Synthesia is an AI video and avatar platform for business teams that need talking-head training, enablement, and localized explainers without a camera crew. Feed it prompts, scripts, docs, PowerPoints, or links to get narrated avatar videos with translation and dubbing across 140+ languages. Usage runs on a shared credit pool; Basic is free with monthly credits, and paid tiers add volume, downloads, and team controls. Interactive Avatars sit on the Synthesia API and need a key with Interactive Avatar access.
Synthesia editor with an Employee Training scene, an avatar, a short timeline, and a script. Marketing badges sit beside the editor. Source: https://www.synthesia.io/. Source ↗
Pricing model
Freemium
Main input
Scripts, docs, PowerPoints, prompts, or links
Output
AI avatar videos, dubs, translations, and interactive sessions
Access
Web app; Interactive Avatars require a Synthesia API key
Is Synthesia right for you?
Synthesia fits repeatable enterprise talking-head video: onboarding, compliance clips, SOP walkthroughs, sales practice, and multilingual dubs where an avatar presenter is acceptable. It is strongest when L&D or enablement owns a credit budget for video minutes, dubbing, and surveys. Basic priced at zero dollars each month can trial short clips, but watermarked share links and thin credits block serious production. Starter billed monthly with 1,250 credits and Pro billed monthly with 6,000 credits add downloads, logo removal, and larger pools; Studio Express-1 avatar is an annual add-on for yearly plans only. Real-time avatar layer billed per minute is a separate API cost, not a seat fee. Look elsewhere for cinematic generative film, heavy timeline editing, or live avatars without a Synthesia API key. Colossyan, Creative Reality Studio (D-ID), and AI Studios are closer peers for alternate avatar packaging.
A good fit for
L&D and enablement teams producing avatar training, SOP, and compliance videos from scripts or slide decks
Companies that need one workflow to create, translate, and dub talking-head video into 140+ languages
Product and platform teams building real-time conversational avatars with their own LLM behind a Synthesia API key
Know the trade-offs
Credits are a shared pool for AI features, so video, dubbing, and surveys compete for the same monthly allotment
Basic share links keep a Synthesia watermark; downloads and logo removal sit on paid plans
Studio Express-1 avatar is an annual add-on for annual plan users only; Interactive Avatar access needs a Synthesia API key with separate minute metering
What Synthesia does for enterprise video
Synthesia editor with an Employee Training scene, an avatar, a short timeline, and a script. Marketing badges sit beside the editor. Source: https://www.synthesia.io/. Source
Script-to-avatar video from docs and decks
Synthesia turns prompts, scripts, documents, PowerPoints, or public links into presenter-style videos with AI avatars and voiceovers in 140+ languages. Teams can publish as a link, embed, or SCORM and review performance with built-in analytics, and can generate extra assets in the AI Playground with models such as Veo 3 and FLUX 3.
What you spend depends on avatars, B-roll, motion graphics, and dubbing. The free-plan minute cap and the Basic credit allotment are separate limits, and both are listed with the plans.
Credits are a shared pool for AI features. Pricing copy states that credits are now the shared currency across all AI usage-based features, one common pool for everything you create. Video, dubbing, and survey responses draw from that pool at different rates; actual use depends on what is in each video.
Roleplay and survey sessions sit beside the editor and draw on that same pool. Monthly credit counts for Basic, Starter, and Pro are in the pricing section.
Beyond recorded clips, Interactive Avatars support real-time conversational experiences. Docs describe bringing your own LLM and speech-to-text while Synthesia renders the avatar, with optional built-in text-to-speech. Interactive Avatar access needs a Synthesia API key with Interactive Avatar access to get started. Quickstarts cover minimal sessions, RAG grounding, and tools during a live session.
API pricing separates the real-time avatar layer billed per minute from editor subscriptions. Paid plans include the real-time layer when you bring your own voice and LLM, with a fuller stack listed as coming soon. Those are minute meters, not seat fees; exact amounts sit in the pricing section. Studio Express-1 avatar is an annual add-on for annual plan users only, distinct from stock or personal avatar quotas.
Learning teams need the same policy or product update in many locales. Synthesia fits when a scripted avatar, slide-to-video conversion, and translation or dubbing beat flying trainers. Drop in a deck or SOP, generate the master, then localize voiceovers across 140+ languages with brand templates.
Short compliance modules may fit Basic trials, but multi-language rollouts burn the shared pool once dubbing and B-roll enter. Teams should suggest mapping each course minute and dub locale against monthly credits before locking a launch calendar, then move to Starter or Pro when logo-free LMS downloads are required.
Sales enablement roleplay and survey sessions
Enablement groups can run Roleplay Sessions for discovery calls, cold calls, or tough feedback, and Survey Sessions for avatar-led interviews. The same platform covers passive training modules and interactive practice.
Learner seats and survey credits are separate from editor seats. Managers can suggest piloting one roleplay on Basic or Starter, then adding learner seats after the practice loop reduces live coaching time.
Product teams embedding conversational avatars
For a live avatar inside your product, the Interactive Avatars API is the path. You own the LLM and speech stack; Synthesia supplies rendering and optional TTS. That buyer motion differs from social clip editing.
Confirm Interactive Avatar access on the API key before sprints. Docs suggest a minimal quickstart first, then RAG or tools quickstarts once latency expectations are clear. Editor Pro credits do not pay the Interactive Avatar minute rate.
How to get started with Synthesia
1
Start from a prompt, script, file, or URL
Open the AI video generator, choose text, PPTX/PDF/DOCX/TXT upload, or a public link, and generate a draft with an avatar and voiceover.
2
Customize avatars, scenes, and brand elements
Pick stock or personal avatars, adjust outfits and backgrounds, add playground B-roll or motion assets, and apply brand templates.
3
Translate, dub, or publish the finished cut
Localize languages, spend credits on dubbing as needed, then publish via share link, embed, or SCORM, or download on plans that allow exports.
4
Add Sessions or API avatars when needed
Configure Roleplay or Survey Sessions, or provision a Synthesia API key with Interactive Avatar access for real-time experiences.
Monthly cards: Basic $ 0 per month (500 credits), Starter $ 29 per month (1,250 credits), Pro $ 89 per month (6,000 credits). Official pricing lists Basic Starter Creator and Enterprise in meta copy. Credits are a shared pool for AI features. Studio Express-1 is $1000/year for annual plans only. Real-time avatar layer $ 0.10 per minute on paid plans; fuller stack $ 0.20 per minute coming soon.
Basic
Trials and short watermarked share-link videos
$ 0
per month
500 credits / month
Free allowance framed as 10 minutes of video creation or dubbing
Teams shipping branded interactive video at higher volume
$ 89
per month
6,000 credits / month
5 personal avatars and branded video pages
Interactive videos and 5 guests
180+ Synthesia AI Avatars
Priority chat/email support
Flexible plan tiers
Enterprise
Large orgs needing custom credits and unlimited video minutes
Custom
custom
Custom credit volumes
Unlimited video minutes (as listed on Enterprise)
Custom editors and guests
Book demo for packaging
Studio Express-1 at $1000/year is yearly-plan-only, not monthly. Interactive Avatar rates ($ 0.10 per minute and coming-soon $ 0.20 per minute) are not seat prices. The generator page says the free plan includes up to 10 minutes of video. Basic cites 500 credits a month for video or AI Dubbing. Those limits stay separate.
You want another enterprise AI avatar trainer with different collaboration packaging
Colossyan competes in scripted avatar learning video but packages editors, avatars, and localization differently. Compare credit math, brand controls, and LMS export paths with Synthesia before standardizing an L&D stack.
You need talking-head generation with a stronger photo-to-presenter focus
Creative Reality Studio (D-ID) is often evaluated for turning still portraits into speaking presenters and for API-led experiences. Synthesia leans into course-style video, Sessions roleplay, and business packaging, so match photo-driven versus deck-driven production.
You want a broad AI video studio suite as a second procurement quote
AI Studios covers avatar and generated video workflows with its own plan ladder. Use it when procurement wants a competing quote on avatar libraries, translation, and team seats rather than assuming one shortlist entry.
Synthesia: common questions
Is Synthesia free to try?
Yes. Basic priced at zero dollars each month includes 500 credits a month for video or AI Dubbing, and the generator page states free plan includes up to 10 minutes of video with avatars and 140+ language voiceovers. Those limits are related, and they are not the same number.
Credits are a shared pool for AI features across video, dubbing, surveys, and related tools. Paid plans add credits on top of the free allowance; actual use depends on avatars, B-roll, motion graphics, and dubbing.
Monthly cards show Basic priced at zero dollars each month with 500 credits, Starter billed monthly with 1,250 credits, and Pro billed monthly with 6,000 credits. Enterprise is custom. Official pricing lists Basic Starter Creator and Enterprise in meta text; dollar amounts sit in the pricing section.
Start from a prompt or script, upload PPTX, PDF, DOCX, or TXT, or paste a supported public URL. The assistant turns that input into an editable avatar video you can brand and localize.
Yes. Interactive Avatar access needs a Synthesia API key with Interactive Avatar access. Docs describe bringing your own LLM and speech-to-text while Synthesia renders the avatar, with optional built-in TTS.
How are Studio Express-1 and real-time avatars billed?
Studio Express-1 avatar is an annual add-on for annual plan users only, not a monthly Basic/Starter/Pro line. Real-time avatar layer billed per minute applies on paid plans when you bring your own voice and LLM, with a fuller stack listed as coming soon; exact amounts are in the pricing section.
NavHunt did not run Synthesia. Limits, plan names, credit allotments, and API requirements come from the public homepage, pricing page, AI video generator page, and Interactive Avatars docs reviewed on 6 October 2026. Recheck live checkout on synthesia.com before you buy.
