What Was Announced on October 16, 2026
At 17:45 UTC on October 16, 2026 the @HeyGenDev account on X posted: "HeyGen Video 1 is the #1 video model on the @OpenRouter leaderboard, and it's now available in HeyGen MCP." Two claims in one sentence: a leaderboard position and a new access route.
Read the leaderboard line as platform and vendor data, not an independent quality measurement. It means the model gets picked often on OpenRouter; it does not guarantee it wins on your kind of task. The model is also young: it shipped on September 30, 2026.
What HeyGen Video 1 Is
Per the documentation (developers.heygen.com/heygen-video-1.0-catalog), this is HeyGen's first general-purpose video model, not an avatar product. It is built on MiniMax H3 and fine-tuned by HeyGen.
That matters because HeyGen has long been associated with talking heads and lip sync. Video 1 works differently: there is no talking-head step and no separate lip-sync pass. It generates a scene from scratch or from a reference.
Capabilities and What Is Missing
Audio in one call is the practical detail. There is no separate pass to source a voiceover, add effects and mix layers afterwards. For product demos and training clips, that removes an assembly step.
The main limit is length. Fifteen seconds maximum means longer scenes are assembled from several generations, and the seams have to be closed in editing.
- text-to-video and image-to-video;
- reference-to-video;
- audio in the same call: dialogue, ambience, effects;
- resolutions of 480p, 768p and 2K;
- clip length of 5 to 15 seconds;
- aspect ratios of 21:9, 16:9, 4:3, 1:1, 3:4 and 9:16.
What a Second Costs
OpenRouter pricing (openrouter.ai/heygen/heygen-video-1):
The OpenRouter model page also shows a 50 percent discount, so check the price on the date you calculate rather than treating these rates as permanent.
| Mode | Price per second |
|---|---|
| 480p | from $0.01 |
| 2K | up to $0.05 |
| reference-to-video | $0.035 to $0.09 |
| extra reference images | $0.02 each after the first two |
Compared With Other Models at 768p
The figures below come from HeyGen, before promotions and discounts. This is a list-price comparison, not a market measurement.
A more than thirteenfold spread between the first row and the last is not a rounding detail. It means some work that used to look expensive can now be done at volume, provided the quality holds where you need it.
| Model | Price per second (768p, with audio) |
|---|---|
| HeyGen Video 1 | $0.03 |
| MiniMax H3 Max Turbo | $0.04 |
| MiniMax H3 Max | $0.08 |
| Kling 3.0 Pro | $0.168 |
| Seedance 2.0 | $0.303 |
| Google Veo 3.1 | $0.40 |
Example: A Batch of 1000 Clips
Counted at list price, 768p, no discount: 1000 clips of 10 seconds each.
Three caveats belong with that number. First, it buys 1000 generations, not 1000 finished videos: some will need a redo. Second, 480p is cheaper and fine for rough selection. Third, these are pre-promo prices, so with a discount the current figure may be lower.
- 10 seconds x $0.03 = $0.30 per clip;
- 1000 clips = $300.
Who This Fits
Three common scenarios where a cheap second changes the economics:
After generation comes the part that happens downstream. For example, vertical video ads need different ratios and openings per platform, and mass vertical videos need dozens of versions run with identical settings. Mass posting handles delivery of a batch across accounts and geos. The model covers generation, and that layer stays on your side.
- product demos: short clips with voiceover and scene audio;
- training and instructions: 10 to 15 seconds per step, audio included;
- real estate and equipment: a walkthrough generated from photos.
What to Check Before You Run
For market context on models and price per second, we keep a 2026 AI video model guide. With us, mass formats are priced per view at $2.40 per 1000 views, while one-off pieces with complex staging are manual videos starting at $190.
- Confirm the actual scene length you get: 15 seconds is a hard ceiling.
- Verify the OpenRouter price on the date you calculate rather than from an article, since the 50 percent discount moves the numbers.
- Check whether 768p quality holds on the platform where the clip will run.
- Budget for redos: they cost the same as generations.
- Decide whether you need MCP, which lets you trigger generation from your own system instead of running it by hand.