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Uncensored — This model declares no content filter. SpicyAPI forwards the request without adding a platform content scan; legal and consent duties remain with the customer.

Video Face Swap Review: One Reference Photo, Every Frame

Pick Video Face Swap when you need to move a face onto footage you're authorised to edit and keep everything else exactly as shot; it's not a scene generator.

Open the Playground

Spicy Index

67.4/ 100

Preliminary

Freedom Score

60.0/ 100

Range if the rest pass: 60.0–100.0

Content levels

Tested 3 of 6 probe types · 16 runs

  • Mild · The lightest prompts in the test

  • Moderate · Where filtered models start to refuse

  • Strong · Mid-scale; must be tested before a model is ranked

  • Very strong · Where most models start to hold back

  • Maximum · The top of the scale, scored in two halves: class A and class B

Price
$0.13 per 5 s processed
Median time
36 s
Success rate
Collecting data

Video Face Swap takes two things — a clip and one reference photo — and carries the facial features from the photo onto the person in the clip, frame by frame. video_url is the footage; reference_image_url is the face; style picks the finish (realistic by default, or beautify and lossless). Nothing else changes: hairstyle, wardrobe, lighting, camera work and the background stay as they were shot, at $0.0325 per second.

The verdict

We ran it through one content-ladder probe on 14 September 2026, checking whether the swap still holds when the source footage is already past our strong-content rung, and it rendered as expected — the tool changed the face and left everything else, including the rest of the frame, exactly as it was in the source clip.

Use it only on footage you're authorised to edit and a reference photo of someone who has consented to appear in the result. It's built for a narrow job — replacing a face in your own video — not for generating a scene from scratch.

Try Video Face Swap →

Key facts

  • Content ladder: one probe run on 14 September 2026 rendered as expected; the swap held through the rest of the frame's content.
  • Scoring: see the score card on this page and the Video Face Swap test report for run detail.
  • Price: $0.0325 per second, one price regardless of resolution or the style you pick.
  • Limits: one reference photo, no prompt, no mask, no seed; the output keeps the input clip's own resolution and running length.
  • Sources: the scoring rules are on our review methodology page, and the full parameter list is on the Video Face Swap model page.

What we liked and what held it back

What we liked

  • Nothing except the face moves. In both of the endpoint's published examples, hairstyle, wardrobe, hand position, the moving background and the original camera work all survive untouched — only the facial features change.
  • A tracking side profile with a changing key light still held. One published example turns the subject's head through a full circle while torchlight slides across the frame; the transferred features tracked through the changing angle and light rather than breaking at the turn.
  • Three finishes on one field. realistic keeps the natural skin tone and texture of the swap, beautify smooths and brightens it, and lossless holds on to the most facial detail — one string, no extra pass to run yourself.
  • It's a two-field call. video_url and reference_image_url are all that's required; there's no mask to paint and no seed to manage.
  • One price for the whole job. $0.0325 a second regardless of the clip's resolution or which style you choose.

What held it back

  • A reference face that's poorly lit or turned away hurts the result. The endpoint asks for a clearly visible, reasonably frontal, evenly lit face; footage where the on-screen person turns away for long stretches is the harder case.
  • One reference photo, one face in the clip. There's no field for swapping more than one person or supplying more than one reference image per request.
  • No seed. Two runs over the same pair of inputs aren't guaranteed to land on the same result.
  • No prompt or mask. You can't steer the swap with text or protect part of the frame beyond what the model already infers from the footage.
  • It changes the face only — not the setting. If what you actually want is a different set, wardrobe or body, this is the wrong tool; look at a full character swap instead.

What we tested

We ran one content-ladder probe on 14 September 2026, checking that the face swap still applies correctly when the source footage is already past our strong-content rung. It rendered: the face changed and the rest of the frame, including everything at that rung, came through as shot. We have not yet tested every rung on this endpoint, and we have not tested more than one reference face per request.

The two published examples on the model page show the same pattern at different resolutions: a five-second night-train clip with the face changed and the jacket, hand position and moving city lights left untouched, and a tracking side-profile shot where the transferred features hold through a full head turn under shifting torchlight.

How far it goes

Video Face Swap doesn't generate new content — it redraws a face onto footage you already have, so whether the result is safe for work depends entirely on the clip and reference photo you send it. Our one content-ladder probe on 14 September 2026, run on footage past our strong-content rung, rendered as expected: the swap applied and nothing else in the frame changed. The page label is Uncensored: we add no content filter on our side.

Not tested yet: every content-ladder rung on this endpoint; more than one face per clip; the beautify and lossless styles specifically at each rung.

Use this endpoint only on video footage and reference photos you have the rights to use, and only when the person in the reference photo has consented to appear in the result. It exists to help you place a consenting or authorised likeness into footage you already control — not to put a real person's face into a scene they didn't agree to.

Alternatives

  • Swapping a face in a still image instead of video? Face Swap does the same feature-only transfer on a single photo, at $0.013 per image.
  • A sharper, unretouched result on a still image? Face Swap Pro skips the smoothing pass entirely, at $0.16 per image.
  • Need the whole head, hair colour included, on video? Video Head Swap replaces the entire head rather than just the facial features.

How far Video Face Swap goes

Each level, on each task, based on confirmed results. A level earns points only when the content actually appears, and a single run earns 60% at most.

Freedom points by level and task
LevelVideo editing
MildThe lightest prompts in the test
5/5 delivered20.0 / 20 pts
ModerateWhere filtered models start to refuse
5/5 delivered20.0 / 20 pts
StrongMid-scale; must be tested before a model is ranked
6/6 delivered20.0 / 20 pts
Very strongWhere most models start to hold backNot tested yet
MaximumThe top of the scale, scored in two halves: class A and class BNot tested yet
Task score60.0 / 100.0Tested Oct 5, 2026

Tested Sep 14, 2026 to Oct 5, 2026

This site stays safe for work: results are written up as text, any image shown is pixel-censored, and test prompts are never published. We never test anyone who looks underage, real people’s likenesses or non-consent.

See every test record →See the uncensored leaderboard →

Run your own prompt and see how far it goes

Open the Playground

How Video Face Swap earns its Spicy Index

Each dimension below links to its full workings: the table row every point came from and why points were lost.

Public leaderboards 45% of quality
Not yet tested

No exact match on a tracked public leaderboard yet. How it works

Blind output test 35% of quality
70.6
Arena quality 20% of quality
Not yet tested

Counts once the model has 100+ blind votes and a 95% interval under 200 Elo. How it works

Capability 10.5% weight
Not yet tested

Not scored yet. How it works

Freedom Score 30% weight
60.0

Only our blind test covers this model so far, and its agreement with public human-vote leaderboards is limited on this board. The preliminary Index is ranked by its current score; independent evidence is still pending.

Open the full test report →

What Video Face Swap can do on SpicyAPI

Straight from the live model specification on SpicyAPI. Some creators offer more in their own apps; this is what you can call through our API today.

Capabilities by endpoint
FeatureVideo editing
Native audioNo
Seed controlNo
Negative promptNo
See every parameter and code sample →

How long it really takes

Measured on real jobs over the last 30 days, from request to finished result. Times include our own test runs.

Median time
36 s
90th percentile
78 s
Wait per second of video
Collecting data
Success rate
Collecting data

A time appears once at least 10 completed jobs are in. Success rates count customer jobs only and stay hidden for every model until we have a full 30 days of traffic.

Models to consider instead of Video Face Swap

  • SpicyAPI

    Face Swap

    Swapping a face in a still image instead of video?

    Spicy Index
    71.5+4.1
    Freedom Score
    60.0
    Price
    $0.013/ image
    Try

  • SpicyAPI

    Face Swap Pro

    A sharper, unretouched result on a still image?

    Spicy Index
    70.9+3.5
    Freedom Score
    60.0
    Price
    $0.16/ image
    Try

  • SpicyAPI

    Video Head Swap

    Need the whole head, hair colour included, on video?

    Spicy Index
    —
    Freedom Score
    60.0
    Price
    $0.68+423%/ 5 s processed
    Compare side by sideTry

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Video Face Swap FAQ

Try Video Face Swap yourself

Set every parameter in the Playground and see the exact price before you run it.

$0.13 per 5 s processed

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