Synthesia Alternatives in 2026: Compared for Training, Ads and APIs
Synthesia‘s pricing now runs on credits: Starter costs $29 a month, or $18 billed yearly ($19 and $14 in the US), for about 22 minutes of typical video, and SCORM export is Enterprise-only. Colossyan includes SCORM from $89 a month, HeyGen from $149.
Quick verdict: For training teams that need SCORM packages for their LMS, Colossyan Professional is the closest swap: 30 NEO plus 10 NEO2 minutes and 5 SCORM exports a month for $59 billed yearly. Without SCORM, Synthesia is cheaper per minute of typical video, from about $0.82 against $1.48. For paid social ads, Creatify suits better than either.
Try Colossyan free for 14 days
We may earn a commission if you buy through this link. It does not change the price you pay.
What changed in Synthesia’s pricing in autumn 2026
Archived copies of the pricing page date the switch to between 27 September and 4 October 2026: fixed monthly minutes gave way to credits, and the $89 Creator plan became Pro. Every plan keeps 10 free minutes of video a month; paid plans add credits on top, about 100 per typical finished minute.
On paper, paid plans now include more video: Starter went from 10 minutes a month to about 22, and the former Creator plan from 30 to about 70. These are the vendor’s upper estimates; credits pay for generated avatar footage, so a presenter on screen throughout uses more.
Prices checked on 7 October 2026 on the pricing page, in US dollars from the page’s own price data. Visitors in the EU see euros: Starter €26, or €16 billed yearly; Pro €79, or €58. On 21 October 2026 the page’s code also held a cheaper list for US visitors: Starter $19 a month, or $14 billed yearly; Pro $89, or $59. The figures below use the list we read on 7 October.
| Plan | Monthly | Billed yearly, per month | Video a month | Main limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $0 | – | 10 min | Watermark, share link only, no MP4 download |
| Starter | $29 | $18 | About 22 min of typical video | 3 personal avatars, 1 editor and 3 guests |
| Pro | $89 | $64 | Up to about 70 min of typical video | 5 personal avatars, branching, API up to 360 min a year |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Unlimited | SCORM, quizzes, brand kits, SSO, one-click translation |
What drives the cost: credits, limits and add-ons
- Minutes come from credits. Starter billed yearly costs $216 for 15,000 credits, up to about 150 minutes of typical video, on top of the 10 free minutes a month. That works out at roughly 22 minutes a month, from $0.82 a minute. Credits reset each billing period, and creation pauses at the limit unless you buy extra credits.
- Volume pricing on Pro. Pro’s credit tiers run from $89 for 6,000 credits a month to $676 for 48,000, 5% less per credit than the base tier.
- Training features sit in Enterprise. SCORM export, quizzes, brand kits, SSO and one-click translation into 140+ languages all need a custom contract.
- Paid extras. AI roleplay practice costs $29 per learner a month ($25 billed yearly); an extra personal avatar costs $240 a year and a studio avatar $1,000 a year, both on annual plans only.
- No refunds. The help center calls purchases non-refundable “even if the subscription wasn’t used”, and there are no student or non-profit discounts.
Prices, minutes and refunds side by side
First the entry plans, then avatars, languages and free options. Prices checked on 7 October 2026, in US dollars.
| Tool and plan | Monthly | Billed yearly, per month | Video a month | Refunds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Synthesia Starter | $29 | $18 | About 22 min of typical video | None, even if unused |
| Colossyan Professional | $89 | $59 | 30 min NEO + 10 min NEO2 | 14 days, if under 10 min made |
| Elai Creator | $29 | $23 | 15 min | None |
| HeyGen Creator | $29 | $24 | 600 credits: about 12–37 min on Avatar IV and V, up to 150 on Avatar III | None |
| Creatify Starter | $39 | Not confirmed | 100 credits, videos up to 2 min | None |
| AI Studios Personal | $29 | $24 | Unlimited videos, up to 30 min each | 14 days, if not used |
| D-ID Lite | Not confirmed | From $4.70 ($56 a year) | 10 min, watermarked | None |
HeyGen’s minutes are our calculation from its per-model credit rates. Creatify advertises up to 50% off yearly plans without showing us the figures. D-ID’s page showed Lite at $4.70 a month billed yearly ($56) on 7 October; its script also holds two monthly prices, $5.90 and $10, so we don’t quote a monthly one.
| Tool | Custom avatar | Languages | Free plan or trial | Trustpilot, 7 Oct 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Synthesia | 3 on Starter, 5 on Pro | 140+; dubbing in 70+ | Basic: 10 min a month, watermark | 3.8 (1,828 reviews) |
| Colossyan | 15 instant avatars free, 20 on Professional | 120+; 87 for automatic translation | Free Starter: 20 min a month, watermark; 14-day trial | 4.0 (9 reviews) |
| Elai | Selfie avatar add-on, $199 a year | 75+ in its table, over 100 in a note | 1 minute | 3.5 (105) |
| HeyGen | 1 video avatar, more as add-ons; unlimited photo avatars on paid plans | 175 on paid plans, 30+ free | 3 videos a month, up to 1 min each | 4.2 (4,693; 21 Oct) |
| Creatify | 3 on Pro ($99) | 75+ | 10 credits a month, watermark | 3.8 (835) |
| AI Studios | 1 free, 3 on Personal | 150+ on paid plans (30+ free); dubbing in 73 | 3 videos up to 1 min, 720p | 2.8 (228, DeepBrain profile) |
| D-ID | 3 on Pro | Not confirmed | 14-day trial, 3 min, watermark | 3.9 (39) |
Synthesia alternatives for training videos and courses
Three features matter to course builders, and Synthesia keeps all three for Enterprise: SCORM packages for the LMS, in-video quizzes and one-click translation.
| Tool | SCORM export | Quizzes | Branching | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Synthesia | Enterprise only | Enterprise only | Pro and Enterprise | Dubbing on all plans; one-click on Enterprise |
| Colossyan | Professional: 5 a month | All plans, 10–15 interactive videos a month | All plans, same limit | 15 a month free, 20 on Professional |
| Elai | Enterprise only | All plans | All plans | One-click, all plans |
| HeyGen | Business, $149 | Business | Business | 175 languages on paid plans, in credits |
| Vidnoz | Starter, $26.99 | Not listed | Not listed | Business plan |
Vidnoz requests its prices by country tier, so they may differ for you. Its Trustpilot score is 2.1 from 82 reviews (7 October 2026), and it refunds only yearly plans, within 7 days.
Colossyan: SCORM on a self-serve plan
Colossyan calls itself a platform for training and enablement: it turns documents, slides and company knowledge into interactive training videos. Professional costs $89 a month, or $59 billed yearly, for one editor; extra editors cost $45, or $30 yearly, up to three.
- What you get: 30 minutes a month with the NEO avatar model and 10 with the full-body NEO2, 20 instant avatars made from a photo or a short phone video, 5 voice clones and 5 SCORM 1.2 or 2004 exports a month.
- SCORM fine print: Professional’s packages stream video from Colossyan; self-contained packages for offline setups, and viewing analytics, are Enterprise-only. The SCORM feature page still says Enterprise, so confirm the SCORM quota first.
- Catch: every click on Generate deducts “the full length of the video”, and a 60-second video translated into 10 languages uses 10 minutes. Minutes don’t roll over, and on yearly plans “Unused months are not refunded”.
- Refunds and reviews: full refund within 14 days if you’ve made under 10 minutes of video; Trustpilot 4.0 from only 9 reviews, G2 4.6 from 495 (7 October 2026).
See Colossyan’s Professional plan
We may earn a commission if you buy through this link. It does not change the price you pay.
Elai: quizzes and branching on every plan
Elai has belonged to the video platform Panopto since October 2024. Creator costs $29 a month, or $23 billed yearly, for 15 Full HD minutes a month: $1.93 or $1.53 a minute by Elai’s own count. Branching, hotspots, text quizzes, viewing analytics and one-click translation come on every plan, including the free one.
- You give up: SCORM export and SSO, which are Enterprise-only. Your own avatar is a paid add-on: $199 a year for a selfie avatar recorded on a phone, $500 a year for a studio one.
- Catch: every Render uses minutes, “even if this is the same video”, and an extra minute costs $2; fees are non-refundable, and unused minutes expire each cycle.
- Plus: rendered videos stay available to watch and download for a year after you cancel. Trustpilot: 3.5 from 105 reviews.
We may earn a commission if you buy through this link. It does not change the price you pay.
Alternatives for marketing, UGC ads and API work
For ads, check the rules first: Synthesia’s acceptable use policy bars stock avatars from “promoted”, “boosted” or “paid” social media ads without its written consent. Colossyan’s policy bans stock avatars voicing opinions or personal experiences as their own, which rules out testimonial-style clips.
HeyGen: more languages and 4K for marketing video
HeyGen’s Creator plan costs $29 a month, or $24 billed yearly, for 600 credits, videos up to 30 minutes in 1080p and 175 languages and dialects. Pro, at $49 or $41 yearly, adds 4K and 1,000 credits. By HeyGen’s own credit rates, 600 credits make about 37 minutes with an Avatar IV photo avatar, 19 with a video avatar, 12 with Avatar V or up to 150 with the older Avatar III.
- Plus: unused credits roll over (a month on monthly plans, to renewal on yearly ones). SCORM, quizzes and LMS integrations start on Business at $149 a month plus $20 per extra seat. Custom avatars need the person’s explicit consent.
- Catch: payments are non-refundable except where the law requires otherwise. The terms let HeyGen use your content “to train or otherwise improve” its AI models; customers outside Enterprise can opt out by contacting the company.
- Reviews: Trustpilot 4.2 from 4,693 reviews (21 October 2026); 5-star reviews from 6–7 October praise avatar quality and lip sync, while two 1-star reviews from 1 and 6 October describe Pro credits running out within hours and credits lost to a render made before preview.
HeyGen’s affiliate program excludes blog-only promotion, so there’s no button and we earn nothing if you pick it: HeyGen pricing.
Creatify: AI actors built for video ads
Creatify turns a product link or script into batches of video ads. Starter costs $39 a month for 100 credits, 300 AI actors, 75+ languages and videos up to 2 minutes. Pro, from $99, adds 1,500 actors, 3 custom avatars, 10-minute videos and a tracker of competitors’ Meta ads. Creatify replaced its $39 Starter plan in October 2026. On 21 October 2026, its pricing page showed Standard at $10 a month billed yearly for 55 credits, with $15 struck through, which we read as the monthly price, and Pro at $38 a month billed yearly for 280 credits, with $55 struck through. The figures above and the tables on this page show the 7 October line-up.
- Catch: no refunds, and plans renew automatically. AI regenerations use credits, manual edits are free, and credits last 2 months; a yearly plan can’t be switched until fewer than 10 credits remain.
- Reviews: Trustpilot shows 3.8 from 835 reviews, 77% of them five-star; on 5 October 2026 one reviewer described a $588 charge on an account cancelled more than a year earlier, with no refund.
We may earn a commission if you buy through this link. It does not change the price you pay.
D-ID and AI Studios: avatars for apps and agents
For avatars inside your own product, Synthesia’s video API starts on Pro (up to 360 minutes a year from the plan’s credits). Its real-time Interactive Avatars API is listed for every paid plan at $0.10 a minute from the same credits, avatar layer only (you bring the voice and LLM); a $0.20 full-stack version is marked “coming soon”. HeyGen’s pay-as-you-go API is priced per minute by avatar model: $2.31 for an Avatar IV photo avatar, for example.
- D-ID says its studio and API have drawn over 280,000 developers. API calls share the web app’s monthly minutes, which expire unused, and videos round up to 15 seconds. Trial: 14 days, 3 watermarked minutes; no refunds. Trustpilot: 3.9 from 39 reviews, 61% one-star.
- AI Studios, from DeepBrain AI, charges $29 a month, or $24 billed yearly, for Personal: videos up to 30 minutes, 3 custom avatars and 120 minutes of lip-synced dubbing a month. “Unlimited” covers only the number of videos. LiveAvatar is a separate $99 plan, SCORM is Enterprise-only, and refunds need a request within 14 days and no use. Trustpilot: 2.8 from 228 reviews.
Neither has a button: D-ID’s affiliate terms bar blogs, and our AI Studios links are plain. Pricing: D-ID, AI Studios.
Synthesia vs HeyGen: which fits which job
Both paid plans start at $29 a month. They differ in what a credit buys, where SCORM starts and where your data is stored.
| Checked 7 Oct 2026 | Synthesia | HeyGen |
|---|---|---|
| Entry plan, billed yearly | Starter, $18 a month | Creator, $24 a month |
| Video on that plan | About 22 minutes of typical video a month | 600 credits: about 12–37 min on Avatar IV and V, up to 150 on Avatar III |
| Top export resolution | Full HD on self-serve plans | 1080p on Creator, 4K from Pro |
| SCORM export | Enterprise only | Business, $149 a month |
| Unused credits | Reset each billing period | Roll over a month, or to renewal on yearly plans |
| Customer data | Stored in the EU (Ireland) | Stored in the US (AWS) |
| Trustpilot / G2 | 3.8 (1,828) / 4.6 (2,820) | 4.2 (4,693; 21 Oct) / 4.8 (1,973) |
Read each company’s comparison page with care. HeyGen’s page says it offers SCORM “starting from the free plan” and that its rival has no free tier, yet its own pricing table puts SCORM on Business, and the Basic plan above is free. Synthesia’s page cites a blind test it commissioned, in which people preferred its best avatars to HeyGen’s 7 times out of 10.
- Choose Synthesia for corporate training: data stays in Ireland, and the company is audited for ISO 27001, ISO 42001 and SOC 2 Type II. On G2, 340 of its reviews came from companies with over 1,000 employees, against 67 for HeyGen (archived pages, August–September 2026).
- Choose HeyGen for marketing and social video: 175 languages and dialects on paid plans, 4K from $49, credits that roll over and unlimited photo avatars.
Colossyan vs Synthesia for L&D teams
Both sell to learning and development teams and require consent from anyone turned into a custom avatar; Synthesia has that person record a live consent video with an on-screen passcode.
Where Colossyan is ahead
- SCORM export on the self-serve Professional plan, against Enterprise only.
- Quizzes and branching on every plan, within 10 to 15 interactive videos a month. Its rival has branching from Pro and quizzes only on Enterprise.
- More custom avatars: 20 instant avatars on Professional, against 3 on Starter and 5 on Pro.
- A bigger free plan, 20 minutes a month, and a 14-day refund window if you’ve made under 10 minutes.
Where Synthesia is ahead
- Price per minute billed yearly, by the vendors’ estimates for typical video: from about $0.82 on Starter and $0.91 on Pro, against $1.48 ($1.97 on NEO minutes alone).
- Edits: “We only count new footage”, says its pricing FAQ, while Colossyan deducts the full length on every Generate.
- Languages and audits: 140+ languages against Colossyan’s 120+ (87 for automatic translation), plus ISO 27001 and ISO 42001 audits. Colossyan’s own comparison page sends buyers who need “the deepest compliance certification stack in the category” to its rival.
Colossyan also advertises a switching deal: migration within two weeks, and up to 12 months left on a Synthesia contract credited against your first Colossyan year; get that vendor promise into the order form.
Who should stay: teams that publish standalone videos by link or MP4, need EU data storage with ISO audits, or already pay for Enterprise with SCORM. By the vendors’ minute estimates, switching raises the price per minute; it pays off when SCORM would otherwise mean an Enterprise contract.
Free versions, trials and what happens when you cancel
Synthesia’s free version is the Basic plan described above, with a watermark, sharing by link only and no MP4 download. Its pricing FAQ suggests testing on that plan or, for Enterprise, through a sales demo.
Among the alternatives, Colossyan’s free Starter plan gives the most: 20 minutes a month with a watermark, plus a 14-day, no-card trial of Enterprise features capped at 5 minutes.
Before you cancel anywhere, export what you need. Synthesia’s help center warns that once the paid period ends you lose the account’s videos: “you won’t be able to access or download them afterward”. Elai keeps rendered videos for a year, Creatify says you own your creatives after the plan ends, and Colossyan notes that deleting the account doesn’t cancel the subscription.
How we compared
We picked the tools that the vendors’ own comparison pages set against each other and kept those with a public, self-serve plan. On 7 October 2026 we read each vendor’s pricing page, terms, refund rules and help articles, plus Trustpilot and G2; archived copies show when plans changed.
We have no accounts with these tools yet, so we haven’t rated video quality; our testing method explains when we do. For narration over slides alone, a voice tool may do: see our Murf AI review.
We may earn a commission through the Colossyan, Elai and Creatify buttons; other links are plain, and this page has no Synthesia affiliate link. Our editorial policy explains how we handle affiliate deals.
FAQ
It depends on the job. Colossyan Professional suits courses that need SCORM files, HeyGen marketing and social video, and Creatify product ads with AI actors. Elai Creator covers interactive clips on a budget. By the vendors’ estimates for typical video, Synthesia’s Starter still costs less per minute than Colossyan and Elai.
Its entry price matches HeyGen, Elai and AI Studios at $29 a month ($19 in the US); the cost sits in the limits. Starter covers about 22 minutes of typical video a month, credits don’t roll over, and purchases aren’t refunded even if unused. SCORM, quizzes, brand kits, SSO and one-click translation need Enterprise, priced by quote, and AI roleplay costs $29 per learner a month.
Yes. Basic is free, with 10 minutes of video and 500 credits a month, but videos carry a watermark and can only be shared by link. MP4 downloads start on Starter, at $29 a month or $18 billed yearly ($19 and $14 in the US). Colossyan’s free plan gives 20 minutes a month, also watermarked.
For corporate training, the London-based company fits better: EU data storage, ISO 27001 and ISO 42001 audits, and SCORM on Enterprise. For marketing and social video, HeyGen offers 175 languages and dialects, 4K from $49 and credits that roll over. Per minute, HeyGen’s price depends on the avatar model.
Colossyan Professional includes 5 SCORM exports a month, at $89 a month or $59 billed yearly. HeyGen adds SCORM on Business, at $149 a month plus $20 per extra seat, and Vidnoz lists it on a $26.99 Starter plan, with prices that may vary by region. Synthesia, Elai and AI Studios keep SCORM for Enterprise.
Three do, with conditions: AI Studios within 14 days if you haven’t used it, Colossyan within 14 days if you’ve made under 10 minutes of video, and Vidnoz within 7 days on yearly plans. Synthesia, HeyGen, Creatify, Elai and D-ID call payments non-refundable, except where the law or a contract says otherwise.
Related guides
- HeyGen alternatives compared
- Full Colossyan review
- Best AI avatar generators for business
- Best AI video editing tools
- All our AI video software reviews
- How we test software
Sources
- Pricing pages read on 7 October 2026: Synthesia (US dollars from the page’s price data; euros for EU visitors), Colossyan, HeyGen, Elai, Creatify, AI Studios, D-ID (prices drawn by a script) and Vidnoz.
- Rules and help articles: Synthesia’s acceptable use policy, refund policy and billing guide; Colossyan’s acceptable use policy, refund policy and comparison page; HeyGen’s credit rates; the terms of HeyGen, Elai, Creatify, AI Studios and D-ID.
- Wayback Machine copies: Synthesia’s pricing page (27 September and 4 October 2026) and G2 reviewer breakdowns (31 August and 8 September 2026).
- Trustpilot profiles of each tool and the G2 profiles of Synthesia, HeyGen and Colossyan, read on 7 October 2026.