Synthesia vs. HeyGen in 2026: Price per Minute, Avatars and Rights Compared
Synthesia vs HeyGen in 2026: price per video minute, avatars, translation, SCORM, video rights and AI training terms, checked against official pages Oct. 18.
Contents
- Synthesia vs. HeyGen: Which Fits Your Use Case?
- How Much Does a Minute of Video Cost?
- Free Plans: What Can You Do Without Paying?
- Avatars: Stock Library, Digital Twins and Photo Avatars
- Translating and Dubbing Video: Languages, Lip Sync, Proofreading
- Training and Business Features: SCORM, Quizzes, SSO, API
- Video Rights and AI Training: What the Terms Say
- Three Costed Scenarios
- FAQ
Synthesia is built first for training and internal communication videos, with data hosted in the EU. HeyGen is built first for marketing, digital twins of yourself and translating videos you’ve already shot. At entry level, Synthesia Starter costs $19 or $29 a month ($14 or $18 billed yearly), depending on which of its two dollar grids you’re served, for about 22 to 27 minutes of video, and HeyGen Creator costs $29 a month ($24 billed yearly) for 600 credits, which last from 150 minutes with Avatar III to 12.5 minutes with Avatar V (prices and credit rates checked Oct. 18, 2026).
Their terms differ too: HeyGen’s free plan bans commercial use, and HeyGen reserves the right to train its models on paying customers’ videos, while Synthesia rules out pre-training its own on customer data. Facts come from both vendors’ pricing pages, help centers, terms of service and security pages, checked Oct. 18, 2026, without an account. Avatar realism isn’t rated here. Synthesia is an affiliate of this site; HeyGen isn’t.
Synthesia vs. HeyGen: Which Fits Your Use Case?
| What you need | Where to start | What decides it |
|---|---|---|
| Training, procedures, onboarding videos | Synthesia | EU hosting, ISO 27001, 27701 and 42001 certifications |
| Marketing videos with your own avatar | HeyGen | Avatar model (IV or V), credits that roll over a month |
| Translating videos you’ve already shot | HeyGen | Script proofreading from Pro, up to 10 languages per job |
| SCORM export to an LMS | HeyGen Business or Synthesia Enterprise | Published price ($149 a month at HeyGen) or a quote |
| Trying for free before buying | Both, for different needs | Synthesia: 10 minutes a month, no avatar of yourself; HeyGen: 1 to 3 one-minute videos with your avatar, no commercial use |
Each tool is covered in detail in our Synthesia and HeyGen profiles.
How Much Does a Minute of Video Cost?
Plans and Prices
| Synthesia | HeyGen | |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Basic: 10 minutes a month and 500 credits | 1 to 3 one-minute videos a month, depending on region |
| Entry plan | Starter: $19 or $29 a month, $14 or $18 billed yearly | Creator: $29 a month, $24 billed yearly |
| What it includes | 10 minutes, 500 included credits and 1,250 more a month | 600 credits a month |
| Next plan | Pro: $89 a month, $59 or $64 billed yearly | Pro: from $49 a month (1,000 credits) |
| Teams | Enterprise, custom quote | Business: $149 a month, plus $20 per seat |
| Rollover | No: resets every period (yearly plans get the year’s credits up front) | Yes: one extra month on monthly billing |
Sources: Synthesia pricing commission and credit guide; HeyGen pricing and credit rates, checked Oct. 18, 2026. Synthesia’s pricing page code holds two dollar grids: a “T1” grid, which its code uses for its default U.S. visitor ($19, or $14 billed yearly; Pro $59 yearly), and a standard grid ($29, or $18 billed yearly; Pro $64 yearly) that matches its “Starting at only $18” ads. The grid is picked by geolocation, and viewed from France the page shows euros, so the grid actually served in the U.S. couldn’t be confirmed on screen. Synthesia renamed Creator to Pro on Oct. 1, 2026, and adds a one-time 60 minutes of interactive avatar.
Price per Minute by Avatar Model
Synthesia counts about 100 credits per finished minute of video. Its own documentation disagrees on Starter’s total: about 22 minutes per the pricing page FAQ, 27.5 minutes per the credit guide (10 minutes + 1,750 credits ÷ 100). At HeyGen, the cost depends on the model you pick.
| Monthly plan and model | Minutes a month | Price per minute (our calculation) |
|---|---|---|
| Synthesia Starter ($19, T1 grid) | 22 to 27.5 | $0.69 to $0.86 |
| Synthesia Starter ($29, standard grid) | 22 to 27.5 | $1.05 to $1.32 |
| Synthesia Pro ($89) | 70 to 75 | $1.19 to $1.27 |
| HeyGen Creator, Avatar III (4 credits/min) | 150 | $0.19 |
| HeyGen Creator, Avatar IV from a photo (16 credits/min) | 37.5 | $0.77 |
| HeyGen Creator, Avatar IV from a video (31 credits/min) | 19.4 | $1.50 |
| HeyGen Creator, Avatar V (48 credits/min) | 12.5 | $2.32 |
Billed yearly, Synthesia Starter drops to $0.51-$0.64 a minute on the T1 grid and HeyGen Creator to $0.16-$1.92. HeyGen notes that some accounts have different rates depending on when and where they were created: the cost shown before each generation is what counts.
Rollover and Overages
HeyGen rolls unused credits over one month but doesn’t let Creator or Pro buy extra credits: you move up a tier (Business can top up at $5 per 100 credits). Synthesia rolls nothing over but sells credit packs valid for 12 months. For irregular use, HeyGen’s rollover lowers the real cost.
Free Plans: What Can You Do Without Paying?
| Synthesia Basic | HeyGen Free | |
|---|---|---|
| Quota | 10 minutes a month and 500 credits | 1 to 3 one-minute videos a month depending on region (the pricing page says 3) |
| Output | Synthesia logo, no MP4 download (share link) | Watermark, 720p share link |
| Avatars | 9 stock avatars | 500+ avatars, 1 avatar of yourself |
| Commercial use | No restriction specific to the free plan in the terms | Banned: personal, non-commercial and evaluation use only |
The key difference is legal: section 4 of HeyGen’s terms limits free-plan videos to “personal, non-commercial, and internal evaluation purposes,” with no selling, advertising or client work. A free HeyGen video can’t be used by a business.
Avatars: Stock Library, Digital Twins and Photo Avatars
Synthesia offers 125+ stock avatars on Starter, 180+ on Pro and 240+ on Enterprise. Its Express-3 model replaces Express-2 on every plan, according to its announcement (the photo avatar help article still mentions Express-2). An avatar of yourself is included from Starter (3 avatars, 5 on Pro), made from a photo plus a live consent video, or from a 1- to 5-minute video.
HeyGen offers more than 700 avatars on paid plans and three model generations: Avatar III (the cheapest), Avatar IV and Avatar V, which builds a digital twin from 15 seconds of video (Avatar V help). An avatar of yourself is possible on the free plan; Creator and Pro include 1 to 5 depending on the account, Business 10 by default, and an extra slot costs $29 a month.
With both, the person on camera must record their own consent video, and avatars of public figures without consent are banned.
Synthesia walkthrough (Oct. 15, 2026), not a test by this site. What to look at: the consent step before the avatar is created.
Translating and Dubbing Video: Languages, Lip Sync, Proofreading
| Synthesia | HeyGen | |
|---|---|---|
| Narration languages | 140+ languages and voices | 175 languages and dialects (30+ on free) |
| Dubbing your videos | 70+ languages outside Enterprise per the pricing page (134 per the help center) | 175+ languages, up to 10 per job |
| Lip-sync cost | 80 credits a minute per the credit guide (240 per the dubbing help article) | 6 credits (Speed) or 10 (Precision) a minute |
| Editing the translated script | Enterprise only | From Pro |
To translate videos you’ve already shot, HeyGen offers more outside Enterprise: script proofreading from Pro, up to 10 languages per job and a low per-minute rate (HeyGen translation help). Our guide to translating a video while keeping your voice covers the method, and our AI dubbing software comparison prices other tools.
HeyGen tutorial (Oct. 6, 2026), not a test by this site. What to look at: choosing the target language and voice before translating.
Training and Business Features: SCORM, Quizzes, SSO, API
| Feature | Synthesia | HeyGen |
|---|---|---|
| SCORM export | Enterprise (help) | Business, $149 a month |
| Quizzes and branching | Buttons from Pro, quizzes on Enterprise | Business |
| SSO (SAML) | Enterprise | Business |
| Collaboration | 3 guests from Starter, 5 on Pro | $20-a-month seats on Business |
| API | Interactive avatars at $0.10 a minute (API tab), video from Pro, from the same credits | Separate from the subscription, pay as you go: Avatar V at $7.20 a minute (API help) |
| Certifications | SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, 27701 and 42001 (Trust Center) | SOC 2 Type II (security) |
For SCORM training, HeyGen Business has a public price; Synthesia requires an Enterprise quote. Our Synthesia vs. Colossyan comparison covers a third tool’s SCORM options.
Video Rights and AI Training: What the Terms Say
Ownership and Commercial Use
At Synthesia, customers own their videos, and the license granted to the vendor is limited to running and improving the service (customer terms, in force since July 20, 2026). At HeyGen, paid-plan videos belong to you and can be used commercially (section 3); free-plan videos can’t (section 4).
Are Your Videos Used to Train AI Models?
- HeyGen: section 3 of its terms (updated Oct. 15, 2026) grants it an “irrevocable” license to your content, including to train its AI models. Enterprise data is excluded by default; other customers can opt out by emailing privacy@heygen.com (security page).
- Synthesia: its AI governance page says it doesn’t use customer data, inputs or videos, to pre-train its models; fine-tuning only happens on the customer’s written instruction.
HeyGen’s own comparison page suggests the opposite: on its AI training row, its table reads “Explicitly guaranteed” for HeyGen and “No explicit guarantee” for Synthesia, and some search engine answers repeat that table. According to HeyGen’s terms and security page, the guarantee only holds for Enterprise accounts.
Banned Content and Ads With a Stock Avatar
Synthesia’s acceptable use policy bans using a stock avatar in a paid social media ad without its written approval (an avatar of yourself remains possible with that person’s consent). HeyGen bans political content and impersonation, among other things (moderation policy). For ads, the disclosure rules for AI avatars are covered in our AI UGC ad generator comparison.
Where Your Data Is Stored
Synthesia hosts data on AWS in Ireland (Trust Center). HeyGen hosts it on AWS in the U.S., with EU transfers covered by the Data Privacy Framework and standard contractual clauses (security page).
Three Costed Scenarios
Calculations from rates published Oct. 18, 2026, on monthly billing, with no regenerations or promotions.
Ten 5-Minute Training Modules a Month
50 avatar minutes a month. Synthesia Pro ($89, 70 to 75 minutes) covers it; Starter doesn’t. HeyGen Creator ($29) covers it with Avatar III (200 credits); with Avatar IV from a video (1,550 credits), you need the 2,000-credit Pro tier at $99. If SCORM export is required: HeyGen Business ($149) or a Synthesia Enterprise quote.
One 1-Minute Marketing Video a Week With Your Avatar
About 5 minutes a month. Synthesia Starter easily covers it and includes an avatar of yourself. HeyGen Creator ($29) covers it too with Avatar V (240 of 600 credits). HeyGen’s free plan is ruled out, since it bans commercial use.
Translating 30 Minutes of Existing Video Into 3 Languages
90 minutes of lip-synced dubbing. HeyGen Creator ($29) covers it in Speed mode (540 credits); in Precision mode (900 credits), you need Pro, from $49. Synthesia Pro ($89) just covers it at 80 credits a minute (10 included minutes + 6,500 credits ÷ 80 ≈ 91 minutes); if the 240-credit rate in its help center applies, you need the 24,000-credit tier at $347 a month (T1 grid). Editing the translated script there is Enterprise-only.
FAQ
Is Synthesia or HeyGen cheaper?
At entry level, Synthesia Starter costs $19 or $29 a month depending on its dollar grid, versus $29 for HeyGen Creator. Per minute, it depends on HeyGen’s model: $0.19 with Avatar III, versus $0.69 to $0.86 on Synthesia Starter, but $2.32 with Avatar V (calculations as of Oct. 18, 2026).
Can I use HeyGen’s free plan for commercial videos?
No. Section 4 of HeyGen’s terms limits the free plan to personal, non-commercial and evaluation use. You need a paid plan to publish a business or client video.
Do Synthesia or HeyGen train AI on my videos?
HeyGen reserves that right over non-Enterprise customers’ content, with an email opt-out. Synthesia says it doesn’t pre-train its models on customer data.
Which one has SCORM export?
Both, but not at entry level: HeyGen from Business ($149 a month), Synthesia on Enterprise with a custom quote.
Which is better for translating existing videos?
HeyGen, outside Enterprise: up to 10 languages per job, script proofreading from Pro, and 6 to 10 credits a minute with lip sync. At Synthesia, editing the translated script is Enterprise-only.
Where is my data stored, the EU or the U.S.?
In the EU at Synthesia (AWS, Ireland), in the U.S. at HeyGen (AWS), with EU transfers covered by the Data Privacy Framework.
