Synthesia Pricing in 2026: Plans, Credits, Costs, and What You Actually Get
Synthesia pricing in 2026 starts at $0 for the Basic plan and runs to $29 per month for Starter, $89 for Creator, and custom Enterprise pricing. It looks simple to price: choose a plan, type a script, and generate an AI-presenter video. The harder question is whether the plan includes enough capacity for the videos your team actually wants to make.
That is because Synthesia now uses one shared credit pool for several AI features. Standard video generation, dubbing, API usage, personalization, and generated visual assets can all draw from the same allowance. The headline “10 minutes per month” does not necessarily mean you can create 10 minutes of video and then dub those 10 minutes without using more credits.
This distinction matters if you are comparing AI video tools for product demo videos, software walkthroughs, customer onboarding, or employee training. Synthesia is designed primarily around an AI presenter and scene-based video. Velo takes a product-first approach, building the explanation around real screens, recordings, URLs, documents, and workflows. Neither approach is automatically better; the right one depends on what viewers need to see.
This guide explains every Synthesia pricing plan, what credits buy, the costs that are easy to miss, and which plan fits different production volumes. After answering the pricing question, it compares when an avatar-first platform is worth paying for and when a product-first video platform may offer better value.
Synthesia pricing at a glance
Synthesia has four plans: Basic, Starter, Creator, and Enterprise. The current public Synthesia pricing page lists Starter at $29 per month and Creator at $89 per month on monthly billing. Enterprise pricing is custom.
| Plan | Monthly price | Annual rate shown on plan card | Included usage | Editors and guests | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $0 | Not available | 1,200 credits/month; up to 10 minutes of standard video | 1 editor | Trying the editor and avatar workflow |
| Starter | $29/month | $18/month billed yearly | 1,200 credits/month or 14,500/year; up to 10 minutes/month or 120/year | 1 editor + 3 guests | One creator making occasional presenter videos |
| Creator | $89/month | $64/month billed yearly | 3,600 credits/month or 44,000/year; up to 30 minutes/month or 360/year | 1 editor + 5 guests | One regular creator needing personal avatars, API access, and interactivity |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Unlimited standard video minutes; custom credits for other usage-based features | Custom | Larger teams needing governance, collaboration, SCORM, SSO, and scale |
One caveat to confirm before you buy: the annual rates above reflect Synthesia’s live plan cards on the verification date, but the FAQ on the same official pricing page currently lists annual totals of $264 for Starter and $804 for Creator, which equal $22 and $67 per month. Because those figures conflict with the $18 and $64 plan-card rates, confirm the annual checkout total before publishing a budget or purchasing. Promotions, taxes, and currencies may also change the final amount.
The first surprising detail is that Basic and Starter include the same monthly credit allowance. The Starter subscription mainly pays for production-ready features such as downloads, logo removal, a larger avatar library, AI dubbing, and guest access, not additional standard video minutes.
How Synthesia credits work
Synthesia credits are a shared currency across usage-based AI features. On self-serve plans, one second of standard generated video uses two credits, so one minute uses 120 credits.
But not every feature consumes credits at the same rate.
| Action | Credit cost | What 1,200 credits can buy |
|---|---|---|
| Standard video generation | 120 credits/minute | 10 minutes |
| AI dubbing without lip sync | 120 credits/minute | 10 minutes |
| AI dubbing with lip sync | 240 credits/minute | 5 minutes |
| Bulk personalization | 90 credits/minute | About 13 minutes 20 seconds |
| API video usage | 75 credits/minute | 16 minutes |
| Gemini Omni or Veo 3.1 Fast asset without audio | 48 credits/asset | 25 assets |
This changes how you should evaluate a plan. A Starter user could spend all 1,200 monthly credits on 10 minutes of standard video, five minutes of lip-synced dubbing, or a mixture of video and generated assets. Those are alternatives inside one allowance, not separate buckets. Creator works the same way with a larger 3,600-credit pool, so any dubbing, personalization, API generation, or premium assets reduce the standard video you can make.
Do Synthesia credits roll over?
No. Synthesia says unused credits reset at the end of the billing period. Monthly plans receive a monthly balance; annual Starter and Creator plans receive annual balances.
The annual pool can be useful when production is uneven. A team could use more credits during a launch month and fewer later, provided it stays within the annual allowance. The trade-off is that unused annual credits still expire when the billing period ends.
What happens when you run out of credits?
On Basic, Starter, and Creator, generation pauses when the balance is exhausted. Synthesia’s help center says self-serve users must upgrade or wait for the next renewal.
That makes forecasting important. Do not plan only around the length of the final videos. Include dubbing, personalization, API use, and generated assets in your estimate.
Do edits use more credits?
Drafting and previewing do not use credits, but generating new video does. If you edit a generated video, Synthesia generally charges for newly generated seconds rather than the entire unchanged video. Adding an avatar to a scene, changing a voice or language, or inserting new script content can therefore use additional credits.
The practical lesson is simple: finish the script and scene structure before generating multiple versions. You will preserve more of the allowance for the final output.
Synthesia plans explained
Synthesia Basic: best for evaluating the platform
Price: Free
Usage: 1,200 credits per month, equivalent to up to 10 minutes of standard generated video
Workspace: 1 editor
Avatar access: 9 AI avatars
Basic lets you explore the editor, test avatars and voices, and create limited videos on the free plan. The output retains Synthesia branding, and the plan does not include the production and collaboration features available on paid tiers.
The free allowance is generous enough to answer three important questions:
- Do the available presenters fit your brand?
- Does the script-to-scene workflow suit your team?
- Is the generated voice and avatar quality strong enough for your audience?
Basic is not the best choice for an ongoing branded content program. It is a useful test environment before choosing a paid plan.
Choose Basic if: you are evaluating Synthesia or making occasional internal experiments.
Skip Basic if: you need downloadable, unbranded videos for customers, employees, or public distribution.
Synthesia Starter: best for occasional branded videos
Price: $29 per month, or $18 per month billed annually on the plan card (see the annual-billing caveat above)
Usage: 1,200 credits per month or 14,500 per year
Standard video capacity: Up to 10 minutes per month or 120 minutes per year
Workspace: 1 editor + 3 guests
Avatar access: 125+ AI avatars and 3 personal avatars
Starter removes the Synthesia logo, enables downloads, expands the avatar library, and adds AI Video Assistant and AI Dubbing. Guests can review and comment, but the plan still includes only one editor. Its key limitation is capacity: Starter keeps the same 1,200-credit allowance as Basic, so it makes output usable for business without letting you generate more standard video.
Ten minutes can be enough for:
- Five two-minute internal updates
- Three short onboarding lessons
- One longer presenter-led explainer
- A small pilot before a broader training rollout
It becomes restrictive when you create weekly lessons, localize frequently, or use generated assets inside every video.
Choose Starter if: one person creates fewer than 10 minutes of branded presenter video per month and mainly needs downloads, logo removal, and more avatars.
Skip Starter if: you regularly need more than 10 minutes, multiple editors, interactive videos, or API access.
Synthesia Creator: best for one regular video creator
Price: $89 per month, or $64 per month billed annually on the plan card
Usage: 3,600 credits per month or 44,000 per year
Standard video capacity: Up to 30 minutes per month or 360 minutes per year
Workspace: 1 editor + 5 guests
Avatar access: 180+ AI avatars and 5 personal avatars
Creator triples the monthly standard-video allowance and adds features that make Synthesia more useful for ongoing production: multiple avatars in a scene, interactive videos, branded video pages, priority support, and API access.
This plan fits a solo content owner or instructional designer who publishes regularly but does not yet need an organization-wide workspace. Thirty standard video minutes could cover 15 two-minute videos, six five-minute lessons, or one 30-minute course module before other credit-consuming features are considered.
Creator is not a small-team collaboration plan in the usual sense. It still includes only one editor. The five guest seats help with feedback, but teammates who need to build and edit content require a different workspace arrangement or an Enterprise discussion.
Choose Creator if: one primary creator needs 10 to 30 minutes of monthly output, personal avatars, API access, or interactive features.
Skip Creator if: several teammates must edit, you need SCORM export or SSO, or your total generation regularly exceeds 30 minutes per month.
Synthesia Enterprise: best for governed video at scale
Price: Custom
Usage: Unlimited standard video minutes; custom credits for other usage-based AI features
Workspace: Custom editors and guests
Avatar access: 240+ stock avatars and unlimited personal avatars, subject to reasonable use
Enterprise is designed for L&D, enablement, communications, and other teams producing video across an organization. It adds the controls that larger buyers often need: SAML/SSO, live collaboration, brand kits, SCORM export, tailored onboarding, implementation support, and a dedicated customer success manager.
Synthesia does not publish a standard Enterprise price. Avoid relying on third-party estimates because quotes can change with editor count, usage, services, security requirements, and contract terms. Ask sales for a written quote based on your real production model.
Questions to include in that conversation:
- How many people can create or edit videos?
- Which features draw from custom credits even though standard video minutes are unlimited?
- Are additional workspaces, API usage, dubbing, and generated assets included?
- What implementation, support, and onboarding services are part of the quote?
- What happens if the organization exceeds its credit allocation?
- Are SCORM, SSO, brand kits, and required security controls included in the proposed package?
Choose Enterprise if: multiple teams create video, governance matters, or you need unlimited standard generation, SCORM, SSO, and live collaboration.
Skip Enterprise if: one creator can stay comfortably inside the self-serve limits and does not need enterprise administration.
How much does Synthesia cost for real production volumes?
The table below uses monthly billing and assumes all credits go toward standard video generation. Dubbing, API usage, personalization, and AI assets would reduce the available standard-video capacity.
| Monthly output | Credits required | Lowest workable monthly plan | Monthly subscription cost | Effective subscription cost per finished minute |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 minutes | 600 | Starter | $29 | $5.80 at this usage level |
| 10 minutes | 1,200 | Starter | $29 | $2.90 |
| 15 minutes | 1,800 | Creator | $89 | $5.93 at this usage level |
| 20 minutes | 2,400 | Creator | $89 | $4.45 |
| 30 minutes | 3,600 | Creator | $89 | $2.97 |
| More than 30 minutes | More than 3,600 | Annual Creator pool may handle an uneven month; otherwise discuss Enterprise | Custom or annual commitment | Depends on contract and usage mix |
The Starter-to-Creator jump is where many buyers feel the pricing most sharply. A team needing 11 minutes rather than 10 cannot remain on monthly Starter; it moves from $29 to $89 unless it changes the production plan or chooses annual billing with an annual credit pool.
The effective cost per maximum standard-video minute is almost identical on monthly Starter and Creator, about $2.90 and $2.97 respectively. Creator buys three times the capacity and more features, but not a lower unit price.
Additional costs and limitations to check
Studio Avatars cost extra
Starter and Creator include personal-avatar slots, but Synthesia’s higher-production Studio Express-1 avatar is a separate $1,000-per-year add-on for annual-plan users. The official pricing page says processing can take up to 10 days.
Annual-plan users can also purchase additional Personal Avatars from video. Synthesia currently lists that add-on at $240 per year in the US, excluding tax.
Before purchasing an avatar add-on, decide whether you need a reusable digital presenter, a voice clone, or simply consistent narration. Those are different requirements and do not always justify the same expense.
One editor is not the same as a team plan
Starter and Creator include guest reviewers, but only one editor. A guest can comment; an editor creates and changes the video. If several people need hands-on production access, ask Synthesia how additional editors affect the price rather than multiplying the public plan price yourself.
Translation and dubbing are different
Starter and Creator include AI Dubbing, which can translate existing video and preserve the speaker’s voice. Lip sync uses twice as many credits as dubbing without it. Synthesia’s full one-click translation workflow for Synthesia videos is listed on Enterprise.
If localization is central to the purchase, test the exact workflow you will use. Calculate the source video plus every translated version instead of budgeting for the source alone.
SCORM and SSO require Enterprise
SCORM export matters when training videos must be packaged for an LMS. SAML/SSO matters when company access must follow central identity controls. Both are Enterprise features, so even a low-volume L&D team may need a custom quote.
Credits measure usage, not the full production effort
Synthesia can generate scripts and scenes, but someone still needs to verify the content, pronunciation, visuals, brand treatment, and translations. Include review and maintenance time in the total cost, especially for compliance, product, and policy content that changes regularly.
Is Synthesia worth the price?
Synthesia is worth considering when the presenter is part of the value. It is particularly strong for formal employee training, multilingual corporate communication, compliance content, and repeatable videos where filming a person in every language would be slow or expensive.
It is less compelling when the viewer primarily needs to see a real product, interface, or operational workflow. Synthesia now supports uploaded media and an AI screen recorder, so it is not limited to an avatar reading slides. But its center of gravity remains presenter-led, scene-based video.
Use this decision rule:
| Your primary need | Better starting point |
|---|---|
| A digital presenter delivering structured training or communication | Synthesia |
| Formal enterprise learning with SCORM, SSO, and governance | Synthesia Enterprise |
| A real software workflow shown accurately on screen | A product-first video platform such as Velo |
| Product demos that need frequent updates as the UI changes | Velo |
| A written guide and video generated from the same source | Velo |
| Highly cinematic footage or frame-level creative editing | A specialist generative-video or editing platform |
Synthesia pricing vs Velo pricing
Synthesia and Velo both use usage allowances, but they are built around different kinds of video. Synthesia starts with a presenter, script, or scene. Velo starts with the work being explained: a screen recording, product URL, document, presentation, or prompt.
That difference matters more than a direct minute-for-minute comparison. A Synthesia minute and a Velo minute do not represent identical generation workflows.
| Synthesia Starter | Synthesia Creator | Velo Pro | Velo Ultra | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | $29 | $89 | $49 | $200 |
| Published allowance | Up to 10 standard video minutes/month | Up to 30 standard video minutes/month | 60 Velo minutes/month | 600 Velo minutes/month |
| Core workflow | Avatar- and scene-led video | Higher-volume avatar- and scene-led video | Product demos, explainers, and work videos | Higher-volume team workflows and auto-updating demos |
| Best reason to choose it | Branded presenter videos at light volume | Personal avatars, API access, and interactivity | Show the real product or process | Shared creation, brand controls, and larger-scale work video |
Velo’s pricing includes a free plan with 15 Velo minutes per month. Pro is $49 per month with 60 Velo minutes, voice cloning, multilingual output, secure links, and analytics. Ultra is $200 per month with 600 Velo minutes, a shared workspace, a brand kit, and auto-updating demos.
Velo may offer better value when your team is creating product demo videos, SaaS product walkthroughs, software tutorial videos, customer onboarding videos, support explanations, or training grounded in real software and company knowledge. The platform can turn rough screen recordings, URLs, documents, and prompts into polished narrated videos, so the source material, not a stock presenter, stays at the center.
Synthesia remains the better fit when you need a polished digital presenter, a mature enterprise avatar library, or formal avatar-led communication at global scale. For a feature-level comparison, see Velo vs Synthesia. If you want to compare the broader market, use Velo’s researched guide to Synthesia alternatives.
Which Synthesia plan should you choose?
- Choose Basic if you are still testing avatar quality and the editing workflow.
- Choose Starter if one creator needs downloadable, unbranded output and stays under 10 standard video minutes per month.
- Choose Creator if one creator needs 10 to 30 minutes, personal avatars, API access, interactive videos, or branded pages.
- Ask for Enterprise pricing if multiple editors need access, standard output exceeds self-serve limits, or SCORM, SSO, live collaboration, brand governance, and implementation support are required.
- Consider Velo if the video’s main job is to show and explain a real product or workflow rather than place an AI presenter at the center.
Before committing annually, create one representative video, not a generic test. Use your real script, real product screens, required language, expected reviewers, and normal revision process. That will reveal whether the plan fits your production system, not just your first export.
Final verdict
Synthesia pricing is reasonable when your team needs structured, presenter-led video and can stay within the relevant credit allowance. Basic is for evaluation, Starter makes low-volume output production-ready, Creator adds capacity and advanced creation features, and Enterprise unlocks organization-wide scale and governance.
The deciding factor is not simply whether $29 or $89 fits the budget. It is whether the shared credit pool supports your full workflow, including dubbing, generated assets, revisions, API use, and localization, and whether an avatar-led format is the right way to explain the subject.
If your viewer needs to see a real product or process, try Velo for free or book a demo and turn a screen recording, URL, document, or prompt into a finished video. If the presenter is the content, Synthesia may be the more natural fit.
About the author
Ritu Parakh is Growth Lead at Velo, the AI video platform that turns a screen recording, a deck, a URL, or a text prompt into a polished, narrated video, and an editable written doc. She writes about AI video, product demos, and video for GTM. Connect on LinkedIn.