HeyGen Free Plan Tutorial (2026): Make an AI Avatar Video Without a Camera

Sometimes you need a short explainer or demo, but you don't want to be on camera, set up a mic, or spend an afternoon editing. HeyGen lets you type a script and have an AI avatar present it. The free plan is enough to learn the whole workflow, as long as you know its limits before you start.

Disclosure: this is an affiliate link. If you sign up through it, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Everything below comes from a fresh free account we tested on October 25, 2026.

We checked these on HeyGen's pricing page and in the app on October 25, 2026:

You also get hundreds of stock avatars, many languages, the AI Studio editor, templates, and limited trial access to Avatar IV and Video Agent. Gestures ("Add Motion") are capped at 3 uses a month.

So the free plan is for learning and testing: three short, watermarked videos a month. Let's make them count.

Go to HeyGen and click Get started free. You can sign up with Google or with email. HeyGen asks a few onboarding questions; they only personalize suggestions, so pick whatever is closest. If you see an upgrade or trial screen, skip it. We're staying on Free.

The left menu holds the main areas: creating a video, avatars, templates, and your projects. Find where your usage is shown ( Usage & History ). That's how you track how many free videos you have left this month.

To start a project, click Create video, then choose Scene by scene → Start in landscape for YouTube. Use portrait for Shorts and Reels.

Open the avatar panel and browse the stock presenters. Hover to preview, and use the filters to find a style that fits. For a first video, a stock avatar is the easiest choice because there's nothing to upload.

Type what the avatar should say into the script box. Remember the 1-minute cap: at a normal pace that's roughly 150 words, so aim for 100–120 words to leave room.

Hi, I'm an AI presenter, and this whole video was made on HeyGen's free plan. No camera, no microphone. Just a script, an avatar, and a few clicks. Stick around and I'll show you how. Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode Write the way people talk, in short sentences. If a word gets mispronounced, spell it the way it sounds, or add a comma where you want a pause.

Each avatar has a default voice, but you can change it. Open the voice menu, filter by language and accent, and play a few samples. The free plan covers many languages.

Then use the play button next to the script to hear the whole line. In our test, previews did not appear in Usage & History; only the generated video did. So preview as often as you need.

This is where it starts to look like a real video:

Want a head start? Pick a template and swap in your own script.

Keep in mind that the watermark sits in the bottom-right corner, so don't put important text there.

Avatar IV is HeyGen's more expressive avatar model. Free accounts get limited trial access, and Avatar IV videos are also capped at 1 minute. To add gestures, use Add Motion from the settings icon next to Motion Engine. You get 3 uses a month on Free, so save them for a video you plan to keep.

Play the preview one last time, because every generation uses one of your 3 free videos. Then click Generate and name the video. 1080p is locked on Free; downloads are 720p.

Our test video, about 12 seconds long, took about a minute to process. When it's done, open the project's "..." menu → Download to save the 720p MP4.

Video Agent turns a one-line prompt into a draft video. It writes the script, picks visuals, and assembles everything. Free accounts get limited trial access. Always read the script before you generate, because AI drafts can be generic or simply wrong.

If you're learning, testing ideas, or making an internal demo where a watermark and 720p don't matter, Free is fine. If you need no branding, 1080p, or videos longer than a minute, those features are on HeyGen's paid plans. Plans change often, so check the pricing page before you decide.

Try HeyGen's free plan (affiliate link): heygen.com

Disclosure: the HeyGen link above is an affiliate link. If you sign up through it, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Free-plan details were checked on October 25, 2026 and may change.

If you make a video with this, tell me in the comments what you used the avatar for. More AI tool walkthroughs are on the Flow & Funnel YouTube channel.