HeyGen API pricing: how pay-as-you-go credits work

HeyGen API pricing is pay-as-you-go: you buy API credits in US dollars, separately from any HeyGen subscription, and each video is priced per minute by avatar engine and avatar type, charged by the actual seconds generated. HeyGen's help center says it does not offer free API credits starting February 2026.

Every HeyGen figure below is from HeyGen's own API pricing article and usage limits page, read on 2026-09-28; HeyGen notes its table applies to videos generated via API only. Sume figures come from Sume's pricing code and the Generate avatar video docs.

How much does each HeyGen API feature cost?

Video prices are "Price per 1 minute, charged by actual seconds generated." HeyGen also lists each price in credits.

Is the HeyGen API separate from a HeyGen plan?

Yes. HeyGen calls API credits "a standalone from our regular HeyGen plans": you can buy them without a Creator, Pro, or Business plan, and any user, free users included, can buy any amount. There is no plan or subscription needed.

• Legacy API Pro and API Scale subscribers can stay on those plans, which HeyGen describes as deprecated and not restorable once canceled.
• LiveAvatar, HeyGen's real-time streaming avatar, has plans and pricing separate from API plans, although the same article also says API credits can be used to stream LiveAvatars on your site. See real-time vs video avatar APIs for how the two differ.
• Creating a custom Digital Twin through the API is only available to Enterprise API users, per the same article.

Do HeyGen API credits expire, and what are the limits?

• Pay-as-you-go credits expire 12 months after purchase; credits from the old API Pro and Scale plans expire after 30 days.
• When credits run out, you buy more. HeyGen has not offered free monthly API credits since February 2026.
• Concurrency: 10 workflows at once on pay-as-you-go and 20 on Enterprise, where optional burst slots above the included 20 bill at 1.5× the contract rate. Over the limit, requests get 429 Too Many Requests.
• Length: one avatar request renders a single scene, capped at 30 minutes. How long can HeyGen videos be covers the plan limits.

How do I estimate a HeyGen API video's cost?

Pick the row for your engine and avatar type, then multiply its per-minute price by the video's length in minutes; HeyGen says it charges by the actual seconds generated. Add the one-time creation call if you are making a new avatar. HeyGen's Digital Twin docs let you choose the engine in each video request, with Avatar IV used when you omit it, and the Avatar III rows cost less per minute than the Avatar IV and V rows for the same avatar type.

How does Sume price an avatar video API?

For comparison, Sume Avatar 1.0 bills a talking video per second of output by quality tier: $0.184/s standard, $0.245/s plus, $0.55/s max (no product image). Creating a reusable avatar costs $0.95 per avatar, once. Both are plus a 5.5% agent fee by default, drawn from one prepaid wallet.

One Sume video covers an estimated 4-60 seconds of script, and quality is standard, plus (the default), or max. AI avatar video pricing per minute turns those rates into minutes, and Sume vs HeyGen compares the two products; the live rate card is on API pricing.