Synthesia vs HeyGen
Synthesia is the better buy if you budget in minutes and Full HD is enough: Starter is $18 a month billed yearly for 120 minutes of video a year, 125+ avatars and 1920 x 1080 export. HeyGen is the better buy if you need 4K or long videos: Pro is $49 a month for 1,000 credits, 4K export and videos up to 30 minutes; Creator is $24 a month on annual billing for 600 credits at 1080p. HeyGen's page does not convert credits to minutes, so the two cannot be compared on price per minute; they can be compared on resolution, video length and the stated free plans.
Side by side, from the two pricing pages
| Feature | Synthesia | HeyGen |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Basic: 10 min/mo, 9 avatars; no download, logo stays | 3 videos/mo up to 1 min, up to 1080p, watermarked |
| Cheapest paid plan | Starter $18/mo yearly ($29 monthly) | Creator $24/mo annual ($29 monthly) |
| Stated quota | 120 min of video/yr (12/mo on monthly billing) | 600 credits/mo; minutes not stated |
| Next plan up | Creator $64/mo yearly ($89 monthly): 360 min/yr, 180+ avatars | Pro $49/mo: 1,000 credits, 4K, all advanced models |
| Export resolution | Full HD 1920 x 1080 | 1080p Creator; 4K Pro and Business |
| Max video length | Not stated | 1 min Free; 30 min Creator and Pro; 60 min Business |
| Avatars | 9 Basic; 125+ Starter; 180+ Creator; 240+ Enterprise | 500+ stock and 1 custom on Free; 5 custom on Business |
| Voices and languages | 160+ languages and voices | 1,000+; 175 languages and dialects on paid plans |
Minutes against credits
The two pages measure output differently, and that is the whole comparison. Synthesia's Starter plan says what it buys: 14,500 credits a year, "usable for up to 580 mins of AI Dubbing / 120 mins of video", for $18 a month billed yearly. On monthly billing it is $29 for 12 minutes of video a month. Creator is 44,000 credits a year, up to 360 minutes of video, for $64 a month yearly or $89 monthly. HeyGen's Creator plan is 600 credits a month for $24 on annual billing or $29 monthly, and the page says credits are "HeyGen's single currency for video and asset creation" whose cost per video "can vary based on which AI model is used, video duration, and the complexity of the generation". A buyer who needs to know how many minutes a month they are paying for gets that number from Synthesia and not from HeyGen.
Resolution and length
HeyGen's page states 4K export on Pro ($49 a month) and Business ($149 a month plus $20 a seat), and 1080p on Free and Creator. It also states maximum video lengths: 1 minute on Free, 30 minutes on Creator and Pro, 60 minutes on Business, no maximum on Enterprise. Synthesia states Full HD 1920 x 1080 on Basic, Starter and Creator and does not state a maximum video length. If the output has to be 4K, only HeyGen's page says it can be.
The two free plans
Synthesia Basic costs nothing, needs no card, and allows up to 10 minutes of video a month across 9 avatars in 160+ languages and voices, but "Download your videos" and "Remove Synthesia logo" are listed from Starter up, so the free tier is for previewing inside the app. HeyGen Free allows 3 videos a month of up to 1 minute at up to 1080p, with 500+ stock avatars, 1 custom avatar and 30+ languages; "Watermark removal" is listed under Creator, so those 3 videos carry a watermark but can be produced and exported. For testing whether an avatar is good enough, HeyGen's free plan produces a file and Synthesia's does not.
Synthesia
✓ Pros
- States minutes of video on every plan: 120 a year on Starter, 360 on Creator
- Lowest annual price of the two at $18 a month
- 125+ avatars on Starter, 180+ on Creator, 160+ languages and voices
- Free trial buttons on the annual Starter and Creator plans
✗ Cons
- Full HD 1920 x 1080 is the only resolution stated; no 4K
- Basic plan cannot download videos or remove the logo
- Monthly billing is $29 for 12 minutes a month
- Maximum video length and commercial terms not stated
HeyGen
✓ Pros
- 4K export stated on Pro ($49) and Business
- Videos up to 30 minutes on Creator and Pro, 60 on Business
- Free plan exports 3 one-minute videos a month at up to 1080p
- 1,000+ voices and 175 languages and dialects on paid plans
✗ Cons
- Credits, not minutes: the page does not say how many minutes 600 credits buy
- Creator is $24 a month annual, $6 more than Synthesia Starter
- No separate annual price stated for Pro
- Free videos carry a watermark; commercial terms not stated
Verdict
Take Synthesia if you want to know the number of minutes you are buying, if Full HD is your delivery format, and if $18 a month billed yearly is the budget. Take HeyGen if the deliverable must be 4K, if individual videos run past a few minutes, or if you want to export a real test file before paying. Neither page states commercial-use terms, so check each vendor's terms of service before publishing client work.
Synthesia
- Basic (free) $0, no credit card: "Usable for up to 10 minutes of video/month", 9 AI avatars, 160+ languages and voices, Full HD 1920 x 1080. "Download your videos" and "Remove Synthesia logo" are listed from Starter up, not on Basic
- Starter "$29/month $18/mo" billed yearly ($29 on monthly billing): yearly plan includes 14,500 credits, "usable for up to 580 mins of AI Dubbing / 120 mins of video" per year; monthly plan "up to 48 mins of AI Dubbing / 12 mins of video" per month; 125+ avatars; Full HD 1920 x 1080; download and logo removal included
- Creator "$89/month $64/mo" billed yearly ($89 monthly): 44,000 credits per year, "up to 1760 mins of AI Dubbing / 360 mins of video" per year; monthly plan 30 minutes of video per month; 180+ avatars; Full HD 1920 x 1080
- Enterprise Custom pricing, "Unlimited video minutes", 240+ avatars, 1-Click Translations into 80+ languages, book a demo
- Max export Full HD, 1920 x 1080, stated on Basic, Starter and Creator
- Free trial "Try for FREE" buttons on the Starter and Creator annual plans
- Commercial use Not stated on the pricing page
Facts from Synthesia's pricing page, checked 2026-09-05.
HeyGen
- Free plan $0: "3 videos per month", up to 1 minute each, "Up to 1080P" export, 500+ stock video avatars, 1 custom video avatar, 30+ languages. "Watermark removal" is listed under Creator as "Everything in Free, plus", so Free videos carry a watermark
- Creator $29/month, or $24/month on annual billing: 600 credits per month, videos up to 30 minutes, 1080p export, voice cloning, 175+ languages and dialects, watermark removal
- Pro $49/month: 1,000 credits per month, videos up to 30 minutes, 4K export, access to all advanced AI models. A separate annual price is not stated
- Business $149/month plus $20 per seat per month: 1,500 credits per month, videos up to 60 minutes, 4K export, 5 custom video avatars, SAML/SSO
- Enterprise Contact sales: no video duration maximum, 10+ custom avatars, dedicated customer success manager
- What a credit buys Not stated as minutes. The page says credits are "HeyGen's single currency for video and asset creation" and that usage "can vary based on which AI model is used, video duration, and the complexity of the generation"
- Voices 1,000+ on every plan
- Commercial use Not stated on the pricing page
Facts from HeyGen's pricing page, checked 2026-09-05.
Frequently Asked Questions
On the two pricing pages, Synthesia is the one that tells you what you get in minutes: Starter is $18 a month billed yearly for 120 minutes of video a year and 125+ avatars, at Full HD 1920 x 1080. HeyGen is the one that states 4K: Pro is $49 a month for 1,000 credits and 4K export, and Creator is $24 a month on annual billing for 600 credits at 1080p, but the page does not convert credits to minutes. Choose Synthesia if you budget in minutes and Full HD is enough; choose HeyGen if you need 4K or videos up to 30 minutes long.
On annual billing Synthesia Starter is $18 a month and HeyGen Creator is $24 a month. On monthly billing both are $29 a month. Synthesia Creator is $64 a month yearly ($89 monthly); HeyGen Pro is $49 a month and its page does not state a separate annual price.
Synthesia states it: Starter is 120 minutes a year on the yearly plan or 12 minutes a month on monthly billing, Creator is 360 a year or 30 a month, and Basic is 10 a month free. HeyGen states credits: 600 a month on Creator, 1,000 on Pro, 1,500 on Business, and says the credits a video uses vary with the model, duration and complexity. HeyGen does state maximum lengths per video: 1 minute on Free, 30 minutes on Creator and Pro, 60 on Business.
Both pages list watermark or logo removal as a paid feature. Synthesia lists "Remove Synthesia logo" and "Download your videos" from Starter up, so Basic videos keep the logo and cannot be downloaded. HeyGen lists "Watermark removal" under Creator as an addition to Free, so Free videos carry a watermark. HeyGen Free does allow 3 downloadable videos a month of up to 1 minute at up to 1080p.
HeyGen states 4K export on Pro ($49 a month) and Business ($149 a month plus $20 a seat). Synthesia states Full HD 1920 x 1080 on Basic, Starter and Creator and does not state a resolution for Enterprise.
Every price here was read from the two vendors' pricing pages on 2026-09-05. Synthesia shows its yearly prices next to higher struck-through monthly figures; the linked pages are the authority.