AI actors for ads

What an AI actor is in an ad tool

An AI actor is a person on screen who reads your script without a shoot. Ad tools offer two kinds. A stock avatar is built from a real person who was paid to lend their face and voice. A fully synthetic face is invented by an image model, with nobody behind it.

The difference matters to you after the ad is live. A real performer can withdraw consent, and some vendors’ terms then make you take the ad down. A synthetic face cannot withdraw. New York has required a label on a synthetic performer in an ad since 9 June 2026, and California’s rule applies from 1 January 2027.

Some libraries mix both. Synthesia’s avatars page says its stock avatars are “built from either real actor performances or AI-generated identities”.

AI actor libraries by size

Creatify states the largest library, and three more tools state 1,000 or more faces.

A bigger library has a cost of its own. Users report that shared stock faces are becoming recognisable, as competitors run the same ones (3 of 64 Arcads sources: r/dropshipping, YouTube).

MakeUGC: 1,000+ AI-generated actors, product in hand from Starter

MakeUGC calls its talking actors “AI-generated people who speak your script on camera” on its talking actors page. The page lists “1,000+ realistic AI actors”. The pricing page splits them by plan: 300+ on Starter, 500+ on Growth and 1,000+ on Pro.

Product in hand sits on every plan, Starter included. The product page asks for one product photo, then the actor holds “your bottle, box or device”. Scripts can run in 50+ languages (languages page).

A custom avatar of you starts on Growth, which includes one, and Pro includes three (custom avatar page). Avatars of someone else need “their permission”. The Custom Avatar Policy (11 July 2025, section 6) bars “misrepresenting AI-generated avatars as real individuals”.

MakeUGC calls its actors AI-generated. Its terms (17 November 2025) have no clause that lets a stock actor take back consent or makes you delete a live ad. Users report lip sync that drifts and hands that move oddly, so clips need a check before launch (5 of 29 sources: YouTube, YouTube).

Plans and the cost per video: MakeUGC pricing. The full profile: MakeUGC. Every MakeUGC page on the site: MakeUGC hub.

Best for

Direct-response teams testing many UGC and B-roll variants, with Batch Mode and product-in-hand video on every plan and API access drawing on the same credits.

Skip it if

you need your own face as the actor on the entry plan: custom avatars start on Growth.

Arcads: real creators who can withdraw

Arcads lists “1,000+ Captivating AI Actors” and an “Avatar holding your product” on its homepage, in more than 30 languages.

Its actors are real creators who licensed their likeness.

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That licence can end. Terms 13.3.2 (in force from 22 September 2026) say FRESHR, the company behind Arcads, “may ask the Client to delete any Videos from all supports where they are used” after a creator’s withdrawal request. A late takedown costs “a hundred (100) euros per day of delay”. Arcads publishes no price (prices).

Users say its stock actors pass as creator content in the feed (16 of 64 sources: r/dropshipping, Trustpilot). Hands holding a real item remain the weak spot (4 of 64: r/dropshipping, Trustpilot).

The two side by side: Arcads vs MakeUGC.

Best for

Talking-actor ads close to a whole minute long, if billing rounds up to the minute as the help centre’s one example suggests.

Skip it if

an ad must stay live for a year whatever happens: a creator’s withdrawal lets FRESHR ask you to delete it (13.3.2).

Creatify: 1,500+ avatars, product holding from Pro

Creatify’s avatar page lists “1,500+ realistic avatars” that lip-sync “in 75+ languages”, though its help-centre FAQ lists 29. The pricing page gives Standard, $15 a month, 300 of them and Pro, $55 a month, all 1,500.

The same page’s FAQ puts product holding, branded clothing and custom backgrounds on “Pro plan and above”. It also says avatars “cannot be generated based on other real individuals without proper authorization”. It says nothing about a stock presenter withdrawing.

Users report a recognisable, templated look: fine at scroll speed, less so close up (6 of 61 sources: r/PPC, r/FacebookAds).

Best for

E-commerce teams making URL-to-video ads in volume who want an ad launcher for Meta, TikTok and AppLovin in the same tool.

Skip it if

you want actors holding your product on Standard: the avatar page puts product holding on Pro and above.

HeyGen: 1,100+ stock avatars and a twin of you

HeyGen’s avatars page lists “1,100+ AI actors and presenters” and says stock avatars are “cleared for generated videos”.

Paid plans speak 175+ languages (pricing). The Creator plan, $29 a month, includes one custom digital twin.

That twin is where the duty to remove sits. HeyGen’s moderation policy (2.1) makes you honour a removal request by the person shown “wherever you have published such depictions”. Free-plan output may not be used for “advertising” (terms, section 4).

Users report avatars and lip sync that land, digital twins included (8 of 39 sources, among them G2). Others say viewers spot the avatar and click-through fades within a week (3 of 39: r/PPC, r/FacebookAds).

HeyGen Review 2026: Is It Worth It?Vil Vas - Software Reviews

Custom avatars of yourself: custom AI avatar tools. Presenter-style video: AI spokesperson video generators.

Best for

Localising one ad script into many languages, cheap avatar minutes for talking-head ads, and founder or spokesperson clones on a paid plan.

Skip it if

you plan to run free-plan videos as ads: terms section 4 bar free output from advertising.

Synthesia: 240+ avatars, barred from paid social

Synthesia offers “240+ ready-made avatars” on its avatars page; Starter, $29 a month, gets 125+. None of them may appear in a paid social ad without Synthesia’s written consent.

Its Acceptable Use Policy (23 February 2024) bars “Incorporating a Stock Avatar in content for promoted, boosted, or paid advertising on any social media platform” without Synthesia’s written consent.

A personal avatar of yourself is the route for paid social, after “a live on-camera consent recording”.

One clause works in your favour. The Customer Terms (20 July 2026) license stock avatars after the subscription “to the extent it has been incorporated in videos”. Users report that viewers read the avatars as AI (19 of 69 sources: r/elearning, r/instructionaldesign).

Best for

Explainer, onboarding and product-education videos and their localisation. For paid social, only with a personal avatar of someone who has consented.

Skip it if

your ad uses a stock avatar on paid social: the Acceptable Use Policy requires Synthesia’s written consent.

Higgsfield: 40+ Soul avatars or one from a prompt

Higgsfield’s Marketing Studio offers “40+ ready-to-use avatars” or “a custom one from a text prompt”, both made by its Soul 2.0 image model (Marketing Automation page). You paste a product link, or add up to 5 images, and pick a format such as a product review or unboxing.

These faces are invented, so no performer can withdraw.

Two clauses still apply. Higgsfield’s terms 5.2(xi) bar presenting output as human-generated, and 4.4 let Higgsfield train on your inputs and outputs unless you hold an Enterprise Agreement.

Users single out characters and products that stay the same across shots (5 of 52 sources: YouTube, YouTube). Step by step: Higgsfield Marketing Studio. Against MakeUGC: Higgsfield vs MakeUGC.

Best for

One person in the web app who wants Kling, Veo and Seedance on one credit balance and pays for video in credits.

Skip it if

your brand cannot let ad outputs train a vendor’s models: terms 4.4 allow it below Enterprise.

AI actors in commercials: union consent and state labelling

If you cast union talent, SAG-AFTRA’s 2025 Commercials Contracts, approved by its National Board on 27 April 2025, require “Performer consent” before “any digital replica is created” (SAG-AFTRA, archive copy). Using a replica triggers “a 1.5x session fee”.

State law adds a label. New York’s S8420-A has required a conspicuous disclosure of a synthetic performer in ads since 9 June 2026. California’s SB 1050 adds one when a synthetic performer is prominent, from 1 January 2027.

What you do: keep the vendor’s licence terms with each ad, and label synthetic actors where those laws reach. Never script an actor as a real customer. The clauses and dates in full: AI UGC and the law.

Left out, and why

Maxfusion is out on its withdrawal terms. Its terms (19 July 2026, 13.3) give you 48 hours to delete videos after a creator withdraws, then 100 euros per video per day. That is the strictest takedown clause in this group.

Captions is out on rights clarity. Its help article calls its actors “completely virtual and free from licensing restrictions”. The web terms (1.2) allow ads if you disclose that AI was used. The app terms 3.1(xiv) bar commercial use of Mirage Content “except as authorized hereunder” without Mirage’s prior written consent.

More pages for MakeUGC users, sorted by job, in the MakeUGC hub →