How to Make an AI Avatar Video in 2026

To make an AI avatar video, write a script, pick a stock presenter or a consented photo, and export. HeyGen Creator is $29 a month when the file cannot carry a watermark. Synthesia Starter is $19 a month, and its free plan includes 10 watermarked minutes. Colossyan includes 20 free minutes on NEO if a watermark is fine.

Prices were read on vendor pricing pages in October 2026. Toolradar data: the AI video generation ranking tracks 148 tools as of October 16, 2026, and the median cheapest paid plan is $19.95 a month across the 44 that publish a price. HeyGen's entry paid plan sits above that median, so it is the wrong hunt for the cheapest talking head. This page is the production sequence, and the wider set is on best AI avatar generators, while the course shortlist is best AI avatar generators for training videos.

An AI avatar video is a clip of a synthetic presenter speaking a script you supply, with the mouth moved to match the words. A stock actor, a still, or a real person decides whether you need consent before export. Scene generators that invent a shot from a prompt are a different job, covered in best AI video generators.

Choose the tool for the job

The first choice is the output, because it sets the bill. A one-minute social test, a clean two-minute update, and a course file for a learning system are three different purchases. The table uses one finished video of about two minutes, one language, no dubbing and no generated B-roll.

Route	Best for	Price, October 2026	Limit that decides it
HeyGen Free	A one-minute test on Avatar IV	Free, 3 videos a month	1 minute max. Watermark removal is not on this plan
HeyGen Creator	A clean talking-head clip	$29/mo, or $24/mo billed yearly, with 600 credits	Up to 30 minutes, 1080p, watermark off
Synthesia Basic	A watermarked training clip	Free, with 10 minutes and 500 credits a month	Watermark stays. Personal avatars are paid only
Synthesia Starter	A clean clip from one editor	$19/mo, or $14/mo billed yearly, with 1,750 credits	Watermark off, 3 personal avatars, 1 editor
Colossyan Starter	A watermarked clip on NEO	Free, 20 minutes of NEO a month	NEO2 is 0.5 minutes. Watermark stays
Colossyan Professional	A course that needs SCORM	$59/mo billed yearly, or $89/mo monthly, for 1 editor	30 minutes of NEO, 10 of NEO2, 5 SCORM exports a month
Elai Free	A one-minute test	Free, 1 minute, 80+ avatars	A two-minute video does not fit
Elai Creator	A fixed minute pack	$29/mo for 15 minutes, or $276 billed yearly	A re-render spends the minutes again. Extra minutes are $2

The presenter decides HeyGen, and the export format decides the other three. HeyGen fits a specific person if you will live with credits, and it is a poor fit if you want a published minute price. Synthesia fits one editor and a short allowance, and it is a poor fit when a learning system is required without a sales call. Colossyan is that public-price path, and a poor fit for a video twin of an employee. Elai fits a published minute count only if you will pay again on every render.

Price changes show up in the AIpresso brief. For the two-leader matchup, see HeyGen vs Synthesia.

Write the script to the length cap

HeyGen's Quick Avatar Video accepts a script of up to 2,520 characters, which it calls about three minutes. A free video is capped at one minute, so the free test is about a third of that box, and a two-minute script is about 1,680 characters by the same ratio. Anything longer than the box belongs in AI Studio, and the free plan still will not export it.

Read the script out loud before you paste it. HeyGen's avatar FAQ says commas make short pauses, periods make sentence breaks, and ellipses make longer ones, which is why a flat block of text makes a finished avatar sound rushed. Brand names and numbers should be written the way you want them said, because a later pronunciation fix forces another render.

Keep the first version short on purpose: HeyGen's credit guide says free accounts do not spend credits and paid accounts do, so a one-minute free export is the cheap way to hear a name spoken wrong.

Make the avatar, stock or your own face

A stock presenter needs no footage, which is the path when viewers do not need to recognize the person. HeyGen's Quick Avatar tool splits the library into avatars you made and public avatars anyone can pick. The free plan lists 500+ stock video avatars and up to three photo avatars. Creator raises that library to 700+ and removes the photo-avatar cap, though a video from those photos still spends credits.

Your own face is a consent problem before it is a quality problem. HeyGen requires a consent video for every video-based digital twin, recorded by the person in the footage, even by phone, so you cannot read the line for a colleague. The clip has to be under 30 seconds, in MP4, MOV, or WebM, from 480p to 4K, using the script on the page word for word. A screen recording, a different person, or an AI-generated face is rejected. The consent clip and the footage go in together.

Synthesia builds a personal avatar from one photo, and only on a paid plan, so a free account cannot put your face on the video. Its guide lists three personal avatars on Starter and five on the plan it still calls Creator. On October 1, 2026 that plan was renamed Pro, with the same features and the same price. You upload a clear photo, ideally from the waist up, and you record a live consent video of the same person. Public figures and anyone who has not agreed are not allowed. The guide says the avatar is typically ready within minutes after consent, and a new version means recording consent again.

The photo rules disagree. Synthesia asks you to show your teeth so the mouth can sync, while HeyGen's FAQ says a wide smile can make the mouth look too big and a subtle smile is safer, so follow the vendor you are rendering in.

HeyGen's model choice follows the source, not the marketing name. The avatar FAQ says Avatar IV is the default for photo avatars and virtual characters, and Avatar V is the default for real people and digital twins. Avatar V is not available on a photo look. It needs video, and a photo job stays on Avatar III or Avatar IV.

HeyGen asks for one continuous take, face visible, at least 1080p, with more expression than a normal read. Cuts, a dark room, or a face that leaves the frame are common rejections. Voice cloning starts on Creator, not on Free, so a free account can test a stock voice but cannot ship your own. The clone steps are in how to clone your voice with AI.

Generate the clip in HeyGen

HeyGen documents Quick Avatar Video as the short path. Open Apps, choose that tool, and pick a public avatar or one of yours. Portrait at 9:16 suits a phone feed, and a horizontal frame suits a course or a company update, so pick the frame before you spend a render. Paste the script or a sample, choose a voice, pick a motion engine, and generate, or send the project to AI Studio when you need more than one scene.

The short tool offers Avatar III, lip sync and the faster render, or Avatar IV Digital Twin, which adds gestures. The pricing page lists 1080p on Creator and 4K on Pro. Pro starts at $49 a month for 1,000 credits, more resolution than most internal courses need.

Preview the speech before you render the picture, because an A-roll change has to be generated again and spends credits. The cost shows before you generate when that preview is available. Creator cannot buy a small top-up, while Business sells extra credits at $5 for 100, so a dry Creator account waits or moves up.

These rates, from the credit guide, are what a two-minute script costs. Use a photo rate for a still and a video rate only if you filmed the person:

• An Avatar III photo look costs 7 credits a minute, so a two-minute scene is 14 credits.
• An Avatar IV photo look costs 16 credits a minute, so a two-minute scene is 32 credits.
• An Avatar IV video look costs 31 credits a minute, so a two-minute scene is 62 credits.
• An Avatar V video look costs 48 credits a minute, so a two-minute scene is 96 credits.
• Custom expressive motion, on Avatar IV only, adds 40 credits a minute, and HeyGen's own example is 20 credits for a 30-second scene.

Creator's 600-credit pool covers the Avatar IV photo total above, so one careful clip buys the plan rather than a pile of credits. Monthly credits roll one extra cycle only while you stay paid. The ladder is on HeyGen pricing, and the product page is the HeyGen review.

Switch tools when the video is a course

A course is a different purchase: you are paying for an export a learning system will accept. Synthesia's credits guide says every plan, including Basic, includes 10 minutes of video and 500 credits a month. Starter's 1,750 credits cover about 17 extra minutes after that video, and Pro's total is 6,500. The included video is used first, and past it a typical finished video costs about 100 credits a minute.

A two-minute training clip never touches that credit pool. Starter removes the watermark and adds a personal avatar, while Basic keeps a watermark. Every self-serve plan lists one editor, and SCORM is only on the Enterprise quote, so a second renderer or a learning system means a sales conversation.

Credits reset at the next billing date, while an annual plan receives the year's credits up front, so only annual buyers can spend a quiet month in a busy one. Duplicating a project is free, and generating the copy is not. On October 1, 2026 Synthesia renamed Creator to Pro and kept the price. Our Synthesia review and Synthesia alternatives cover the longer comparison.

Colossyan bills minutes, not a shared credit, so the invoice reads as video length. The free plan includes the NEO minutes in the table, plus 15 custom avatars, 3 cloned voices, and 300+ stock avatars. NEO2 is 0.5 minutes on that free plan, so a two-minute video on the newer model does not fit. Professional is $59 a month billed yearly, or $89 a month billed monthly, for one editor, with watermark removal and 5 SCORM exports a month, the self-serve path into a learning system. A single video can use the free pool, the monthly cap, or 50 minutes on the yearly plan.

Only a generated video spends minutes: drafts are free, deleting the file does not return the minutes, and unused minutes do not roll over unless the annual plan delivered them at purchase. A second editor adds $30 a month on the yearly plan. A green-screen studio avatar is $1,000 a year, and 600 extra NEO2 minutes are $1,500 a year on yearly Professional, while Enterprise is the unlimited quote.

Elai sells a fixed minute pack, and every Render spends that length again, so a revision costs as much as the first export. Free stops short of a two-minute video. Creator is one user at full HD, the first pack that fits, at the monthly price in the table or $276 billed yearly. Team is $125 a month, or $1,200 billed annually, for 50 minutes and 3 editors. Creator and Team do not include SCORM, so a learning-system file is a reason to leave. Deleting a file does not restore the minutes.

HeyGen's SCORM export is on Business, at $149 a month plus $20 a month for each added seat, with 1,500 credits and videos up to 60 minutes. Colossyan's public plan fits a team that needs those exports and no second renderer. Several people rendering means published seats on Elai Team or added seats on HeyGen Business. Synthesia's self-serve cards do not include SCORM at all.

If the course is really a translation of a video you already shot, that is a dubbing job, not a new avatar. The steps and the credit rates are in how to translate a video with AI. Editors who want a timeline around the avatar, rather than a presenter studio, should start with best AI video editors.

How much does a 2-minute avatar video cost?

Take one two-minute presenter video, one language, no dub and no B-roll. The figures below are our arithmetic on the rates each vendor publishes.

HeyGen's free plan cannot hold it, and a free account may get one to three videos depending on region, so do not promise a colleague three tests. On Creator, the photo render in the rate list is a small slice of the pool, and custom expressive motion on that photo adds 80 credits, for 112 in total. A month with only that render costs the plan, not a fraction of the sticker.

Synthesia Basic can hold the clip inside the included video time, with a watermark, and the 500 credits stay unused. Starter removes the watermark at $14 a month billed yearly. The credit pool starts to matter at minute 11, and about 100 credits a minute after that is roughly five more minutes on Basic.

Colossyan's free NEO pool can hold the clip with a watermark, and the free NEO2 pool cannot, so Professional yearly is the clean newer-model version. Elai's free plan cannot hold the clip. Elai Creator spends 2 of its 15 minutes on the first render and another 2 on every re-render, so three full passes use 6 minutes. A minute past the pack is $2, so crossing the cap costs $4 for those two extra minutes.

The cheapest watermarked file is Synthesia Basic or Colossyan's free NEO plan. The lowest annual price for a clean file, among the plans that publish one, is Synthesia Starter. HeyGen is the buy when the face has to be a specific person and Avatar IV or Avatar V is the look you will ship. People comparing those two stickers can use HeyGen alternatives.

Gotchas that change the bill

Free tiers cap length. HeyGen free and Elai free both stop before a two-minute video, so a lesson is already a paid plan. Synthesia's free plan keeps a watermark, and Colossyan's free newer-model pool is too short, so that test stays on NEO.

A second render is a new charge. HeyGen spends credits when an A-roll scene is generated again, so a pronunciation fix bills you off the free plan. Elai spends the full length on every Render click, Colossyan does not return minutes if you delete the file, and Synthesia draws credits only after the included video.

Rollover is not shared. HeyGen monthly credits last one extra cycle if you stay paid, and annual credits pile up until renewal, so cancelling throws the remainder away. Synthesia wipes unused credits at the next bill, and Colossyan minutes reset unless you are on an annual plan.

Consent belongs to the person on camera. HeyGen rejects a twin whose subject did not record the consent line, and Synthesia rejects a photo without a live consent video of that person. Stock presenters skip that step, but slides, logos, and screen recordings still need a license you can keep on file.

Frequently asked questions

Can I make an AI avatar video for free?

Yes, inside a length cap that will not hold a normal update. HeyGen's free plan lists three videos a month, up to one minute each, with Avatar IV, and watermark removal waits for a paid plan. Synthesia's free plan is watermarked and has no personal avatar. Colossyan's free plan can hold this clip on NEO and includes 0.5 minutes on NEO2, so the newer model cannot do this length. Elai stops at the same short cap. Wider no-cost options are on best free AI avatar generators.

How much does a 2-minute AI avatar video cost?

On HeyGen Creator the two minutes are a slice of the 600 credits: 32 credits for an Avatar IV photo, 62 for an Avatar IV video look, or 96 for Avatar V. The plan itself is $29 a month if that render is the only one you buy. On Synthesia the two minutes fit the free allowance, and the watermark-free version is the Starter plan at $19 a month. On Colossyan, NEO fits the free pool and NEO2 needs Professional. On Elai, Creator's 15-minute pack is the first plan that fits, and a re-render spends another two minutes of it.

Can I use my own face in an AI avatar video?

Yes, if that person records consent, and the vendor rejects the avatar without it. HeyGen asks for a short consent video, read as written, of the same person, even from a phone. Synthesia needs a live consent video too, and only on a paid plan: three on Starter and five on Pro. Use a stock presenter when nobody has agreed, and do not upload a public figure.

Which plan removes the watermark?

HeyGen lists watermark removal on Creator, not on Free, so the free export stays a private test. Synthesia says Basic videos carry a watermark, and its pricing comparison marks the paid plans as having none. Colossyan lists watermark removal on Professional. Elai's pricing page does not describe a watermark rule, so check the export before you send a free file to a client.

How do I put an avatar video into an LMS?

Colossyan Professional includes 5 SCORM exports a month on the public price. HeyGen includes SCORM on Business, at $149 a month, and each added seat costs extra. Synthesia lists SCORM on Enterprise, which is a quote. Elai's Creator and Team rows do not include SCORM. Pick the tool whose export your learning system accepts before you build the whole course in it.

Which HeyGen model should I use?

Use Avatar III when you want the lowest credit rate and lip sync is enough. Use Avatar IV for a photo, a stylized character, or a custom motion prompt. Use Avatar V for a real person on video, where consistency matters, and not for a photo, because it does not run on one. Test the script on the cheaper model, then render the final on the model you will publish.

Do unused avatar minutes roll over?

HeyGen's unused monthly credits roll for one more cycle if you stay paid, and annual credits accumulate until renewal, so leaving mid-cycle throws the remainder away. Synthesia credits reset at the next bill, unless you hold the annual pool. Colossyan minutes do not roll over, though an annual plan gives you the year's minutes at the start. Elai's unused minutes last until the end of the term you already paid.

How we checked this

We read the pricing pages of HeyGen, Synthesia, Colossyan, and Elai on October 17, 2026, plus HeyGen's credit guide, Quick Avatar Video article, consent rules, and avatar FAQ. Synthesia's figures also come from its credits guide, its October 1 plan note, and its photo avatar guide. The 148-tool count and the $19.95 median come from Toolradar's AI video statistics, updated October 16, 2026.

The two-minute credit totals and the character estimate are our arithmetic on those pages. We did not generate an avatar video for this guide, so the steps follow the vendors' own help pages. Louis Corneloup, founder of Toolradar and Dupple, edited it. How that directory ranks tools is on its editorial policy, and how this newsletter publishes is on the AIpresso about page.

Cite this: AIpresso, "How to Make an AI Avatar Video in 2026", October 2026.

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