English, or click any text or graphic in the AI Studio editor and fix it without re-rendering the whole video. HeyGen also does video translation, re-voicing a video in another language with lip-sync: 30+ languages on the free plan and 175+ languages and dialects on paid plans. It can import PowerPoint and PDF files, and the Business plan adds integrations with n8n, Make, HubSpot and Zapier.
Who it's for
People who need to be on video a lot but don't want to film every time: course creators, marketers making product explainers and ads, sales teams sending personal videos, and HR or training teams making onboarding videos (Business adds SCORM export for learning systems). It's also handy if you need the same video in several languages. It's less useful if your audience expects to see the real you live on camera, if you need long videos on a budget (free videos max out at one minute), or if you'd be uncomfortable with viewers spotting that the presenter is AI, which some will.
Try this today
Go to heygen.com, sign up for the Free plan (HeyGen says no credit card is needed), and start with Video Agent. Type a one-paragraph prompt for a 45-second video you'd actually use, like "explain our refund policy to new customers in a friendly tone" or "a 3-tip intro to my online course." Read the scene-by-scene preview before you render, and ask for one change in plain words (for example "make the opening shorter"). Keep it under a minute so it fits the free limit, then watch it with the sound on and judge the voice and lip-sync honestly. If you want to try a Digital Twin of yourself, go to Avatars, click New Avatar and choose Clone a Real Person; you'll record one continuous take of yourself talking (at least 15 seconds; HeyGen's guides suggest 30 seconds to about 2 minutes), then a short separate consent clip reading the on-screen text (HeyGen requires the same person in both, so nobody can clone you from a random video). Free gives you one custom avatar, so make the take count: good light, face the camera, and be a bit more animated than feels natural.
The catch
The free plan is for testing, not publishing. You get three videos a month, each up to one minute, with a HeyGen watermark, and only "limited trial access" to premium features like Avatar IV, Video Agent and lip-sync translation. Removing the watermark and exporting in 1080p starts at Creator ($29 a month); 4K, 30-minute videos and the newest models need Pro. Paid plans run on credits you spend across features, and how many a video uses depends on the AI model, length and complexity, so it's hard to know up front how many videos a plan really buys. Monthly subscribers' unused credits roll over for only one extra month, and any credits left when you cancel are gone. The headline prices are monthly; the lower yearly prices are billed once a year up front. Cancellations take effect at the end of your billing cycle, and after that your account moves to the Free plan. And realistic as the avatars are, some viewers will still tell it's AI, so think about where that matters before you send a twin of yourself to a client.
Pricing
Free: $0, with 3 watermarked videos a month up to 1 minute each, one custom video avatar, up to 3 photo avatars, 500+ stock presenters, 30+ languages and limited access to Avatar IV and Video Agent. Creator: $29 a month, or $24 a month billed yearly, with 600 credits a month, 1080p export, no watermark, videos up to 30 minutes, your own custom avatar with your voice, 175+ languages and up to 10 hours of text to speech. Pro: from $49 a month, or $41 a month billed yearly, for 1,000 credits a month, with 4K export, faster processing, Avatar V and the newest video models, and higher tiers up to 100,000 credits for $4,300 a month. Business: $149 a month, or $119 a month billed yearly, for 1,500 credits, plus $20 per extra seat a month, adding a shared team workspace, SSO, brand kit, SCORM export, 60-minute videos and the n8n, Make, HubSpot and Zapier integrations. Enterprise: contact sales. Prices are in USD.
Pricing checked on HeyGen's pricing page and pricing FAQ, the Video Agent page, the HeyGen help center (Recording your Consent Video, Digital Twin FAQ) and HeyGen's digital twin guide on Nov 4, 2026.