Is HeyGen Free? 3 Videos a Month, a 1-Minute Limit and a Watermark (2026)

Yes, HeyGen has a free plan, but it is a trial, not a working tier. HeyGen's Free plan costs $0 and allows up to 3 videos a month, each up to 1 minute long, with a HeyGen watermark. HeyGen's Terms limit free-plan videos to personal, non-commercial and evaluation use, so removing the branding and using videos for business starts with the Creator plan at $29 a month.

Plans and rules below come from HeyGen's pricing page, Help Center, Academy and Terms of Service, read on 24 October 2026. HeyGen changes plans often, so check heygen.com/pricing before you pay.

Is HeyGen free in 2026?

HeyGen's pricing page lists the Free plan as "for giving it a try". It includes:

• 3 videos per month, with a watermark. HeyGen's Help Center says the free quota is "1–3 free videos, depending on your region", so some accounts get fewer.
• Videos of up to 1 minute each.
• Access to Avatar IV and Video Agent, HeyGen's photo-avatar engine and its prompt-to-video agent, on limited trial terms.
• One Custom Video Avatar, plus 500+ ready-made stock presenters.
• 30+ languages, one voice clone and a 720p sharing link, per the Help Center.
• No credit card needed to sign up.

The Free plan does not use credits. You get a quota of free videos instead, and you can't buy extra credits on it. Paid plans run on a monthly credit allowance.

So HeyGen is free for trying the editor and making a few short, watermarked test videos. It isn't free for publishing branded content, client work or ads.

HeyGen plans compared (October 2026)

Source: heygen.com/pricing, read 24 October 2026. Pro tiers run from 1,000 credits at $49 to 100,000 credits at $4,300 a month; all tiers have the same features.

HeyGen says credit use varies by model, video length and complexity: some features bill per minute of output, others a fixed amount per generation, and the app shows the cost before you generate. Monthly subscribers' unused credits roll over for one month; credits are lost if you cancel.

What are the HeyGen free plan limits?

Here is what actually stops you on Free:

1. Three videos a month, or fewer in some regions. The quota resets monthly; there's no top-up.
2. One minute per video. Longer scripts need Creator (30 minutes) or above.
3. Watermark. HeyGen lists "Remove HeyGen branding" as a Creator feature, so every free export carries HeyGen branding.
4. Resolution. The Help Center lists a 720p sharing link for Free; 1080p export starts on Creator and 4K on Pro.
5. Trial-level access to premium features such as Avatar IV, Video Agent and lip-sync translation.
6. One account per person. HeyGen's Terms prohibit creating more than one account to benefit from the Free plan.
7. Inactive free accounts can be deleted. The Terms say HeyGen may delete a Free plan account after six months with no activity, with notice.

Does HeyGen put a watermark on free videos?

Yes. The pricing page describes the Free plan as "3 videos per month, with a watermark", and branding removal starts on Creator. Avoid "HeyGen watermark remover" tools: they don't change the licence, and the free plan still isn't licensed for commercial use.

Can you use HeyGen free plan videos commercially?

No. HeyGen's Terms of Service (last updated 15 October 2026) give free-plan users a "limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license" to their output for personal, non-commercial and internal evaluation purposes only. The Terms add that free-plan output may not be sold, sublicensed, redistributed, monetized, or used for advertising, client work or any revenue-generating product.

On Creator, Pro and Business, the Terms say you own your input and output and can use the output commercially, subject to HeyGen's other rules. They also ask you to disclose AI use where the law requires it so viewers aren't misled.

In practice:

• Personal test or internal demo: Free is fine.
• Monetized YouTube, ads, client videos, paid courses: you need Creator or above.
• Videos you made on Free and want to reuse commercially: remake them on a paid plan, because the free licence doesn't upgrade with you.

How to use HeyGen, step by step

HeyGen's Academy lesson "How to create your first project" walks through the AI Studio editor. On any plan, the flow is:

1. Sign in at heygen.com. You land on the dashboard, which lists your past projects.
2. Click "Create Video", then "Start from Scratch" for a custom avatar video (or start from one of HeyGen's templates).
3. Pick portrait or landscape. You can change this later.
4. Name the project in AI Studio.
5. Write the script in the script editor. Split it into scenes, add pauses, or record or upload your own audio instead of typing.
6. Choose a voice. Change it from the script editor; the Voice Director (megaphone icon) adjusts tone, pacing and delivery.
7. Pick an avatar. Click "Avatars" above the canvas and choose your own avatar or a stock presenter. Click the avatar to change framing, background and animation.
8. Build the timeline. Reorder scenes, check the total length (keep it under 1 minute on Free) and add text, media or AI images.
9. Preview. A still or blurred avatar in the preview just means it hasn't rendered yet.
10. Click "Generate", name the video, pick a folder and an output resolution (your plan caps it), and submit.
11. Download or share the finished video from the "Projects" tab.

Tips for getting the most from HeyGen's free plan

• Draft the script first. At 150 words a minute, a 1-minute free video is about 140–150 words. Paste it in finished, so you don't burn one of your three videos on a rewrite.
• Test with a stock presenter before you record a custom avatar, then spend your custom avatar slot on clean footage: good light, a steady camera and a plain background.
• Preview before you generate. Check timing, framing and scene order in Preview; it's the "Generate" step that renders the final video.
• Keep your free videos for evaluation. If the test convinces you, regenerate the final version on Creator so it's watermark-free and licensed for commercial use.

Is HeyGen Creator worth $29 a month?

If you publish avatar videos every week, probably. Creator gives 600 credits a month, 30-minute videos, 1080p without branding, a custom avatar with your own voice and likeness, 175+ languages and a commercial licence. It's the cheapest HeyGen plan that works for business. Pay yearly and it's $24 a month.

It's harder to justify if you need one or two short clips a quarter, since credits roll over for only one month. That's where a pay-per-use studio can cost less.

HeyGen vs Kenerate Avatar Talk: a fair comparison

Kenerate AI (our product) has a different kind of avatar tool. Avatar Talk turns a portrait photo plus a speech track into a talking video, or re-syncs the lips of an existing video to new speech. It runs 26 engines in one studio, including HeyGen Presenters, HeyGen's own library of 500 stock presenters. Credits below come from Kenerate's avatar model settings on 24 October 2026.

What talking avatars cost on Kenerate

Credits are billed on the speech length and rounded up to whole seconds; some engines bill at least 3 seconds. The exact cost shows before you create.

The honest read:

• HeyGen is better value if you make a lot of stock-presenter videos. Running HeyGen Presenters on Kenerate costs about $25 a minute at the Starter pack's rate, so heavy users are better off on a HeyGen subscription.
• HeyGen is the better tool for scripted business videos. Its editor, templates, video translation, brand kit and custom video avatars have no equivalent in Kenerate's Avatar Talk.
• Kenerate suits occasional or photo-based clips. Use it when you want your own portrait to talk, want to compare engines (InfiniteTalk, Kling Avatar, OmniHuman, Sync Lipsync 3 and more) on the same audio, or don't want a subscription. A one-minute 720p presenter clip on Kenerate Avatar costs about $5.20, watermark-free.
• Kenerate needs a speech track. Record your own, upload one, or make one in the AI voice generator: ElevenLabs Flash v2.5 costs 30 credits per 1,000 characters, about a minute of speech.

Only animate photos of yourself or of people who have agreed to it, and label realistic avatar videos as AI where your platform asks you to.

Try it in the AI talking avatar tool or the talking photo page, see the AI avatar video generator for presenter-style clips, or read our full HeyGen alternative comparison. To re-voice a video you already have, use lip sync AI.

Verdict

HeyGen is free to try: up to 3 watermarked videos a month, each up to a minute, with trial access to Avatar IV and Video Agent. The free licence covers only personal, non-commercial and evaluation use. For publishable, unbranded videos you need Creator at $29 a month ($24 billed yearly). If you only need the odd talking clip from a photo, Kenerate's Avatar Talk runs 26 engines on one-time packs from $15 with no plan gate.

HeyGen facts were read on heygen.com/pricing, HeyGen's Help Center and Academy, and its Terms of Service (last updated 15 October 2026) on 24 October 2026. Kenerate AI credits come from its avatar model settings and pricing on the same date. All can change.