HeyGen pricing starts at $0 and scales to custom enterprise contracts. The pricing page lists four tiers: Free, Creator at $29/month, Pro at $99/month, and Business at $149/month plus per-seat charges. That looks simple enough. It isn't.

The credit system underneath those prices makes the real cost harder to predict than the sticker price suggests. Avatar III videos are unlimited, but premium features like Avatar IV and lip-synced translation consume credits at different rates. The API is billed separately from the web product, and one plan that costs more than another actually gives you fewer credits. This guide covers what each tier includes, how credits translate to minutes, and when HeyGen is or isn't the right spend.

How does the credit system work?

Credits are the currency that runs HeyGen. Every paid plan comes with a monthly credit allowance, and different features consume credits at different rates.

The number that matters most: Avatar IV, HeyGen's highest-quality model, costs 20 credits per minute of video. On the Creator plan with 200 credits, that works out to 10 minutes of premium video per month. Avatar III, the previous-generation model, is unlimited on all paid plans and does not consume premium credits at all.

Premium Credits also apply to lip-synced video translation (5 credits per minute standard, 10 per minute in precision mode), Video Agent, AI-generated avatar looks, and Sora 2/Veo 3.1 B-roll. Audio dubbing without lip sync is unlimited on paid plans. If you're using Avatar IV and lip-synced translations in the same month, your credits can deplete faster than expected.

Credits reset each billing cycle. Unused credits do not roll over. If you have 50 credits left at the end of the month, they vanish.

HeyGen sells add-on packs at $15 for 300 Premium Credits ($150/year on annual billing). Useful for occasional overages, but buying packs regularly means your effective monthly cost is higher than the plan price.

What does the free plan include?

Three videos per month, each up to 3 minutes, rendered at 720p with a HeyGen watermark. You get access to a limited set of stock avatars and basic editing tools.

The free plan works for testing whether HeyGen's editor and avatar quality meet your needs. It does not work for production content because of the watermark and resolution limit. If you're evaluating AI video platforms, use the free tier to produce a test video in your actual use case before paying anything. HeyGen removed free API credits in February 2026, so the free plan is web-only.

For context on how the free tier compares to other platforms, see the AI avatar platform comparison.

What does the Creator plan ($29/month) include?

Creator is HeyGen's entry-level paid tier. For $29/month ($24/month on annual billing):

• 200 Premium Credits per month

• Unlimited Avatar III videos (Avatar IV limited by credits)

• 700+ stock avatars

• 1080p export

• No watermark

• Custom avatar creation from recorded video

• AI script assistant

The "unlimited videos" label is accurate for Avatar III content. You can produce as many Avatar III videos as you want with no credit cost. The 200-credit allowance only limits Avatar IV usage (about 10 minutes at 20 credits per minute) and other premium features like lip-synced translation.

Creator fits individuals or small teams producing regular videos with Avatar III and occasional Avatar IV content for higher-quality pieces. If you consistently need more than 10 minutes of Avatar IV video per month, you'll run through credits fast and need to step up to Pro.

What does the Pro plan ($99/month) include?

Pro costs $99/month ($79/month annual) and includes 2,000 Premium Credits. Everything in Creator, plus priority processing and advanced editing features.

The jump from 200 to 2,000 credits is where the economics shift. At 2,000 credits with Avatar IV, you get roughly 100 minutes of premium video, which works out to about $1 per minute. For teams producing 20+ minutes per month, or mixing original videos with translations across languages, Pro is the tier where per-minute costs start being competitive with traditional video production.

What does the Business plan ($149/month) include?

Business costs $149/month plus $20 per additional seat ($119/month plus seats on annual billing). It includes everything in Pro, plus:

• 4K video export

• SSO (SAML)

• SCORM export and LMS integration

• Interactive video with branching paths and in-video quizzes

• PowerPoint/PDF-to-video conversion

• Team collaboration and brand kit management

• Priority support

• 1,000 Premium Credits per month

Read that last line again. Business comes with 1,000 credits, not 2,000. You're paying more per month and getting half the credits of Pro. The price premium buys SCORM export, interactive video with branching, SSO, and multi-seat team features. (Pro also has 4K, so that's not a Business exclusive.) If your primary bottleneck is credit volume, Pro is a better deal. If you need L&D tooling, enterprise security controls, and collaborative workflows, Business is the tier that has them.

Enterprise pricing is custom and negotiated per contract. It includes dedicated support, custom SLAs, SCIM provisioning, and higher credit allocations. Contact HeyGen's sales team for a quote.

How does HeyGen API pricing work?

The API is a separate product from the web subscription. You can buy API access regardless of your web plan, including on the free tier. The billing systems are independent.

HeyGen shifted the API to a pay-as-you-go model in 2026. You can start with $5. Cost per minute depends on what you're generating:

Pay-as-you-go credits expire after 12 months, and there are no monthly commitments. This structure works well for teams with irregular or seasonal usage.

Legacy API plans (Pro at $0.99/credit, Scale at $0.50/credit) still exist for current subscribers, but they're deprecated. Cancel one and it can't be restored.

For a deeper look at what HeyGen's API can do beyond the pricing mechanics, see the HeyGen API feature review.

Is annual billing worth it?

Annual billing saves 17-20% depending on the tier:

Credit packs are also cheaper annually: $150/year versus $15/month ($180/year).

Don't lock in during your first month. Run at least 2-3 billing cycles on monthly pricing to understand your actual credit consumption before committing to a year. Most people underestimate how fast credits go when using Avatar IV and video translation together.

How does HeyGen pricing compare to alternatives?

HeyGen sits in the middle of the pre-rendered AI video market. The main competitors and their pricing models:

Synthesia's pricing is simpler: a minute is a minute regardless of avatar quality. HeyGen's credit model gives more flexibility (you can allocate credits between avatar video, translation, and other features) but makes cost prediction harder. For a full head-to-head, see the HeyGen vs Synthesia comparison.

All of these platforms produce pre-rendered video from scripts. If you need a broader view that includes real-time conversation platforms, the AI avatar generators comparison covers both categories. Understanding whether you need a content avatar or a conversation avatar is the first decision to get right, because it determines which pricing models are even relevant to your use case.

When does HeyGen's pricing model not apply?

HeyGen prices scripted video production. You write a script, pick an avatar, generate a file, and download it. Every plan described above is built around that workflow.

If your use case involves a user talking back to the avatar, asking follow-up questions, or having an unscripted conversation, you need a different product category with a different pricing structure. Customer support agents, onboarding flows, sales qualification bots, and training simulations all require real-time generation, not rendered files.

HeyGen has a separate product for this (Interactive Avatar, at liveavatar.com), priced independently from the plans above. For platforms purpose-built around real-time interactive avatars, Anam and Tavus use session-based pricing tied to streaming duration. Anam's pricing is public and usage-based. The cost model is structurally different because the product is structurally different.

For a broader look at how AI avatars work across both categories, from pre-rendered video to live conversation, see the guide to AI avatars. If you're evaluating platforms for enterprise deployment, the enterprise buyer's guide to digital avatars covers the evaluation framework in detail.

Frequently asked questions

Can you cancel a HeyGen subscription anytime?

Yes. HeyGen subscriptions cancel at the end of the current billing cycle. You keep access until the paid period expires. Check HeyGen's terms for refund details on unused time.

Do unused HeyGen credits roll over to the next month?

No. Credits reset each billing cycle. Any credits remaining when the cycle ends are lost. Plan your production schedule to use the full allocation.

How many minutes of video does each HeyGen plan produce?

Avatar III videos are unlimited on all paid plans. For Avatar IV, Creator (200 credits) gives roughly 10 minutes, Pro (2,000 credits) roughly 100 minutes, and Business (1,000 credits) roughly 50 minutes. Credits also apply to lip-synced translation and other premium features.

Does HeyGen include 4K export on all plans?

4K export is available on Pro ($99/month), Business ($149/month), and Enterprise. Creator exports at up to 1080p.

Is HeyGen's API included in the web subscription?

No. The API is a separate purchase with its own pay-as-you-go pricing starting at $5. You can subscribe to the API on any web plan tier, including Free.

How does HeyGen compare to Synthesia on price?

At $29/month, both platforms deliver roughly 10 minutes of video. Synthesia charges by minutes, HeyGen by credits. Above $29/month the better deal depends on your usage pattern. The full HeyGen vs Synthesia pricing comparison breaks down each tier.

Can HeyGen be used for real-time conversation?

HeyGen's standard plans cover pre-rendered video only. HeyGen has a separate real-time product (Interactive Avatar) priced independently. For purpose-built real-time interactive avatars designed for live conversation, Anam and Tavus are the primary options in that category.

What is the cheapest AI avatar video option?

D-ID starts at $5.99/month (Lite plan, watermarked). HeyGen and Synthesia both start at $29/month with no watermark. For real-time interactive avatar conversation rather than pre-rendered video, Anam offers usage-based pricing that scales with session volume.