HeyGen Credits, Explained (2026): Why the Same Video Costs 6.7× More
HeyGen's plan prices are the easy part. The credit system underneath them is where budgets go wrong: the same one-minute video can cost 3 credits or 20 depending on a single dropdown, and running out works differently on every tier.
Direct answer
HeyGen meters every generation in credits drawn from one monthly pool, and the rate depends entirely on the model: Avatar IV/V costs 20 credits per minute (1 credit per 3 seconds), the older Avatar III just 3, video translation 5, and Video Agent 20 — so the same one-minute video ranges from 3 to 20 credits, a 6.7× spread. Plans supply 600 (Creator), 1,000 (Pro) and 1,500 (Business) credits a month. Unused credits roll over one billing cycle on monthly plans and accumulate until renewal on annual; downgrading or cancelling forfeits them. Every retake rebills its minutes. Verified on HeyGen's pricing and help center, Jul 22, 2026.
- Last verified
- Jul 22, 2026
- Confidence
- High — read on vendor pages
- Evidence
- 5 checks
- Sources
- 1 source links
Evidence used
- The per-model credit rates (Avatar IV/V 20/min i.e. 1 credit per 3 seconds, Avatar III 3/min, translation 5/min, Video Agent 20/min) were read on HeyGen's credit-pricing help center on Jul 22, 2026.
- Plan credit pools (Creator 600, Pro 1,000, Business 1,500) come from heygen.com/pricing, same date.
- Rollover rules (monthly one cycle, annual accumulate until renewal; forfeit on downgrade/cancel) and the top-up rules (Business only, $5 per 100 credits or auto-reload; Creator/Pro must upgrade) come from the same help center.
- Web-credit expiry beyond rollover is not published by HeyGen; API pay-as-you-go credits expire after 12 months (a separate wallet) — we state which is which rather than merge them.
- Per-minute dollar figures are pure division from the verified plan prices and credit rates.
How we checked this
- We lead with the model-rate spread because it moves real cost 6.7× — more than any plan choice does.
- Where HeyGen doesn't publish a rule (web-credit expiry, exact max rollover balance), we say so instead of estimating.
HeyGen credit rates by model (verified Jul 22, 2026)
| Action | Credits/min | 1 min costs | 5 min costs | Creator 600-cr pool ≈ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avatar IV / V (flagship) | 20 | 20 | 100 | ≈ 30 min |
| Avatar III (older) | 3 | 3 | 15 | ≈ 200 min |
| Video translation (lip-sync) | 5 | 5 | 25 | ≈ 120 min |
| Video Agent | 20 | 20 | 100 | ≈ 30 min |
One shared pool, four burn rates. Avatar IV/V is billed as 1 credit per 3 seconds (= 20/min). Retakes rebill the full length again.
The model rate is the real price list
A HeyGen credit isn't a fixed amount of video — its value depends on the model. Avatar IV/V burns 20 credits a minute, Avatar III just 3, so the same script costs 6.7× more or less depending on which you pick. The sticker price of the plan matters far less than which dropdown you render in.
This is the single most important thing to understand about HeyGen's pricing, and it's buried a layer below the plan table. Creator's 600 credits are either ≈30 minutes of flagship Avatar V or ≈200 minutes of Avatar III — same plan, same price, 6.7× the output. Video translation sits in between at 5 credits a minute; Video Agent matches the flagship at 20.
The money-saving workflow follows directly: draft, review and iterate on Avatar III at 3 credits a minute, then spend the flagship rate only on the final take. Teams that render every draft on Avatar V are paying the premium rate for work no one will watch. Convert any plan or credit amount to minutes by model in the [HeyGen credits calculator](/tools/heygen-credits-calculator).
Rollover, retakes, and running out
Monthly plans roll unused credits forward one cycle; annual plans accumulate them until renewal. Downgrading or cancelling forfeits the balance. Every retake rebills its minutes — the biggest hidden cost — and at zero, generation simply stops.
Rollover is friendlier than [Runway's hard monthly reset](/blog/runway-credits-rollover) but tighter than a bank: monthly subscribers keep unused credits for one additional cycle only, so a zero balance mid-month means you've burned both this cycle's and last cycle's pool. Annual subscribers get credits allocated monthly that accumulate until the renewal date. Either way, downgrading to Free or cancelling forfeits whatever's unused.
The retake tax is where budgets actually break: re-rendering a 5-minute Avatar-V video three times is 300 credits — half of Creator's month — because each render bills its full length again. It's why credit burn, not sticker price, is the most repeated complaint in our [G2/Trustpilot check](/reviews/heygen). When the pool hits zero, the web app stops generating; there's no overage.
Buying more: who can, and how
Only Business can buy one-off credits ($0.05 each, in 100-credit blocks for $5, or auto-reload). Creator and Pro have no top-up button — they must upgrade the plan for more credits. The separate API credit wallet has its own rates and a 12-month expiry.
This tier asymmetry catches people mid-project: on Creator ($29) or Pro ($49), running dry means upgrading, full stop — you can't just buy a small top-up. Business ($149) is the first tier with on-demand credits at $0.05 apiece, plus auto-reload, which is part of what its premium buys beyond the extra seats and 60-minute videos.
One thing HeyGen doesn't publish for web/subscription credits is an expiry date beyond the rollover window — so treat rolled-over credits as "use within the next cycle" rather than banked indefinitely. The API is a separate story: it's a prepaid USD wallet with its own per-minute rates and a 12-month expiry on pay-as-you-go credits. The full plan ladder and per-tier features are in the [HeyGen pricing breakdown](/blog/heygen-pricing).
Sources checked
Official vendor pages used for pricing, rights and feature claims; checked Jul 22, 2026.
- HeyGen pricing - free-tier limits, credit allowances and watermark-removal tier