HeyGen vs Synthesia Pricing and Cost Per Video Ad in 2026

HeyGen is the cheaper of the two per minute of avatar video, and Synthesia is the stricter of the two about ads. HeyGen Creator costs $29 a month, or $24 billed yearly, for 600 credits, which buys about 37 minutes of an Avatar IV photo avatar. Synthesia Starter also costs $29, or $18 yearly, for 1,250 credits, about 12 minutes of video. Per minute that is roughly $0.77 on HeyGen against $2.32 on Synthesia at monthly prices. And Synthesia's own licence bars its stock avatars from paid social ads unless you have written consent, which changes the real entry price for an advertiser.

HeyGen vs Synthesia pricing at a glance

Both price lists were read on the vendors' own pricing pages: Synthesia on 8 October 2026 on both billing toggles, HeyGen on 12 October 2026. Prices are in US dollars per month.

Synthesia's yearly discount is the deeper one: 38 percent on Starter and 28 percent on Pro, against about 17 percent on HeyGen. Every plan figure for each vendor is broken down further on our Synthesia pricing and HeyGen pricing pages.

Which is cheaper per minute, HeyGen or Synthesia?

HeyGen, unless you use its newest avatar model. HeyGen's help center lists Avatar IV at 16 credits a minute for a Photo Look, 31 for a Video Look and 48 for Avatar V. Synthesia's calculator uses a flat 100 credits per minute of video. Converted into dollars, the gap is wide on the default models and disappears at the top end.

The coincidence in that table is worth noticing. HeyGen's Avatar V and Synthesia Starter both land at about $2.32 a minute on monthly billing. So if you are comparing the most realistic avatar each vendor sells, the price gap mostly closes, and the decision comes down to the licence and the workflow rather than the per-minute rate.

Can you use Synthesia avatars in paid ads?

Not the stock ones, unless you have written consent. Synthesia's Acceptable Use Policy bars its stock avatars from promoted, boosted or paid social ads, and its help article on video licensing lists paid Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat placements as not allowed, with account deactivation as the penalty. Custom avatars follow your own agreement. Age-restricted products such as alcohol, vaping and gambling cannot be promoted at all.

For an advertiser, that moves Synthesia's real entry price. Starter at $29 gets you stock avatars you cannot boost. The cheapest legal route to a paid ad on Synthesia is Pro, $89 a month or $64 yearly, with a Personal Avatar of a person who has agreed to appear in your ads. We did not find a comparable paid-ads restriction on HeyGen's pricing page, but read its terms before you put money behind a stock presenter. Our longer take on this is in is Synthesia good for video ads.

Is HeyGen better than Synthesia for marketing videos?

For short marketing and social video, usually yes. HeyGen's cheaper minutes, 175+ languages on Creator, unlimited photo avatars and voice cloning from the first paid plan suit teams that make a lot of short clips and test many versions. Its Free plan also lets you try Avatar IV on three one-minute videos before paying.

Synthesia is the stronger pick for structured, brand-controlled video: training modules, onboarding, product walkthroughs and internal updates, with templates, SCORM export and learner seats on Enterprise. It is built for teams that publish to their own platforms, which is exactly where its stock-avatar licence is not a problem. If the videos are for staff training rather than ads, they also need somewhere to live, such as a corporate LMS that tracks who watched what.

What each plan does not include

Neither tool writes a UGC ad for you. Both sell minutes of a presenter talking, and for an ecommerce team the expensive part sits around those minutes: the hook, the script, the product angle, captions, a 9:16 cut and four or five hook variations to test. A credible creator-style ad also looks different from a presenter in front of a branded background, which is the format both tools default to.

The API is a separate decision too. HeyGen bills its API on its own, with a $5 pay-as-you-go minimum. Synthesia's API draws from the subscription credit balance, with interactive avatars at $0.10 to $0.20 a minute and dubbing at $0.40 to $0.80 a minute.

Refunds, rollover and seats

Synthesia's refund policy says all purchases are non-cancelable and non-refundable, even if unused, and upgrades take effect at once while downgrades wait for the next period. HeyGen's monthly credits roll over for one extra cycle, and yearly credits accumulate until renewal. On seats, Synthesia Starter includes 3 guests and Pro 5, while HeyGen charges $20 a seat on Business. For a team of four, HeyGen Business costs $209 a month and Synthesia Pro still costs $89.

HeyGen vs Synthesia vs UGCGen for UGC ads

If the goal is a paid social ad for a product, there is a third option built for that one job. UGCGen takes a product URL and returns a captioned 9:16 UGC-style ad with an AI creator speaking to camera and several hook angles, with full commercial rights on paid plans and a 14 day money-back guarantee on the first purchase.

Starter is $49 a month, or $24 billed yearly, for one short ad a month plus 2 extra hook angles of it. On Plus, $149 a month covers 26 ads, roughly $5.75 an ad or about $2.85 billed yearly. Per minute of raw avatar video HeyGen is cheaper. Per ad you can actually boost, the comparison includes the hours of scripting and editing the avatar tools leave to you. If you want to try the format first, our HeyGen UGC page shows how far HeyGen alone gets you, and the AI UGC pricing guide lines up every tool per finished ad.

Frequently asked questions

Is HeyGen cheaper than Synthesia?

Yes, on its default avatar model. HeyGen Creator costs $29 a month for 600 credits, about 37 minutes of Avatar IV photo avatar, or $0.77 a minute. Synthesia Starter costs the same $29 for about 12 minutes, or $2.32 a minute. On HeyGen's Avatar V the per-minute price matches Synthesia Starter at about $2.32.

Which is better, Synthesia or HeyGen?

HeyGen is better for short marketing video, social clips and translation at volume, because its minutes are cheaper and its pricing page carries no paid-ads restriction on stock avatars. Synthesia is better for training and internal communication, with templates, SCORM export and learner seats, and it is the safer brand-controlled choice for enterprises.

Does Synthesia have a free plan?

Yes. Synthesia Basic is free with 10 minutes of video a month, 500 credits and a Synthesia watermark, and it allows link sharing only, so you cannot download the file. Download and logo removal start on Starter at $29 a month, or $18 billed yearly.

How much does HeyGen cost per month?

HeyGen costs $0 for Free, $29 a month for Creator, $49 for Pro and $149 for Business plus $20 per extra seat. Billed yearly, Creator is $24 a month and Pro $41. Creator includes 600 credits, Pro 1,000 and Business 1,500, and Enterprise is quoted.