Where the money usually goes
A real-time avatar has two expensive parts: the intelligence that answers you and the face that is drawn while it does. Most products pay for both on a server and bill you for it. Business avatar platforms meter the face by the active minute. Companion apps bundle their own AI into a monthly plan. Developer projects ask for an API key and charge you per token for every word.
Where Facelet’s goes
Facelet pays for neither, because you already have. The intelligence is your ChatGPT subscription, which Facelet signs into directly. The face is rendered on your own Mac’s graphics chip. With nothing metered on our side, there is nothing to meter you for, so Facelet is a one-time purchase: $24.99 for one of 200 early beta seats, $49.99 at launch, every version 1 update included.
A year of talking, priced
Say you talk for twenty minutes a day, which is 7,300 minutes a year. Here is what that costs at the per-minute rates the managed real-time avatar platforms published in September 2026, roughly ten to thirty-seven cents per active minute, next to Facelet.
| Face for your conversation | Rate | A year, 20 minutes a day |
|---|---|---|
| Per-minute platform, lowest published rate | $0.10 per minute | $730.00 |
| Per-minute platform, typical rate | $0.20 per minute | $1,460.00 |
| Per-minute platform, highest published rate | $0.37 per minute | $2,701.00 |
| Companion app subscription | $9.99 to $19.99 per month | $119.88 to $239.88 |
| Facelet, early seat | $24.99 once | $24.99 |
The ChatGPT subscription is separate in every row: the platforms and projects need a model behind them too, and Facelet needs the plan you already have. What changes is whether the face adds a bill of its own.
No API key, on purpose
API keys are for developers building their own software, and they are billed per token. They are also a chore: a dashboard, a credit card, a key to paste, a balance to watch. Facelet never asks for one. It uses the voice conversation included in your ChatGPT plan, with that plan’s limits, exactly as the ChatGPT app does.
What “one payment” includes
- The Facelet app for Mac, version 1, and every version 1 update.
- The first collection of ten human characters, with unlimited switching.
- Any of ChatGPT’s voices, paired per face.
- A license for your Mac, activated by email. No account with us beyond that.
- A 30-day money-back guarantee, and a full refund if we do not ship the beta.
More character collections will follow after launch and will be sold separately. Nothing you have bought ever expires.
Questions
Why doesn’t Facelet charge per minute?
Because the expensive parts are already paid for. The conversation runs on your ChatGPT subscription, and the face is rendered on your own Mac. Facelet does not run inference or stream video from a server, so there is no metered cost to pass on.
Do I need an OpenAI API key?
No. Facelet signs in with your ChatGPT account and uses the voice conversation your plan includes. API keys are for developers building their own apps and are billed per token; Facelet never asks for one.
What do I still pay for?
Your ChatGPT subscription, which is separate and required, and whose usage limits apply as usual. Facelet itself is one payment: $24.99 for one of 200 early beta seats, $49.99 at launch, with every version 1 update included and a 30-day money-back guarantee.