API Reference

API Limits and Credit Consumption Costs

Overview of usage limits and API credit consumption across HeyGen's API plans and endpoints

API Plan Tiers

Below are the of tiers of API usage available:

API Plan TierAPI CreditsPrice
Free Trial10 / monthFree
Pro100 / month$99 / month
Scale660 / month$330 / month, with auto-renew option
EnterpriseCustomContact [email protected]

🧪 All users — including on the Free plan — receive 10 API credits per month to test the APIs.

Please note that the video_translate and proofread endpoints can only be used by Scale Plan and Enterprise Plan customers.

What is an API Credit?

API Credits are used when performing various tasks like creating videos, translating content, or using Interactive Avatars. The credit usage depends on the endpoint:

FunctionalityCredit CostDetails
video/generate (Photo Avatar)0.2 credits / minCharged in 30 sec increments
video/generate (Video Avatar)1 credit / minCharged in 30 sec increments
video_translate3 credits / minCharged in 30 sec increments
generate-proofread1 credit / 2 min2-min video = 1 credit
Active streaming session0.2 credits / min30 sec min, 1 sec increments after
photo_avatar/photo/generate1 credit per call-
photo_avatar/look/generate0.25 credits per call-
photo_avatar/train4 credits per call-
photo_avatar/add_motion1 credit per call-
photo_avatar/add_sound_effectFree-
photo_avatar/upscale0.5 credits per call-

Check your usage histoy at: Space Settings → History → API Usage

Video Generation Concurrent Job Limits

The amount of videos that can be simultaneously processed. Other videos will sit in a queue until currently still processing videos are completed.

API Plan TierNumber of concurrent video generations
Free1
Pro3
Scale6
EnterpriseCustom

Video Length and Resolution Limits

The length of videos that can be translated or generated via API is limited by Tier:

API Plan TierVideo LengthVideo Resolution Limit
Free3 minutes720p
Pro5 minutes1080p
Scale30 Minutes4k
EnterpriseCustom4k

Photo Avatar and Look Generation Limits

Photo Generation (API vs Web)

  • You can generate unlimited photos using the API.
  • However, the HeyGen Web App has a limit of 400 photo generations per month.
  • If you exceed 400 total photos (including those created via API), the Web App will block further photo generation until the next month.
  • You can still continue generating photos via API, even after reaching the web limit.

Avatar Looks per Group

  • Max 500 Looks per Avatar Group.

Avatar Group Generation

PlanMax Avatar Groups
Free3
Pro10
ScaleUnlimited
EnterpriseUnlimited

video/generate Endpoint Limits

Resources

HeyGen limits the size and format of resources such as images, audio or video, that can be uploaded to the Video/Generate endpoint. Render errors may occur if resources are invalid.

Resource TypeSupported formatMax File SizeResolution
VideoMP4100MB<2K
ImageJPG, PNG50MB<2K
AudioWAV, MP350MB

Please ensure:

  • Your resource URL is public and accessible to anyone.
  • The provided asset is in one of the supported formats.
  • Check that the asset file extension aligns with the actual format.
  • Verify that the asset file is not corrupted or misformatted.

Video Avatar Input

Avatar input can be either text or audio:

  • The Input Text - which is the text the Avatar speaks - should be less than 5,000 characters.
  • The duration of audio input for avatars should not exceed 10 minutes (3600 seconds).

Invalid inputs will result in video render failures.

Output Video Specifications

  • The frame rate of video output containing avatars is 25fps.
  • dimension parameter width or height must be less than 4096 and greater than 128.
  • Maximum 50 Video Input/scenes allowed per video.
  • WebM Format: Available only to paid API plans.

Streaming API endpoint

Repeat Task

  • Up to 1,000 characters at a time can be sent to the Interactive Avatar to repeat text.