HeyGen Free: 3 videos of 1 minute to test a script

HeyGen's pricing page lists a Free plan with 3 videos per month, each up to 1 minute, and 1 custom avatar. That is enough to hear whether a script is paced right before you build anything. If the same script will run through Sume's API, it must also estimate between 4 and 60 seconds, so a script that fills the free minute fits inside a single Sume job with room to spare.

HeyGen source: pricing, read 2026-10-04. Sume source: Generate avatar video.

A three-test plan

Use the three free videos for three different questions rather than three takes of the same script. Each one isolates a risk.

Moving the script to Sume

Count words first. Sume estimates duration from the script, rejects anything under 4 or over 60 seconds, and offers video_inputs when you want hooks, silent beats and calls to action in one composed video. Use voice.type: "silence" with a duration for a beat where a product is on screen.

• Short script, one script field.
• Multi-beat script, video_inputs with an id per scene.
• Over 60 seconds, split into jobs and join later.

Do the frame check with a still

Before a full render, create an avatar video preview and look at the still. The docs describe it as the first-frame stage that runs before the full talking-video render, and it shows the avatar position, the scene and any product image together. If you want captions, store the intent on the preview; they are burned in only at the final step.

Bottom line

Free tiers are for learning what to ask for. Keep a log of what each test found, so the real pipeline starts from decisions and not guesses. Do not publish a free-plan video as a deliverable without reading the plan's own terms.