Both make a video from text without a camera, and both put an AI avatar on screen if you ask. That is where the resemblance ends. Synthesia is a presenter tool: the avatar is the product, and everything else exists to make the presenter look right. InVideo AI is a generator: the prompt is the product, and the avatar is one of many things it can drop into a stock-footage video. Decide whether your video is a person talking or a story told over footage, and the choice is mostly made.
Pricing at realistic output
At the time of verification (2026-09-09), Synthesia's free Basic plan gives 1,200 credits a month, which it states is up to about 10 minutes of video or dubbing, with 9 stock avatars and no card required. Starter is $29 a month ($18 annual, billed $216 a year) with 1,200 credits, 125+ avatars, 1 editor plus 3 guests, downloads, AI dubbing and logo removal. Creator is $89 ($64 annual) with 3,600 credits, 180+ avatars, 5 personal avatars, API access, branded pages and interactive video.
InVideo AI's Plus plan is $17 a month ($16.67 annual, billed $200 a year) with 750 credits, 4 AI avatars and voice clones, 20 GB of storage, 100 iStock assets and unlimited watermark-free exports. Max is $85 ($83.33 annual) with 3,900 credits and 16 avatars; Generative is $170 with 8,000 credits; Elite is $900 with 42,500. The annual discount is a few dollars a month at the low tiers, so there is little reason to commit early.
Both sell credits, and neither converts them to minutes the same way. Synthesia's conversion is indirect but roughly stated, about 10 minutes per 1,200 credits. InVideo's credits are spent across 200+ image, video, audio and music models, so the cost of one video depends on which models it touched, and predicting cost per video is its own stated weakness. The honest method is the same for both: run one three-minute script through the free tier and read what it deducted.
The free tiers are not equal. Synthesia's makes something publishable. InVideo's free plan is not shown on its pricing page; its help centre confirms free credits that reset weekly, but the watermark and export limits were not disclosed in the official sources we checked. Test before assuming you can publish from it.
What each one makes
Synthesia's depth is the presenter. A script becomes slide-style scenes read by an avatar, with a large stock library, personal avatars on Creator, AI dubbing into other languages from one script, templates and brand kits, interactive video and branded pages, and enterprise controls such as SSO on the top tier. The output is polished and corporate-safe, which is exactly what a training team wants and exactly what a social channel does not.
InVideo AI's depth is speed. A prompt becomes a script, a voiceover, matched stock footage and captions in one pass, then you edit by typing "shorten the intro" or "change the voice" and it re-renders. Avatars and voice clones come on every paid tier, iStock footage is bundled with per-tier quotas, and exports are unlimited. The output leans on stock footage and can feel generic without curation, and there is no precise timeline editing; it is a volume tool, not a craft tool.
Ease of use
InVideo is the easier tool, with almost no learning curve: prompt in, video out, conversational edits. Synthesia's slide-deck editor is familiar to anyone who has built a presentation, and the friction is in the fine print on credits and avatar tiers rather than in the editor. Neither needs an editor's skills.
Exit cost
Low on both. Scripts and exported videos are yours, and neither tool holds a list or an automation. Synthesia's personal avatar and brand kit are the only assets that do not travel; InVideo's voice clones are the equivalent. Switching is a subscription change.
Scenario by scenario
A company producing onboarding videos in English, Spanish and German: Synthesia Starter, or Creator for a personal avatar of the trainer. Dubbing from one script is the whole reason.
A faceless YouTube channel posting three videos a week: InVideo Plus. Volume from a prompt at $17, with the credit balance checked after the first few videos; the faceless YouTube with AI guide walks through the workflow.
A marketer testing ten ad variations for one product: InVideo. Edit-by-command makes variations cheap, and avatars are included if a presenter version is one of the tests.
A founder who wants to appear in product explainers without filming: Synthesia Creator. The personal avatar is the polished version of that idea; InVideo's avatars are a feature, not the product.
A small business that needs one explainer video and nothing more: Synthesia's free plan, because it publishes. If a presenter is wrong for it, the InVideo vs Pictory comparison covers the two stock-footage tools.
What neither does well
Neither edits real footage; both replace filming rather than cutting it. Neither is predictable at scale, because both meter credits in ways that only become clear after use. And neither is the right tool for short-form social if the format wants a real face and a real phone; the best AI video generator for TikTok guide covers where AI video fits and where it does not. For the other presenter tool, see HeyGen vs Synthesia.
Profiles at /tool/synthesia and /tool/invideo.