AI YouTube avatar generator: a channel profile picture that still reads small
Make a YouTube channel avatar with AI: your face, a monogram or an emblem, designed to read inside a circle at 48 px. 800 × 800, 10 credits.
By Mellow · UpdatedHow do you make a YouTube avatar with AI?
In Mellow Hub’s Creative Studio, open Channel art and choose Avatar. Type the channel’s name, say in one sentence what it should show — your face, a monogram, an emblem — and add your saved face if it should be you. The Studio draws a 800 × 800 square designed to be read inside a circle at 48 pixels, and shows each version at 98, 48 and 24 pixels before you download it. An avatar costs 10 credits a version, 1 to 3 at once. Hub does not set it on the channel: you upload the file in YouTube Studio.
What YouTube asks for
| What | YouTube Help says |
|---|---|
| Shown at | 98 × 98 pixels |
| Files | JPG, GIF, BMP, PNG |
| File size | Up to 15 MB |
| Recommended upload size | Not published |
Source: YouTube Help: Manage your channel branding, read on October 12, 2026. YouTube’s help gives the size it shows a picture at, not its shape; across YouTube channel pictures appear in a circle, so the Studio designs for one. Every size for every network is in social media profile picture sizes.
Three kinds of avatar that read small
- Your face. Cropped close — head and shoulders at most — on a plain or softly blurred background, looking at the camera. Best when you are the channel.
- A monogram. One or two letters from the name, heavy and centred, in two colours that contrast. Best for a brand, a studio or a show.
- An emblem. One simple object that stands for the channel — a lens, a wrench, a leaf — not a scene. Best when the topic is the brand.
Whatever you choose, look at it at 24 pixels before anything else: that is close to how small it appears beside a comment or in a list. Detail, thin lines and words other than a monogram disappear first.
With the banner, as one look
An avatar and a banner are seen together at the top of the channel page. Make them in the same session of Channel art — a banner is 2560 × 1440, 15 credits, with the name and tagline in the band every device shows — or cut your own picture to a banner with the free YouTube banner maker. The whole package, thumbnails and titles included, is in YouTube packaging.
A photo you already have
If you have a good photo, no generation is needed: the free profile picture cropper cuts a square around your face, shows it in a circle at the sizes networks use and saves it, in your browser, with no account.
Make the avatar
The account is free; an avatar takes 10 credits a version.
Open Creative StudioOver MCP it is studio_avatar: see YouTube MCP.
Questions
What size is a YouTube profile picture?
YouTube’s help says the picture is shown at 98 × 98 pixels and takes JPG, GIF, BMP, PNG files up to 15 MB; it gives no recommended upload size. We read it on October 12, 2026. Creative Studio exports avatars at 800 × 800, which leaves room for YouTube to shrink it.
Is the AI avatar generator free?
No: an avatar costs 10 credits a version. For a photo you already have, the free profile picture cropper cuts a square, shows it in a circle at the sizes networks use and saves it, with no account.
Will Mellow set the avatar on my channel?
No. Mellow Hub does not change channel settings: you download the file and upload it in YouTube Studio yourself.
Can the avatar be my face?
Yes. Save your face once in Creative Studio (up to 12 per profile, kept private) and add it to the avatar; the Studio composes it to be read inside the circle.
Can an AI agent make it?
Yes: studio_avatar over Mellow Hub’s MCP server, 10 credits a version, within the daily credit ceiling of the key or app you approved. It exports only.