Affiliate Disclosure: Some Wizstar links in this article use an affiliate identifier, which may earn RIA LLC a commission at no extra cost to you. Our conclusions remain independent, and we do not accept payment for a positive conclusion. See our editorial policy and affiliate disclosure.
Part of our Creator, AI, and Online Course Platform Guides library.
Pricing verified September 14, 2026 · Neither Synthesia nor HeyGen pays us a commission
Quick answer: same $29 entry price, completely different meters
Synthesia Starter sells 120 minutes of video per year; HeyGen Creator sells 600 credits per month — different units with no published conversion, so the matching $29 stickers are not the same product. Synthesia offers 160+ languages on every plan including free, but its free tier allows no downloads; HeyGen's free plan is 3 one-minute videos, and $29 buys 1080p, watermark removal, and credit rollovers. Synthesia's unused minutes never roll over. Both put SCORM and SSO at their top tiers — HeyGen at a published $149, Synthesia in custom-priced Enterprise.
The short verdict: the price tags match, the meters do not
Synthesia and HeyGen both charge $29 a month to get started, and that is where the resemblance in their pricing ends. Synthesia Starter meters your allowance in minutes per year — 120 of them — while HeyGen Creator meters in credits per month — 600 — and neither company publishes a conversion between the two systems, so a matching sticker does not mean a matching product. Beyond the meters, the platforms lean in different directions. Synthesia is built for workplace video at organizational scale: 160+ languages on every plan including the free one, and an Enterprise tier holding SCORM export, SAML/SSO, and unlimited minutes behind custom pricing. HeyGen hands creators more per dollar early: 1080p export, watermark removal, unlimited voice cloning, and credit rollovers all arrive at $29, and its $149 Business plan publishes the SCORM-and-SSO checklist that Synthesia reserves for sales conversations.
Our stake, stated before anything else: neither Synthesia nor HeyGen pays us anything. We do earn a commission on Wizstar, a third platform with its own clearly marked section below. The conclusions are independent, and where Synthesia or HeyGen is plainly your answer, we say which one. Every figure comes from the official pricing pages checked on September 14, 2026.
See Wizstar, the multi-model wildcard →
How this comparison was prepared
Every number here comes from the official synthesia.io and heygen.com pricing pages, both checked on September 14, 2026 on the monthly billing cycle, using the US-dollar figures Synthesia’s own pricing FAQ confirms as canonical. Where annual prices are officially stated — Synthesia Starter at $264 per year, Creator at $804 — we quote them; HeyGen’s yearly toggle we did not capture, so flip it yourself. This is a pricing-page comparison, not a production bench test: we have not scored avatar realism, voice quality, or render speed, and every marketing statistic is attributed to the company that published it.
Once more in plain terms: we earn a commission when readers subscribe to Wizstar, and we earn nothing from Synthesia or HeyGen. We have no financial reason to crown either headliner, and the verdicts below send readers to both.
What each platform actually is
Synthesia: presenter video for organizations
Synthesia turns a script into an avatar-led video and is unapologetically aimed at workplace content — onboarding, compliance, product education. The free Basic plan carries 1,200 credits a month, enough for up to 10 minutes of video, with 9 AI avatars, 3 personal avatars, and the full 160+ languages — but no downloads, a catch unpacked below. Starter at $29 a month adds MP4 downloads, logo removal, 125+ avatars, and one editor seat with three guests. Creator at $89 steps up to 360 minutes a year, 180+ avatars, 5 personal avatars, API access, interactive videos, and branded video pages. Everything heavier — unlimited minutes, 240+ avatars, unlimited personal avatars under fair use, SAML/SSO, SCORM export, one-click translation into 80+ languages, a dedicated success manager — sits in custom-priced Enterprise. Synthesia sells subscriptions only, with no pay-per-video option; its high-end Studio Avatars are a separate $1,000-a-year add-on. The pricing page says the platform is trusted by 90% of the Fortune 100, with over a million users and 2,000+ five-star G2 reviews — Synthesia’s claims, not our findings.
HeyGen: the creator-friendly avatar engine
HeyGen packs more of its product into cheaper tiers. Even the free plan includes Avatar IV, 500+ stock video avatars, one custom video avatar, up to three photo avatars, one voice clone, and 30+ languages — capped at three one-minute videos a month. Creator at $29 unlocks 600 monthly credits, videos up to 30 minutes, 1080p export, watermark removal, fast processing, unlimited photo avatars, unlimited voice cloning, 175+ languages and dialects, credit rollovers, and 700+ stock avatars. Pro at $49 adds 4K export, faster processing, access to all advanced AI models, and the option to edit a translation script before it renders. Business at $149 brings 60-minute videos, five custom video avatars, SAML/SSO, SCORM export, interactive video with quizzes and links, and LMS, n8n, Make, HubSpot, and Zapier integrations, with additional seats at $20 per seat per month. HeyGen’s page claims 100,000+ businesses use it.
Pricing compared — read the units before the prices
Both columns come from the official pricing pages on monthly billing, checked September 14, 2026. Watch the units: Synthesia counts minutes per year, HeyGen counts credits per month.
| Synthesia | HeyGen | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Basic, $0 — up to 10 min/month (1,200 credits), 160+ languages, but no MP4 download and no logo removal | Free, $0 — 3 videos/month at up to 1 minute each; watermark removal and 1080p+ export not listed |
| Entry tier | Starter, $29/month or $264/year — 120 minutes of video per year, downloads, logo removal | Creator, $29/month — 600 credits per month, 1080p, watermark removal, rollovers |
| Mid tier | Creator, $89/month or $804/year — 360 min/year, API, interactive videos, 5 personal avatars | Pro, $49/month — 1,000 credits, 4K export, translation script editing |
| Team tier | — (team features live in Enterprise) | Business, $149/month — 1,500 credits, 60-min videos, SCORM, SAML/SSO, seats $20/seat/month |
| Enterprise | Custom pricing — unlimited minutes, SCORM, SAML/SSO, 1-click translation into 80+ languages | Contact sales |
| Rollover | Unused minutes do not roll over (official FAQ) | Credit rollovers listed from Creator |
Minutes per year versus credits per month
The entry tiers cost the same $29 and are not the same product. Synthesia Starter grants a pool of 120 finished minutes that lasts a year; HeyGen Creator grants 600 credits that refresh monthly, with the credit cost of a video varying by what you render. One is a yearly odometer of output, the other a monthly wallet of inputs, and no conversion between them exists on either page — any comparison that divides one allowance by the other is inventing precision. The honest test is to estimate your own monthly output and price that workload on each meter separately.
Rollover rules and annual prices
Synthesia’s own FAQ states that unused video minutes do not roll over, so a quiet quarter permanently burns part of your 120-minute year. HeyGen lists credit rollovers from Creator, which is friendlier to uneven publishing schedules. On annual billing, Synthesia’s official figures are $264 a year for Starter and $804 for Creator, with a custom personal avatar included with Starter only on annual billing. HeyGen’s yearly figures were not captured, so verify the toggle before assuming a discount.
Free tiers: generous minutes you cannot export, or three short videos
The two free plans fail in opposite ways. Synthesia Basic is the bigger sandbox: up to 10 minutes of video a month, 9 AI avatars, 3 personal avatars, and the same 160+ languages as paid plans, with AI-chat support and a limited stock library. But MP4 download and logo removal both start at Starter — on the free tier you can build and watch, not publish.
HeyGen’s free plan is far smaller — three videos a month at up to one minute each, on standard processing — but it includes the features worth auditioning: Avatar IV, a custom video avatar, up to three photo avatars, and a voice clone. Watermark removal and export above 1080p are not listed on the free tier, so plan on paying before anything client-facing ships. In short: test workflow and language fit on Synthesia, test how you look and sound as an avatar on HeyGen.
Languages and translation
By raw count the platforms are close, but the counts are distributed differently. Synthesia offers 160+ languages on every plan, free included — unusual generosity at $0 — and reserves one-click translation into 80+ languages for Enterprise. HeyGen splits coverage by tier: 30+ languages free, expanding to 175+ languages and dialects from Creator at $29, with its distinctive translation feature at Pro — editing a translation script before the video renders, the safeguard you want when a mistranslated sentence carries compliance or brand cost. We have not benchmarked pronunciation or translation quality on either platform, so treat the numbers as coverage claims, not quality scores.
Team and enterprise: the same checklist behind different doors
At the top end the two platforms converge on the same corporate checklist — SCORM export and SAML/SSO — and diverge on how you reach it. HeyGen puts the whole list on a published $149 Business plan: 60-minute videos, five custom video avatars, interactive video with quizzes and links, LMS plus n8n, Make, HubSpot, and Zapier integrations, and additional seats at a listed $20 per seat per month. Synthesia keeps SCORM, SSO, unlimited minutes, and its dedicated success manager inside custom-priced Enterprise; below that, collaboration is modest — one editor plus three guests on Starter, one editor plus five on Creator. If procurement needs a number this week, HeyGen has one printed; if you are negotiating a large multilingual rollout, Synthesia’s Enterprise motion is built for exactly that conversation.
Who each platform fits
Synthesia fits you if…
- You produce training for a large organization. Enterprise — unlimited minutes, SCORM, SSO, one-click translation into 80+ languages, a dedicated CSM — is the platform’s center of gravity.
- Language coverage on day one matters. 160+ languages on every plan, free included, means you can hear your rollout languages before paying.
- Your output is steady and plannable. A 120- or 360-minute yearly pool with no rollover rewards a predictable publishing calendar.
- You want a real presenter’s avatar on annual billing. Starter includes one custom personal avatar with annual billing, and 3 personal avatars exist even on free.
HeyGen fits you if…
- You need publishable video at $29. Creator ships 1080p export and watermark removal at the entry price, alongside unlimited photo avatars and unlimited voice cloning.
- Your publishing schedule is uneven. Credit rollovers from Creator mean a slow month is not a wasted month.
- Translation wording must be checked before render. Pro’s editable translation script at $49 is built for compliance-sensitive localization.
- You want enterprise features at a published price. Business at $149 with $20 seats puts SCORM and SSO on a card you can expense, not a contract to negotiate.
Who should choose neither
Some readers should walk past both booths. If you need exactly one video for a single occasion, both platforms are metered subscriptions — Synthesia explicitly sells no pay-per-video option — and the overhead is not for you. If your real job is varied footage, product creative, or b-roll across many visual styles rather than a presenter reading a script, both of these are avatar specialists; the next section covers the alternative shape. And if you refuse to spend anything until tools prove themselves broadly, start with the two free tiers here and our guide to the best free AI video generators.
The wildcard third option: Wizstar
Full disclosure again: this is the section where we do have a financial interest — Wizstar is an affiliate partner, Synthesia and HeyGen are not. Judge accordingly.
Wizstar answers a different question than either headliner: instead of one avatar system done deeply, it bundles more than ten major generation models — the pricing page names Seedance 2.5, Kling 3.0, MiniMax H3, GPT Image 2, and Nano Banana 2 — behind one subscription, turning product links, product images, or ideas into videos, with AI avatars, lip sync, translation and localization, and video in any language on every plan. Its pricing was shown under a limited-time campaign at the time of checking, so read every figure with the list price attached: Starter is $8.99 for the first month (a 72% new-user promotion) renewing at $18.05, with 1,310 credits for up to 32 videos or 436 images and watermark-free exports; Plus is $36.27 against a $69.99 list price; Pro is $166.32 against $359.99 list; an annual toggle advertises up to 53% off, with figures we did not capture. If your need is generation breadth — many models, many looks, commerce-shaped output — the bundle is worth a look; if a custom avatar presenter is the whole job, Synthesia and HeyGen document that capability far more explicitly, and you should stay with them. We compare the bundle against HeyGen in Wizstar vs HeyGen and dig into the plans in our Wizstar review.
The free-first trial plan
- Spend HeyGen’s three free videos on the avatar question. One video from your real script, one with your custom video avatar or a photo avatar, one in a language you can judge — enough to know whether the presenter clears your bar.
- Spend Synthesia’s free 10 minutes on the workflow question. Build the same script in Basic and audition the avatars and languages your rollout needs, evaluating everything inside the platform — downloads and logo removal wait until Starter.
- Then pick by meter, not by feature list. If a 120-minute year covers your realistic output and your schedule is steady, Synthesia Starter at $29 — or $264 annually with the custom personal avatar — is coherent. If output fluctuates, HeyGen Creator’s 600 monthly credits with rollovers fit better.
- If step one told you avatars are not actually the job, run Wizstar’s $8.99 first month as a bounded test of the multi-model bundle — noting whether your checkout shows campaign or list pricing, and deciding against the $18.05 renewal rate rather than the promo price.
Run in order, steps one through three cost nothing — and most readers will have their answer before step four.
Check Wizstar’s current campaign pricing →
Frequently asked questions
Is Synthesia cheaper than HeyGen?
At entry level they cost the same: Synthesia Starter and HeyGen Creator are both $29 per month on the official pages checked September 14, 2026. But the allowances are measured in different units — Synthesia grants 120 minutes of video per year, HeyGen grants 600 credits per month — and no conversion between the systems is published, so the plans cannot honestly be ranked on price alone. At mid tier, HeyGen Pro at $49 costs less than Synthesia Creator at $89, but the scopes differ: Pro centers on 4K export and translation script editing, Creator on API access, interactive videos, and 360 minutes a year. Estimate your own monthly output and price that workload on each meter.
Which has the better free plan?
It depends on what you are testing. Synthesia Basic includes up to 10 minutes of video a month, 9 AI avatars, 3 personal avatars, and the full 160+ languages — but no MP4 download and no logo removal, so it is an in-platform evaluation sandbox rather than a source of publishable video. HeyGen Free is much smaller — 3 videos a month at up to 1 minute each — but includes Avatar IV, one custom video avatar, up to three photo avatars, and a voice clone, with watermark removal and 1080p+ export not listed. Test workflow and languages on Synthesia; test how you look and sound as an avatar on HeyGen.
Which supports more languages?
On paid plans the counts are close: Synthesia lists 160+ languages, HeyGen lists 175+ languages and dialects from its $29 Creator plan. The distribution differs more than the totals. Synthesia offers its full 160+ on every plan including the free one, and reserves one-click translation into 80+ languages for Enterprise. HeyGen's free plan covers 30+ languages, and its Pro plan at $49 adds the ability to edit a translation script before rendering — valuable when translated wording must be verified. We have not benchmarked output quality in any language on either platform.
Do unused minutes or credits roll over?
On Synthesia, no: the official FAQ states that unused video minutes do not roll over, so capacity you skip in a quiet month is gone from your 120- or 360-minute yearly allowance. On HeyGen, credit rollovers are listed as a feature from the Creator plan at $29 per month, which suits publishing schedules that fluctuate. If your output is uneven, this single difference can matter more than the headline prices.
Is there an alternative to both?
The wildcard we cover is Wizstar, which bundles more than ten generation models — including Seedance 2.5, Kling 3.0, and MiniMax H3 — behind one subscription, with product-link-to-video workflows, AI avatars, lip sync, and video in any language on every plan. Its Starter plan was $8.99 for the first month, renewing at $18.05, with every price shown under a limited-time campaign at the time of checking (September 14, 2026), so verify current figures. Disclosure: Wizstar is our affiliate partner; Synthesia and HeyGen are not. It suits buyers who want generation breadth rather than a pure avatar specialist — if a custom avatar presenter is the whole job, stay with Synthesia or HeyGen.
Can I use an avatar of myself on either platform?
Both document it. HeyGen includes one custom video avatar even on its free plan, unlimited photo avatars and unlimited voice cloning from Creator at $29, and five custom video avatars on Business at $149. Synthesia includes 3 personal avatars on the free plan, one custom personal avatar with Starter on annual billing ($264 per year), 5 personal avatars on Creator, and unlimited personal avatars under fair use on Enterprise; its top-end Studio Avatars are a separate $1,000-per-year add-on. If auditioning your own likeness cheaply is the goal, HeyGen's free custom video avatar is the fastest test.
Official Synthesia and HeyGen pricing pages were reviewed September 14, 2026, on the monthly billing cycle, using the USD figures Synthesia's own pricing FAQ confirms. Synthesia meters video in minutes per year and unused minutes do not roll over; HeyGen meters in monthly credits and lists credit rollovers from Creator — the two systems are not comparable and no conversion is published. HeyGen yearly billing figures were not captured. Wizstar prices were shown under a limited-time campaign at the time of checking (list prices: Plus $69.99, Pro $359.99; Starter renews at $18.05 after the $8.99 first month). Reconfirm all prices, credits, and plan terms on the official pages before purchase.