Compare / Tavus alternatives

The best Tavus alternatives.

9 platforms for real-time AI video agents, compared on what they cost per minute, how you make a face, and where people can talk to it.

Facts checked October 23, 2026 from each company’s own pages.

Before you choose

Two kinds of product.

Some of these are complete digital humans: they listen, think, speak and show a face, and you pay one price per minute. Lookalike, Tavus, HeyGen LiveAvatar’s full mode, D-ID and Anam work this way. Others are face layers: they animate a face for a voice agent you already run, so their per-minute price leaves out speech recognition, the language model and the voice. Simli and LemonSlice are face layers first. Compare prices within each group, not across them.

For reference, Tavus’s plans run from $22 a month for 60 minutes to $975 for 4,000, roughly $0.24 to $0.37 a minute. See the full Lookalike vs Tavus comparison.

At a glance

Price per minute, side by side.

Effective price on each one’s entry paid plan, worked out from its published plan prices.

PlatformPer minuteHow a face is made
Lookalike$0.15One photo, or a starter face. Ready to talk in about a minute.
HeyGen LiveAvatarAbout $0.18A photo, or two minutes of footage plus a consent recording.
Anam$0.24 on Starter, $0.16 afterOne photo or a text prompt, in under two minutes.
D-ID AgentsAbout $0.56At least a minute of footage plus a consent video; 5 to 10 minutes to train.
LemonSliceAbout $0.18 for the face, plus $0.08 to $0.09 for voice and languageOne photo, with no training.
Synthesia Interactive Avatars$0.10 to $0.20Synthesia’s avatars.
Akool Streaming AvatarAbout $0.17 to $0.25 (API)About a minute of video.
SimliAbout $0.01 for the face onlyOne photo; creation can take a couple of hours.
UneeQNot publicBuilt by CGI artists in Unreal Engine over 4 to 6 weeks; stock characters in days.
Tavus, for referenceAbout $0.37 on Starter, $0.34 on BuilderA photo, or about a minute of video. Full training takes a few hours.

The list

Ranked for teams leaving Tavus.

1

Lookalike

Best for: Teams that want a lifelike digital human live today without engineering, and developers who want an API.

How a face is made
One photo, or a starter face. Ready to talk in about a minute.
Where it runs
Its own page with video call, voice call and text chat, a share link and QR code, a one-line website embed, and an API.
Price
Pro: $19 a month with 125 video minutes and 125 voice minutes. Extra video is $0.15 a minute.

Pros

  • Live in about a minute from one photo, with no code
  • Booking, Shopify lookups, a phone line and an inbox built in
  • Among the lowest published prices for a complete digital human

Compared with Tavus: Cheaper per minute than any Tavus plan, and live without an engineering project.

Booking, Shopify lookups, a phone line and an inbox of transcripts are built in.

2

HeyGen LiveAvatar

Best for: HeyGen customers, and developers who only need a face for their own voice stack.

How a face is made
A photo, or two minutes of footage plus a consent recording.
Where it runs
Embed, Web SDK, LiveKit, Pipecat, Agora.
Price
Essential $99 a month, about $0.18 a minute in full mode.

Pros

  • One vendor for HeyGen video and live avatars
  • Lite mode for teams with their own voice stack

Cons

  • No document upload in the docs
  • Sessions cap at 20 minutes on Essential

Compared with Tavus: Lower per-minute price than Tavus, but less built-in knowledge.

Formerly Interactive Avatar. Sessions cap at 20 minutes on Essential.

3

Anam

Best for: Developers who want many languages and per-second billing.

How a face is made
One photo or a text prompt, in under two minutes.
Where it runs
Website widget, JavaScript and Python SDKs, LiveKit, Pipecat, Agora, and Meet, Zoom and Teams.
Price
Free 30 minutes; Starter $12 a month for 50 minutes, then $0.16 a minute.

Pros

  • 70+ languages
  • Per-second billing and many SDKs

Cons

  • Short sessions on the lower plans
  • Watermark until the $49 plan

Compared with Tavus: More languages and a cheaper entry plan than Tavus.

70+ languages. Starter sessions cap at 5 minutes.

4

D-ID Agents

Best for: Marketing teams already making videos in D-ID Studio.

How a face is made
At least a minute of footage plus a consent video; 5 to 10 minutes to train.
Where it runs
Embed, SDK, LiveKit.
Price
Build $18 a month for 32 streaming minutes, about $0.56 a minute.

Pros

  • Mature video tools alongside agents
  • Annual discounts

Cons

  • Highest per-minute price on this list
  • Custom avatars need footage and a consent video

Compared with Tavus: Costs more per minute than Tavus; worth it mainly for existing D-ID customers.

Knowledge base of up to 5 documents.

5

LemonSlice

Best for: Developers adding a face to an agent they already built.

How a face is made
One photo, with no training.
Where it runs
No-code widget, LiveKit, Pipecat, Agora, WebSocket.
Price
Creator $40 a month for 220 minutes, then $0.19; the managed voice stack adds $0.08 to $0.09 a minute.

Pros

  • Any photo works with no training
  • Plugs into LiveKit, Pipecat and Agora

Cons

  • Total cost adds up once the managed voice stack is included
  • Knowledge base not documented

Compared with Tavus: Similar all-in price to Tavus; better if you already run your own agent.

70+ languages. Calls cap at 30 minutes below the Ultra plan.

6

Synthesia Interactive Avatars

Best for: Synthesia video customers adding live avatars.

How a face is made
Synthesia’s avatars.
Where it runs
LiveKit plugin (Python).
Price
From $0.10 a minute for the avatar layer; Synthesia’s pages also list $0.12 and $0.20.

Pros

  • Synthesia’s polished avatar library
  • Low avatar-layer price

Cons

  • Python LiveKit plugin only for now
  • Its own pages list three different prices

Compared with Tavus: Cheaper avatar layer, but less of the stack is ready today.

Its full-stack option is marked coming soon on the pricing page.

7

Akool Streaming Avatar

Best for: Low-cost streaming avatars for short sessions.

How a face is made
About a minute of video.
Where it runs
JavaScript SDK, Agora, LiveKit, TRTC.
Price
Plans from $12 a month; roughly $0.17 to $0.25 a minute through the API.

Pros

  • Low monthly entry price
  • Several streaming integrations

Cons

  • Short session caps on the lower plans
  • Credit pricing is hard to compare

Compared with Tavus: Cheaper to start, with shorter sessions.

Streaming sessions cap at 15 minutes on Starter and Pro.

8

Simli

Best for: Developers who need only the face layer at the lowest price.

How a face is made
One photo; creation can take a couple of hours.
Where it runs
LiveKit, Pipecat, JavaScript and Python SDKs.
Price
Free 50 minutes; Hobby $10 a month for 1,000 minutes.

Pros

  • By far the cheapest face layer
  • Good fit for LiveKit and Pipecat agents

Cons

  • You pay separately for speech, language model and voice
  • Avatar creation can take hours

Compared with Tavus: Far cheaper for the face alone; Tavus includes the whole conversation.

Face only: bring your own speech recognition, language model and voice, or use Simli Auto.

9

UneeQ

Best for: Enterprise training role-play with custom 3D characters.

How a face is made
Built by CGI artists in Unreal Engine over 4 to 6 weeks; stock characters in days.
Where it runs
Web, mobile SDKs, kiosks, XR, REST API.
Price
Not public; priced per seat with a 30-day trial.

Pros

  • Custom 3D characters for training
  • Kiosk and XR deployments

Cons

  • Weeks to build a custom character
  • No public pricing

Compared with Tavus: Heavier enterprise build; Tavus and Lookalike are self-serve.

Now focused on its immersive training platform.

Soul Machines is left out: NBR has reported it is in receivership.

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Questions

Tavus alternatives, answered.

What is the best Tavus alternative?

Lookalike, for most teams. It is a complete digital human, live from one photo in about a minute, with booking, Shopify lookups and an inbox built in, at about $0.15 a minute. Face-only services cost less per minute but leave you to build and pay for speech recognition, the language model and the voice.

Is there a free Tavus alternative?

Yes. Lookalike has a free plan with up to 4 Lookalikes, and new accounts start with 10 video minutes. Upgrade to Pro for $19 a month when you need more.

Which Tavus alternative is cheapest per minute?

Face-only services such as Simli cost the least per minute, but you pay separately for speech recognition, the language model and the voice. Among complete digital humans, Lookalike Pro at about $0.15 a minute is among the lowest published prices.

Which alternatives can make a digital human from one photo?

Lookalike, Anam, LemonSlice and Simli all start from a single photo. D-ID and Akool need recorded footage. HeyGen LiveAvatar’s image avatars start from a photo too, without a voice clone.

What happened to Soul Machines?

New Zealand’s NBR has reported that Soul Machines is in receivership, so it is left off this list.

How we compared

From their own pages.

We make Lookalike. Every fact about other products comes from their own pricing pages and documentation, checked on October 23, 2026. Per-minute prices are our arithmetic from the plans they publish. Prices and features change, so check the links below before you decide, and tell us if something here is out of date.

Tavus pricingLiveAvatar creditsAnam pricingD-ID API pricingLemonSlice pricingSynthesia pricingAkool pricingSimli pricingUneeQ free trial

More comparisons

Lookalike vs Tavus

Tavus Conversational Video Interface (CVI)

Lookalike vs HeyGen

HeyGen LiveAvatar (formerly Interactive Avatar)

Lookalike vs D-ID

D-ID Agents

Lookalike vs Anam

Anam

Best HeyGen LiveAvatar alternatives

9 real-time digital human platforms, side by side.

Best Synthesia Interactive Avatars alternatives

9 real-time digital human platforms, side by side.

Digital human glossary

The terms on these pages, explained.