Synthesia is an AI video platform that turns written scripts into videos presented by AI avatars, with lip-synced dubbing and support for 160+ languages, aimed at teams that need training, marketing, or corporate-communication videos without filming a person on camera. It offers a genuine free Basic plan and several paid subscriptions that add more avatars, higher export quality, and API access.
Who builds it
Synthesia is developed by Synthesia, one of the earliest and best-known companies in the AI avatar-video space. The product is built around a studio-style editor: a user types or pastes a script, picks from a library of stock AI avatars (or creates a custom one) and a voice, and Synthesia renders a presenter-led video with matching lip movement — no camera, microphone, or actor required.
Core features
- 240+ stock AI avatars plus custom-avatar creation, for consistent on-brand presenters across videos.
- Text-to-video scripting, where a written script becomes a fully voiced, lip-synced video.
- AI dubbing with lip sync across 160+ languages and voices, so one script can be localized without re-recording.
- Full HD export (1920×1080), available from the Starter plan upward.
- Synthesia API, for automating video creation programmatically, available from the Creator plan.
- Minutes-based usage, where each plan includes a set number of monthly or yearly video minutes rather than a per-video price.
Pricing
Synthesia uses a freemium model with one free tier and three paid tiers:
- Basic (Free): $0/month, usable for up to 10 minutes of video per month.
- Starter: listed from $18/month when billed yearly (or $29/month billed monthly), including 120 minutes of video or AI dubbing per year and Full HD export.
- Creator: from $64/month billed yearly (or $89/month billed monthly), including 360 minutes per year and access to the Synthesia API.
- Enterprise: custom pricing with unlimited video minutes, for organizations with larger volume or governance needs.
Because usage is capped in video minutes per plan rather than sold as flat per-video credits, actual cost depends on how many minutes of finished video you need per month or year.
Who it's for
Synthesia targets organizations that produce a recurring stream of presenter-style videos and want to skip filming entirely: L&D and HR teams building training and onboarding content, marketing teams localizing product or explainer videos into many languages, and corporate-communications teams that want a consistent, on-brand spokesperson without booking a studio. The free Basic plan lets individuals test the full script-to-avatar workflow at a small monthly minute allowance, while Starter and Creator add Full HD export, more minutes, and — from Creator upward — API access for teams that want to automate video generation inside their own tools. One important nuance for commercial users: Synthesia's video-licensing terms restrict stock and synthetic avatars from paid advertising and broadcast use without separate written consent, even though everyday business use (training, product, and organic social videos) is allowed.