Is HeyGen Free in 2026? The Watermark, Credit, and Minute Limits Explained
Short answer: yes, HeyGen is free to start, but with hard limits most people do not see until they hit them. The standing free plan gives you 3 videos per month, up to 3 minutes each, capped at 720p, with a visible HeyGen watermark burned into every export and no credit card required. That is enough to test the product, not enough to ship a real content calendar.
The part nobody warns you about is the credit math behind HeyGen's best feature. The new Avatar IV photo-avatars consume Premium Credits by the minute, and even the paid Creator plan only buys you about ten minutes of premium avatar video a month before you are topped out. Those credits expire monthly and a single edit-and-re-render can wipe them out.
This guide breaks down exactly what the HeyGen free tier includes in 2026, where the paywalls and credit traps sit, and how it compares to ZSky AI, which is free and unlimited but does a fundamentally different job. HeyGen makes talking AI presenters. ZSky generates images and cinematic video. We will be precise about that difference so you pick the right free tool.
Is HeyGen free in 2026, and what do you actually get?
Yes. HeyGen has a permanent free plan you can use without a credit card. It is a genuine free tier, not a time-limited trial that vanishes after a week. But it is built to let you sample the product, and the caps are tight enough that you will feel them on your second or third project.
Here is the broadly-cited standing HeyGen free tier as of June 2026:
- 3 videos per month — a hard monthly count, not minutes you can spread out
- Up to 3 minutes per video — fine for a short explainer, tight for a full tutorial
- 720p maximum resolution — no 1080p or 4K export on free
- A visible HeyGen watermark on every export — non-removable on the free plan
- Around 3 Avatar IV preview videos per month using the newest photo-avatar engine
- 1 custom photo-avatar slot plus 500+ stock avatars
- 30+ languages for voiceover and lip-sync
- No credit card required to sign up
One honest caveat: HeyGen has been actively changing its plans, and the live heygen.com pricing page has shown different numbers mid-rollout. The 3-videos / 3-minutes / 720p shape is the most consistently reported standing free tier, so that is what we anchor to here. If you see a different figure on the page today, treat the official site as the live source and this as the stable baseline.
How bad is the HeyGen watermark and the 720p cap?
The watermark is the dealbreaker for most creators. On the free plan, every exported HeyGen video carries a visible HeyGen mark, and there is no setting to turn it off. You only remove it by upgrading to a paid plan. That means anything you publish to a client, a course, a landing page, or a paid ad announces that it was made on a free account.
The 720p cap compounds it. 720p is fine for a quick Slack message or an internal demo, but it looks soft on a modern phone screen and noticeably dated next to 1080p competitor content. For talking-head presenter video, where the face is the whole frame, that resolution gap is obvious.
So the practical read on the HeyGen free tier: excellent for testing avatars, scripts, and languages before you commit; not viable for anything public-facing. If you need a clean, watermark-free, full-resolution export, you are on a paid plan. That is by design.
What is the HeyGen Avatar IV credit trap?
This is the part that surprises paying customers, so it is worth spelling out. HeyGen's flagship feature in 2026 is Avatar IV, the photorealistic photo-avatar engine. It does not run on flat minutes — it runs on Premium Credits, and the burn rate is steep.
- Avatar IV consumes 20 Premium Credits per minute of generated video — roughly one credit for every three seconds.
- The paid Creator plan ($29/mo, or $24/mo billed annually) includes 200 credits. That is about 10 minutes of premium avatar video per month.
- Credits do not roll over. Whatever you do not use expires at the end of the month.
- Re-rendering after an edit re-charges the full amount. Fix one typo or swap one line, and that minute costs you 20 credits again.
- Top-up packs run about $15/mo for 300 more credits if you blow through your allotment.
Play that out. You write a 5-minute Avatar IV explainer (100 credits). The client asks for two rounds of small edits. Each full re-render is another 100 credits. You have just spent your entire monthly Creator allotment, plus a top-up, on a single video that went through revisions — which is what every real project does. For comparison, ZSky requires no credit card and has no credits system at all, so there is nothing to expire or re-charge.
What does HeyGen cost once you pay?
If the free plan does not cut it, here is the shape of HeyGen's paid pricing as of mid-2026. Treat the official site as the live source — HeyGen adjusts plans often — but this is the standing structure most creators encounter.
| Plan | Price | Watermark | Premium Credits | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Yes, visible | ~3 Avatar IV previews/mo | Testing avatars and scripts |
| Creator | $29/mo ($24/mo annual) | Removed | 200/mo (~10 min Avatar IV) | Solo creators, light volume |
| Credit top-up | ~$15/mo | n/a | +300 credits | Overflow on heavy months |
The takeaway: HeyGen's real cost is not the sticker price, it is the credit burn on its best feature. If your avatar workflow involves any revisions — and it always does — budget for re-renders, not just first drafts.
How does HeyGen compare to ZSky's free tier?
Here is the part where being precise matters, because these tools are not interchangeable. HeyGen makes talking AI presenters — a person on screen reading your script with synced lip movement. ZSky AI is a generative image and video studio — it creates scenes, products, characters, and cinematic motion clips from a text prompt or an image. If you need a spokesperson reading a script, HeyGen is the right category. If you need visuals, B-roll, product shots, or cinematic video, that is ZSky.
Where ZSky wins is the free model itself. ZSky's free tier is ad-supported, not ad-free, and it does ask you to create a free account, but it has no per-video cap, no monthly video count, and no credits system to run out of. You also get commercial rights on what you make. With no credit card needed to start, here is the honest side-by-side:
| Feature | HeyGen Free | ZSky AI Free |
|---|---|---|
| What it makes | Talking avatar presenters | Generative images + cinematic video |
| Monthly cap | 3 videos/month | Unlimited, no per-video cap |
| Credits to manage | Yes — expire monthly, re-charge on re-render | None |
| Max resolution | 720p | Up to 1080p video |
| Audio | Avatar voiceover | Native synced audio on every clip |
| Watermark | Visible HeyGen mark | Small "MADE WITH / zsky.ai" plate |
| Commercial rights on free | No (paid plans) | Yes |
| Cost | $0, then $29/mo | $0, ad-supported, not ad-free |
So if your real need is a spokesperson video, HeyGen free will get you a watermarked 720p draft to test with. If your need is everything else — scenes, product imagery, social video, cinematic clips — ZSky gives you an unlimited free runway instead of a 3-video monthly meter. Many creators use both: HeyGen for the presenter, ZSky for the visuals around them. For a fuller picture, see our free AI video with sound comparison and the guide to free AI talking avatars.
What can you actually make on ZSky for free right now?
Everything below is available now on the web at zsky.ai, free, with no credit card and no daily cap. ZSky was founded by professional photographer Cemhan Biricik and is used by 120,000+ creators.
- Unlimited image generation with ZSky's Signature Image Engine — scenes, products, characters, art styles.
- Text-to-video and image-to-video, up to 1080p, with native synchronized audio baked into every clip (~5–8s). It is the only free tool pairing 1080p with real audio.
- Studio (Beta) — an advanced suite that is free for a limited time during beta (it becomes paid later): Workflow Builder, Scene Builder, Cinematic shots, Camera control, Motion brush, Characters for consistency, and talking Avatars.
- Director — describe your idea in plain language and ZSky's AI creative director writes the prompt and generates it. Beginner-friendly and anti-slop. See the Director launch.
- Photo Editor — in-browser AI adjustments, presets, one-tap auto-enhance, and an AI background remover. See the Photo Editor launch.
- Explore feed and Templates — remix community creations or "Start with a look."
Core image and video generation stay permanently free. Only Studio (Beta) moves to paid later. For the full lineup, see the best free AI creative suite roundup.
What is coming next for ZSky on mobile?
ZSky for iPhone is in final beta with launch imminent, and ZSky for Android is in closed beta on Google Play. Neither native app is publicly downloadable yet, so do not look for it in the App Store or Play Store today. The good news: you do not need to wait. The full ZSky studio runs in any phone browser right now.
The iOS build already includes voice prompting (speak your idea), the Create loop, Director chat, Explore, Photo Editor, a home-screen widget, and Spotlight and Visual Intelligence integration. The Android build has Create, Explore, Director, Photo Editor, a widget, and share-to-Stories. Native iPhone and Android apps land soon — and further out, ZSky for Mac, Apple Vision Pro, and Meta Quest are on the roadmap.
Until the apps ship, open zsky.ai on your phone and use the entire suite free in the browser. No credit card, no install, no waitlist.
Skip the credit meter — create unlimited for free
HeyGen caps you at 3 watermarked videos a month and burns credits on every re-render. ZSky AI is free and unlimited: generate images and 1080p video with native audio, no per-video cap, no credits, no credit card. Ad-supported, not ad-free. Used by 120,000+ creators.
Start creating free at zsky.aiFrequently Asked Questions
Is HeyGen free?
Yes. HeyGen has a permanent free plan with no credit card required. The standing free tier gives you 3 videos per month, up to 3 minutes each, at 720p, with a visible HeyGen watermark on every export. It is enough to test avatars and scripts, but not viable for public-facing or commercial video.
Does HeyGen put a watermark on free videos?
Yes. Every video exported on the HeyGen free plan carries a visible, non-removable HeyGen watermark. The only way to remove it is to upgrade to a paid plan such as Creator at $29 a month. Anything you publish from a free account will visibly show it was made on free.
How many videos can you make on HeyGen for free?
The broadly-cited free tier allows 3 videos per month, each up to 3 minutes long and capped at 720p. It also includes around 3 Avatar IV preview videos monthly. HeyGen has been changing its plans, so check heygen.com for live numbers, but this is the standing baseline as of mid-2026.
How do HeyGen credits work?
HeyGen's Avatar IV engine uses Premium Credits, consuming 20 per minute of video. The paid Creator plan includes 200 credits, about 10 minutes of premium avatar video monthly. Credits expire each month with no rollover, and re-rendering after any edit re-charges the full amount, so revisions get expensive fast.
What is the difference between HeyGen and ZSky AI?
HeyGen makes talking AI presenters — a person on screen reading your script with synced lip movement. ZSky AI is a generative studio that creates images and cinematic video from prompts. They do different jobs. Many creators use HeyGen for the spokesperson and ZSky for the visuals and B-roll around them.
Is there a free unlimited alternative to HeyGen?
For visuals and cinematic video, yes — ZSky AI is free with no per-video cap and no credits system. It generates images and 1080p video with native audio. It is ad-supported, not ad-free, and needs a free sign-in. Note it makes generative video, not talking-avatar presenters, so it is a different category.
Does ZSky cost anything?
No. ZSky is free to use with no credit card and no daily cap. The free tier is ad-supported, not ad-free, and a small "MADE WITH / zsky.ai" plate appears on output. Core image and video generation stay permanently free; only the Studio (Beta) suite becomes paid later, so it is free for a limited time.
Can I download the ZSky app for iPhone or Android?
Not yet. ZSky for iPhone is in final beta and ZSky for Android is in closed beta on Google Play, so neither is publicly downloadable today. You can use the full studio free in any phone browser at zsky.ai right now. Native iPhone and Android apps are coming soon.