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Tavus vs HeyGen
An AI avatar can be a video you watch or a person you talk to. Tavus builds the second kind, live two-way video conversations through an API, counted in conversation minutes. HeyGen builds the first, rendering finished videos from a script, translating them into 175+ languages and dialects, and billing in monthly credits.
| What buyers compare | Tavus | HeyGen |
|---|---|---|
| Price per monthSources 3, 4 | Free. Starter $22. Builder $59. Growth $397. Business $975. Enterprise: quote | Free. Creator $29. Pro $49. Business $149, plus $20 per added seat. Enterprise: quote |
| Free plan or trialSources 3, 4 | Free plan with 20 minutes of Conversational Video | Free plan: 3 watermarked videos a month, up to 1 minute each |
| How usage is countedSources 3, 4 | Live conversation minutes, from 20 on Free to 4,000 on Business. Extra minutes cost $0.35, $0.31, or $0.26 on Builder, Growth, and Business | Credits: 600 on Creator, 1,000 on Pro, and 1,500 on Business. Creator credits roll over one month |
| Integrations and featuresSources 3, 4 | Conversational Video Interface with the language model, speech, and WebRTC in the price. Google Meet, Zoom, Pipecat, and LiveKit integrations. 42+ languages | Avatar videos, 175+ languages and dialects on paid plans, and 4K export on Pro. Business adds brand kit, SCORM export, and Zapier, Make, n8n, and HubSpot integrations |
| Security and deploymentSources 3, 4 | Enterprise: SOC 2 and HIPAA compliance, zero data retention, and performance SLAs | Business: SAML SSO. Enterprise: SCIM, team member MFA, and multi-workspace control |
| Best forSources 1, 2 | Teams building live conversational video, such as sales practice, training, support, or recruiting, on an API | Marketing, enablement, and learning teams that need spokesperson-style videos and localization at volume |
List prices in US dollars per month before tax, as published on each vendor's site on October 29, 2026, billed monthly unless the cell says otherwise. "Quote" means the vendor sets the price through its sales team.
Which one fits
Tavus is for an avatar that talks with your customers in real time, while HeyGen is for a finished video your audience watches.
Choose Tavus if
- Your product is a conversation, such as sales practice, training, support, or recruiting, and the avatar must answer in real time.
- You build on an API. The language model, speech, and WebRTC come in the per-minute price, with Google Meet, Zoom, Pipecat, and LiveKit hooks.
- You can plan around minutes. Builder includes 175 minutes for $59 a month, and extra minutes cost $0.35.
Choose HeyGen if
- You make spokesperson, training, or marketing videos and localize them. Paid plans cover 175+ languages and dialects.
- You want a low-cost start. Free covers 3 videos a month, and Creator is $29 a month with 600 credits.
- A team shares the work. Business is $149 a month plus $20 per added seat, with SAML SSO, a brand kit, SCORM export, and Zapier, Make, n8n, and HubSpot integrations.
What buyers say
“I use Heygen with an api from n8n. Do it all automated, it works good [...] Heygen is convincing if you tweek it right. [...] I've tried Tavus, Synthesia, Eleven labs has begun doing it, and it's ok.”
SkippyMcZippy · Reddit r/instructionaldesign, on lip-sync tools · · source
“HeyGen interactive avatars, or tavus.io. They are absolutely not ‘minimal cost’ though -- that's ridiculous. They are very expensive because they use a lot of compute.”
runvnc · Reddit r/AI_Agents, answering a request for a human-like AI agent · · source
Verdict
Tavus (7.6 out of 10, Recommend) is the choice when the product is a live conversation with an AI face, with plans from free to $975 a month and extra minutes at $0.26 to $0.35. HeyGen (7.3 out of 10, Conditional recommend) is the choice when the job is rendering spokesperson and localized video at volume, with credit plans from free to $149 a month plus $20 per added seat.
Methodology
We read the Tavus and HeyGen pricing pages on October 29, 2026 and recorded every published price, limit, and plan feature. A cell reads "Not published" when the vendor does not state that detail on its site.
Scores and best-fit notes come from the AIR reviews of each product. Buyer quotes come from public forum posts that name both products.