Synthesia alternatives: where to take your AI avatar videos
Six destinations in detail, one per reason to leave, and a seven-step exit plan.
The short answer: HeyGen if you want to clone your voice without an Enterprise contract and get more natural lip sync, Colossyan if your videos go into a learning platform (SCORM export from the Professional plan), DeepBrain AI if you make lots of long videos, Elai on a tight budget, Vidyard if your videos are for selling, Tavus if your avatar needs to talk back in real time. And if your L&D team already runs Synthesia Enterprise with SCORM and single sign-on, staying is often the right call. One thing before you leave: when your paid period ends, you lose access to every video. We compared all six destinations and checked their 2026 prices and limits.
Rankings are editorial: a sponsored spot is always labeled on its card, and no affiliate link ever changes a rating.
Why people leave Synthesia, and why it's tricky
Synthesia is still a solid product: most of its reviews are positive, around 3.8 out of 5 across nearly 2,000 public reviews, and we rate it 4.1 out of 5. People who leave tend to cite the same six issues, and most comparison posts skip them.
Voice cloning and SCORM are Enterprise-only
Two features matter a lot to training teams: cloning a trainer's voice and exporting a module as SCORM, the format learning management systems (LMS) read. Synthesia lists both on its Enterprise plan only, on a custom quote. Starter and Pro don't get them. Colossyan offers SCORM from Professional; HeyGen offers voice cloning on its free plan.
Every video goes through moderation
Synthesia reviews each video before it's delivered. Users describe waits of a day or two, and stock avatars refused for some topics because the actors didn't agree to everything. A rejection is explained by email; appeals are for paid plans only, answered within 48 hours. One user even reports a subscription ended after a rejection. If you publish fast or on sensitive topics, that's a real brake.
Credits that drain and don't roll over
In 2026, Synthesia reworked its plans: every plan includes 10 minutes, then credits (1,250 on Starter, 6,000 on Pro). A finished minute costs about 100 credits, an API minute 160. Credits reset every period, and an edit re-renders the whole video. Users also flag leftovers too small to finish a video, which then go to waste.
No refunds
Synthesia's terms describe purchases as non-cancelable and non-refundable. Reviews back that up: refunds refused even on a barely used plan. One customer describes a custom avatar they found unusable after spending $11,000. Paying yearly drops Starter from $19 to $14 a month, but it locks you in for twelve months with no way back.
Your avatar stays at Synthesia
A personal avatar requires consent filmed live, with a code shown on screen: no pre-recorded clip, and the person must be an adult giving consent themselves. The model doesn't export. When you leave, you redo the session at the new tool. If the avatar is your CEO, that's one more slot in their calendar.
Pricing math that's hard to compare
Synthesia mixes included minutes, monthly credits, different credit rates for dubbing, API and personalization, and steep first-month discounts ($9 on Starter, $49 on Pro). Two plans that look close can produce very different monthly minutes. Before comparing alternatives, write down how many finished minutes you actually publish each month.
You're leaving because… go to…
The right Synthesia alternative depends on what's pushing you out. Usually only one row applies. Each card links to the full profile below.
Voice cloning on the free plan, Creator at $24/mo billed yearly.
Your modules have to land in your LMS as SCORMColossyan5 SCORM exports a month on Professional, $59/mo billed yearly.
You make a lot of long videosDeepBrain AIVideos up to 30 minutes with no minute counter, $24/mo.
Your training budget is tightElai15 minutes a month for $23 billed yearly, extra minutes around $2.
Your videos are for sales outreachVidyardAI avatar built for reps, 15 free AI videos.
Your avatar has to answer in real timeTavusConversational video via API, 20 free minutes.
Synthesia alternatives, one by one
For each tool: why move to it, who it's for, its limit, how to rebuild your avatar there, and what it costs. All prices are list prices in US dollars, before tax, as shown in 2026.
HeyGen: the closest swap, with your own voice
Marketing and multilingualWhy move to HeyGen. It's the tool closest to Synthesia, and it answers two of the main complaints. Voice cloning is available on the free plan, where Synthesia keeps it for Enterprise. And several comparisons rate its lip sync as more natural. HeyGen covers 175+ languages and renders in 1080p from Creator up. We rate it 4.0 out of 5, just behind Synthesia (4.1) in our AI video generator ranking.
Who it's for. Marketing and sales teams, and creators who want their own voice and an expressive delivery.
Who it's not for. A training team that needs to load modules into an LMS: HeyGen doesn't export SCORM.
Its limit. Credits. Creator costs $29/mo or $24/mo billed yearly for 600 credits, and the cost per minute depends on the avatar engine: 16 to 31 credits a minute with Avatar IV. Pro is $49, Business $149 plus $20 per seat. Refunds are "generally" refused.
How to switch. Record your avatar again with fresh consent, then paste in your Synthesia scripts. Try your cloned voice on the free plan first (3 one-minute videos a month). Our guide to switching from HeyGen breaks down its credits, so you don't walk into the opposite trap.
- Free
- 3 videos/mo, 1 min
- Paid
- Creator $24/mo yearly
- Best for
- marketing, cloned voice
- Limit
- no SCORM
Colossyan: SCORM without an Enterprise contract
L&D and SCORMWhy move to Colossyan. If training is why you use Synthesia but SCORM is where you hit the wall, Colossyan solves it one tier down. Professional includes 5 SCORM exports a month, 20 personal avatars and 5 cloned voices. Your modules go into the LMS, which tracks who watched them. Enterprise removes the SCORM cap.
Who it's for. L&D teams, training providers and HR teams shipping a few modules a month.
Who it's not for. A marketing team: you'd pay for training features you never open.
Its limit. Volume and commitment. Professional costs $59/mo billed yearly for 30 minutes on the NEO engine and 10 minutes on NEO2, 3 seats max ($30 per extra member). No monthly price is listed, the year is paid upfront and unused months aren't refunded. Minutes don't roll over.
How to switch. The free Starter plan gives 20 minutes a month with 15 personal avatars and 3 cloned voices, no SCORM. Rebuild your avatar and voice there before you sign. Tip: instead of canceling during a slow quarter, Colossyan lets you pause for free for up to two months.
- Free
- 20 min/mo, cloned voices
- Paid
- Professional $59/mo yearly
- Best for
- SCORM modules
- Limit
- yearly paid upfront
DeepBrain AI: volume without a minute counter
Volume and long videosWhy move to DeepBrain AI. Its editor, AI Studios, doesn't meter you the same way. The Personal plan gives unlimited videos up to 30 minutes each, plus 120 minutes of dubbing, voice cloning and 3 personal avatars. Where Synthesia Starter tops out around twenty minutes a month, that's a different order of magnitude if you publish weekly.
Who it's for. Teams producing lots of long explainer videos: tutorials, procedures, internal updates.
Who it's not for. Projects that lean on AI-generated visuals around the avatar: generative credits are capped at 60 a month.
Its limit. Personal costs $24/mo, or $288 a year billed yearly, in 1080p. 4K and 60-minute videos need the Team plan at $55 per seat per month. The free plan is a trial: 3 one-minute videos a month in 720p. It speaks 50+ languages in text-to-speech and 73 in dubbing, fewer than Synthesia.
How to switch. Rebuild your personal avatar, then move your longest scripts first: that's where the cost difference shows. Check the voice in each of your languages on a real module before moving all production.
- Free
- 3 videos/mo, 720p
- Paid
- Personal $24/mo
- Best for
- long videos, volume
- Limit
- 4K on Team only
Elai: training videos on a small budget
Small budgetWhy move to Elai. The Creator plan costs $23/mo billed yearly ($276 a year) or $29 monthly, for 15 minutes of video. An extra minute is about $2, so a production spike is priced in advance with no credits to convert. It's the simplest way to keep avatar training videos without paying for a Pro plan.
Who it's for. Independent trainers, small teams and course creators shipping a few videos a month with a stock avatar.
Who it's not for. Anyone set on their own face and voice without paying for add-ons.
Its limit. Personal add-ons are billed yearly: $200 for voice cloning, $199 for a selfie avatar, $500 for a studio avatar. The Team plan, $100/mo billed yearly for 50 minutes and 3 seats, includes one voice clone and one selfie avatar. It covers 75+ languages, well below Synthesia.
How to switch. If a stock avatar works for you, switching is just copying scripts. If not, add the add-ons before you compare: Creator yearly plus voice and selfie comes close to $675 in year one.
- Free
- 1 minute
- Paid
- Creator $23/mo yearly
- Best for
- training, low volume
- Limit
- voice clone $200/yr
Vidyard: when your videos are for selling
Sales and outreachWhy move to Vidyard. Plenty of teams use Synthesia for sales videos: follow-ups, product walkthroughs, personalized messages. Vidyard is built for exactly that. The AI avatar lives inside a video prospecting tool connected to your CRM, which tells you who watched and for how long.
Who it's for. Account executives and SDR teams sending personalized videos to prospects.
Who it's not for. Training: it's not a course studio and doesn't export SCORM.
Its limit. The free plan gives 15 AI videos and 3 personal avatars. After that, pricing is per seat: Starter at $89/mo or $59 billed yearly, and the Video Agent add-on at $29 per seat per month, or $24 billed yearly, for unlimited AI videos. For a ten-rep team, multiply before comparing with a Synthesia plan.
How to switch. Start on the free plan with one rep: rebuild their avatar, send their 15 videos, watch the view rates. Your downloaded Synthesia videos still work inside your sequences.
- Free
- 15 AI videos
- Paid
- Starter $59/seat/mo yearly
- Best for
- video prospecting
- Limit
- per-seat pricing
Tavus: when your avatar has to talk back
Interactive videoWhy move to Tavus. Synthesia makes videos people watch. Tavus makes avatars that talk with your users in real time, plugged in through an API (an interface your software uses to drive the tool) on your site or in your app. If your video project was really a support agent, a tutor or sales role-play, this is the tool built for it.
Who it's for. Product teams and developers building a video agent.
Who it's not for. A team that wants a timeline editor: Tavus doesn't replace Synthesia's studio.
Its limit. You need a developer, and the bill follows usage: free for 20 minutes, Starter at $22/mo for 60 minutes and one personal replica, Builder at $59 for 175 minutes, then Growth at $397 and Business at $975.
How to switch. Nothing to move from Synthesia except your copy. Use the 20 free minutes to measure how long a real conversation lasts, then pick a tier.
- Free
- 20 minutes
- Paid
- Starter $22/mo
- Best for
- real-time video agent
- Limit
- needs a developer
Synthesia and its 6 alternatives side by side
Our default pick: HeyGen as a like-for-like replacement with your own voice, Colossyan if you need SCORM. To compare fairly, bring everything back to minutes. Synthesia Starter gives 10 minutes plus about 12 minutes of credits for $14 billed yearly, Elai Creator 15 minutes for $23, DeepBrain AI Personal uncapped videos for $24. D-ID and Hour One, often listed elsewhere, aren't ranked here: their official prices weren't readable.
| Free plan | First paid plan and switching | |
|---|---|---|
| SynthesiaWhere you start, 4.1 out of 5 | 10 minutes a month, watermark, no download | Starter $14/mo billed yearly ($19 monthly); voice cloning and SCORM on Enterprise |
| HeyGenCloned voice, 4.0 out of 5 | 3 videos a month, 1 minute max, watermark | Creator $24/mo billed yearly ($29 monthly), 600 credits; avatar rebuilt with consent |
| ColossyanSCORM | 20 minutes a month, personal avatars and voices, no SCORM | Professional $59/mo billed yearly; 5 SCORM exports a month |
| DeepBrain AIVolume | 3 videos a month, 1 minute, 720p | Personal $24/mo, videos up to 30 minutes, voice cloning |
| ElaiSmall budget | 1 minute | Creator $23/mo billed yearly ($29 monthly), 15 minutes; voice clone $200 a year |
| VidyardSales | 15 AI videos, 3 personal avatars | Starter $59 per seat per month billed yearly; Video Agent $24 per seat yearly |
| TavusReal-time video | 20 minutes | Starter $22/mo, 60 minutes; API integration |
List prices before tax, subject to change. Always do the math on your real minutes per month.
Leaving Synthesia in seven steps
Order matters. Your live videos first, because they depend on the account. Then your files, your credits, and finally your face.
List your embedded videos and SCORM packages
FirstList everything that plays a Synthesia video online: website pages, intranet, emails, and above all the SCORM modules sitting in your LMS. Share links, embeds and SCORM packages load Synthesia's hosted player. Deleting a link already breaks its embeds; once the account closes, you lose access to all your videos. Treat it as likely that those players will stop working, and plan their replacement.
- If you skip it
- empty modules in the LMS
Download every video and its captions
Day 1In each project, open the ⋯ menu and choose Download: MP4 at 1920×1080, and captions as SRT or VTT. A video has to be generated before you can download it, so render any draft that matters while you still have credits. Store everything outside Synthesia, with the project title in the file name.
The free plan can't download: don't drop to Basic before you've pulled everything.
- Format
- MP4 1080p, SRT, VTT
Get your scripts out
No competing tool imports a Synthesia project. Synthesia offers an XLIFF export of video text, designed for translation: if your plan has it, it's the fastest way to pull every script. Otherwise, copy each scene into a document with the language, avatar and voice used, plus any words you fixed the pronunciation of.
- If you skip it
- scripts to rewrite
Use your credits and cancel at the end of the cycle
Credits don't roll over and nothing is refunded. Run your last useful renders, then cancel: profile, Account info, Billing, ⋯ menu, cancel. You keep access until the paid period ends. On Enterprise, go through your account manager.
Tip: if you still have dubbing to do, dubbing without lip sync costs half as much (40 credits a minute versus 80).
- Refund
- none
Rebuild your avatar and voice at the destination
Longest stepYour avatar doesn't transfer. At HeyGen, as at Synthesia, the filmed person has to give consent. Colossyan lets you try avatars and cloned voices on its free plan; at Elai, they're paid yearly add-ons.
Treat the session like a shoot: light from the front, plain background, the outfit you want to keep. Have it read a script with numbers and names: that's where voices stumble.
- Check
- same script, two tools
Replace live videos and automations
Go back to your list from step 1. In the LMS, replace each Synthesia SCORM with the downloaded MP4 or the new tool's SCORM. On your site, swap the embeds for your files or the destination's player. If a Make scenario triggered your renders, our Synthesia with Make page lists what it does; for HeyGen, see HeyGen with Make or HeyGen with Zapier.
- Deadline
- before the period ends
Delete your personal avatar at Synthesia
DataYour face and voice are personal data. Request deletion of your avatar: it's permanent, avatar, video and voice data are erased within 90 days, and you get written confirmation. Without a request, a closed account is deleted automatically within 90 days. Tip: deleting an avatar returns its avatar credit right away, handy if you want to build a new one before you leave.
- Timeline
- 90 days max
Is your tool missing from this page? Email us: hello@hackceleration.com
What makes a Synthesia exit go wrong
The same oversights keep coming up among people who left. None of them are technical, but each one costs you modules, money or your image.
SCORM modules that go blank
A Synthesia SCORM package weighs under 100 KB: it holds no MP4 file, it calls the hosted player. Once the account closes, learners may get an empty screen. Replace every module before the end date, not after the first complaints.
Embedded videos nobody downloaded
A video that's been on your homepage for two years is easy to forget. Audit your pages before you cancel. Once access is gone, you can't download the file anymore.
Leaving mid-way through a yearly plan
Yearly Synthesia plans aren't refunded. If you paid for the year, run both tools in parallel and switch at renewal. Colossyan also bills the year upfront: try its free plan first.
Rushing the avatar reshoot
A bad avatar shows in every video. Block an hour, light it properly, and check pronunciation on a real script before mass production. A poorly prepared custom avatar can get very expensive, as some customers report.
Underestimating credits elsewhere
At HeyGen, an Avatar IV minute costs 16 to 31 credits depending on the model: Creator's 600 credits are not 600 minutes. Always convert to minutes with the engine you'll actually use.
Forgetting captions and languages
Download the SRT or VTT files with each video: redoing them takes time, especially across languages. If you dub into many languages with Synthesia, check the destination covers yours: Elai lists 75+, DeepBrain AI 73 for dubbing. For every generator ranked, see our best AI video generators.
- Embedded videos and live SCORM packages listed
- Every video downloaded as 1080p MP4
- SRT or VTT captions saved with each video
- Scripts exported as XLIFF or copied scene by scene
- Last credits of the period used
- Canceled before renewal
- Avatar and voice rebuilt at the destination
- SCORM and embeds replaced before the period ends
- Make or Zapier scenarios rebuilt
- Avatar deletion requested in writing
Synthesia alternatives: frequently asked questions
What happens to my videos if I cancel Synthesia?
You keep access until the end of the period you paid for, then you lose access to the account and every video in it. Download first. Embedded videos and SCORM packages run through Synthesia's hosted player, so there is a real risk they stop playing once the account closes. Swap them for your MP4 files before the end date.
Can I get a refund from Synthesia?
In practice, no. Synthesia's customer terms describe purchases as non-cancelable and non-refundable, and several users report a refusal even on a plan they barely used. That makes the yearly Starter price ($14/mo) worth it only if you're sure you'll stay twelve months. To try it out, pay for one month.
Can I move my Synthesia avatar to HeyGen or Colossyan?
No. No tool imports another vendor's avatar. You record a new one at the destination, with fresh consent: HeyGen asks for the person's filmed approval too. Use the reshoot to fix lighting and wardrobe, then delete the old avatar at Synthesia.
Is there a free alternative to Synthesia?
Colossyan, if you actually want to ship videos: its free Starter plan gives 20 minutes a month, with personal avatars and cloned voices included. HeyGen and DeepBrain AI give 3 one-minute videos a month, and Vidyard gives 15 AI videos for sales outreach. Synthesia's own free plan doesn't let you download.
Is HeyGen better than Synthesia?
Not across the board. HeyGen wins on voice cloning (available on its free plan) and on lip sync, which several comparisons rate as more natural. Synthesia stays ahead for corporate training: 140+ languages, certified security, SCORM on Enterprise. In our ranking, Synthesia scores 4.1 out of 5 and HeyGen 4.0.
Which AI avatar tool exports SCORM without an Enterprise plan?
Colossyan. Its Professional plan, at $59/mo billed yearly, includes 5 SCORM exports a month. At Synthesia, SCORM export is for Enterprise customers only, on a custom quote. If you ship more than 5 modules a month, look at Colossyan Enterprise, which has no cap.
How many minutes does Synthesia Starter really give you?
Every plan includes 10 minutes of video a month, and Starter adds 1,250 credits. A finished minute costs about 100 credits, so that's roughly 12 more minutes: about 22 minutes at most, by our math. Each edit triggers a new render that costs credits again, and unused credits don't roll over.
Why was my Synthesia video rejected?
Every video goes through moderation, and a rejection comes with an email explaining why. On a paid plan you can appeal and get an answer within 48 hours. Tip: fix the flagged passage before you resubmit, because sending the same video again slows the review down. Repeat violations lead to a final warning.
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