Is this a Synthesia avatar library?

No. You bring a face and a driving video or audio. The stock avatar catalog is the product this page leaves.

Same published stack. LivePortrait is the animator. ComfyUI is the graph. Piper speaks.

Why not just ComfyUI?

ComfyUI is still images and whatever video nodes you add — /replace/midjourney, /replace/runway. This page is the talking-portrait job.

Stacks / AI chat

Medium

LivePortrait / ComfyUI

A talking portrait you run. LivePortrait is MIT research code; ComfyUI is GPL-3.0 — Synthesia and HeyGen without the hosted avatar seat.

The problem

Synthesia and HeyGen sell hosted avatar video from a script. You wanted a portrait animator on hardware you control. LivePortrait is MIT (KlingAIResearch/LivePortrait): a research model that drives a still portrait from a video. ComfyUI is the node graph that can host that kind of workflow. Piper can speak the script (/replace/elevenlabs). This is not Synthesia's stock avatar library, HeyGen's translator SKU, or a turnkey studio. You still need a GPU and you still bring faces and audio you have rights to.

Replaces

Synthesia / HeyGen

Replace Synthesia Replace HeyGen See all best open-source AI image generators

Estimated SaaS saved

$1,200

per year, small team, before lock-in

Start on Railway

ComfyUI if this is still images, not a talking portrait

Sponsor this stack Tip jar

A GPU workstation is the honest path. LivePortrait and ComfyUI want weights on disk. No one-click avatar studio in this repo — Start on Railway. Still images stay on /stacks/comfyui-image. Speech stays on /stacks/piper-tts.

The stack

LivePortrait
MIT research portrait animator, not a Synthesia studio
Catalog entry →
ComfyUI
GPL-3.0 node graph that can run video/portrait workflows
Catalog entry →
Piper
GPL-3.0 local TTS for the script
Catalog entry →

Cost table

You stop paying	Typical / year	Self-host instead
Synthesia / HeyGen (small team)	$1,200	LivePortrait + ComfyUI + Piper

Agent setup prompt

Replace Synthesia or HeyGen with LivePortrait (portrait animation) plus ComfyUI if you want a node graph, and Piper for speech.

- Read LivePortrait's model card. Animate one still you have rights to. Do not claim Synthesia avatars or HeyGen translation.
- Image generation stays on /stacks/comfyui-image. Write AGENT_PROMPT.md.

Also as markdown: /stacks/liveportrait-avatar.md

FAQ

Is this a Synthesia avatar library?: No. You bring a face and a driving video or audio. The stock avatar catalog is the product this page leaves.
Synthesia or HeyGen?: Same published stack. LivePortrait is the animator. ComfyUI is the graph. Piper speaks.
Why not just ComfyUI?: ComfyUI is still images and whatever video nodes you add — /replace/midjourney, /replace/runway. This page is the talking-portrait job.