Tool-agnostic. Stack-honest.

No single platform owns my workflow. The right tool depends on the shot. Below is the stack I actually use across UGC ads, avatars, dubbing and post — ranked by what each one is the best at. Affiliate links throughout. I only feature what I run.

Affiliate Disclosure · Honest stack

Arcads AI Best for UGC ads

300+ avatars · talking-head · scroll-stopping ad format

$110/mo Starter

Workhorse · paste script → ad in minutes

The UGC engine. Paste a script, pick an actor from 300+ avatars, hit generate. By 2026 it had 6,000+ clients shipping ~100k assets/month. Lip-sync, hand gestures, breathing — the perf doesn't look dead.

300+ avatars across demographics, indoor/outdoor
Script → talking-head ad in < 5 min
Built for paid social — Meta + TikTok ready

Try Arcads → 25% recurring · 12 months

HeyGen Best for avatar + dubbing

175+ languages · Avatar IV · Photo Avatar · Brand Kit

$24/mo Creator

When I need consistent face + voice across languages

The lip-sync king. Train one avatar, ship in 175 languages. Avatar IV holds eye contact and natural micro-expressions. Sound booth + dubbing studio replaced in one tool.

Avatar IV — premium photoreal talking head
Video translation 175+ languages, native lip-sync
Brand Kit + Digital Twin for consistency

Try HeyGen → 20-25% recurring · 12 months

Captions AI Best for mobile editing

Word-by-word captions · Mirage AI · solo-operator editor

$10/mo Pro

Post-production at iPhone speed

Captions, B-roll, eye-contact, voice cleanup — on mobile, in minutes. The piece that closes the loop between generation and posting. If you ship daily, this is where you save 30 min per video.

Auto word-by-word captions with timing
Eye-contact + voice cleanup on the same edit
Mirage AI for fast video gen on iOS

Try Captions → 25% recurring · ongoing

Google Veo 3.1 Free in Ultra

Native lip-sync · 8s renders · inside Google Flow

Freew/ Ultra plan

Talking-head + bilingual content · cost zero

The sleeper. If you already pay for Google Ultra, you have Veo 3.1 Fast inside Google Flow — talking-head with native lip-sync, ~2500 clips/month, zero marginal cost. I default here for English+Portuguese same-day output.

Inside Google Ultra — no extra subscription
3 reference images to lock face identity
Native audio + lip-sync, 32 languages

Get Google Ultra → No affiliate · just honest

Synthesia Alt: corporate avatares

Enterprise avatares · compliance-friendly

$22/mo Starter

When the buyer is enterprise/L&D

I don't run Synthesia daily, but if your audience is corporate L&D, compliance, or internal-comms — this is the tool they trust. Worth in the stack if you sell to bigger brands.

Try Synthesia → 25% recurring · 60-day cookie

What I don't recommend.

InVideo AI — 50% commission sounds great, but it's one-time only (no recurring). Tool works but for a creator workflow there are better economics elsewhere.

Higgsfield — affiliate program changed and isn't viable anymore. The product still runs my Soul ID for some content but I'm not promoting it as a stack piece until the partnership is reopened.

If a tool you expected isn't on this page, ask me on DM. I'll tell you why it's not in the stack — including when it's just "we don't have an affiliate yet."

AI-Generated content disclosed throughout · marcosmaia.ai · part of Maia Digital