What Changed in AI Video and Image Tools: Our Accounts on 29 October 2026

ByYourAiSoft

On 29 October 2026 we opened our own accounts in seven video and image tools and checked each against our review, whose prices date from 21 October 2026. Six differed in ways that matter before you pay; each section below gives what our review said, what the account showed and what it means. Our method is on the how we test page.

At a glance

  • Synthesia: the free Basic editor offered over 20 stock avatars, not 9.
  • InVideo AI: zero free credits; a timed discount of up to 55%.
  • Pictory: credits replace minutes; yearly Starter: up to 360 minutes, not 2,400.
  • Arcads: the in-app price list puts Starter at €100 a month.
  • Picsart: zero credits on a new free account; Wan 3.0 promo missing.
  • Luminar Neo: new €59 web and mobile license, 7-day free trial.

Synthesia’s free plan shows more than nine stock avatars

Our Synthesia review of 21 October 2026 said the free Basic plan caps the stock library at 9 avatars. It also said MP4 downloads start on Starter.

On 29 October 2026, our Basic workspace showed more. The Express-3 section of the editor’s avatar panel listed over 20 avatars, each with six camera angles. The list loads as you scroll, so we have no exact total.

What it means: Basic is a fair place to audition avatars, but Billing still kept downloads and logo removal for Starter. Our EU account was offered Starter at €16 a month billed yearly, labeled “5 MONTHS FREE”, or €12 for the first month on monthly billing, then €26.

Synthesia avatar panel in the editor on the Basic plan showing the Express-3 set: Gordon, Wes, Nico, Hana, Theo, Vera, Noa, Ingrid, Denise and more, each with six camera angles
The Basic avatar panel on 29 October 2026: far more than the nine stock avatars the pricing page gives Basic.

Full review: our Synthesia review.

InVideo AI’s free plan opened at 0 of 0 credits

Our InVideo AI review of 21 October 2026 found that free credits reset every Monday, in an unpublished amount. It put Basic, Pro and Ultra at €9, €30 and €80 a month, halved on yearly billing.

On 29 October 2026, the Usage page of our new free account read “Credits 0 / 0 credits — 100% used”. Right after sign-up, a “55% OFF JUST FOR YOU” pop-up started a timer of just under three hours. The plan picker then listed annual Basic, Pro and Ultra at €4, €13 and €36 per seat a month.

What it means: only the Timeline Editor and MCP & CLI carried a Free tag, so plan on manual editing, not AI generation. Treat €4, €13 and €36 as a timed offer to one new account, not a list price.

InVideo AI account settings, Usage and cloud storage: credits 0 of 0 marked 100 percent used, iStock 0 of 0, storage 0 of 10 GB
Our new free account’s Usage page on 29 October 2026: 0 of 0 credits, 100 percent used, before anything was generated.

Full review: our InVideo AI review.

Pictory now sells credits, not video minutes

Our Pictory review of 21 October 2026 found plans sold in minutes: Starter came with 2,400 video minutes upfront at $25 a month billed yearly. Yearly Professional worked out to 5.8 cents per exported minute.

On 29 October 2026, the plans page in our 14-day trial counted credits only. Starter’s price held, but the yearly plan now gives 24,000 credits, “Up to 360 mins of video/year”. Yearly Professional, $35 a month, lists 72,000 credits and up to 1,080 minutes a year.

What it means: by the vendor’s own estimates, the same money buys far fewer minutes, so older minute counts, ours included, no longer hold. Our arithmetic now puts yearly Professional at about $0.39 a minute.

Pictory plans page on annual billing: Starter 25 dollars a month for 24,000 credits or up to 360 minutes a year, Professional 35 dollars for 72,000 credits or 1,080 minutes, Teams 119 dollars for 216,000 credits, with struck-through prices of 29, 59 and 199
Annual plans on 29 October 2026, all credits granted upfront; Teams is $119 a month for 216,000 credits.

Full review: our Pictory review.

Arcads’ in-app price list puts Starter at €100 a month

Our Arcads review of 21 October 2026 noted that prices appear only after sign-up. It quoted review sites putting Starter at $110 a month for 10 videos.

On 29 October 2026, Billing in the 3-day trial we started listed five plans in euros, from Starter at €100 a month to Business at €2,000. The first month is 30% off on monthly billing (Starter €70); yearly billing is 20% off (Starter €80 a month). Starter’s 8,000 credits cover up to 600 seconds of talking avatar or 260 AI video clips a month.

What it means: by our arithmetic, Starter costs about €10 per minute of talking actor. The trial checkout said “no first-month discount”, so a trial that converts is billed the full €100, against €70 if you pay straight away.

Arcads billing settings on monthly billing: Starter 70 euros for the first month then 100 a month, Creator 140 then 200, Pro 350 then 500, Scale 700 then 1,000, Business 1,400 then 2,000, Custom, with credits per month from 8,000 to 192,000
Monthly billing inside our Arcads account, 29 October 2026: Creator €200, Pro €500 and Scale €1,000 sit between Starter and Business.

Full review: our Arcads review.

Picsart’s free tier came with no AI credits

Our Picsart review of 21 October 2026 said free accounts get 5 AI credits a week, per the plan data on the pricing page. It also listed Wan 3.0 generations as unlimited until 31 October.

On 29 October 2026, the menu of our new free account read “0 credits left”. The plan picker made no mention of Wan 3.0. It pushed another deal: “SEEDANCE 2.5 · 50% OFF · ENDS NOV 2”, half-price Seedance 2.5 generations for 7 days after upgrading to Ultra.

What it means: do not count on free AI credits, because our account had none to spend. The Seedance deal is an Ultra upgrade offer our account was shown, not a permanent discount.

Picsart account menu on a free account: 0 credits left, 0 bytes of 100 MB used, an Upgrade button and links to Profile, Gift a subscription, Settings and Help
The free account’s menu on 29 October 2026: 0 credits, and 0 bytes of 100 MB storage used.

Full review: our Picsart review.

Luminar adds a €59 web license with a 7-day trial

Our Luminar Neo review of 21 October 2026 compared three one-time licenses: Desktop Only, All Platforms and Max. It called the status of Luminar on Web mixed.

On 29 October 2026, Skylum’s web page said “Now live in your browser”. Edit now opened the editor without a purchase, though every tool on its home screen wore a premium crown. The web app’s checkout, marked as a Black Friday offer, added a fourth license: Web Full Access at €59, with a 7-day free trial and “Unlimited AI edits”.

What it means: browser and phone users now have a cheaper way in, with a trial that needs no download. Web Full Access has no desktop app; All Platforms at €109 adds it, plus 365 days of tools such as GenErase.

Luminar web app checkout titled Choose how you want to start: Web Full Access at 59 euros with a 7-day free trial and mobile included, and All Platforms at 109 euros instead of 477 covering web, desktop and mobile
The web app’s checkout on 29 October 2026: Web Full Access at €59, with “GET MOBILE FOR FREE”.

Full review: our Luminar Neo review.

What did not change

On 29 October 2026 these figures still matched our reviews.

  • Descript: Hobbyist €15, Creator €23 and Business €47 per person a month billed annually, the euro versions of our $16, $24 and $50; Free keeps 60 media minutes a month and “Lifetime AI credits: 100”.
  • Synthesia: Pro at €79 a month or €58 billed yearly, and 500 monthly credits on Basic.
  • Picsart: Pro $15 a month or $10.5 billed yearly, Ultra $75 or $60.
  • Luminar: Black Friday prices of €89, €109 and €129 for Desktop Only, All Platforms and Max, struck from €417, €477 and €546.
  • Arcads: the trial still runs 72 hours on 1,000 credits, with a card on file.

How we checked

The 29 October figures above come from our own accounts, all opened from the EU that day: free plans on Synthesia, InVideo AI, Picsart and Descript, card-backed trials on Pictory and Arcads, and a Skylum account with no license. We read prices and limits, not output quality, from screenshots that keep the screen edges; countdowns and “just for you” discounts are what one new account saw that day, not what everyone pays.

All our reviews are in the AI software reviews hub, and we re-check the accounts before each new issue.

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