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Facts checked against both vendors on October 13, 2026.
Choose HeyGen if the job is producing presenter-style videos for marketing, sales or content, where avatar range, a 175-language translation tool and a text-driven editor matter and the plans are built around making finished videos. Choose D-ID if the job involves a talking face that other people interact with, such as an embeddable conversational agent, a streaming avatar inside an app, or a video that answers viewer questions, or if the cheapest way to get an API and a commercial licence is the priority.
HeyGen and D-ID both turn a script into a video of a digital presenter, and both can build an avatar from your own footage or a photo. That overlap hides a split in what each company is selling. HeyGen sells a video studio: avatars, translation, a prompt-driven Video Agent and an editor, billed in credits. D-ID sells an avatar engine with a studio attached: offline videos, but also real-time agents, streaming and embeddable interactive videos, billed in minutes or credits depending on whether the buyer is in the Studio or the API.
The details below come from each vendor's own pages, read in October 2026. The pricing pages show prices with a dollar sign and the text that was read does not name the currency, so the figures are quoted as listed and should not be assumed to match a euro or sterling invoice.
HeyGen's home page leads with a Video Agent that writes a video from a prompt, an AI Studio editor for script, tone, gesture and emotion, and Video Translation from an uploaded file or a YouTube link. Its tools cover text, image, audio and PowerPoint or PDF to video. Avatar V, its newest model, is built from a video reference and is described as keeping identity consistent across angles and expressions. HeyGen does also publish developer APIs for video generation, translation, lip-sync and the Video Agent, but the pricing page says the API is not part of the consumer plans and carries separate pricing, which was not readable in this research.
D-ID's home page lists a Video Studio, Visual AI Agents, Agentic Videos, a Natural User Interface, Video Translate, Live Portrait, Speaking Portrait and self-hosting for real-time avatars. The agents are real-time conversational avatars that can be trained on a knowledge base and embedded, with tutoring, sales guidance and customer service named as uses.
HeyGen's page lists Free at 0 dollars, Creator at 29 dollars a month or 24 dollars a month billed annually, Pro at 49 dollars a month and Business at 149 dollars a month plus 20 dollars per extra seat, with Enterprise sold through sales. Credits are 600 on Creator, 1,000 on Pro and 1,500 on Business. Video length is capped at 30 minutes on Creator and Pro and 60 minutes on Business, with no cap listed on Enterprise. Credits are the unit, and the number of minutes they buy depends on the avatar model chosen.
D-ID splits pricing across two pages. The Studio page lists a 14-day Trial at 0 dollars with 3 minutes, Lite, Pro and Advanced, plus a sales-led Enterprise. The prices shown by default appear to be annual-billing equivalents: Lite at 4.70 dollars a month (56 dollars billed yearly), Pro at 16 dollars a month (191 dollars billed yearly) and Advanced at 108 dollars a month (1,293 dollars billed yearly). The page labels the annual discounts as 20, 45 and 45 percent, so the monthly-billing prices will be higher, and they were not captured here. The unit is minutes of output: Lite 10 a month, Pro 15 and Advanced 100, shared across videos, agents, Video Translate and API.
The D-ID API page is a separate ladder: Build at 14.40 dollars a month (172.80 billed yearly) with up to 16 minutes of offline video and up to 32 minutes of streaming, Launch at 35 dollars a month (420 billed yearly) with up to 45 and 90 minutes, and Scale at 138.60 dollars a month (1,663.20 billed yearly), plus Enterprise. The Studio plans and the API page both show a credits figure beside each plan, with several values per plan that the text did not explain, so the exact credit conversion is not confirmed here. Confirm the conversion before buying.
HeyGen lists 500 or more stock avatars on Free and 700 or more on every paid plan, with photo avatars (up to 3 on Free, unlimited on paid plans) and custom video avatars: one on Free, Creator and Pro, five or more on Business and ten or more on Enterprise. Custom avatars require on-camera identity verification from the person shown. Languages are 30 or more on Free and 175 or more languages and dialects on paid plans, covering translation, voice cloning and lip-sync.
D-ID's Studio table lists 100 or more stock avatars on the Trial, photo avatars plus two video avatars on Lite, and personal avatars at 1 on Trial, 1 on Lite, 3 on Pro and 5 on Advanced. A separate Studio Avatar, the higher-effort tier, is not included on Lite, Pro or Advanced and appears as an add-on on Enterprise.
On language the two vendors diverge in a way that needs a caveat. D-ID's home page says video creation and real-time interactions work in more than 120 languages, but its Video Translate row lists 30 or more output languages on every plan. Both can be true if translation is a narrower feature than generation, but the pages do not say so. HeyGen's 175 figure covers translation, and its translation tool takes a file or a link.
D-ID's Studio table marks API access as included on every plan, including the trial, and the home page describes real-time streaming animation, offline generation and a self-hosting option, with documentation and 24/7 support for API and Studio customers. Using it requires an API key and a positive credit balance. HeyGen's API is a separate product with its own pricing page, so an API-first buyer starts from a different price list rather than a Creator plan with an API switch turned on.
Watermarks and licences are where D-ID's plans differ most from HeyGen's. D-ID puts a full-screen watermark on the Trial, a D-ID watermark on Lite, an AI watermark on Pro and a custom logo on Advanced, so removing the visible mark is a function of the plan tier. Only Pro and above carry a commercial licence on the Studio page; the Trial is labelled a personal use licence for non-business projects, and the API Build plan is also labelled personal. Anyone planning to publish a client or marketing video should read that licence line before choosing Lite.
HeyGen's pricing page lists watermark removal on Creator and above. Its commercial-use position is not stated plainly in the pricing text that was read, with only Enterprise listing commercial terms, so a buyer who needs a written licence should ask HeyGen rather than assume. Neither vendor's licence wording was read in full. Separately, D-ID's home page says output video is up to 5 minutes while its Studio table lists 30 minutes on every plan, so test the length you need. Output quality cannot be judged from these pages and should be tried on the buyer's own material.
Pick HeyGen if the output is finished video for campaigns, product explainers, localisation or social content, if translating existing footage into many languages is a recurring task, or if the team wants to start from a prompt, a deck or an audio file. Creator at 24 dollars a month billed annually is the entry point for paid features, and Business at 149 dollars a month plus 20 per seat is where teams, 60-minute videos and five or more custom avatars appear.
Pick D-ID if the product needs a face that responds, an agent a customer or student can talk to, a streaming avatar inside an app, or an interactive video. Also pick it if budget is tight and a developer is on the team: the Studio Pro plan at 16 dollars a month billed annually and the API Launch plan at 35 dollars a month billed annually both carry a commercial licence, and every Studio plan includes the API. Avoid Lite for anything public, since it carries a watermark and its licence is not listed as commercial.
Built from each tool's listing. Vendors can update their own listing after claiming it.
Free is 0 dollars for three one-minute videos a month. Creator is 29 dollars a month or 24 dollars a month billed annually with 600 credits and 30-minute videos. Pro starts at 49 dollars a month with 1,000 credits. Business is 149 dollars a month plus 20 dollars per extra seat with 1,500 credits and 60-minute videos. Enterprise is sales-led. API pricing is separate and was not read.
Studio: a 14-day Trial with 3 minutes, then Lite at 4.70 dollars a month (56 billed yearly) with 10 minutes, Pro at 16 dollars a month (191 yearly) with 15 minutes and Advanced at 108 dollars a month (1,293 yearly) with 100 minutes, as shown on the annual toggle. API: Build at 14.40, Launch at 35 and Scale at 138.60 dollars a month on annual billing. Enterprise is custom. Monthly-billing prices were not captured.
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