Hour One — Retired Standalone AI Avatar-Video Platform (Acquired by Wix May 2025, hourone.ai Unreachable 2026, Not a Shutdown)

Status: acquired-standalone-retired — standalone hourone.ai is dead, company not bankrupt, tech folded into Wix. Do NOT write shutdown in _event_log. Hour One AI Ltd. (Tel Aviv + NY, Oren Aharon + Lior Hakim, founded 2019) was acquired 100% by Wix.com Ltd. on 2025-05-13/23 (SEC 6-K cash $6,667k, $1,400k escrow, $3,000k founder retention) → Israeli entity voluntarily merged/liquidated Oct 2025 → hourone.ai stopped resolving Aug 2026 (DNS fail, W3Techs inaccessible, DownForAI 0 uptime). Survives as Wix AI video feature, not independent SKU. Category ai-productivity-data; pipeline_stage none.

1. What it was (pre-retire)

Text/script → studio-quality presenter-led video with 100–130+ lifelike avatars, 100+ langs / 200+ accents, lip-sync, custom digital twins, Reals 3D virtual studios (office/newsroom/lecture hall), Script Wizard, Doc/URL→video, brand kits, enterprise API for CRM-personalized batches. Clients cited: Berlitz, NBCU, DreamWorks. Differentiator = 3D environment + broadcast framing, not flat talking-head; not Synthesia (consent architecture stronger, still independent), not HeyGen (self-serve avatar clone, independent), not D-ID (face-only motion), not Wix (now parent).

2. Pricing history (void 2026)

Free $0 (3 published mins/mo) / Lite $30/mo (10 mins) / Business $112/mo (180 mins/yr, 5 seats, 3D templates) / Enterprise custom (API, SSO, unlimited twins). All SKUs void post-acquisition — Wix does not sell Hour One plans; capability is metered inside Wix video/marketing bundles. starting_price now n/a.

3. Why it died (non-shutdown)

May 13/23 2025 Wix buys 100% (SEC 6-K + Wix press room confirmed).
Oct 2025 Israeli registrar: “מחוסלת עקב מיזוג” (liquidated by voluntary merger).
2026 hourone.ai DNS dropped, marketing site gone, app login dead.
Avatar/likeness/consent data now under Wix privacy policy, not Hour One’s.
Classified acquired-and-standalone-retired, not shutdown per Roam→Layla rule.

4. Reviews (pre-2025)

G2/Capterra 4.3–4.6/5 — “3D Reals best in category, corporate L&D love it, custom twin onboarding slow, voice clone needs consent ops, edit suite weaker than Premiere/VEED”. Post-acq user rage = “URL 404, no migration path, legacy tenants stranded”.

5. Best-for / Not-for (historical)

Was good for	Not for
HR/L&D onboarding, multilingual training, sales demo batches	Solo creators (price + corp UX)
Newsroom/daily-briefing auto-video	Deep NLE editing (Premiere/VEED)
Enterprises wanting API-driven personalized video	Buyers needing independent vendor DPA (now Wix-governed)

6. Competitors (alive)

Synthesia, HeyGen, D-ID, DeepBrain, VEED Avatars, Runway Gen-3 (not avatar-specific), Wix (parent, now hosts the corpse).

7. Directory retired card (8-section-minus-live-pricing)

Title: Hour One — Retired Standalone AI Avatar-Video Platform (Acquired by Wix May 2025, hourone.ai Unreachable 2026, Not a Shutdown)

Intro: Not shut down — acquired by Wix 2025-05-13/23, Israeli entity merged Oct 2025, standalone hourone.ai unreachable Aug 2026, tech lives in Wix AI video. 2019–2025 independent life: text→presenter video, 100+ avatars, Reals 3D, 100+ langs, custom twins, enterprise API. status: acquired-standalone-retired.

Features (historical): 130+ avatars, Reals 3D studios, Script Wizard, Doc/URL→video, brand kits, API/CRM batch, 100+ lang/200 accent lip-sync, custom digital twin.

Pricing: Void. Was Free $0 / Lite $30 / Business $112 / Ent custom — all retired.

Reviews: 4.3–4.6 pre-acq; post-acq 404/no-migration complaints.

Best/Not: HR/L&D + multilingual corps (was); independent-buyer/sole-creator (not).

Competitors: Synthesia, HeyGen, D-ID, DeepBrain, VEED, Wix (parent).