Synthesia

Synthesia is a London-based company that makes AI avatar video: a generated or cloned presenter speaking a script in any of more than 140 languages. Founded in 2017, it built its business on corporate training and internal communications, and it is one of the two largest companies in the category, alongside HeyGen. In January 2026 it raised a $200 million Series E at a $4 billion valuation. As of October 2026 its newest avatar model is Express-3, and it has added a chat-based editing agent and an MCP server.

Company

Synthesia was co-founded by chief executive Victor Riparbelli, Steffen Tjerrild, and computer-vision professors Lourdes Agapito of University College London and Matthias Niessner of the Technical University of Munich, whose research underpins its avatar technology. It became a unicorn in 2023, and its annual recurring revenue passed $100 million in April 2025, according to the company. The January 2026 round nearly doubled its valuation and included a sale of employee shares. It says it is trusted by more than 90% of the Fortune 100, a vendor claim.

Products as of October 2026

  • Avatars. Express-3, launched on July 15, 2026, produces full-body avatars whose delivery reacts to the sentiment of the script, and Style Avatars let one avatar appear in different looks. Stock libraries range from 125+ avatars on the Starter plan to 240+ on Enterprise. Personal avatars can be made from a photo, from video or in a studio, the last as a $1,000-a-year add-on.
  • Languages. Avatar video in 140+ languages on every plan, and dubbing of existing video into 70+ languages on self-serve plans (140+ on Enterprise).
  • Agents. Syren, launched in beta in October 2026, edits video through chat, capped at three minutes during the beta. A Synthesia MCP server, in public beta and tested with Claude and ChatGPT, lets outside agents create videos (see MCP).
  • Real-time. An Interactive Avatars API, priced at $0.10 a minute for the avatar layer, for tutors and support agents with a face.
  • Learning tools. SCORM export (Enterprise), LMS embeds that update in place when a video changes, and PowerPoint import.

Pricing starts at $29 a month (Starter, or $18 billed yearly); Pro costs $89 a month ($64 yearly) with five personal avatars, and Enterprise is custom.

A product whose core feature is a synthetic person needs strong controls, and Synthesia leads with governance. It requires a live consent video from the same person before creating a personal avatar, with no uploads, as part of what it calls a biometric consent process. It has held SOC 2 Type II since 2022, holds ISO/IEC 27001, and announced in 2024 that it was the first AI video company certified to ISO/IEC 42001 for AI management systems. Customers publishing avatar video in Europe also need to plan for the EU AI Act's transparency rules for synthetic content, which have applied since August 2, 2026 (see AI content labeling).

How It Compares

HeyGen is faster-moving and broader, with more stock avatars, longer videos, a larger translation catalog and a lower mid-tier price, and it is the more natural fit for marketing and creator content. Synthesia's strengths are training workflows, procurement-friendly certifications and a steady product. Both sit within the wider field of digital humans and synthetic media, and both face the misuse risks covered in deepfakes. For a feature-by-feature view, see Synthesia vs HeyGen; for related techniques, see AI dubbing and lip-sync and audio-to-video generation.

Further Reading