What is Hedra AI and is it free?
Hedra is an AI video platform for talking and singing characters: its Character 3 model is an audio-to-video avatar model for talking and singing video up to 10 minutes long[1]. It has a free plan, but per Hedra's in-app plan copy free videos are watermarked, capped at 20 seconds and not for commercial use; paid Hedra Studio plans start from $20 a month[2][3].
What Hedra does
Hedra describes Character 3 as its long-form avatar model: audio to video, multi-language, for talking and singing video with speaker selection, up to 10 minutes long[1]. We read that as a lip-sync tool first: it suits a character delivering lines or a song to camera more than a scene where the character walks around or interacts with others.
Hedra lists Character-3 at roughly 3 to 6 credits per second of video[2], and on its API the model is priced from 2.5 cents per second[1]. That per-second API rate is low next to most scene-generating models. Our cost per second page puts the numbers side by side.
Is Hedra free?
There is a free plan, with real limits. These come from plan strings in Hedra's own app (hedra.com/plans shows a sign-in screen, so you need an account even to read the plans)[2]:
- All Free-plan videos are watermarked[2].
- Free videos are capped at 20 seconds[2].
- No commercial use, and no option to buy credit packs on Free[2].
- Paid plans add commercial use, no watermark, voice cloning and premium voices[2]. The tiers are Basic, Creator, Professional, Enterprise Lite and Unlimited[2].
We could not verify the price of each Hedra tier or the number of free monthly credits on Hedra's pages as of 2026-10-18; only "Hedra Studio plans from $20/month" is published in readable form[3].
Hedra alternatives, by job
| You want | Try | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A presenter reading a script | HeyGen or Synthesia | HeyGen Free gives 3 videos a month up to 1 minute[4]; Synthesia Basic gives 10 minutes a month[5] |
| A free, self-hosted portrait animator | LivePortrait | Open-source code under the MIT License[6] |
| Avatar from an image plus speech audio | Kling AI Avatar 2.0[7] | Takes an image, speech audio and an optional prompt[7] |
| A character acting out a scene, not just talking | A video model such as Seedance or Kling | They generate motion, camera and sound from a prompt |
If you want short scenes of a character rather than a talking head, see talking avatar vs character video and how AI lip sync works.
Where Cast fits
- A character doing something in a scene (a dance, a reaction, a fake livestream), with dialogue the model writes and voices itself.
- Trying it with no account: Cast's first 5-second video is free with no sign-up.
- Using a ready-made character from the free Malfoid & Friends pack instead of supplying a face.
Where it does not:
- Lip-sync to your own uploaded audio or song: Cast does not take an audio file.
- Animating a photo or drawing you upload: Cast characters are drawn from a text description.
- Talking-head videos longer than 15 seconds.
People also ask
- Does Hedra have a free plan?
- Yes, but per Hedra's in-app plan copy, free videos are watermarked, capped at 20 seconds and not licensed for commercial use[2].
- How long can Hedra videos be?
- Hedra says Character 3 makes talking and singing video up to 10 minutes long[1]; on the Free plan videos are capped at 20 seconds[2].
- How much does Hedra cost?
- Hedra says Studio plans start from $20 a month[3]. We could not read the price of each tier on its site as of 2026-10-18.
- Is Hedra good for lip sync?
- Lip sync is what it is built for: Character 3 takes audio and animates a character to it, including singing[1]. For how lip sync differs from full scene generation, see how AI lip sync works.
Sources
Claims about other companies come from their own pages, read on the date shown. Products and prices change; check the link for the current version.
- Hedra: models (read )
- Hedra: plans (in-app plan copy) (read )
- Hedra: pricing (read )
- HeyGen: pricing (read )
- Synthesia: pricing (read )
- LivePortrait: license (GitHub) (read )
- Kling AI: Avatar 2.0 user guide (read )
Related answers
- How does lip sync work in AI video generators?
- Do I need a talking avatar or an AI character video?
- Is HeyGen free?
- What is the best free talking photo AI?
- How do I make a photo talk with AI?
Part of the Cast answers library (Other tools and models).
Updated