HeyGen

HeyGen generates videos of AI avatars speaking a script you provide, and its core use case — turning written content into a presenter-style video without filming anyone — is executed convincingly well for a specific range of use cases. We tested it with a short product-explainer script, and lip-sync accuracy between the generated avatar and the audio was noticeably tighter than earlier-generation avatar tools, holding up even with technical vocabulary that often trips up lip-sync models.

The ability to create a custom avatar from a short video of yourself (or, with proper consent, a colleague) is the standout feature for businesses: it lets a company scale video content — product updates, training material, onboarding videos — without needing the same person available for every new recording. Multilingual dubbing that preserves the avatar's lip movements in sync with translated audio is also genuinely useful for localizing training or marketing videos across markets without reshooting.

The clear limitations are naturalness in longer or more emotionally nuanced content: avatar movement and expression, while good for standard business-explainer content, still reads as noticeably synthetic in longer-form or emotionally complex scripts, and works best for short, informational video rather than anything meant to feel deeply personal. As with any avatar/voice-cloning tool, using someone's likeness requires clear consent, and HeyGen has usage policies specifically addressing this. For scalable training, onboarding, and product-explainer video content, HeyGen is a genuinely practical tool; for content meant to feel deeply personal or emotionally driven, real filmed video still outperforms it.