bitHuman
bitHuman creates real-time AI avatars that can run on a device, in an app or building, or in bitHuman's cloud.
What bitHuman is
bitHuman creates real-time AI avatars that can run on a device, in an app or building, or in bitHuman's cloud. Essence 2 creates a photoreal person from one portrait, while Expression 2 animates a character from one image. The documentation describes live speech lip-sync for an avatar made from a portrait. Deployment options include bitHuman cloud, customer servers, on-device use, and fully offline operation. Developer options include iOS and iPadOS, macOS, Android, Flutter, web, Python, Windows, CLI, LiveKit, Pipecat, and a REST API. The site names banks, clinics, trade shows, museums, kiosks, and embedded-device builders among its use cases. For patient-facing avatars on customer-controlled hardware, the healthcare use case says patient audio and transcripts need never reach bitHuman. Kiosks can run locally and, with an offline license, without venue internet.
Good
- Offers cloud, customer-server, on-device, and offline deployment.
- Essence 2 creates a person from one portrait.
- Docs list LiveKit, Pipecat, and REST API options.
- Kiosks can run locally without venue internet with an offline license.
Watch out
- Maximum video resolution is 720p.
- Free plan lists one cloud session at once.
- Free plan's API access is available only until 12 October.
Who it suits
It suits developers and organizations building avatar experiences for settings such as clinics, banks, museums, and kiosks. Customer-server, on-device, and offline deployment options may be relevant where those deployment modes are needed.
Verdict
bitHuman combines avatar creation and speech animation with several deployment and developer options. Review plan limits and the distinction between on-device minutes and cloud avatar minutes when evaluating its paid tiers.
Plans and prices
From bitHuman's own pricing page, checked 15 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | 1 cloud session · 99 credits/month · Discord community support · $0/month |
| Creator | $20 a month | 3 cloud sessions · 2,000 credits/month · 7 avatars · API, SDKs and embeds · unlimited self-hosted sessions · $20/month; $204/year |
| Pro | $99 a month | 10 cloud sessions · 10,000 credits/month · 40 avatars · 3× Creator API limits · $99/month; $1,010/year |
| Business | $299 a month | 50 cloud sessions · 50,000 credits/month · 200 avatars · 25 seats · offline license available · team support · $299/month; $2,990/year |
| Enterprise | $999 a month | 200 cloud sessions · 250,000 credits/month · 1,000 avatars · 50 seats · priority support · custom builds · $999/month; $9,990/year |
The facts
Each one read from bitHuman's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Access controls
- Official controls include organization roles, an audit-log API and API-secret rotation that immediately revokes the old secret.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Avatar models
- Essence 2 creates a photoreal person from one portrait, while Expression 2 animates any character from one image.checked 5 Oct 2026
- Conversation stack
- The mobile SDKs render frames from 16 kHz mono speech while customers provide speech recognition, language-model and voice services.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Data locality
- On-device and customer-server modes keep audio and video local and send bitHuman usage metering without conversation content.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Deletion
- Deleting an agent removes its transcripts and model files, although transcripts from agents deleted before September 2, 2026 may remain.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Deployment
- The product can run in bitHuman cloud, on customer servers, on-device, or fully offline.checked 5 Oct 2026
- Documentation depth
- The documentation site includes platform guides, model explanations, REST reference, pricing, troubleshooting, FAQ, downloads and changelog pages.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Essence 2
- Essence 2 creates a photorealistic talking person from one portrait and supports live lip synchronization.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Expression 2
- Expression 2 creates animated people, animals, cartoons, robots or other characters from one image.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Funding news
- SeaX Ventures announced a pre-seed investment in bitHuman on February 11, 2024.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Integrations
- The integrations material lists LiveKit, Pipecat, OpenAI Realtime, ChatGPT, Claude MCP, Flutter, React/Next iframe and Python.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Legal identity
- Crunchbase identifies the company as Bithuman, Inc., a private generative-AI business based in San Francisco.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: integrations
- A G2 reviewer requested a public API or webhook and more native integrations instead of relying on a costly Zapier plan.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: outages and support
- Trustpilot complaints describe prolonged broken video generation, weak support responses and disabled Discord comments; the company acknowledged reliability and support backlogs.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: reliability and support
- A Capterra reviewer alleged a glitch disabled automated videos, deleted data and was followed by slow support and no downtime refund.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: video artifacts
- A G2 reviewer reported temporary mouth blurring when personalized voice cloning was used.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Notable changelog event
- The changelog records that on October 5, 2026 release files moved from GitHub to downloads.bithuman.ai.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Offline licensing
- Fully offline operation is sold separately to Business and Enterprise customers, starts at 100,000 credits and runs on Linux or macOS hardware.checked 15 Oct 2026
Money
- Avatar creation cost
- Creating an avatar costs 500 credits for Essence 2 or 2,000 credits for Expression 2 as a one-time charge.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Billing
- The pricing page says prices are in US dollars, plans can be canceled any time, and a plan runs to the end of its period.checked 5 Oct 2026
- Billing rates
- Published top-up rates are 2 credits per minute on customer hardware, 4 in bitHuman cloud and 10 for managed voice chat.checked 15 Oct 2026
The company
- Company contact
- The company page says bitHuman makes real-time AI avatars and provides [email protected] and Discord as contact options.checked 5 Oct 2026
- Company profile
- LinkedIn describes bitHuman as a privately held San Francisco technology company founded in 2023 with 11–50 employees.checked 15 Oct 2026
Where it runs
- Developer platforms
- The docs list iOS and iPadOS, macOS, Android, Flutter, web, Python, Windows, CLI, LiveKit, Pipecat, and REST API options.checked 5 Oct 2026
The full review of bitHuman
Overview
bitHuman makes real-time AI avatars for apps, devices, kiosks and cloud deployments. It suits teams building interactive experiences, especially where local or offline operation matters. Its standout advantage is deployment flexibility; the trade-off is that paid allowances differ sharply between hardware and cloud use.
Key features
Essence 2 creates a photorealistic person from a single portrait, while Expression 2 animates a character from one image. The product also supports live speech lip-sync, making it suited to interactive avatars rather than only pre-rendered video.
Deployment can be in bitHuman’s cloud, on customer servers, on-device or fully offline. Kiosks can run locally without venue internet when covered by an offline license. For healthcare deployments, patient audio and transcripts need never reach bitHuman when patient-facing avatars run on customer-controlled hardware—a meaningful option for organizations with strict privacy requirements.
Developers can connect voice agents through LiveKit or Pipecat, or use a REST API for backends. SDK and developer options span iOS and iPadOS, macOS, Android, Flutter, web, Python, Windows and CLI. Custom and interactive avatars are supported, with maximum video resolution of 720p.
Pricing
bitHuman is freemium. The Free plan offers one concurrent cloud session, API access until 12 October and community support on Discord; it does not state a price. That access window makes Free best for initial evaluation, not a dependable ongoing API allowance.
Creator costs $20 a month and includes three concurrent cloud sessions, 2,000 monthly credits, up to seven avatars, API and SDK access, and either 1,000 minutes on your hardware or 500 cloud avatar minutes. It fits small projects that can keep most usage on their own hardware.
Pro costs $99 a month, raising the allowances to 10 concurrent cloud sessions, 10,000 credits, up to 40 avatars, and 5,000 hardware minutes or 2,500 cloud avatar minutes. It suits growing deployments that need more simultaneous sessions and avatar capacity.
Business costs $299 a month and adds team tech support to 50 concurrent cloud sessions, 50,000 credits, up to 200 avatars, and 25,000 hardware minutes or 12,500 cloud avatar minutes. It is the more appropriate tier for substantial production use where support matters.
Enterprise costs $999 a month, with 200 concurrent cloud sessions, 250,000 credits, unlimited avatars, priority support, and custom terms and contracts. Its allowance is aimed at large-scale deployments; organizations needing still different arrangements can discuss custom terms.
The hardware-minute allowance is twice the cloud avatar-minute allowance at every paid tier, so cloud-heavy projects should budget around the lower figure. Plans can be canceled any time, and access continues to the end of the billing period.
Platforms
bitHuman supports Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, Windows and web, as well as API access and self-hosted deployment. The range accommodates both app development and controlled local installations.
Who it's for
The named use cases include banks, clinics, show floors, trade shows, museums, kiosks and embedded-device builders. It is a strong fit for teams that need live avatar interaction and want control over where processing runs. It is less compelling for projects seeking high-resolution output: the maximum is 720p.
Pros and cons
- Pros: Cloud, self-hosted, on-device and offline deployment options let teams match architecture to privacy and connectivity needs.
- Pros: Single-image avatar creation and live speech lip-sync support interactive experiences without requiring a video-only workflow.
- Pros: Hardware usage allowances are double the cloud-minute allowances on paid plans, rewarding deployments that can run locally.
- Cons: Cloud avatar minutes are substantially lower than hardware minutes, which can make cloud-first usage expensive relative to its allowance.
- Cons: Free API access ends on 12 October, limiting its value as a continuing free development tier.
- Cons: Output tops out at 720p, which may rule it out where higher-resolution video is required.
Alternatives
Browse AI Avatar Generators for more options. HeyGen is worth considering for short video creation, with a free plan capped at three videos per month and one minute per video. AKOOL is another freemium option with a free trial. Captions offers a Max plan at $24.99 a month with 500 credits, AI editing styles, video creation and digital twins or custom AI actors.
Krikey AI has a free tier with 20 one-time credits and a Pro plan at $15 a month with 165 monthly credits. Atlabs AI UGC Avatar Video offers one video up to 25 seconds on its free plan. Genies Avatar SDK is free for developers and end users, including commercial projects. Hedra offers a Basic plan at $20 a month with 2,000 monthly credits and commercial use. Synthesia has a free Basic plan with 10 minutes of video per month and 25 AI-generated video assets.
Verdict
Choose bitHuman if you are building interactive avatars and need deployment flexibility, particularly local or offline operation. Its hardware-minute allowances and customer-controlled privacy option are compelling for that work. Look elsewhere if you need output above 720p or expect to rely heavily on cloud avatar minutes.
Getting started
- Visit the bitHuman website.
- Choose the Free plan or a paid monthly plan.
- Use the listed platform or developer option that fits your project.
- Connect a voice agent with LiveKit or Pipecat, or use the REST API.
- For kiosks without venue internet, use an offline license.
Limits worth knowing
The Free plan permits one cloud session at a time and lists API access until 12 October. Creator costs $20 a month and includes three simultaneous cloud sessions, 2,000 monthly credits, up to seven avatars, and either 1,000 minutes on your hardware or 500 cloud avatar minutes.
Questions
Is bitHuman free?
Yes. Its Free plan has no listed price and includes one cloud session at a time and community support on Discord.
What do the paid plans cost?
Creator is $20 a month, Pro is $99 a month, Business is $299 a month, and Enterprise is $999 a month.
Which platforms and developer options are listed?
Options include iOS and iPadOS, macOS, Android, Flutter, web, Python, Windows, command-line tools, LiveKit, Pipecat, and REST API.
Can bitHuman avatars run offline?
Yes. Deployment can be fully offline. The use cases page says kiosks can run locally without venue internet when using an offline license.
Which integrations are listed?
The documentation lists LiveKit and Pipecat voice-agent options, plus a REST API for backends.
Who makes bitHuman?
bitHuman makes real-time AI avatars. The company lists [email protected] and Discord as contact options.
Alternatives to bitHuman
- 1
Duix
Free planOpen sourceAndroidiOSWebAPI8.5From $29 a month - 2
Captions
Free planAndroidiOSWebAPI8.3From $4.99 a month - 3
HeyGen
Free planAndroidiOSWebAPI8.3From $24 a month - 4
Vidnoz AI
Free planAndroidiOSWebAPI8.2From $13.50 a month - 5
AKOOL
Free planiOSWebAPImacOS8.1From $12 a month - 6
Krikey AI
Free planAndroidiOSWeb8.1From $10 a month