HeyGen Review 2025: In-depth Analysis Of Features And Limitations
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9/10 HeyGen: Text to Video with Human Avatars
Summary: HeyGen is an innovative video platform powered by generative AI that allows you to create videos from text using human avatars and text-to-speech voices. It is a video creator with lots of features and continuous improvements. This review will help you understand the platform's ins and outs and help you decide if it meets your needs. Pricing: From $24/month. Free trial with no credit card. |
In this HeyGen review, I will explore the features and benefits of this cutting-edge tool for creating professional-looking videos featuring human avatars.
With HeyGen, you can easily create videos and talking photos without technical skills or editing experience.
I have thoroughly tested the product and will provide you with a confident and comprehensive review. My analysis will cover all the pros and cons of the platform, taking into account user feedback, to offer you a final verdict that will help you make an informed decision about whether this tool is the right fit for you.
Read on to learn more.
What is HeyGen?
HeyGen is a cloud-based platform for creating professional-looking videos from text input. This AI-based text-to-video generator provides realistic avatars you can use to make a video.
HeyGen (formerly Movio) started as a tool for creating spokesperson videos and rolled out of beta on July 29th, 2022. Since then, this company has produced over 32 version updates and added more than 100 new features.
This resulted in adding new features like Talking Photos, Face Swap, AI Outfit, and Custom Avatars Pro and Lite to satisfy almost every need about online video creation.
On April 1st, 2023, Movio was rebranded to HeyGen, with new elements like GPT4 integration and the ability to create a video from a url.
Check how HeyGen works in this video.

What sets HeyGen apart from traditional video creation?
- There is no need for cameras, microphones, or actors: The tool already has virtual actors (named avatars) that mimic human behavior with gestures and lip-synching according to speech.
- You don’t need complex editing tools or equipment: The system has an editing dashboard, and you can add image and video backgrounds, texts, sound, and music.
- There are no localization costs: A single video can be shared among different viewers only by changing the spoken language with a pair of clicks.
- Incredibly low video production costs: Production costs equal to a monthly pricing plan currently starting at $24/month.
- You don’t need any previous experience: HeyGen features an intuitive dashboard to create a video in minutes.
What videos can you create with HeyGen?
Using HeyGen, you can create almost any type of video:
- Social media videos.
- Learning and course videos
- Video presentations.
- YouTube videos.
- Product demos and reviews
- Training videos.
- How-to guides
- Onboarding videos.
- Marketing videos.
- Tutorial videos.
- Headline-grabbing news videos.
Please note that HeyGen is not meant to replace traditional video creation but rather serves as an alternative. While HeyGen offers a unique way to make videos, it does not provide the same possibilities as traditional video editors like AdobePro, DaVinci Resolve, or Filmora. These have a wider range of features that can be used in the video creation process to get an excellent outcome, with complete control over the production process and the possibility of granular refinement.
You should consider HeyGen as a complement to your existing tools instead of a replacement.
HeyGen main features
- 175+ languages in 300+ voices.
- Custom voice emotions.
- 120+ diverse human avatars.
- 400+ pre-made customizable video templates.
- Up to 60 minutes per video duration.
- Free-royalty music, graphic, and video assets.
- Face Swap: Upload your photo and swap your face onto the AI avatar.
- Talking photo: Upload your photo, type the text, and bring it to life.
- Screen recorder.
- 1 click Amazon URL to video: Create a video from Amazon´s url.
- Auto captions and auto translations.
- Canva integration.
- ChatGPT integration for easy script creation.
- Custom avatars: Turn yourself into a talking avatar to create your videos.
- Branding kit.
- PPT to video: Convert PPT files to video with voiceovers and many languages.
- Proprietary API
- Full video editor, including transitions.
- Voiceover uploads: Record and upload your voice to create a custom avatar.
- Multi-scene videos.
- Up to 4K video download.
- Commercial rights: You own the copyright of videos for monetizing or commercial purposes.
How to create a video with HeyGen
Once you log in to the webpage, the main dashboard appears. From there, you can create videos with lifelike avatars, build your digital avatars, or translate a video.
You can start creating a video by choosing an avatar or using a pre-made template.
HeyGen offers a well-populated library of pre-made templates, a useful feature to bring some inspiration when creating a video. All of these are customizable, but you can make your template from scratch too.
You must select landscape or vertical templates from 180+ available explainer video, social media, learning and development, and more categories. Clicking on the template plays a preview video:
The template includes an avatar, but it is easy to change it and choose close-up, half-body, circle view, left, center, or right screen position.
There is a massive library of 714+ avatars with many ethnicities, genders, and outfits. Notice that most avatars have many different outfits and backgrounds, so you can rest assured you will find the right option to meet your target audience.
Once I choose a template, I am on the main dashboard where the creation process occurs.
Clicking on the avatar lets me position it on different parts of the screen, choose view mode (close up, full body or circle screen) and add animations (on enter or exit)
But if I am uncomfortable with the avatar look, I can set another one from the left side. All of them offer many looks and can replace the original figure that was included in the template.
Let´s see how this works. I go for Georgia (who has five views) and click the "Casual Front" view
The system copied the avatar, including the background, but don´t panic. I click on the avatar, and on the upper row, there is a command to suppress the background. Check it out:
Here is how it resulted:
Needless to say, this HeyGen functionality is impressive.
Now, it is time to craft the script. I click on the left tab and the script screen appears.
HeyGen offers an impressive library of voices and languages. You can also create a new voice or integrate a third-party voice (a unique feature of this platform)
HeyGen voice management is quite powerful. You can set volume, pitch, and voice models. You can add pauses between the script, add your recording and use the ChatGPT integration for script writing. It is also possible to add your script using the PC microphone. For this review, I added some words to the original script.
The platform provides tons of royalty-free assets (called elements) available from a left tab. Here, you will find shapes, logos, images, videos, and music. Music items need organization and the option to filter files by file type and genre. Anyway, the music library has many resources you can preview by clicking the play button.
Despite the assets library, the system allows you to upload your images, videos, or logos and include them in your video. This is a useful resource if you have specific media to show.
If you have some experience with video editing, you know that it is not always easy to match the video with the length of the script. HeyGen does here an excellent job by adding a button you can toggle on and off to adjust both automatically.
Once you have your video ready, you can preview it before submitting it. In this stage, the avatar is fixed with no animation (this is standard behavior in this type of software)
Let's click "Submit" on the upper right. Rendering this 18-second video took 3 min 22 seconds, a standard ratio considering the video is quite simple and I am on the free plan.
Check it out
Lip syncing and avatar quality are pretty good, though not flawless. In any case, I created this simple video in just a few minutes, and the overall process was easy to follow.
HeyGen integrations
HeyGen is a huge step ahead from its beginning, where the only integration available was Zapier. Today, this platform integrates with
- Tolstoy AI Video Player: You can publish your HeyGen videos on your website, in emails, and via SMS.
- Trupeer AI Screen Recorder: This tool converts a regular screen recording into a professional-looking video.
- Flowshare: This is used to create step-by-step guides and tutorials.
- Mindstamp: A third-party tool to make your videos interactive with quizzes, buttons and hotspots.
- Repurpose.io: An excellent tool for repurposing long videos into short clips.
- Zapier: A proven tool to connect HeyGen with hundreds of applications.
- Make: Make lets you automate workflows in a friendly and visual environment.
- Plainly Videos: Automatically add your HeyGen videos to your After Effects templates.
HeyGen pricing and Value for Money
HeyGen offers a flexible and competitive pricing structure for beginners and professional content creators. Here's a closer look at what each plan provides and how it delivers exceptional value:
Free Plan
- Cost: $0/month
- Features:
- Create up to 3 videos per month
- Maximum video length of 3 minutes each
- Access to a limited selection of avatars and templates
- Best For: Individuals testing the platform or creating occasional videos
Basic Plan
- Cost: $24/month (billed annually)
- Features:
- Unlimited video creation, removing any restrictions on output
- Access to 120+ human avatars and 300+ customizable templates
- Support for 40+ languages, enhancing global reach
- Advanced features like Face Swap, Branding Kit, and Custom Avatars Pro and Lite
- Regular updates and new feature rollouts included
- Best For: Small businesses, marketers, and regular content creators seeking robust video creation tools without escalating costs
Value for Money
- Unlimited Videos: Unlike many competitors that cap the number of videos, HeyGen's basic plan allows for unlimited content creation, providing excellent value for high-volume users.
- Comprehensive Features: From a vast avatar library to advanced customization options, HeyGen equips users with all the necessary tools to produce professional-quality videos.
- Cost Efficiency: At $24/month, HeyGen offers significant savings compared to traditional video production methods, making high-quality video creation accessible to a broader audience.
HeyGen Pros: What I like
- Superb Free Plan: HeyGen offers a generous free plan that allows you to create up to three videos per month, each up to three minutes long.
- Voice management: Although HeyGen lacks some features for better pronunciation, overall voice management is excellent.
- Create product video from URLs: This is a fantastic feature if you need to create promo videos for your Amazon store (or any other one)
- Continuous improvements: HeyGen is a platform that improves regularly. This ensures you that you will be aways up to date with the latest technology available for avatar video creation.
HeyGen Cons: What needs improvement
- Onboarding and tutorials: You have access to “mini-lessons” or tutorials. Although HeyGen is intuitive and easy to use, I would like to see more videos and beginner’s resources.
- Workspaces and collaboration: This feature is only available on higher plans. This is crucial if you work with team members to avoid sending files back and forth.
- Avatar gestures: There are no avatar gestures, an exciting feature Synthesia has recently added. Furthermore, Colossyan Creator is the only platform that lets you adjust AI avatars’ ages, emotions, and expressions.
HeyGen reviews and support
Support is handled via chat, and currently, customer service answers your queries within three hours. Not bad, but when you have an issue, you need to solve it as soon as possible.
G2 shows 630+ ratings and reviews with a 4.8/5 score, an excellent ratio that shows how the platform works from the user’s side.
Best three HeyGen alternatives
If you are still unsure about HeyGen, my best advice is to sign up for a free account and test it for yourself.
Still, there are many options to consider, my top tree HeyGen options are:
Synthesia
In my experience, Synthesia is one of the best AI video creation platforms. With 130+ realistic avatars, 65+ templates, and 120+ languages, this software excels at creating videos with human avatars.
You won't find all the features HeyGen offers in Synthesia (no talking photos, no face swap videos). Still, the quality of the avatars and the overall platform performance are outstanding.
Read my Synthesia review or go to Synthesia website
Colossyan
I consider Colossyan a game changer in the video avatar creation business. There are only 30 avatars, 70 languages, and a lesser quantity of templates than those of HeyGen. But with Colossyan, you can set the avatar's emotions and gestures, set up to 4 avatars in a scene, and create a conversation with them. And the Chat-GPT integration is outstanding.
Read my Colossyan review or go to Colossyan website
Elai
Elai is the cheapest option, and we recommend it for personal and non-intensive use. With 80+ diverse avatars, 65+ languages in 450+ voices, and voice cloning in 28 different languages, Elai offers excellent avatar quality and lip-synching, with a complete set of native integrations.
Read my Elai review or go to Elai.io website
HeyGen Review: My take
This HeyGen review showed how AI development leads to offering a complete suite of products featuring human avatars. Looking at their recent roadmap, it is clear that this product has immense potential to fill a gap in the video creation business.
Although Synthesia is the leading AI video creation company, I am sure HeyGen is becoming a strong contender. It shows many improvements and regularly rolls out new features and related products.
Of course, you can’t compare HeyGen against a professional video editing platform like Filmora or Adobe. Still, this software is not intended to replace those since it is designed for users with different needs.
Whether you need to create a video for training, social media, or any other use case, HeyGen deserves a try.
RELATED READING: 8 Best Synthesia.io Alternatives in 2024 Free and Paid

Mario here. I am the owner of Vidmetoo, a one-man band.
I founded this website to provide you with useful insights about video tools and related resources. Thanks for reading!