Make One Photo Talk: What HeyGen's Free Tier Actually Allows, and Where It Stops (2026 Official Limits)

You want a video of someone talking to camera, but you do not want to be on camera and you have no gear. The current answer: upload a photo, type a script, and let the AI make the face in that photo say it.

HeyGen calls this a Photo Avatar. In the company’s words, you upload a still image and it becomes an animated version that lip-syncs to your script.

Three questions only: how to do it, how much you get free, and what to do when it goes wrong.

1. What the free tier actually gives you

Start here. This is HeyGen’s own table, read on 2026-09-03:

Three things worth noticing:

1. Free web gets zero training runs — only the mobile free tier gets one a month. If training matters to you, start on mobile.
2. Avatar IV free allowance is 10 seconds per video and 30 seconds for the whole month. That is roughly three ten-second clips. Fine for a trial, not a content schedule.
3. Free accounts keep 3 photo avatars. The FAQ repeats it: free users can create up to 3, while Creator, Team and Enterprise are unlimited.

2. The actual steps

1. Go to the Avatars tab and click New Avatar.
2. Choose Upload Photo, or design one with AI.
3. Upload the image, name the avatar, and submit it.
4. Wait for validation. Only after it validates can you use the avatar across the platform.
5. Back in the Avatars tab, click the arrow icon on your avatar to take it straight into Studio and build a video.
6. In Studio you pick a Voice, and under the Avatar tab you choose a Motion Engine to control how it moves.

Small tip: hit the heart icon to favourite an avatar and it sorts first everywhere it appears.

3. Choosing the photo: one hard rule

HeyGen’s stated rule is that photo avatars work best when the face is close to human proportions. Your character can be an animal, a robot or an alien — as long as the face structure is human-like, it can still work.

The FAQ adds practical advice: use a clear, front-facing image with a natural posture, and visible hands if they are in frame.

One expectation to set early: the movement is AI-generated, so results vary with the original image, pose, lighting and prompt. If you specifically want your own speaking style, HeyGen recommends a Video Avatar instead, since that one is trained from recorded motion.

4. When a video sits on Pending, or comes back Rejected

This is where beginners most often panic. HeyGen runs automated moderation, and a video can land in two states:

• Pending: the guidance is to wait for the automatic review to finish — many Pending videos are ultimately approved, and support cannot speed it up.
• Rejected: you tripped a moderation rule. Read the community guidelines and moderation policy first; a rejection labelled NSFW usually points to a prohibited avatar. Contact support only when you need a manual review.

HeyGen also suggests one way to reduce the odds: create your own video avatar before making videos, which improves approval rates and speeds up processing.

In plain terms: use your own photo, keep the script clean, and never use a celebrity’s or a stranger’s face.

5. A scripting tip that saves your allowance

The free allowance is measured in seconds, so script length is cost. English narration runs roughly 2 to 3 words per second, so a 10-second clip is about 25 to 30 words. Write to that length first rather than discovering the overrun after generating.

(That conversion is our own rough estimate based on typical narration pace, not an official figure — check against your actual output.)

6. What this article does not claim

• Monthly prices for the paid plans. Our source here is the official help page, which explains credit costs but lists no prices, so no figures appear above — check the official pricing page; unverified here.
• What 60 credits or 20 credits cost in money. Same reason — unverified.
• Voice quality in any given language, and the supported-language list. Not tested this round, so no opinion offered.
• The full text of the moderation policy. We cite only the stated handling process, not the policy clauses.

Official links

• Getting started with photo avatars (source of the limits table and steps): https://help.heygen.com/en/articles/10034438-how-to-get-started-with-photo-avatars
• Why is my video pending or rejected (source of the moderation section): https://help.heygen.com/en/articles/9039830-why-is-my-video-pending-or-rejected

Related reading

• HeyGen tool page (plans and free-tier verification log)
• Which AI video “price cuts” are not real cuts