HeyGen vs Arcads for UGC ads

What does a 15 or 30-second hook cost on each?

On HeyGen Creator a 15-second hook costs $0.05 to $0.58 by avatar model, pro rata, if every credit is used (HeyGen credits article). Arcads’ cost is in credits only: 800 for a short hook if billed by the whole minute (Arcads credits article).

HeyGen Creator lists $29 a month for 600 credits (pricing page, read 2 October 2026). Arcads’ pricing page returned 404 on the same read, and its terms (7.1) say offer details “will be shown directly on the Platform”.

HeyGen’s 15 and 30-second columns are pro rata, since it publishes no rounding rule. The last column shows the case where a started minute bills in full. The rows leave out Photo Looks and Custom Expressive Motion, which adds 40 credits a minute to Avatar IV and lifts its 30-second ad to $1.72.

Arcads’ credits article (29 April 2026) says “Length is always rounded up” and gives one example: 1 minute 45 bills as 2 minutes. That rules out any step of 15 seconds or less. Billed by the whole minute, a 15-second hook uses 800 credits, a tenth of Starter’s 8,000.

A later help article (2 July 2026) says “Cost is 1 credit per minute” for the same models. The credits article’s worked example, 2 minutes with 2 actors for 3,200 credits, matches 800, so the tables use 800.

Every HeyGen plan and model: HeyGen pricing. Arcads’ credit rules: Arcads pricing. Your own volumes: the cost per AI ad calculator.

Which ads do their terms let you run?

Both allow paid ads on paid plans; Arcads bars any video that needs a sponsored-content label, and HeyGen bars Free-plan output from ads.

Arcads’ terms (in force from 22 September 2026) bar videos that infringe “the rules of ads platforms” or require “compulsory information (e.g. sponsored content)” (13.3.1). The same clause bars “misleading or deceptive advertising”. An ad an influencer posts as a paid partnership carries that kind of label.

Arcads’ prohibited content article adds political content, dating services that encourage transactional relationships, and products sold to boost sexual performance or change bodily appearance. Clause 13.4 takes a licence to your scripts, including “The right to train FRESHR’s artificial intelligence models” (FRESHR is the company behind Arcads).

HeyGen’s terms (last updated 23 July 2026) leave Creator, Pro and Business output free for “commercial purposes” (s.3). Section 4 bars Free output from “advertising” and “client work”. Section 2 bars “representing that the User Output is entirely human generated” and asks for AI disclosure “to the extent required by applicable law”.

HeyGen’s moderation policy (3.1) bars promoting weapons, alcohol, online gambling and commercial sex. Its stock avatars page answers “Yes, on eligible paid plans” for ads.

Disclosure laws by platform and state: AI ad disclosure rules. Plan by plan: HeyGen and Arcads in the AI commercial use matrix.

What happens to a live ad if an actor withdraws or a clause is broken?

On Arcads, a withdrawn actor can pull every ad that uses them, at 100 euros a day of delay; HeyGen’s removal rule covers custom avatars.

Arcads’ 13.3.2 says “FRESHR may ask the Client to delete any Videos from all supports where they are used, in the event of a withdrawal request made by the Creator”. The client deletes “in the timeframe requested by FRESHR”, or owes “a hundred (100) euros per day of delay”.

A breach of an actor video’s conditions left unremedied 30 days after notice costs “a lump-sum indemnity of 500.000,00 euros (five hundred thousand euros) per breach” (13.3.2). The terms do not say whether that sum also reaches 13.3.1’s edit list and advertising bans.

HeyGen’s moderation policy (2.1) makes you honour “any request by or on behalf of an Actor to remove content depicting the Actor wherever you have published such depictions”. That clause sits under custom avatars. HeyGen’s terms and moderation policy set no withdrawal rule for stock avatars.

Can you make the ad with your own face?

Yes on HeyGen Creator, with one digital twin; Arcads makes custom actors, at a price none of its public pages states.

HeyGen Creator includes “1 Custom Digital Twin (Video Avatar)” (plans article). The person shown must give explicit consent (moderation policy 2.1), and Free’s custom avatar cannot appear in ads (s.4).

Arcads’ credits article prices Replace actor and Animate actor at 800 credits each, on footage you upload. The YouTube creator below sets Arcads’ stock actors against a custom actor made from his own footage.

Arcads Review: I Spent $100 Making 50 UGC Ads To Test ItSoftware Scope

Which reaches more languages with one ad?

HeyGen, on each vendor’s own count: 175+ languages on paid plans against Arcads’ 30+.

HeyGen’s compare plans table lists “175 languages & dialects” for video translation on every paid plan. Lip-synced translation costs 6 credits a minute in Speed mode, 10 in Precision and 4 without lip sync (credits article).

Arcads’ homepage says more than 30 languages, and the help centre says any language without a list. Its Translate video tool costs 240 credits a use (credits article).

HeyGen Review: Before You Buy, Watch This (B2B Perspective)Holly Mack

What happens to your credits and videos when you cancel?

HeyGen moves you to Free and keeps your videos; Arcads’ Starter and Creator credits lapse each cycle whether you cancel or not.

HeyGen’s pricing FAQ says a cancelled account “moves to the Free plan” and “Unused credits do not carry over”. Its plans article says “All of your avatars, videos, and projects will still be accessible”. Section 5 of the terms lets HeyGen delete content on any termination.

Arcads’ credits help says Starter and Creator credits do not roll over, and the account is “temporarily blocked” at the monthly limit. Its licence runs “for the legal duration of the applicable intellectual property rights” (13.3.1), so ads made before you cancel keep their licence.

Arcads’ homepage says “Free trial available”. Its refund policy describes a 3-day trial after which “your saved card was automatically charged for the Starter plan”. Users report no free trial and no public price (6 of 64 sources: Trustpilot, Reddit).

Users of both report paying for retries and fixes

Charges for retries and fixes show up for both tools: 8 of 39 HeyGen sources and 14 of 64 Arcads sources.

On HeyGen, 39 public sources from October 2025 to September 2026:

• Each fix or regeneration costs credits, retakes of the tool’s own errors included (8 of 39 sources: App Store, Trustpilot)
• Per-minute credit costs rose in August and September 2026 without notice (7 of 39 sources: Trustpilot, Trustpilot)
• Avatars look real and the lip sync lands, custom digital twins included (8 of 39 sources: G2, four G2 reviews)

On Arcads, 64 public sources from April 2025 to September 2026:

• The price is high for what a month buys (19 of 64 sources: Trustpilot, Reddit)
• Credits run out fast: re-renders and failed generations are charged (14 of 64 sources: Trustpilot, Reddit)
• Stock actors pass as creator content in the feed (16 of 64 sources: Reddit, Trustpilot)

More on each: the HeyGen profile and the Arcads profile.

If neither fits

For a published 15-second billing step and an ad launcher, Creatify Starter at $39 a month bills avatar video in 15-second blocks (pricing page). For product-in-hand shots, MakeUGC puts them on its Pro plan.

Every replacement by job: HeyGen alternatives and Arcads alternatives. Head to head: Creatify vs Arcads, Creatify vs HeyGen, Arcads vs MakeUGC, Arcads vs Higgsfield and HeyGen vs Synthesia.