Comparison
Swap Soul vs Deep-Live-Cam: free open source or ready to use?
By The Swap Soul team · Published
Deep-Live-Cam is a popular open-source project for real-time face swap from a single photo. Swap Soul is a ready-to-use service with a voice changer built in.
One costs nothing but your time and hardware. The other costs credits but works in a browser in a few minutes.
What’s the difference between Swap Soul and Deep-Live-Cam?
| What | Swap Soul | Deep-Live-Cam |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A hosted service: face swap, voice changer and creator tools | Open-source software (AGPL-3.0) you run yourself |
| Setting it up | Sign up and press start in Chrome or Edge | Python, Git and ffmpeg, then about 300 MB of models — or a paid pre-built version |
| Hardware | Any recent computer with a webcam | Runs on the processor, faster with a graphics card (NVIDIA, Apple silicon, DirectML or Intel) |
| Voice changer | Included | Not part of the project |
| What it costs | Credits per second while you’re live — packs from $10.00 for 300 credits | Free (open source); a paid pre-built version is sold separately |
Is Deep-Live-Cam hard to install?
If you’re comfortable with a terminal, it’s manageable: install Python, Git and ffmpeg, download the models, and run it. The first start downloads about 300 MB.
If you aren’t, its makers sell a pre-built version that skips the setup. Swap Soul needs no setup at all — it runs in the browser.
Will it run on your computer?
Deep-Live-Cam can run on the processor alone, but its own guide says that’s slower, and a supported graphics card speeds it up a lot.
Swap Soul doesn’t use your graphics card for the AI, so you don’t need a powerful computer. What matters is your webcam, your lighting and a steady connection.
What about consent?
Both take the same line: only use a real person’s face with their permission, and label the result as AI. Swap Soul backs it with creator rules everyone accepts, a takedown process, and the option to label everything the studio outputs as AI.
Should you choose Swap Soul or Deep-Live-Cam?
Choose Swap Soul if…
- You want it working today without installing anything.
- You need a voice changer as well as a face.
- You don’t have a strong graphics card.
Choose Deep-Live-Cam if…
- You want free, open-source software you control completely.
- You have a capable graphics card and don’t mind setting things up.
- You want to change or extend the code.
Sources
Facts about other products were checked on their own sites and pages in October 2026. Products change — if something here is out of date, tell us and we’ll fix it. Deep-Live-Cam is a trademark of its owner; Swap Soul isn’t affiliated with or endorsed by them.