HeyGen vs Elyumfor Veo 3.1
HeyGen folds Veo 3.1 into Video Agent B-roll; Elyum sells the same model as 4-8s clips you preview for free and pay only when you keep.
Veo 3.1 is Google's cinematic video model with native audio. It generates picture, sound, and spoken dialogue in one pass, which is why people use it for 4-8s brand spots instead of a silent clip plus a second audio tool. On Elyum it runs as text to video, image to video, and reference to video. The look people pay for is film-like camera, lighting, and motion, with dialogue that lands in the same file.
The model is the same idea. The bill is not. Elyum prices Veo 3.1 by the second on the Veo 3.1 page and charges only when you keep a take. HeyGen uses Veo 3.1 as Video Agent B-roll against a monthly credit pool; HeyGen's pricing page lists Creator at $29/mo (600 credits) and Business at $149/mo (1,500 credits), with no published per-clip Veo rate. HeyGen also does not publish a bad-take refund. On Elyum a failed generation is never charged, and a kill refunds in full. See the pricing page: Free is up to 150 credits once (our algorithm may grant them), or Plus at $9/mo.
HeyGen is the better desk if you need talking-head avatars, 175+ language dubbing, team seats, or a finished video longer than a clip. Elyum has none of those. We do not have a timeline editor, stock footage, our own avatars, a mobile app, team seats, or a community feed. If Veo 3.1 is only B-roll inside that stack, stay on HeyGen.
Veo 3.1 on HeyGen
On HeyGen, Veo 3.1 is a B-roll engine inside Video Agent, used for generative cinematic clips alongside Sora 2. The research does not say which HeyGen plan unlocks it. HeyGen's pricing page lists Free (3 videos/month, 1 minute, 720p, watermarked), Creator at $29/mo or $24/mo yearly (600 credits, 1080p, watermark removed, videos up to 30 minutes), Pro at $49/mo (1,000 credits, 4K), and Business at $149/mo (1,500 credits, 60-minute videos, 4K, team collaboration). Cents per credit are not published. Neither is a Veo 3.1 per-clip credit price.
A bad Veo take on HeyGen has no published refund rule in this research pass. Avatar IV is estimated at about 20 credits per minute of video; that figure is not a Veo 3.1 rate. Paid HeyGen exports drop the watermark. Commercial-use terms were not confirmed from primary sources. HeyGen offers an API; as of February 2026, third-party sources report free API credits ended in favor of pay-as-you-go. For a wider HeyGen vs Elyum view, see the HeyGen alternative.
Veo 3.1 on Elyum
On Elyum, Veo 3.1 is a 4-8s clip with native audio: text to video, image to video, and reference to video. 720p is 21 credits/second (5s = 104 credits = $1.04; 8s = 166 credits = $1.66). 1080p is 29 credits/second (5s = 144 credits = $1.44; 8s = 230 credits = $2.30). 4k is 60 credits/second (5s = 300 credits = $3.00; 8s = 480 credits = $4.80). One credit equals $0.01. The same balance covers the models catalog. Listed rates already sit about 20% under Higgsfield, OpenArt, and Runway anchors.
Every render comes back as a free preview. You keep the takes you want (that is when credits are charged) or kill the rest for a full refund. A failed generation is never charged. Free meters kills at one a month; Plus, Pro, and Ultra kill freely. Kept takes download clean, no watermark, commercial use included. You can also run the same studio from Claude, ChatGPT, or Cursor through the MCP docs or the API docs.
What a Veo 3.1 take costs
| Scenario | HeyGen | Elyum |
|---|---|---|
| One 5s take you keep | Not published (no Veo 3.1 per-clip rate on HeyGen's pricing page) | 720p: 5 × 20.8 = 105 credits ($1.05); 1080p: 5 × 28.8 = 145 credits ($1.45) |
| Ten 5s takes, keep two | Not published | 2 × 105 credits = 210 credits ($2.10) at 5s 720p; eight kills refund |
| A failed generation | Not published | $0; failed generations are never charged |
| Plan needed to access Veo 3.1 | Unlock plan not published; paid floors start at Creator $29/mo (600 credits) | No subscription required; Free has up to 150 credits once (our algorithm may grant them), no card |
| Watermark on the export | Free: yes; Creator and above: no | No watermark on kept takes |
| Max export resolution | Free 720p; Creator 1080p; Pro and above 4K | 720p, 1080p, or 4k (4k: 5 × 60 = 300 credits for 5s) |
Elyum: 1 credit = $0.01, charged only when you keep a take. HeyGen figures from its own pricing pages and independent reviews, verified 2026-09-07; sources at the end. Full rate card on the Veo 3.1 page.
Where the two differ
Elyum bills Veo 3.1 per second (20.8 / 28.8 / 60 credits at 720p / 1080p / 4k). HeyGen bills a monthly credit pool (Creator 600, Pro 1,000, Business 1,500) and does not publish cents per credit or a Veo 3.1 clip price.
On Elyum, previews are free, kills refund in full, and failed generations are never charged (Free: one kill/month). HeyGen's failed-generation policy is unpublished.
Elyum Veo 3.1 clips are 4-8 seconds. HeyGen finished videos can run 1 minute (Free), 30 minutes (Creator/Pro), or 60 minutes (Business), with Enterprise listed as no maximum. Those caps are for HeyGen's assembled videos, not a published Veo clip length.
HeyGen is an avatar studio: custom avatars, voice cloning, 175+ language dubbing, Video Agent, and an editor that pulls Veo 3.1, Sora 2, and Kling as B-roll. Elyum is a multi-model studio with no timeline editor, no stock footage, and no first-party talking heads.
Both expose an API. Elyum also ships MCP for Claude, ChatGPT, and Cursor. HeyGen's API moved to pay-as-you-go after February 2026 according to third-party reports; that change was not independently verified against an official HeyGen page.
Paid HeyGen plans remove the watermark; commercial-use terms were not confirmed from primary sources. Elyum kept takes have no watermark and include commercial use. HeyGen credit rollover is reported by third-party summaries, not confirmed on the extracted heygen.com/pricing text.
Pick HeyGen when
- Video Agent can script, avatar, voiceover, and B-roll in one pass, with Veo 3.1 as the cinematic layer.
- You get 175+ language dubbing, voice cloning, and custom avatars that Elyum does not sell.
- Creator starts at $29/mo with 1080p and no watermark; Pro and Business add 4K, longer videos, and SSO.
- Business and Enterprise add team seats, SAML/SSO, and LMS integrations. Elyum has no team seats.
Pick Elyum when
- A 5s 720p keep is 105 credits ($1.05). HeyGen does not publish the matching Veo number.
- Previews are free. You pay only for keeps. Failed jobs are $0.
- Free includes up to 150 credits once (our algorithm may grant them), no card. Plus is $9/mo if you want more credits and free kills.
- One credit balance across 50+ models, plus MCP and REST. Kept files have no watermark and include commercial use.
Veo 3.1 in three styles, rendered on Elyum
Getting the most out of Veo 3.1
- Put each spoken line in quotation marks and name who says it. Veo 3.1 generates dialogue with the picture; a line that cannot fit in 4-8s will get rushed or cut.
- Ask for one camera move per clip: locked-off 35mm, slow dolly in, or a short pan. Two then-beats in eight seconds usually smear.
- Write the sound bed: room tone, traffic, cloth, a pause before the line. Silent prompts still get native audio, and that audio may talk over your dialogue.
- For image to video, describe motion that the still already allows. If the photo is a wide two-shot, do not prompt a macro insert; the face will warp.
- Use reference to video to lock wardrobe, product, or grade, then keep the prompt to one action. It will not cut a sequence for you.
- Stay in one room and one lighting setup. Fine print, logos, and multi-location jumps are where Veo 3.1 falls apart in a short clip.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a Veo 3.1 video cost on Elyum vs HeyGen?
Is Veo 3.1 the same model on both?
What happens to a bad Veo 3.1 take?
Do I need a subscription to use Veo 3.1 on Elyum?
Can I run Veo 3.1 without HeyGen avatars?
Does either platform watermark a Veo 3.1 export?
- HeyGen Pricing (official) (accessed 2026-09-07)
- HeyGen Pricing in 2026: Plans, Credits, and Real Costs Explained | Arcade Blog (accessed 2026-09-07)
- HeyGen models are now available on fal (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Best AI Video Agents for 2026, Compared by Use Case | Pexo (accessed 2026-09-07)
- HeyGen Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2 (accessed 2026-09-07)
- HeyGen Reviews 2026: What Users Really Think (accessed 2026-09-07)
- GitHub - heygen-com/openclaw-plugin-heygen (accessed 2026-09-07)
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Create everything. Keep the best.
Veo 3.1 is a AI video generator you can preview free on Elyum. Keep the takes you love, kill the rest for a full refund.