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The best AI avatars for websites, compared
Ten ways to put a talking, listening face on a website: what each is best at, how the face reaches the visitor, and what a minute costs on public plans.
We make one of the products on this list, so read it with that in mind. We have tried to describe the others the way their own sites do, and to say plainly where each is the better choice. Prices and features were read from each vendor’s public pages on 6 November 2026.
Three questions that sort the field
1. Where is the face drawn?
Most live avatars are video: a server renders the face and streams it to the visitor. That gives a photorealistic look, and it means every live viewer uses a stream that someone pays for. The alternative is to draw the face on the visitor’s own device, which costs nothing while the agent waits. We measured that.
2. Is it an agent or an avatar layer?
Some products are a finished agent: knowledge, voice, behaviour and a way to put it on a page. Others are the face only, and you supply speech recognition, the language model and the voice. The second kind is cheaper per minute and more work.
3. What should it do besides talk?
On a website, the useful agent is the one that takes the visitor somewhere: opens the right page, fills in the form, builds the cart. Few products do this out of the box.
The options
| Product | Best for | How the face is delivered | Per minute on public plans |
|---|---|---|---|
| Somebody | An agent that is present on the page, acts on it, and costs nothing while it waits | Rendered in the visitor’s browser | $0.12 extra with Included AI; $0.03 with your own AI keys, plus your provider |
| Tavus | Photorealistic video agents and replicas of real people | Streamed video | About $0.24 to $0.37, full stack |
| HeyGen LiveAvatar | Teams already using HeyGen video who want the avatar live | Streamed video | About $0.16 to $0.18 full stack; $0.08 to $0.09 avatar only |
| Synthesia | Training teams on Synthesia who want roleplay and a website avatar from the same vendor | Streamed video | $0.20 managed; $0.10 avatar only |
| D-ID | A photo-based avatar with a knowledge base, added by script tag | Streamed video | Not readable on its pricing page |
| Anam | Developers who want a low entry price and any model | Streamed video | About $0.13 to $0.24, full stack |
| Lemon Slice | Expressive and non-human characters | Streamed video | About $0.20 on Starter, plus $0.09 if hosted |
| Simli | The cheapest avatar layer when you bring speech and model yourself | Streamed video | About $0.01, avatar only |
| bitHuman | Kiosks, devices and offline use | Cloud, on device, or in the browser | About $0.02 to $0.04 avatar only; $0.04 to $0.10 managed |
| Atmee | Creators, companions and characters | Streamed video | About $0.11 to $0.45 depending on model |
Per-minute figures are what the included minutes work out to on each vendor’s public plans. “Full stack” includes the AI and voice; “avatar only” does not. They are not like for like, so treat them as a guide to scale, not a quote.
One line on each
- Somebody. Live agents for website concierge, scored roleplay, interviews, meetings and Shopify. The face is not a photorealistic video of a real person; if that is the requirement, look at the streamed options below.
- Tavus. Photorealistic video agents and replicas of real people. Joins video meetings. Bring your own model.
- HeyGen LiveAvatar. Teams already using HeyGen video who want the avatar live. A developer API. You build the agent around it.
- Synthesia. Training teams on Synthesia who want roleplay and a website avatar from the same vendor. Scored roleplay is a separate product, sold per learner seat.
- D-ID. A photo-based avatar with a knowledge base, added by script tag. Its page offers a live demo without sign-up.
- Anam. Developers who want a low entry price and any model. Has a Shopify widget guide.
- Lemon Slice. Expressive and non-human characters. Widget shows a looping welcome video until clicked.
- Simli. The cheapest avatar layer when you bring speech and model yourself. No agent logic included.
- bitHuman. Kiosks, devices and offline use. The only other option here that documents browser rendering.
- Atmee. Creators, companions and characters. Marketplace with creator revenue share.
How to choose
- You need a real person’s likeness on video. Choose a streamed video product. Tavus and HeyGen are the established ones.
- You train people and already use Synthesia for video. Its Roleplay Sessions keep practice and video in one place, priced per learner.
- You are a developer with your own voice pipeline. An avatar layer such as Simli or bitHuman keeps cost per minute lowest.
- You want a character, companion or creator persona. Lemon Slice and Atmee are aimed there.
- You want the agent on your site all day, guiding visitors to an outcome. That is what Somebody is built for: it is live for every visitor, acts on the page, and bills only for conversations.
Side by side
We keep detailed comparisons for five of these: Somebody vs Tavus, Somebody vs HeyGen, Somebody vs D-ID, Somebody vs Atmee and Somebody vs Synthesia. If something on this page is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
