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Avatar IV vs H3 Max: API price, context & features · api14

HeyGen: Avatar IV vs MiniMax: H3 Max

A side-by-side comparison of HeyGen: Avatar IV ($0.18 / second) and MiniMax: H3 Max ($0.28 / second) using current USD prices and capabilities from the api14 catalog. Both run through the same OpenAI-compatible API.

Specifications

	HeyGen: Avatar IV	MiniMax: H3 Max
Provider	HeyGen	MiniMax
duration_seconds	$0.18 / second	$0.28 / second
duration_seconds_480p	-	$0.18 / second
duration_seconds_768p	-	$0.28 / second
Context window	-	-
Max output	-	-
Input	text, image, audio	text, image
Output	video	video
Tool calling
Structured output
Reasoning control
Added	Aug 24, 2026	Sep 2, 2026

In depth

HeyGen: Avatar IV is a video generation model from HeyGen, and MiniMax: H3 Max is a video generation model from MiniMax. Both sit in the video category on api14, so you are choosing between two providers that build for the same broad output rather than between a video model and a text model. HeyGen's entry is the older of the two by provider release date (24 August 2026 against 2 September 2026), though that gap is small and says nothing about quality.

The clearest difference is in input modalities. Avatar IV accepts text, image and audio as input and returns video, while H3 Max accepts text and image and returns video. If your pipeline needs to drive a video from an audio track, only Avatar IV takes that input directly. H3 Max exposes three sampling parameters (max_tokens, temperature and top_p), and Avatar IV lists no supported parameters at all. Neither model publishes a context length, so there is no token window to compare, and the qualitative fields give no cheaper input, cheaper output, bigger context or tool, structured output or reasoning advantages to either side. On price the two are not meaningfully different according to the data, so check the live price table on the page rather than assuming one is the budget option.

For task fit, reach for Avatar IV when the job starts from a spoken or recorded audio clip, or when you want to combine an image and audio with a text prompt in a single call. Its audio input makes it the natural choice for talking-head style generation and anything where timing should follow a soundtrack. Reach for H3 Max when your inputs are text and still images and you want control over sampling. The temperature and top_p parameters let you tune variation between runs, which matters when you are generating several candidates and picking one, or when you need reproducible output from a fixed prompt. If your inputs are only text or only images, H3 Max covers the case with more knobs to turn.

Calling either model through api14 works the same way, because the gateway is OpenAI-compatible. You send your request to the same endpoint with the same request shape, and the only thing that changes is the model id: "heygen/avatar-iv" for Avatar IV and "minimax/hailuo-3-max" for H3 Max. That means you can build one client, keep your prompt and media handling in one place, and switch providers by swapping a string. It also makes comparison cheap: run the same text and image inputs through both ids and inspect the returned video before committing.

There is one case where the other model remains the better pick even if you started with H3 Max. If partway through a project you find that your source material includes an audio track, Avatar IV is the only one of the two that accepts audio input, so switching the model id is the fix rather than rebuilding the input pipeline. Conversely, if you are on Avatar IV and need to control sampling for a batch of text and image jobs, H3 Max is the side that exposes those parameters.

Switch with one string

Both models use the same endpoint and request shape. Change the model value from "heygen/avatar-iv" to "minimax/hailuo-3-max" and prompts, streaming and tools keep working.

HeyGen: Avatar IV details & playground →MiniMax: H3 Max details & playground →

import OpenAI from "openai";

const client = new OpenAI({
  baseURL: "https://api14.com/api/v1",
  apiKey: process.env.API14_API_KEY,
});

// Video generation is asynchronous: submit, then poll until completed.
let job = await client.post("/videos", { body: {
  "model": "minimax/hailuo-3-max",
  "prompt": "A drone shot over turquoise ocean waves at sunrise",
  "duration": 8,
  "resolution": "720p",
  "aspect_ratio": "16:9"
} });
while (!["completed", "failed"].includes(job.status)) {
  await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 5000));
  job = await client.get(`/videos/${job.id}`);
}
console.log(job.status, job.unsigned_urls);

HeyGen: Avatar IV vs MiniMax: H3 Max

Specifications

In depth

Switch with one string

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