Have you ever tried uploading a cartoon-like image of yourself as your social media profile picture? If so, you’ve used an avatar. The market for these images is valued at nearly $20 billion and is projected to rise to $270.61 billion by 2030. Part of this growth is attributable to the growing demand for personalized marketing and user experiences.
So what do today’s avatars look like? Here’s the scoop on how companies are using them, how to get your hands on one, and how artificial intelligence technology is building the next generation of virtual identities.
What is an AI avatar generator?
An AI avatar generator is a software tool that uses AI algorithms to create digital representations of humans based on user inputs like videos, photos, or text. Think of an avatar as a visual virtual identity. AI-generated avatars vary in style, realism, and capability. Broadly, they fall into two categories: video avatars and static avatars.
Video avatar generators are digital tools that can produce 3D videos or animate movement in virtual worlds, such as live service games (LSG) like Fortnite. Video avatars might be stylized or photorealistic. Examples include video game avatars, animated mascots, and digital twins, a specific type of photorealistic video avatar modeled on a user’s own unique features (including facial features, voice, and mannerisms).
Meanwhile, static avatars are two-dimensional, so you can’t use them in video content or animations. Like video avatars, static avatars may be stylized to various degrees. Common examples include AI-generated headshots and profile pictures.
AI avatar generator uses
- Customer service
- Marketing content
- Producing multilingual content
- Remote collaboration
- Training and education
Businesses can use AI avatar generators in the following ways:
Customer service
Engaging avatars can add a personal touch to customer service interactions during the customer journey. You might include pre-recorded video messages on your FAQ page, for example, or leverage advanced AI technology to create an autonomous virtual assistant that can answer customer questions and provide product support.
Marketing content
AI avatar creators let companies quickly generate customized digital content, including marketing videos and photos. You might use them in marketing campaigns by creating avatars designed to appeal to different target audience demographics.
Producing multilingual content
AI generators make it easy to record videos in multiple languages. Instead of finding a native speaker for each market and filming multiple versions of the same video—or settling for subtitles outside your home market—an AI avatar generator can quickly replicate a video in other languages for a more effective international marketing strategy.
Remote collaboration
Imagine designing your own AI avatar to stand in for you in professional settings. AI-created virtual identities can represent users on video calls, letting remote teams take a break from being on camera without sacrificing the benefits of video collaboration.
Training and education
AI avatar generators require fewer resources to create videos than content with human actors, so you can build a larger library of educational videos than with traditional methods. This lets you create video answers to a wide range of customer questions and even customize the videos for specific target audiences. If your products have a steep learning curve, consider using AI avatars to create interactive videos to help users learn.
Best AI avatar generators
- Dawn AI
- Synthesia
- D-ID Creative Reality Studio
- Colossyan
- UneeQ Digital Humans
- Picsart AI Avatar Creator
- Fotor Avatar Maker
Here are seven AI avatar generators for business owners, including video and static options:
Dawn AI
The Dawn AI mobile app generates stylized cartoon static avatars from uploaded selfies. Users train the app with eight to 12 pictures and can generate unlimited avatars modeled on the training set. Dawn AI offers a variety of free avatar styles—including fairy, bodybuilder, astronaut, anime, and demonic—and paid users can access premium avatar styles in the app. Users can repeat the training process if they aren’t happy with their initial results. Dawn AI integrates with social media platforms and messaging apps and has a user-friendly interface.
Pricing: Beyond the free plan, there is a Pro subscription for $5 per week, which includes instant avatar generation versus a waiting period, daily themed packs, an ad-free experience, and access to hundreds of new avatars every week.
Synthesia
Synthesia lets users create realistic video avatars by uploading video or by modifying one of its stock models. Stock avatars have customizable gestures and facial expressions, and you can give your avatar a voice by choosing from 140 voice and language pairings. Paying users can build custom avatars based on video inputs and use voice-cloning technology to add their voice. The Synthesia platform also offers a generative AI video assistant capable of writing scripts and automatically generating video content from uploaded documents.
Other key features include support for more than 70 languages, more than 140 language-voice combos, more than 160 stock avatars, text-to-speech capabilities, a user-friendly interface, andmore than 60 video templates.
Pricing: Beyond the free subscription, Synthesia also offers a Starter plan for $18 per month and a Creator plan for $64 per month. Contact Synthesia for information about its Enterprise plan.
D-ID Creative Reality Studio
D-ID's Creative Reality Studio creates video avatars from uploaded images or text, offering stylized and photorealistic options. Users can also choose from a library of stock avatars with customizable features or create video avatars from text prompts. Additional features include AI-powered text generation, voice style and emotion control, voice cloning, and an audio-to-video feature that lets avatars lip-sync to existing audio recordings.
Pricing: The company offers a 14-day free trial. After that, subscriptions include Lite for $5 per month, Pro for $16 per month, and Advanced for $108 per month. Contact sales for a customized Enterprise subscription.
Colossyan
Colossyan is built for educational videos such as training, onboarding, compliance, and employee instruction. Users can create custom avatars from video uploads or modify the age and appearance of one of the company’s 47 realistic AI avatars in its media library. Colossyan’s 33 learning and development video templates let users apply brand colors and tailor other visual elements, and the company offers a script assistant, an image generator, and a prompt-to-video AI tool. Colossyan is currently testing quiz-based interactive video features and customizable hand gestures.
Pricing: Colossyan subscription tiers include Starter for $19 per month and Pro for $61 per month. Contact the team for Enterprise pricing.
UneeQ Digital Humans
UneeQ Digital Humans is an enterprise-scale realistic video avatar generation tool designed for marketing, sales, customer service, and training. Its proprietary animation technology uses deep learning to simulate nuanced human conversational patterns, and its orchestration platform helps companies train custom AI models on internal data and publicly available large language models (LLMs). Uneeq’s customers include Deloitte, Dell, Qatar Airways, and Kiehl’s. Use the character creator to choose realistic or character avatar styles from the company’s library, create new avatars from scratch, or use 3D modeling to create a digital twin.
Pricing: Contact UneeQ Digital Humans for pricing.
Picsart AI Avatar Creator
The Picsart AI Avatar Creator is a mobile app that lets users choose from different artistic styles (like artsy, professional, and superhero) and easily create cartoon avatars, portraits, or realistic photos from uploaded selfies. Picsart offers a user-friendly interface and automatic scaling for social platform profile pictures. There are 20 different avatar styles to choose from, and users gain access to AI photo editing tools.
Pricing: Create 50 avatars for $5 per month, 100 avatars for $8 per month, or 200 avatars for $10 per month.
Fotor Avatar Maker
Fotor Avatar Maker lets users create realistic or cartoon avatars from uploaded images. Cartoon avatars come in different styles, like anime, pop art, and gaming, and the platform also creates avatar-inspired business logos. Fotor offers AI-powered photo editing tools and post-generation customization options.
Pricing: Beyond the free account, subscriptions tiers include Pro for $3.33 per month or Pro Plus for $7.49 per month
Best AI avatar generator FAQ
What is the best AI avatar maker?
The best AI avatar generator for you depends on your budget, intended use, and whether you’re interested in realistic or stylized options. The Dawn AI avatar generator offers a free plan, a user-friendly interface, and a range of styles, and D-ID's Creative Reality Studio creates photorealistic video avatars based on stock assets, uploaded images, or text prompts.
Are there any free AI avatar generators?
Synthesia, Dawn AI, and Fotor Avatar Maker all offer free plans.
When should I use an AI avatar generator?
Use an avatar generator when you want to create a realistic or stylized representation of a human or an animated character asset for your brand.
