Gemini Live Avatar custom avatars are allowlist-only; Sume is $0.95
Gemini 3.8 Live Avatar went GA on 2026-09-24 with custom avatars restricted to an allowlist. On Sume a photo avatar is $0.95 with no allowlist step.
Google's Gemini 3.8 Live Avatar became generally available on 2026-09-24 in Gemini Enterprise, and its custom avatars are limited to an allowlist. On Sume you can create a custom avatar yourself for $0.95 from a prompt, props or a photo, with no allowlist step. Google's page does not give a price that this post can quote, so no price comparison is made for Gemini.
What Google states
The figures below are taken from Google's own release page. Where a point is not on that page, it is left out.
| Item | Gemini 3.8 Live Avatar | Sume Avatar 1.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Availability | GA 2026-09-24 in Gemini Enterprise | API, pay per use |
| Languages | 97 | Not stated here |
| Watermark | SynthID | Not stated here |
| Custom avatars | Allowlist only | Create from prompt, props or photo |
| Endpoints | US and EU | Not stated here |
| Avatar creation price | Not on the page | $0.95 once |
What this means for a buyer
A custom avatar of your own face or brand character on Gemini needs approval first, so plan for lead time before a launch. On Sume, creating the avatar is an API call that returns a handle you can reuse in every talking video, and the first 15-second standard clip is $3.71 including creation.
Sume is not a like-for-like product. Gemini Live Avatar is a live avatar service inside an enterprise suite, while Sume Avatar 1.0 makes talking-head videos of 4 to 60 seconds at 720p. If you need a real-time conversation, the Sume product is not that.
Disclosure and consent
The Gemini facts come from Google's release page, and the YouTube rules are on its altered or synthetic content page.
- Use an avatar of a real person only with that person's permission.
- Label synthetic content where a platform asks for it; YouTube explains its rules on the altered or synthetic content page.
- Google marks Live Avatar output with SynthID; check what marks your own pipeline needs.
A quick decision guide
If you need a live avatar inside an enterprise suite and can wait for allowlist approval for a custom one, Google is the product named on that page. If you need short rendered clips made by code, with your own avatar ready the same day, Sume Avatar 1.0 is the fit. Cost for Sume is easy to estimate: one avatar at $0.95, then $0.184 per second at standard. Ten 20-second clips would be $37.75 in total.
Where a decision turns on Gemini pricing, read it on Google's own pricing page, since this post does not quote a figure for it.
Sources
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Written by Sume