AI Short Video Production · Deepege Editorial Team
HeyGen vs ElevenLabs (2026): Avatar Video or AI Voice?
HeyGen vs ElevenLabs comes down to one question: does a face need to move on screen? HeyGen makes talking-avatar videos and translates videos with lip sync. ElevenLabs makes voice and audio, and its own help center says its Dubbing does not lip-sync. Since June 2026 ElevenLabs also has Avatars on paid plans, so the line is less clean than it used to be. We checked every price and limit below on the official pages on November 13, 2026.
Key points (checked November 13, 2026):
- Entry price: HeyGen Creator is $29/mo ($24/mo billed yearly) with 600 credits. ElevenLabs Starter is $6/mo with 30k credits, shown at $1 for the first month with an "Until Dec 1" label.
- Lip sync: HeyGen video translation with lip sync costs 6 credits a minute (Speed) or 10 (Precision). ElevenLabs Dubbing re-voices the audio only; lip sync sits in its Image & Video tools through third-party models.
- Voice: ElevenLabs is the deeper audio tool: Instant Voice Cloning from Starter, Professional Voice Cloning from Creator ($22/mo), plus music, sound effects and speech to text on the same plans.
- Use both: HeyGen can import your ElevenLabs voices with an API key, and HeyGen's AI Studio lists ElevenLabs as one of its voice engines.
HeyGen vs ElevenLabs: quick comparison
| Factor | HeyGen | ElevenLabs | Deepege (our product) |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you get | A finished avatar video, or your video translated with lip sync | Audio first: text to speech, voice cloning, dubbing, music, sound effects; avatars on paid plans | Short marketing videos produced and published across several platforms |
| Free plan | 3 videos/mo, watermarked, up to 1 minute each | 10k credits/mo | Free tools with credits after sign-up |
| Entry paid plan | Creator $29/mo ($24/mo yearly), 600 credits | Starter $6/mo ($1 first month until Dec 1), 30k credits | Quoted after a fit assessment |
| Lip-synced translation | Yes: 6 credits/min (Speed), 10 (Precision) | Not in Dubbing; lip sync via Image & Video models | Overseas versions convert script, voiceover and subtitles |
| Voice cloning | 1 clone on Free; Pro adds 1 Professional Voice Clone | Instant from Starter; Professional from Creator | AI voiceover inside the video workflow |
| Languages | 30+ on Free; 175+ languages and dialects on paid plans | 74 for text to speech (pricing table) | Not listed publicly |
Prices change often, and both vendors run first-month offers. Check the total on each checkout page before you buy.
How much do HeyGen and ElevenLabs cost in 2026?
HeyGen bills in video credits and ElevenLabs bills in audio credits, so the dollar prices line up but the units do not. Both tables come from the vendors' pricing pages, read on November 13, 2026 (US locale, monthly billing unless noted).
HeyGen pricing
| Plan | Price | What the plan card lists |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo | 3 watermarked videos a month, up to 1 minute each; Avatar IV and Video Agent access; one custom video avatar plus 500+ ready-made presenters; 30+ languages |
| Creator | $29/mo, or $24/mo billed yearly | 600 credits; 1080p export; no HeyGen branding; HeyGen Voice with up to 10 hours of text to speech; 175+ languages and dialects; credits roll over one month |
| Pro | From $49/mo | 1,000 credits; 4K export; faster processing; 1 Professional Voice Clone; HeyGen Voice with 16+ hours of text to speech; Pro tiers go up to 100,000 credits for $4,300/mo |
| Business | $149/mo plus $20 per seat/mo | Team collaboration features, per the pricing FAQ |
- Link: HeyGen pricing
- Who it's for: marketers, sales and training teams who need a presenter on screen, or need an existing talking-head video in another language
- Price checked: November 13, 2026
- Notes: HeyGen's help center prices avatar video by model: Avatar III at 4 to 7 credits a minute, Avatar IV at 16 (photo) or 31 (video look), Avatar V at 48 (How to use credits on HeyGen).
ElevenLabs pricing
| Plan | Price | Credits per month | What the plan card lists |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo | 10k | Text to speech, speech to text, sound effects, voice design, music; 3 Studio projects |
| Starter | $6/mo ($1 first month, "Until Dec 1") | 30k | Commercial license, Instant Voice Cloning, Dubbing Studio, Image & Video, music commercial use |
| Creator | $22/mo ($11 first month) | 121k | Professional Voice Cloning, additional credits |
| Pro | $99/mo | 600k | 192 kbps audio; 44.1 kHz PCM output via API |
| Scale | $299/mo | 1.8M | 3 workspace seats, 3 Professional Voice Clones |
| Business | $990/mo | 6M | 10 seats, 10 Professional Voice Clones |
- Link: ElevenLabs pricing
- Who it's for: creators and teams who need narration, cloned voices, dubbed audio or voice agents, and already have the picture
- Price checked: November 13, 2026
- Notes: The page estimates about 10, 30, 121 and 600 minutes of text to speech a month on Free, Starter, Creator and Pro. It says prices exclude all taxes, levies and duties.
Does ElevenLabs lip-sync dubbed videos?
ElevenLabs Dubbing does not lip-sync. Its help center says: "At the moment, ElevenLabs does not offer lip syncing as part of Dubbing. Lip sync is available in Image & Video, Flows, and Studio via third party models" (ElevenLabs help center). A dub from ElevenLabs keeps your original picture and replaces the speech.
HeyGen's video translation is the opposite design. You pick one of three engines, and the engine decides whether lips move (HeyGen video translation guide):
- Audio Only, 4 credits a minute: re-voices the audio, no lip sync.
- Speed, 6 credits a minute: lip sync for front-facing speakers with little facial occlusion.
- Precision, 10 credits a minute: better for side profiles, hands or microphones in front of the face, and speaker switches.
For a narrated screen recording or a product demo where nobody speaks to camera, a dub without lip sync is usually enough. For a founder or presenter talking straight to camera, viewers notice when the mouth does not match the new language.
One more thing to know before you build a workflow around ElevenLabs' editor: its docs say Dubbing Studio is in maintenance mode, getting critical bug fixes only, with no new feature work planned (Dubbing Studio docs).
Can ElevenLabs make avatar videos now?
Yes, on paid plans. ElevenLabs added Avatars to ElevenCreative in June 2026 (ElevenLabs blog). An avatar is a reusable identity built from reference images or a text prompt, paired with any ElevenLabs voice to make a talking-head video with lip movement. The docs list three limits worth checking first (ElevenLabs Avatars docs):
- Avatars are available on all paid plans, not on Free.
- Some Avatar models and reference image uploads are restricted in the United States.
- Avatar API access was not available at launch.
Under the hood, ElevenLabs routes lip sync to third-party models. Its Image & Video docs list Creatify Aurora, Veed Fabric, HeyGen Avatar 4 and OmniHuman 1.5, with cost that "varies based on input, settings and duration" (Image & Video docs). So ElevenLabs can now give a voice a face, but HeyGen is still the tool built around the presenter: stock presenters, custom video avatars, a template library, and translation of a video you already shot.
Voice cloning: HeyGen vs ElevenLabs
ElevenLabs offers more voice cloning control at a lower entry price. Instant Voice Cloning starts on Starter ($6/mo), Professional Voice Cloning on Creator ($22/mo), and Scale and Business plans include 3 and 10 Professional Voice Clones.
HeyGen treats the voice as part of the video. Free includes 1 voice clone, Creator lists "expanded usage", and Pro adds 1 Professional Voice Clone. Inside HeyGen's AI Studio, ElevenLabs is one of the voice engines you can pick (with model options from Eleven Multilingual v2 to v4), alongside HeyGen's own Panda, Starfish and Fish engines (Using voices in HeyGen AI Studio).
Can you use ElevenLabs voices in HeyGen?
Yes. HeyGen's help center documents an integration: in AI Studio, open the voice settings, choose Integrate 3rd Party Voice, pick ElevenLabs and paste your ElevenLabs API key. You can do the same from Avatar Settings and the translation Proofreading Tool (HeyGen integration guide).
Two practical notes from that guide:
- If your ElevenLabs credits run out, the integrated voices stop working in HeyGen. You are paying two credit meters.
- An "Invalid API key" error usually means the key lacks permissions such as Text to Speech, Voices and Models.
This combination makes sense when your brand voice already lives in ElevenLabs as a Professional Voice Clone and you want HeyGen's presenters and templates on top.
What does a 5-minute video cost in each tool?
The vendors do not publish this, so here is our own arithmetic from the credit rates above (checked November 13, 2026). Treat it as a planning estimate, not a quote.
| Job (5 minutes) | HeyGen | ElevenLabs |
|---|---|---|
| Avatar video, Avatar IV video look | 5 x 31 = 155 credits, about a quarter of Creator's 600 | Avatars on paid plans; cost varies by lip-sync model |
| Translate into 3 languages with lip sync (Speed) | 5 x 6 x 3 = 90 credits | Not available in Dubbing |
| Translate into 3 languages, audio only | 5 x 4 x 3 = 60 credits | Dubbing uses ElevenLabs credits (not priced here) |
| Narration only | Included in HeyGen Voice hours (up to 10 on Creator) | About 5 of Starter's roughly 30 text-to-speech minutes |
If most months look like the first two rows, HeyGen's credits go further. If most months are narration, voiceovers and audio ads, ElevenLabs Starter or Creator is the cheaper fit.
Deepege: our product, for multi-platform marketing videos
Deepege is our own product, so weigh this section accordingly. It is not a pure voice tool and not a pure avatar studio. It suits teams that publish short marketing videos on a schedule to several platforms.
On deepege.com, the agent writes the script and a shot-by-shot plan, prefers your own footage, fills gaps with public assets, AI shots or digital humans, and adds voiceover, subtitles and a cover before you approve. Overseas versions convert the script, voiceover and subtitles. The pricing page asks for a fit assessment instead of listing public prices.
To try a first step for free, draft narration with the AI voiceover generator or a scene-by-scene script with the AI video script generator.
How we compared
We opened HeyGen pricing and ElevenLabs pricing in a desktop browser on November 13, 2026 (US locale, USD), let them render, and recorded the plan cards and comparison tables. Credit rates, lip-sync rules and the integration steps come from HeyGen's help center and ElevenLabs' docs, linked in each section. We did not test output quality, and no vendor paid to be included. Deepege details come from our own pricing page.
Which should you choose?
Choose HeyGen if a presenter has to speak on camera, or you need an existing talking-head video translated with matching lips. Choose ElevenLabs if the deliverable is sound: narration, a cloned voice, dubbed audio, music or a voice agent. ElevenLabs Avatars can cover a simple talking head on a paid plan, so test one script there if you already pay for ElevenLabs. Use both when your brand voice is an ElevenLabs clone and you want HeyGen's presenters.
For more options in each category, see HeyGen alternatives, ElevenLabs alternatives and HeyGen vs Synthesia. For dubbing, subtitles and voiceover choices in general, see our video localization guide.
FAQ
Is HeyGen better than ElevenLabs?
Neither is better overall because they sell different outputs. HeyGen is built for avatar video and lip-synced translation. ElevenLabs is built for voice and audio, with avatars added on paid plans in 2026. Pick by whether a face must move on screen.
Is ElevenLabs cheaper than HeyGen?
At entry level, yes. On November 13, 2026, ElevenLabs Starter was $6/mo (with a $1 first month until December 1) and HeyGen Creator was $29/mo, or $24/mo billed yearly. The credits measure different things, so compare the cost of your actual monthly jobs.
Does ElevenLabs dubbing do lip sync?
No. ElevenLabs' help center says Dubbing does not include lip syncing, and that lip sync is available in Image & Video, Flows and Studio through third-party models. HeyGen's Speed and Precision translation engines include lip sync.
Does ElevenLabs have AI avatars?
Yes. ElevenLabs Avatars launched in ElevenCreative in June 2026 and are available on all paid plans. Its docs note that some avatar models and reference image uploads are restricted in the United States, and that avatar API access was not available at launch.
Can I use my ElevenLabs voice in HeyGen?
Yes. HeyGen lets you import ElevenLabs voices by pasting an ElevenLabs API key under Integrate 3rd Party Voice. The voices keep working only while your ElevenLabs account has credits.
Which is better for voice cloning?
ElevenLabs gives more cloning options at a lower price: Instant Voice Cloning from Starter and Professional Voice Cloning from Creator. HeyGen includes 1 voice clone on Free and 1 Professional Voice Clone on Pro, built to drive its avatars.
FAQ
Is HeyGen better than ElevenLabs?
Neither is better overall because they sell different outputs. HeyGen is built for avatar video and lip-synced translation. ElevenLabs is built for voice and audio, with avatars added on paid plans in 2026. Pick by whether a face must move on screen.
Is ElevenLabs cheaper than HeyGen?
At entry level, yes. On November 13, 2026, ElevenLabs Starter was $6/mo (with a $1 first month until December 1) and HeyGen Creator was $29/mo, or $24/mo billed yearly. The credits measure different things, so compare the cost of your actual monthly jobs.
Does ElevenLabs dubbing do lip sync?
No. ElevenLabs' help center says Dubbing does not include lip syncing, and that lip sync is available in Image & Video, Flows and Studio through third-party models. HeyGen's Speed and Precision translation engines include lip sync.
Does ElevenLabs have AI avatars?
Yes. ElevenLabs Avatars launched in ElevenCreative in June 2026 and are available on all paid plans. Its docs note that some avatar models and reference image uploads are restricted in the United States, and that avatar API access was not available at launch.
Can I use my ElevenLabs voice in HeyGen?
Yes. HeyGen lets you import ElevenLabs voices by pasting an ElevenLabs API key under Integrate 3rd Party Voice. The voices keep working only while your ElevenLabs account has credits.
Which is better for voice cloning?
ElevenLabs gives more cloning options at a lower price: Instant Voice Cloning from Starter and Professional Voice Cloning from Creator. HeyGen includes 1 voice clone on Free and 1 Professional Voice Clone on Pro, built to drive its avatars.