What it is
Synthesia is a London company that turns scripts, documents and slide decks into presenter-led videos with AI avatars. Most customers are large companies making training, onboarding, compliance and internal updates. It handles PowerPoint-to-video conversion, dubbing with lip-sync, custom avatars of your own staff, Interactive Avatars that hold a conversation, and an AI Playground with outside video models for B-roll.
On October 1, 2026, Synthesia restructured its plans. Every plan, including free Basic, now gets 10 minutes of video or dubbing, 3 survey responses and 500 credits a month, plus a one-time 60 minutes of Interactive Avatar time. Creator was renamed Pro and its monthly credits rose from 3,600 to 6,500, and new Pro 2x to 8x plans go up to 48,500. A finished minute of video costs about 100 credits.
SSO, SCORM export, unlimited personal avatars and more than one editor are Enterprise features.
Our review
Synthesia's real product is procurement readiness. It holds SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001 and ISO 42001, the AI management standard it was the first video company to certify against in 2024, and its governance policy says customer inputs and outputs are not used to pre-train its models. Avatars of real people require a live consent recording. For HR and learning teams whose vendor reviews take months, that paperwork is worth more than marginal gains in avatar realism.
The October 2026 plans fix the old complaint that the free tier was a demo. Ten minutes a month on Basic is enough to build and test a real training module, and Pro's 6,500 credits work out to roughly 60 minutes of finished video on top of the free ten. Credits buy different things at different rates: video at about 100 a minute, lip-synced dubbing at 80, API-generated video at 160, survey responses at 350 each.
The structure gets expensive as soon as a team shows up. Starter and Pro both include one editor, with guests who can only review, and SSO, SCORM export for learning systems and brand controls sit on Enterprise. A Studio avatar filmed in Synthesia's studio is a $1,000-a-year add-on. A learning team of five editors therefore ends up talking to sales, where prices are not published.
On creative range, reviewers generally find HeyGen's newest avatars more expressive and its tools aimed more at marketers. Synthesia's stock presenters are polished but stiff in close-up, which matters little in a compliance module and a lot in a product launch video.
Where it earns its place
An L&D manager at a 3,000-person logistics company
Turn the annual compliance deck into videos in eight languages
Import the PowerPoint, pick an avatar and translate; Enterprise is needed for SCORM export into the LMS and for SSO. At about 100 credits a finished minute, a 10-minute module in eight languages is 80 minutes of video before dubbing variants.
A developer at an HR-tech startup
Generate personalised onboarding videos from new-hire data
The v2 video API is on Pro and Enterprise; on Pro it is capped at 360 API minutes a year, deducted from plan usage, at 160 credits a minute. Batch personalisation costs 180 credits a minute.
A solo consultant selling online courses
Record course lessons without filming
Pro at $64 a month on yearly billing gives about 70 minutes a month including the free allowance, one editor and up to 5 personal avatars, which suits one person producing a weekly lesson.
Before you commit
- Setup
- Self-serve sign-up and a first video from a script or slide deck in under an hour; personal avatars need a live consent recording.
- Integrations
- Two separate APIs with separate keys: Interactive Avatars on all plans, the v2 video API on Pro and Enterprise. SCORM export for LMSs is Enterprise.
- Data and privacy
- SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001 and ISO 42001; customer inputs and outputs are not used to pre-train models; deleted videos and avatars can take up to 90 days to be purged. SSO and SCIM are Enterprise.
- Cost at scale
- Pro 2x at $176 a month buys 12,500 credits, roughly 125 minutes; Pro 8x at $676 buys 48,500. Each self-serve plan has one editor, so a multi-editor team is an Enterprise quote, which is not published.
- Limits
- Pro API use is capped at 360 minutes a year. Pricing page figures for some plans disagree with its own plan-finder, so confirm credits in-app before buying.
What's good
- SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001 and ISO 42001 certified
- Customer data not used to pre-train its models, per its AI governance policy
- October 2026 free tier includes 10 minutes of video a month
- Interactive Avatars API available on every plan
What's not
- One editor per self-serve plan; more needs Enterprise
- SSO and SCORM export are Enterprise-only
- Stock avatars less expressive than HeyGen’s newest
- Studio avatars cost $1,000 a year extra
Best for
Learning, HR and internal-comms teams at companies with formal security reviews who produce training video in many languages.
Alternatives
Synthesia: common questions
- Is Synthesia worth it?
- Synthesia is the AI video vendor a security team will sign off on fastest, and the self-serve plans are priced for one editor, not a department. We rate it 4.3 out of 5.
- How much does Synthesia cost?
- Free Basic (10 min video/month, 500 credits); Starter $29/month or $18/month yearly; Pro (was Creator) $89/month or $64/month yearly; Pro 2x-8x from $176 to $676/month; Enterprise custom.
- What are the downsides of Synthesia?
- One editor per self-serve plan; more needs Enterprise; sSO and SCORM export are Enterprise-only; stock avatars less expressive than HeyGen’s newest; studio avatars cost $1,000 a year extra.
- Who is Synthesia best for?
- Learning, HR and internal-comms teams at companies with formal security reviews who produce training video in many languages.
- How much does Synthesia cost for a team or in production?
- Pro 2x at $176 a month buys 12,500 credits, roughly 125 minutes; Pro 8x at $676 buys 48,500. Each self-serve plan has one editor, so a multi-editor team is an Enterprise quote, which is not published.
- Is Synthesia safe for company data?
- SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001 and ISO 42001; customer inputs and outputs are not used to pre-train models; deleted videos and avatars can take up to 90 days to be purged. SSO and SCIM are Enterprise.
- What are the best Synthesia alternatives?
- The closest alternatives we have reviewed are HeyGen, Descript and Canva.
Answers checked Oct 22, 2026.
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