HeyGen Alternatives
What HeyGen does, what each alternative does instead, and what they cost, with every price taken from the official pricing pages on 11 October 2026.
Updated
Ideas and uses
| Tool | Best for | Free plan | Paid plans from |
|---|---|---|---|
| HeyGen | AI avatar and presenter videos, video translation and dubbing | 3 videos a month, each up to 1 minute, 500+ stock avatars, 1 custom avatar | Creator: $29 a month ($24 billed yearly), 600 credits |
| Synthesia | AI avatar videos for training, onboarding and company communication | 500 credits a month, 10 minutes of video a month, a Synthesia watermark | Starter: $18 a month billed yearly, 15,000 credits a year |
| InVideo | Prompt to video with an agent, stock footage and a timeline editor | No free plan listed on the pricing page | Basic: $9 a seat a month, 190 credits a month |
| Runway | Generative video and image models with editing tools for filmmakers | 125 one-time credits | Standard: $15 a month ($12 billed yearly), 625 credits a month |
| Ziztu | Story, anime and music videos made of generated shots, planned by a Director, with character sheets and one timeline | 40 trial credits (480p video, watermarked) | Starter: $12 a month, 1,000 credits |
What HeyGen is for
HeyGen makes videos of AI presenters: stock or custom avatars that read your script on camera, with voice cloning and translation into many languages. It is built for explainers, sales videos, training and social clips where a face talking to the viewer is the point.
Its plans, from the official pricing page on 11 October 2026:
- Free: $0, 3 videos a month, videos up to 1 minute, 500+ stock video avatars, 1 custom video avatar, 30+ languages
- Creator: $29 a month, or $24 a month billed yearly, 600 credits, videos up to 30 minutes, 1080p export, voice cloning, 175 languages and dialects, watermark removal
- Pro: from $49 a month, 1,000 credits, 4K export (tiers up to 100,000 credits at $4,300 a month)
- Business: $149 a month plus $20 a seat a month
Why people look for an alternative
- The free plan is small. Three videos a month of up to one minute each is enough to test, not to publish regularly.
- They do not need a presenter. Many creators want story videos, anime, product clips or faceless videos, where an avatar is the wrong tool.
- Credits are shared across features. Long videos, 4K and the newer avatar models use more credits, so the real cost depends on what you make.
- They want a training tool with stricter enterprise features, or a cheaper yearly price, which is where Synthesia comes in.
The alternatives, and who each one fits
Synthesia is the closest match: AI avatars reading scripts, aimed at company training and communication. Its free plan gives 10 minutes of video a month with a watermark; paid plans are billed yearly.
- Basic: $0, 500 credits a month (10 minutes of video a month), videos carry a Synthesia watermark
- Starter: $18 a month billed yearly, 15,000 credits a year (up to about 150 minutes of video a year on top of the free allowance), 125+ avatars, downloads, no logo
- Pro: $64 a month billed yearly, 72,000 credits a year (up to about 720 minutes of video a year), 5 personal avatars, 180+ avatars
- Enterprise: custom pricing, unlimited video minutes
- Video uses about 100 credits a minute
InVideo turns a prompt into a finished video with an AI agent, stock footage and a timeline editor. Pick it for quick social and marketing videos without a presenter.
- Basic: $9 a seat a month, 190 credits a month, no Seedance 2.5
- Pro: $30 a seat a month, 1,000 credits a month
- Ultra: $80 a seat a month, 3,000 credits a month
- On 11 October 2026 the page showed 50% off yearly billing ($4, $15 and $40 a seat a month)
- A Seedance 2.0 Fast video is about 30 credits; a Nano Banana Pro image is 2.5 credits
Runway is a generative video studio for filmmakers: text and image to video with models such as Gen-4.5 and Kling 3.0, and editing tools. It has no avatar presenter.
- Free: $0, 125 one-time credits
- Standard: $15 a month, or $12 a month billed yearly, 625 credits a month (52 seconds of Gen-4.5), no watermarks
- Pro: $35 a month, or $28 a month billed yearly, 2,250 credits a month
- Max: $95 a month, or $76 a month billed yearly, 9,500 credits a month, unused credits roll over for a month
- Gen-4.5 uses 12 credits a second (60 credits for 5 seconds); the plans also include other models such as Kling 3.0 and Nano Banana Pro
Where Ziztu fits, and where it does not
Ziztu is not an avatar presenter tool. If your video is a person talking to the camera from a script, HeyGen or Synthesia is the better choice. Ziztu is for videos made of generated shots: a short film, an anime episode, a music video, an ad or a faceless explainer. A Director plans the shots, character sheets keep the cast the same from shot to shot, and clips, music, voice-over and captions go on one timeline.
It runs several video models on one credit balance, including MiniMax H3, Kling, Seedance, Grok Imagine and HeyGen's own video model. A 5 second H3 Max Turbo clip at 768P costs 50 credits; the Starter plan is $12 a month for 1,000 credits. New accounts get 40 free credits for 480p results with a watermark.
Sources (checked 11 October 2026)
Every price and limit on this page comes from the official pages below, read on 11 October 2026. Prices change often; check them before you buy. Ziztu's own prices come from its pricing page.
- HeyGen pricing (official page, read 11 October 2026)
- Synthesia pricing (official page, read 11 October 2026)
- InVideo pricing (official page, read 11 October 2026)
- Runway pricing (official page, read 11 October 2026)
- Ziztu pricing
Frequently asked questions
What is the best HeyGen alternative?
For AI presenters and training videos, Synthesia is the closest alternative. For prompt-to-video marketing clips, InVideo. For generative film and anime made of shots, Runway or Ziztu. Pick by what is on screen: a talking avatar, stock and B-roll, or generated scenes.
Is there a free HeyGen alternative?
Synthesia's free plan gives 500 credits a month (about 10 minutes of video) with a watermark. Runway gives 125 one-time credits. Ziztu gives new accounts 40 free credits for 480p results with a watermark. None of them is unlimited.
How much does HeyGen cost?
On 11 October 2026 HeyGen listed a free plan (3 videos a month, up to 1 minute each), Creator at $29 a month ($24 billed yearly) with 600 credits, Pro from $49 a month and Business at $149 a month plus $20 a seat.
Can Ziztu make talking avatar videos like HeyGen?
Not in the same way. Ziztu has no avatar studio, translation suite or SCORM export. It can make characters speak in generated scenes, and it offers HeyGen's video model among its models, but for presenter videos HeyGen or Synthesia fits better.
What is cheaper than HeyGen for avatar videos?
On yearly billing, Synthesia Starter costs $18 a month for 15,000 credits a year, and HeyGen Creator costs $24 a month billed yearly. Which is cheaper depends on how many minutes you make; compare the credits each plan gives against your monthly video length.