PhotoHero vs Magic Hour

Magic Hour is the most transparently priced tool in this category — everything below came straight from their own pricing page, which is more than can be said for most competitors.

The headline difference is the billing model: Magic Hour is a monthly plan, PhotoHero is credit packs you buy once. Magic Hour also offers a more generous no-account trial than we do, and we have said so.

Magic Hour details verified from their own site on July 25, 2026. Pricing changes often — check before you buy.

PhotoHero compared with Magic Hour
	PhotoHero	Magic Hour
Entry price	Credit packs from $4.99 (200 credits); subscriptions from $9.99/month	Creator $15/month, or $10/month billed annually ($120/yr)
Free tier	100 credits on signup, no card required (~100 photo swaps, or ~50s of video)	Free plan with starter credits, plus 5 photo face swaps per day with no account
Watermark	No watermark on any generated result	Free photo swaps are watermark-free; free video and GIF swaps carry a watermark. Paid tiers are watermark-free
Try without an account	Upload, face detection and face picking work with no account; signup is required to generate	Yes — 5 photo face swaps per day, no sign up, no download
Video face swap	Yes — 2 credits per second, MP4/MOV up to 500 MB	Yes — allocated by hours: 1.4 / 3.5 / 9.7 hours on Creator / Pro / Business
Multiple faces	Yes — every face detected, assign each individually; 1 credit per face swapped	Yes — a dedicated multiple face swap tool, also free with no sign up
Credits expire	Credits never expire	No — unused credits roll over with no expiration
Billing model	Pay-as-you-go credit packs or an optional subscription	Monthly or annual subscription, with credit packs sold separately

“Not stated on their site” means we could not verify it from a reliable source, so we have not guessed. Sources: magichour.ai pricing, magichour.ai face swap

Choose PhotoHero if…

→Lower entry cost: $4.99 once, versus $10–15 per month. If you use face swap occasionally, that is the whole argument.
→No recurring charge to forget about.
→Video is billed by the second rather than by a monthly hour allowance, so a handful of short clips costs a handful of credits.

Choose Magic Hour if…

→A better no-account trial. Magic Hour gives 5 photo face swaps per day with no sign up at all; PhotoHero requires an account at the point of generating. That is a real advantage and worth knowing before you choose.
→Published, easy-to-read pricing with a clear free tier — genuinely the best in this category.
→If you swap faces daily, a $10/month plan with hours of video allowance will work out cheaper than buying credits.
→A broader AI-video product suite beyond face swapping.

The honest summary: it depends how often you use it

Magic Hour's Creator plan is $15/month, or $10/month if you pay for a year up front. That is good value if face swapping is part of your routine — you get a monthly credit allowance and 1.4 hours of video.

PhotoHero starts at $4.99 for 200 credits that never expire. For someone who needs a batch of swaps this week and nothing next month, that is a fundamentally better shape: you spend five dollars once instead of committing to a hundred and twenty a year.

Neither is a trick. Pick by frequency, not by feature list.

Where Magic Hour is more generous than us

Magic Hour lets you run 5 photo face swaps per day with no account whatsoever — no sign up, no download. PhotoHero lets you upload, detect faces and choose the swap anonymously, but asks you to create an account before it generates the result.

If your priority is trying something right now without handing over an email, Magic Hour is the better answer, and we would rather tell you that than have you find out after signing up.

Watermarks and credit expiry

Both tools are watermark-free on paid output. On free output they differ: Magic Hour's free photo swaps are clean, but its free video and GIF swaps carry a watermark. PhotoHero does not watermark any generated result — the free 100 credits produce the same files a paid credit does.

On expiry the two are aligned and both unusually good: Magic Hour rolls unused credits over with no expiration, and PhotoHero credits never expire either. Several competitors cannot say the same.

Frequently asked questions

Is PhotoHero cheaper than Magic Hour?+

For occasional use, yes — $4.99 once for 200 non-expiring credits versus $10–15 per month. For daily use, Magic Hour's monthly allowance is likely better value. It depends entirely on frequency.

Does Magic Hour have a free tier?+

Yes, and a good one. As of 2026-07-25 their site states a free plan with starter credits, plus 5 photo face swaps per day with no account at all. Their free video and GIF swaps carry a watermark.

Which one can I try without signing up?+

Magic Hour goes further here — 5 photo swaps a day with no account. PhotoHero lets you upload and pick faces anonymously but requires an account to generate.

Do credits expire on either?+

No, on both. Magic Hour states unused credits roll over with no expiration; PhotoHero credits never expire.

Which is better for video?+

Magic Hour allocates video by hours per month (1.4 hours on the entry plan). PhotoHero bills 2 credits per second. For steady video work the monthly allowance is simpler; for occasional short clips, per-second billing is cheaper.

Other comparisons

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Try it before you decide

Upload a photo and pick the faces without an account. 100 free credits when you sign up — no card required.

Try a face swap free