Arcads alternatives

Why buyers look for an Arcads alternative

Arcads publishes no price list. Its pricing URL returned a “Page Not Found” screen on 24 September 2026. Its help centre names two plans by credits alone: Starter at 8,000 a month and Creator at 16,000 (help centre, 30 July 2026). The Arcads profile covers its trial and other plans.

Marketer Milk’s review of March 2025 quotes Starter from $110 a month for up to 10 videos, and Creator from $220 for up to 20. It took both from Arcads’ onboarding paywall. No Arcads page we could load shows them, so this page counts Arcads in credits only.

Arcads charges 800 credits per minute per actor on its three talking-actor models and says “Length is always rounded up”, naming no step (help centre, 29 April 2026). Its one example bills 1 minute 45 seconds as 2 minutes. If the step is the minute, a 15-second ad costs as much as a 60-second one.

A second help article (2 July 2026) says “Cost is 1 credit per minute” for the same models. This page uses 800, the rate the first article’s worked example fits: 3,200 credits for 2 minutes with 2 actors.

Arcads’ terms in force from 22 September 2026 carry two penalties. A licence breach left unremedied 30 days after written notice costs “a lump-sum indemnity of 500.000,00 euros … per breach” (terms, 13.2 and 13.3.2).

If the real person behind an actor (a “Creator” in the terms) withdraws consent, Arcads may ask you to delete the videos “from all supports”. The deadline is “the timeframe requested by FRESHR”, the company that runs Arcads, and each day late costs 100 euros (13.3.2).

What Reddit says about Arcads

Reddit says little about Arcads. We pulled nine ad and e-commerce subreddits from Arctic Shift, a Reddit archive, on 23 September 2026. Of the 1,873 posts about AI creative, eight name Arcads.

Three, posted on 26 August 2026 in r/FacebookAds, r/dropshipping and r/ecommerce, ask how best to use it; the first two share one text.

Two broader how-to questions mention it, on 6 March and 22 June 2026.

Of the other three, one on 9 September 2026 says the lip-sync “feels off” in some videos and asks which AI UGC tool to use. Another on 4 August 2026 asks whether Arcads ads “actually work”. The only one titled as an alternatives thread, from January 2026, calls an unnamed rival “2x cheaper”; we read its title only.

What one month of each plan buys

If Arcads bills each started minute, Starter makes 10 videos a month. D-ID Pro makes 60 hooks of 15 seconds, and HeyGen Creator at least 150 on Avatar III. The counts assume every credit goes to actor or avatar video.

Each per-minute range runs from billing by the started minute (low end) to pro rata billing (high end). JoggAI’s also spans its two stated rates: 200 credits a minute at the low end, 100 at the high end.

The AI UGC price guide prices an ad on more tools. The cost per ad calculator redoes the sums for your ad length and the takes you keep.

The clause in each tool’s terms that could stop an ad

On our reading, a script where an AI actor poses as a customer is a risk on all eight tools.

Each bans uses that its terms or policies call “deceptive” or “misleading”. Arcads does so in 13.3.1, Creatify in its moderation policy, D-ID in EULA 20.7 and HeyGen in section 2. JoggAI does so in its terms, Captions in the Mirage policy, MakeUGC in 5(b) and Maxfusion in 13.3.

The AI commercial use matrix quotes all eight tools’ terms on paid ads, plan by plan.

Is there a free Arcads alternative?

Of the eight tools here, one on our reading: JoggAI Free, whose terms allow its watermarked video in ads, though stock-avatar ads are unclear.

JoggAI Free gives 200 one-time credits, about a minute of avatar video, valid for 31 days (pricing page, read 26 September 2026). Its plan table lists watermark removal from Starter up.

Creatify Free gives 10 credits a month, up to 2 video ads, with a watermark on exports. Its terms say “Users of the Free Tier have limited rights” (section 1) and never list them. Whether Free output may run in an ad is unclear.

HeyGen Free makes up to 3 videos a month, but its terms (section 4, updated 23 July 2026) say that output “may not be sold, sublicensed, redistributed, monetized, or used in connection with commercial activities, advertising, client work, revenue-generating product or any other services”. D-ID’s 14-day Trial is for “non-commercial use only” (EULA 3.1).

Captions’ pricing table gives Free no AI credits while its help centre lists a one-time 60 to 200, so we cannot say what it makes. MakeUGC and Maxfusion have no free plan. Free AI UGC generators compares every free plan in the database.

Creatify: a public price, 15-second billing and an ad launcher

Creatify makes avatar and product video ads from a script or a product URL. Its plan table lists an Ad Launcher for Meta, TikTok and AppLovin. Its help centre sets avatar video at 5 credits per 15 seconds, rounded up (updated 19 August 2026).

Starter lists $39 a month for 100 credits on 24 September 2026. At that price, if every credit is used, a 15-second hook costs $1.95 and a 30-second ad costs $3.90 (pricing page).

The same help article says Agent, Ad Flow and Ad Clone use credits that “cannot be determined upfront”. Section 6.2 says you own your original content in what you make and assigns you any copyright Creatify has in it. But a Moderation Policy breach ends the agreement, and “all rights granted to you shall revert to Creatify”.

The Creatify profile has its other plans, and Creatify alternatives its own rivals.

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.

Not for

Buyers who need predictable spend on the agent features, whose credit use is not known upfront, or more than one seat below Pro.

D-ID: the cheapest 15-second hook with a published rounding rule

D-ID sells talking-avatar minutes. Its pricing FAQ says each video “is rounded up to the nearest 15-second interval”, so a 15-second hook uses 15 seconds of the plan.

Pro lists $29 a month for 15 minutes on the same pricing page, read on 24 September 2026. At that price a 15-second hook costs $0.48 and a 30-second video costs $0.97, if every minute is used. Unused minutes do not roll over.

Pro’s plan table lists an “AI watermark”, whose tooltip reads “An AI watermark will appear on the video” (read 24 September 2026). The EULA (last updated July 2024) says “All Animations contain a synthetic mark” so as “to avoid any misleading of the public”. You may not “remove, hide or minimize” it without D-ID’s written approval (4.2).

Trial and Lite are for non-commercial use (EULA 3.1 and 20.2). On our reading, Pro is the first D-ID plan that can make an ad.

Best for

Talking-photo and presenter videos where an AI marker is acceptable, and teams building interactive agents on the same API minutes.

Not for

Ads that must carry no AI marker: every animation has a synthetic mark you may not remove or minimise without written approval (EULA 4.2). Trial is non-commercial, Lite personal-use only.

HeyGen: 175+ languages and the widest spread of avatar rates on this page

HeyGen prices avatar video by the minute, and the rate depends on the model. Its help centre lists 4 credits a minute on Avatar III, 31 on Avatar IV and 48 on Avatar V, each with a Video Look. Paid plans list 175+ languages and dialects, against 30+ on Free; the HeyGen profile covers its avatar types.

Creator lists 600 credits a month on its pricing page, read on 24 September 2026. On Creator at $29 a month, a 30-second video costs $0.10 on Avatar III and $1.16 on Avatar V, if every credit is used and billing is pro rata.

HeyGen alternatives covers HeyGen’s own rivals.

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.

Not for

Anyone planning to run ads made on the free plan, which the terms forbid, and advertisers of alcohol, online gambling or weapons, which the moderation policy bans.

JoggAI: a free plan whose terms allow ads, and a rate given two ways

JoggAI makes talking-avatar and URL-to-video ads, product avatars included. Its pricing page gives two conversions: about 100 credits a minute on the Starter card and about 200 on the Free card.

Starter lists $29 a month for 12,000 credits on its pricing page (checked 24 September 2026), so a 30-second video costs between $0.12 and $0.24, if every credit is used. Both assume pro rata billing.

Monthly credits roll over for up to three months. AvatarX has no published rate. “Payments are non-refundable, except where required by law” (terms).

The terms (no date shown) do “not restrict your ability to use User Output for your own purposes (including for commercial purposes)”, except on termination or where the Services “clearly” say otherwise. On our reading that covers ads, free-plan output included.

Stock avatars are less clear. The stock avatars page says “Commercial usage depends on your subscription plan and applicable usage terms” and names no plan; it points readers to “the current plan details” (read 26 September 2026).

Best for

High-volume talking-avatar output on a small budget, and teams that want the same credits in the web app, the API and agent tools.

Not for

Buyers who want refunds, which the terms rule out, or a firm price for premium AvatarX and generative output, which Jogg only approximates.

Captions: actors its help centre calls “completely virtual”

Captions is the video app of Mirage; its terms (effective 4 September 2025) name Mirage US LLC as the contracting party. Its Prompt to Video tool makes a talking video with a Mirage actor. The help centre says “The AI-generated actors are completely virtual and free from licensing restrictions” (17 August 2026).

The Mirage terms carry no withdrawal clause. If the help centre is right, no performer exists to withdraw consent. Mirage can still end your licence to your output “without notice” after a policy breach (1.4).

Prompt to Video costs 16 credits every 6 seconds, listed as a cost “Based On Average Use” (AI usage article), so 30 seconds is about 80 credits. That is $4.00 on Max at $24.99 a month (checked 24 September 2026), if every credit is used. The pricing page says its prices “reflect iOS plans only”.

The acceptable use policy bars input with “claims that do not reflect your honest views and experiences”. It also bars output that contains “regulated or not age-appropriate goods or services”, gambling and dating services among them.

Best for

Creators and small teams who already edit on a phone and want prompt-to-video talking ads, AI twins and captioned edits in one app.

Not for

Scripted testimonial ads, since its policy bars input that does not reflect your honest views; regulated verticals it bans; and anyone who wants to buy extra credits without upgrading.

MakeUGC: Arcads’ format with public plans and no rate per video

On paper, MakeUGC is the closest match to Arcads here: 1,000+ AI creators, B-roll and, on Pro, product-in-hand videos. Start up lists $59 a month for 500 credits beside a struck-through $89 in the monthly view of its pricing page, checked 24 September 2026. Pro lists $149 a month for 2,000.

MakeUGC publishes no credit cost per video, so a 30-second ad cannot be priced before you pay. Credits expire at the end of each month.

Section 3.2(c) of the terms grants a “perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, assignable, and sublicensable licence” to commercialise outputs. But the terms page serves three copies of 3.2(a), and one ties ownership to an active subscription. So whether you keep rights after cancelling is unclear (read 24 September 2026).

Best for

Direct-response teams testing many UGC and B-roll variants, with Batch Mode from Growth; product-in-hand shots need Pro.

Not for

Buyers who need to know what a video costs in credits before paying, since MakeUGC does not publish it, or who want unused credits to carry over.

Maxfusion: OmniHuman 1.5, which Arcads also lists, on a public plan with a 48-hour takedown

Maxfusion has 300+ AI actors and lists OmniHuman 1.5, one of the three talking-actor models Arcads lists at 800 credits a minute. Starter lists $99 a month for 2,000 credits, “≈ 20 Talking Actor videos” on its pricing page: about $4.95 per video if every credit is used, at a length the page does not state. Prices checked 24 September 2026.

Payments are “final at the moment of purchase and non-refundable” (6.7), and the terms admit business users only (4).

Best for

Agencies making talking-actor ads at volume with any number of seats, from Pro; Meta and TikTok ad research starts at Max.

Not for

Anyone who cannot guarantee a 48-hour takedown if an actor withdraws, or whose scripts risk the deceptive advertising ban. Each prohibited use costs 500,000 euros; actor-model misuse is payable on demand without notice (terms 13.2, 13.3).

Left out, and why

• Synthesia: 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 or similar media, absent written express consent from Synthesia” (Synthesia profile).
• CreateUGC: the terms its site links to are AutoDS’s general dropshipping terms (8 August 2025), which say nothing about who owns AI video or avatars.
• Argil: its homepage now reads “Make your film, series, or social video”. Its docs list a Classic plan that its pricing catalogue lacked on 24 September 2026, so its credit rates cannot be confirmed.
• Icon (icon.com): once an AI ad maker, its homepage now sells “6 Human UGC ads filmed & edited” and says “(no AI / 100% real)”.
• Colossyan and Elai: presenters built for training videos, so no price or terms were read for this page.

Every AI UGC tool we track is on the AI UGC hub. The price tracker dates each plan price we could read and lists Arcads’ plans with their credits and no price.