HeyGen vs Synthesia

by Gralio Feb 03, 2025

HeyGen and Synthesia both offer AI-powered video generation with realistic avatars and multiple language support. HeyGen is a more budget-friendly option with additional features, while Synthesia offers a slightly more refined user experience at a premium price.

At Gralio.ai we help to simplify your decision-making process by offering detailed, side-by-side software comparisons like this one, to help you confidently choose the tool that aligns with your business goals.

This comparison was created by analysing 2365 reviews and 60 websites, saving 13 hours, 38 minutes of reading.

HeyGen

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Synthesia

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About

HeyGen is an AI-powered video generation platform that allows you to create professional-quality videos without cameras or actors. It uses realistic AI avatars that can speak in multiple languages with various voice options. HeyGen is particularly helpful for creating marketing materials, training videos, and other types of content that require a human presenter. You can easily edit the videos by changing the script, avatar, or background. HeyGen also offers features like video translation and personalized video messaging.

Synthesia is a web-based platform that lets you create videos using AI. It allows you to generate videos from text, choose from a library of AI avatars, and add voiceovers in over 140 languages. This can be useful for creating corporate training material, marketing content, and internal communications, without the cost of traditional video production.

Summary

Main difference

HeyGen distinguishes itself with more affordable pricing, flexible monthly plans, and a wider range of features like video translation and personalized video messaging. Synthesia, on the other hand, is favored for its slightly more polished user experience and stronger customer service, though at a higher price point.

Relative strengths of HeyGen (compared to Synthesia)

More affordable pricing, especially for monthly subscriptions and smaller businesses.
Offers more features like video translation and personalized video messaging.
Provides greater flexibility with monthly subscription options, unlike Synthesia's primarily annual plans.

Relative weaknesses of HeyGen (compared to Synthesia)

Customer service ratings are lower compared to Synthesia.
User experience is considered slightly less polished than Synthesia.
Fewer user reviews and less established brand recognition compared to Synthesia.

What companies are using HeyGen and Synthesia?

No data

Weld

Pricefx

Beyond Retro

Who is using HeyGen and Synthesia?

Charlie Hills

I use AI to create content that converts

Ruben Hassid

EasyGen Founder

Charlie Hills

I use AI to create content that converts

Who should use HeyGen VS. Synthesia

HeyGen is an AI video generation platform ideal for content creators and marketers. Create professional videos without cameras or actors using realistic AI avatars speaking multiple languages. Easily edit scripts, avatars, and backgrounds. HeyGen offers video translation and personalized messaging. Users praise its ease of use and reliable performance.

Synthesia is an AI video generation platform ideal for creating training, marketing, and internal communication videos. Users praise its ease of use, diverse avatars, and realistic video quality, while some note occasional lip-sync issues and pricing concerns. It's perfect for teams seeking efficient, high-quality video production without traditional methods.

Best for small, medium, and enterprise businesses.
Ideal for Marketing & Advertising, E-commerce, and Software industries.

Best for small to enterprise-level businesses needing scalable video creation.
Ideal for software, IT, media, education, hospitality, and professional services.

HeyGen and Synthesia features

Supported

Partially supported

Not supported

Type in the name of the feature or in your own words tell us what you need

Text animations

Supported

HeyGen supports text animations for videos, allowing users to animate text elements.

Supported

Synthesia supports the feature of providing pre-made or custom animations for text in videos.
AI Transcription

Partially supported

HeyGen does not natively support AI transcription of audio from videos. However, it can be integrated with AWS Transcribe via a third-party workflow tool.

Partially supported

Synthesia does not explicitly support automatic transcription of audio from videos as a standalone feature, but it does offer related capabilities such as translating audio and generating transcripts as part of its translation features.
Text placement

Not supported

HeyGen does not explicitly support the ability to drag, drop, and precisely position text elements within the video frame.

Supported

Synthesia supports the ability to drag, drop, and precisely position text elements within the video frame.
AI Subtitle Generation

Supported

HeyGen supports AI subtitle generation, allowing users to automatically generate subtitles for videos using AI.

Supported

Synthesia supports the automatic generation of subtitles for videos using AI.
Adding effects

Partially supported

HeyGen does not fully support the ability to add effects to videos as typically understood in video editing.

Supported

Synthesia supports adding effects to videos through its various customization and editing options.
Video support

Partially supported

HeyGen does not directly support embedding videos into presentations in the traditional sense, but it allows creating and exporting videos that can be used in various contexts.

Not supported

Synthesia does not explicitly support embedding videos in presentations.

Qualities

Value and Pricing Transparency

-0.44

Rather negative sentiment

-0.07

Neutral sentiment
Customer Service

-0.08

Neutral sentiment

+0.69

Rather positive sentiment
Ease of Use

+0.94

Strongly positive sentiment

+0.96

Strongly positive sentiment
Reliability and Performance

+0.8

Strongly positive sentiment

+0.38

Rather positive sentiment
Ease of Implementation

+0.83

Strongly positive sentiment

+0.89

Strongly positive sentiment
Scalability

-0.14

Neutral sentiment

+0.53

Rather positive sentiment

HeyGen and Synthesia Pricing

HeyGen offers monthly and annual billing options for its video generation platform. They provide a range of plans tailored for individual creators, teams, and enterprises. Each plan includes various features such as video duration limits, export resolution options, custom avatar availability, collaboration tools, and support levels. HeyGen also offers additional add-on features to enhance video creation and customization.

Plans

User sentiment

Rather negative

-0.44

See full Pricing page

Synthesia is an AI video creation platform offering various pricing plans. The Starter and Creator plans cater to individual users, while the Enterprise plan is tailored for businesses seeking custom solutions. All plans provide access to AI avatars, templates, and various features, with usage limits based on video minutes. Enterprise users enjoy unlimited video minutes and priority support.

Plans

User sentiment

Neutral

-0.07

See full Pricing page

HeyGen and Synthesia review insights

2257 reviews analysed from and

Users love

Realistic AI avatars and natural-sounding voices
User-friendly interface and easy video creation process
Multilingual support with accurate lip-syncing
Wide variety of templates and customization options
Fast video generation for short videos

User-friendly interface and easy to use
Vast selection of avatars and voices
Realistic and high-quality videos
Regular updates and improvements

Users dislike

Occasional glitches or bugs reported during video generation
Limited control over avatar gestures and expressions
Pricing can be prohibitive for some users, especially for longer videos
Some users report slow rendering times, particularly with longer videos or free accounts
Limited avatar customization options, especially for free accounts

Lip syncing can be off, especially with certain accents
Limited control over avatar expressions and gestures
Video generation times can be long
Pricing plans can be expensive, especially for smaller businesses

HeyGen and Synthesia Ratings

G2

4.8/5

(690)
Capterra

4.8/5

(277)
TrustPilot

4.7/5

(68)

G2

4.7/5

(1436)
TrustPilot

4.4/5

(40)
Glassdoor

4.8/5

(81)

Company health

Employee growth

200% increase in the last year

33% increase in the last year

Web traffic

15% increase in the last quarter

17% increase in the last quarter

Financing

December 2023 - $9M

September 2024 - $337M

How reliably can each platform's AI avatars match nuanced script delivery?

HeyGen's reliability for nuanced script delivery is not directly addressed in the provided data, though user reviews are generally positive. Synthesia's user reviews indicate that while generally good, lip-syncing, especially with certain accents, can be an issue, suggesting limitations in nuanced script delivery. This implies that more straightforward scripts might be more reliably handled by Synthesia's AI avatars.

Which product offers better control over avatar customization and expressions?

HeyGen offers better control over avatar customization, allowing users to create custom avatars and potentially offering more flexibility in expressions. Synthesia users have noted limited control over avatar expressions and gestures as a downside.

What are the advantages of HeyGen?

HeyGen offers a free plan, making it more accessible for users who want to experiment with the platform before committing to a paid subscription. HeyGen also appears to have broader industry applicability based on the data provided, suggesting it may cater to a wider range of use cases compared to Synthesia. Finally, HeyGen's significantly higher user ratings across multiple platforms (G2, Capterra, TrustPilot) indicate stronger user satisfaction.

What are the disadvantages of HeyGen?

HeyGen's pricing can be a disadvantage, especially for smaller businesses or individuals, as it doesn't offer a free tier beyond a trial. Additionally, user reviews mention occasional issues with lip-syncing and a lack of fine-grained control over avatar expressions and gestures, which may limit the quality of video output in certain cases. While it offers a wide range of features, some users might find the scalability limited compared to other platforms.

Is HeyGen cheaper than Synthesia?

HeyGen's Creator plan is cheaper than Synthesia's Starter plan, costing $24/month compared to Synthesia's $22/month (billed annually as $264). While Synthesia's annual billing may appear cheaper overall, HeyGen offers more flexibility with its monthly option. Both offer custom Enterprise pricing. Therefore, for non-enterprise users, HeyGen offers a more flexible, albeit slightly more expensive, monthly option.

Alternatives to HeyGen and Synthesia

VEED

VEED is a cloud-based video editing platform designed for businesses to easily create professional-looking videos. It offers a suite of tools including recording, editing, screen capture, transcription, and AI-powered features like background removal and text-to-speech. VEED emphasizes collaboration, offering shared workspaces, stock media, and customizable templates to streamline video production for teams of all sizes.

Pipio

Pipio is an AI-powered video creation platform that allows you to easily make professional videos without cameras or actors. Choose from a library of diverse avatars or create your own, then use text-to-speech to generate realistic voiceovers in multiple languages. Pipio is ideal for creating marketing materials, sales presentations, training videos, and more. It's used by businesses of all sizes to enhance their video content creation process.

Hour One

Hour One is an AI-powered video creation platform that lets you quickly produce professional videos without needing design or video editing skills. It uses lifelike avatars to present your content, with customizable templates to match your brand. Hour One can be used for various purposes, including training videos, product demos, and marketing materials. It prioritizes security and offers features like single sign-on and secure cloud infrastructure.

Immersive Fox

Immersive Fox is an AI-powered video creation platform that lets you generate videos from text in minutes. It offers realistic face and voice cloning in multiple languages, eliminating the need for actors, filming, or complex editing. You can create personalized video messages for sales, marketing, and other business uses. The platform integrates with CRMs like HubSpot to automate video email outreach. Immersive Fox aims to make video creation faster, cheaper, and more scalable for businesses.

AI Studios

AI Studios is a cloud-based video creation platform that lets you easily produce professional videos with AI. You can create videos from text, articles, documents, or even just an idea using their AI avatars, templates, and text-to-speech voices. With over 100 AI avatar options and support for 80 languages, it's designed for various use cases, including marketing, education, and internal communication. AI Studios also offers collaboration features, making it suitable for teams and businesses of all sizes.

Colossyan Creator

Colossyan Creator is an AI video generation platform designed for creating workplace training and communication videos. It allows users to create videos from text using a variety of AI avatars, templates, and voiceovers. Colossyan Creator also offers translation features, interactive elements like quizzes, and branding customization options. The platform aims to simplify video production, making it faster and more affordable than traditional methods.

Page co-authored by

Michal Kaczor

CEO at Gralio

Michal has worked at startups for many years and writes about topics relating to software selection and IT management. As a former consultant for Bain, a business advisory company, he also knows how to understand needs of any business and find solutions to its problems.

Tymon Terlikiewicz

CTO at Gralio

Tymon is a seasoned CTO who loves finding the perfect tools for any task. He recently headed up the tech department at Batmaid, a well-known Swiss company, where he managed about 60 software purchases, including CX, HR, Payroll, Marketing automation and various developer tools.

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