HeyGen: our review

HeyGen makes a filmed avatar speak from written text, in about a hundred languages, with no filming and no actor needed for each version. The most common use remains corporate video: internal training, customer support, a product presentation adapted for several markets. But the moment an avatar takes on the likeness of a real person, one question comes before all others: did that person give their consent?

What HeyGen says about consent

This is the point marketing material never highlights, one you have to go looking for in the moderation policy. The text is unambiguous: to create a custom avatar, "you must obtain the explicit consent of the person being represented", and "creating avatars of other people is strictly prohibited" without it. The filmed person — whom HeyGen calls the "Actor" — also retains the right to request removal of their likeness at any time, even after a video has been published, and the user remains responsible for enforcing that request everywhere the content was published. For a company considering having a satisfied customer or a former employee speak in a brand video, this clause changes how the project must be prepared: consent has to be obtained and documented before filming starts, not afterwards.

Ownership and commercial use, tier by tier

On paid plans, HeyGen keeps things simple: the user owns the videos they generate and can exploit them commercially without restriction. The free plan works the other way around: the license is explicitly non-commercial, and the content produced can't be sold, monetized, or used in any commercial activity. A team testing HeyGen before a rollout must keep that limit in mind — a training module prepared on the free plan can't be shown to clients without first being regenerated on a paid plan. Another nuance: as with most avatar generators, the license isn't exclusive, and HeyGen warns that other users may obtain a similar result from similar content.

What limits business use

Two reservations to know before rolling the tool out. The first concerns submitted data: scripts, voice, imported content can be used to train HeyGen's models, on the basis of legitimate interest. It's possible to opt out, but only by writing directly to the vendor — there's no self-service toggle in the account settings, unlike Canva. The second concerns termination for cause: if HeyGen ends the account because it finds a violation of its rules — using a person's likeness without their consent, for example — the user must stop using and delete the videos already produced, even those already published. Ownership acquired over content can therefore be overturned after the fact, unlike a voluntary termination with no fault involved.

Our recommendation

For adapting a training or support video into several languages with consenting people from the company itself (employees, executives), HeyGen delivers on its promise at a reasonable price. For any video featuring a third party — a customer, a partner, a public figure — the question of that filmed person's explicit consent has to be settled before the first generation, not after. Our selection of video avatar tools lets you compare a competitor's terms before choosing.