Hedra Alternative Without a Subscription: Talking Characters From a Photo, Paid Per Second (November 2026)
Live figures last changed · 4 min read · The GenMagic team
Hedra makes talking characters from a photo, on monthly credit plans: Basic at $20 a month for 2,000 credits, Pro at $50 for 7,200, and Ultra from $100 for 18,000, and monthly credits reset each billing cycle. With no plan, HeyGen's Avatar IV turns one portrait into a lip-synced talking video of your script on GenMagic, in a voice you pick by name, paid per second of speech.
This guide covers what Hedra's plans include, the two side by side, which to pick, making a talking character per second, and questions.
A note on who wrote this: GenMagic runs HeyGen's Avatar IV, so it is one of the options compared. Hedra's plans were read on its Play pricing page on November 10, 2026; GenMagic's prices come from its live catalog. Where Hedra fits a job better, this guide says so.
Table of contents
- What Hedra's plans include
- The two side by side
- Which to pick
- Making a talking character per second
- Questions
What Hedra's plans include
| Plan | Price | Credits a month | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $20 a month | 2,000 | Slower generations, commercial use |
| Pro | $50 a month | 7,200 | Faster generation, commercial use |
| Ultra | From $100 a month | 18,000 | Fastest generation, allowances up to 57,600 credits a month |
| Teams | $75 a month | Not read | Team access |
| Enterprise | By contract | By contract | Private deployments, single sign-on |
Source: Hedra Play pricing, November 10, 2026, each plan billed monthly. Hedra's own answers on the same page: "Monthly credits don't roll over. They reset at the start of each billing cycle", credit packs bought on top do not expire, after cancelling "most Play features are unavailable apart from limited watermarked generations", and Play credits and its API's dollar wallet are separate. The page does not say how many seconds of video a credit makes.
The two side by side
| Hedra | Avatar IV on GenMagic | |
|---|---|---|
| How it is paid | A monthly plan of credits | Per second of speech, $0.075, from a balance topped up from $5 |
| Unused credit | Monthly credits reset each cycle | Top-up credit never expires |
| What it makes | Talking characters from a photo, plus Hedra's other models | A photo of a face saying your script, lip-synced |
| Voices | Not stated on its pricing page | Twelve named voices: English, German, Spanish, French, Japanese and two multilingual |
| Other models on the same balance | Hedra's platform models | Veo, Kling, Seedance, Wan and every other GenMagic model |
Which to pick
- Characters every day, many clips a month: a Hedra plan, whose credits suit steady use, with its own character models and tools.
- A few talking clips, or months with none: Avatar IV per second, with no plan to keep paying and credit that never expires.
- The same voice across a series: Avatar IV on GenMagic, where the voice is picked by name and sounds the same in every clip.
- A cartoon, mascot or animal that talks: Avatar IV needs a human-like face; for other characters, a video model that speaks a line from a prompt fits better ( talking animals).
Making a talking character per second
- Open the studio on Avatar IV ( make a photo talk) and attach a sharp, front-facing portrait, a photo of yourself or a character you made with an image model.
- Write the words. The prompt is the script, said word for word; the clip lasts as long as it takes to say.
- Pick a voice: Kore and Orus speak any language; Cassidy and Andrew English, Leonie and Otto German, Amelia and Antonio Spanish, Chloe and Thomas French, Kyoko and Satoshi Japanese.
- Generate. The price for your script shows first, and a failed clip is never charged.
In our first two clips on November 10, 2026, 16 English words made a 4.6-second clip and 30 German words an 11.3-second one, ready in 59 and 90 seconds. Use photos of yourself or of people who agreed to it, and never script an AI person as a customer who used a product. Other talking-photo tools compared: D-ID alternative, is HeyGen free?, Synthesia alternative.
Questions
What is a Hedra alternative without a subscription? HeyGen's Avatar IV on GenMagic, paid per second of speech from a balance with no plan: one photo and your script make a lip-synced talking video.
Is Hedra free? Hedra's pricing page lists paid plans from $20 a month and no free plan; after cancelling, it allows limited watermarked generations.
Do Hedra credits roll over? Monthly plan credits do not: they reset each billing cycle. Credit packs bought on top do not expire.
Can a cartoon character talk with Avatar IV? Avatar IV needs a clearly visible, human-like face. For cartoons, mascots and animals, a video model with sound that speaks a line from a prompt works instead.
Can I try a talking photo for free? On GenMagic, a new account gets $0.50 of credit once its email is verified, about 6 seconds of Avatar IV speech.