Synthesia vs HeyGen: Features, Pricing and Verdict

Synthesia vs HeyGen: Synthesia starts cheaper at $19 a month and suits training video, while HeyGen offers more avatars and 4K from $29 a month.

By Galactic News Editorial · Published 2026-11-10T01:25:53+00:00 · Updated 2026-11-10T01:25:53+00:00

Synthesia and HeyGen are the two leaders in AI avatar video. Both turn a script into a presenter video without a camera. But they win different buyers. Synthesia is built for corporate training and long-form video. HeyGen is built for creators, marketers, and short-form video. This comparison covers pricing, avatars, languages, and the verdict for each use case.

Synthesia vs HeyGen at a glance

Prices are US list rates and change often. Confirm the current price on each vendor's pricing page before you pay.

Synthesia pricing explained

Synthesia has four plans. Basic is free. It includes 500 credits a month, 10 minutes of video creation or dubbing, and 9 avatars. Videos carry a Synthesia watermark. You can share them by link, but you cannot download them.

Starter costs $19 a month, or $14 a month on annual billing. The first month is $9 as a promotion. It adds 1,250 credits a month, which cover about 12 more minutes of video on top of the free allowance. It includes 125+ avatars, 3 personal avatars, downloads, and watermark removal. It also adds the AI Video Assistant and survey analytics.

Pro costs $89 a month, or $59 a month on annual billing. The first month is $49 as a promotion. It adds 6,000 credits a month, which cover about 60 more minutes of video. It includes 180+ avatars, 5 personal avatars, interactive videos, branded video pages, and API access. It also adds on-brand avatars and priority support.

Enterprise pricing is custom. It includes unlimited video minutes, 240+ avatars, unlimited personal avatars, SAML single sign-on, SCORM export, and live team collaboration. It also includes 1-click translation into 140+ languages and Synthesia's Syren video agent, which builds a video from a description.

Synthesia's credit system is the shared currency for all usage-based features. Video, dubbing, surveys, and Syren all draw from the same pool. A one-minute Syren video typically uses 1,000 to 2,000 credits. Every plan also keeps the free 10-minute monthly allowance on top of its credits.

HeyGen pricing explained

HeyGen has five plans. Free costs $0. It includes up to 3 videos a month, each up to 1 minute long, with a watermark. It includes 500+ stock avatars and 1 custom digital twin. Export is a 720p share link only.

Creator costs $29 a month, or $24 a month on annual billing. It includes 600 credits a month and videos up to 30 minutes long. It exports at up to 1080p and removes the watermark. It adds voice cloning, translation into 175 languages, and 5 custom digital twins.

Pro starts at $49 a month for 1,000 credits. Higher Pro tiers scale to 100,000 credits a month at $4,300. All Pro tiers include the same features. Only the credit allocation changes. Pro adds 4K export, Avatar V access, and maximum voice cloning usage.

Business costs $149 a month for the first seat, plus $20 per extra seat. It includes 1,500 credits shared across the workspace, videos up to 60 minutes, and team controls. Enterprise is custom, with no video duration limit and 3 or more seats.

HeyGen credits roll over. Monthly subscribers keep unused credits for one more month. Annual subscribers accumulate credits until their renewal date. Credits expire after cancellation. That rollover is a real advantage over Synthesia, where monthly credits do not carry over in the same way.

Avatars and video quality compared

HeyGen offers more stock avatars. Paid plans include 700+ avatars. The free plan includes 500+. Synthesia offers 125+ on Starter and 180+ on Pro. If variety matters, HeyGen wins on count alone.

Avatar quality is harder to compare from specs. Both platforms offer personal avatars, which are digital twins made from your own video. Synthesia includes 3 personal avatars on Starter and 5 on Pro. HeyGen includes 1 custom digital twin on Free and 5 or more on paid plans. Both support voice cloning.

HeyGen's newer avatar models, Avatar IV and Avatar V, cost more credits per minute. Premium avatar renders cost 20 credits per minute. Standard avatars cost nothing extra on paid plans. That split matters. A Creator plan with 600 credits stretches far with standard avatars and runs out fast with premium ones.

Export quality favours HeyGen at the mid tier. Pro exports at 4K. Synthesia's paid plans export at 1080p. For most training videos and social clips, 1080p is enough. For polished ads, 4K is a real edge.

Languages, dubbing, and translation

HeyGen supports 175 languages and dialects. Synthesia supports 140+ languages and voices. Both cover the major languages. The gap matters only if you need a specific regional dialect.

Synthesia's 1-click translation converts a whole video into another language at once. Its dubbing costs 80 credits per minute with lip sync, or 40 without, once the included minutes are used. Starter includes about 16 minutes of dubbing a month on top of the free allowance. Pro includes about 78 minutes.

HeyGen's translation suite includes script editing, voice switching, and voice upload. It also offers proofread seats for checking translations. For teams that localise video at scale, both platforms work. Synthesia's Enterprise plan is the stronger pick for SCORM-based training in many languages.

Who should choose Synthesia?

Choose Synthesia if you make training videos, onboarding content, or internal communications. Its templates, surveys, and SCORM export fit learning teams. Its interactive videos, quizzes, and branching suit corporate courses. The 10-minute free allowance is generous for testing long-form scripts.

Synthesia is also cheaper to start. Starter costs $19 a month against HeyGen Creator at $29. On annual billing, that gap is $14 against $24. For a team making a few training videos a month, Starter covers the job at a lower price.

The trade-off is volume. Starter's credits cover about 22 minutes of video a month in total, including the free allowance. If you publish weekly, you will outgrow it. Pro at $89 a month is the next step, and it is the most expensive mid-tier plan of the two.

Who should choose HeyGen?

Choose HeyGen if you are a creator, marketer, or small team making short-form video. Its 700+ avatars, 4K export, and credit rollover fit a fast publishing pace. The Creator plan at $29 a month covers short videos well, especially with standard avatars that cost no credits.

HeyGen also fits video ads and social content better. Its templates, motion controls, and product placement tools are built for marketing. Its LiveAvatar product offers real-time avatars, while Synthesia's real-time Video Agents are limited to Enterprise customers.

The trade-off is the entry price. Creator costs $10 more a month than Synthesia Starter. The free plan is also thinner: 3 short videos a month, with no download. Test it with the free plan before you pay.

Bottom line

Synthesia wins for corporate training and long-form video. It starts cheaper at $19 a month, and its templates, surveys, and SCORM export fit learning teams. HeyGen wins for creators and marketers. It offers more avatars, 4K export, credit rollover, and stronger short-form tools, starting at $29 a month. If your videos teach employees, pick Synthesia. If your videos sell a product or grow an audience, pick HeyGen. Try both free plans with the same script before you commit. The voice and avatar that fit your brand matter more than the price gap.