Comparison
The best HeyGen alternatives: Synthesia is the closest match
HeyGenSynthesia is the closest HeyGen alternative: you type a script and an AI avatar presents it. Creatify makes avatar ads, Colossyan and Elai suit training, and D-ID is the cheapest.
In short
- The best HeyGen alternatives are Synthesia, Creatify, MakeUGC, Arcads, D-ID, Colossyan, Elai, VEED, Captions and Cutroom. Synthesia is the closest match.
- Synthesia and Colossyan are built for company training. Colossyan can also build whole courses with quizzes.
- Creatify, MakeUGC and Arcads make avatar ads for social media, if that is what you use HeyGen for.
- D-ID is the cheapest, at $4.70 a month billed yearly, but that plan keeps a watermark and is for personal use only.
- Cutroom edits one clip of you talking into a finished 9:16 ad, with no avatar. Your first video is free.
- D-ID Lite a month, billed yearly
- $4.70
- Synthesia Starter a month, billed yearly
- $18
- HeyGen Creator a month, billed yearly
- $24
HeyGen alternatives at a glance
HeyGen turns a script into a presenter video with an avatar or a digital copy of you. Here is what each alternative does, what it costs and who it suits.
HeyGen alternatives at a glance
Prices and plans read from each vendor's own pricing page on 21 September 2026.
| Tool | Best for | Editing approach | Platform | Pricing from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Synthesia | Training and company videos with avatars | Pick a template, paste a script, choose an avatar | Web, API | Free plan; Starter $18/month, yearly |
 Creatify | Avatar video ads made from a product page | Paste a product link, an avatar reads the script | Web | Free plan; Starter $39/month |
 MakeUGC | UGC-style ads read by an AI actor | Write a script, pick an AI actor, generate | Web, API | $59/month sale price; $1 trial |
 Arcads | UGC-style ads read by AI actors, at volume | Type a script, pick an actor, edit in the app | Web | Not published |
| D-ID | Talking photos and chat agents, for developers | Upload a photo or pick an avatar, add a script | Web, API | 14-day trial; Lite $4.70/month, yearly |
| Colossyan | Workplace training courses with avatars | A PDF, slides or a prompt becomes an avatar video | Web | Free plan; Professional $59/month, yearly |
| Elai | Slides and scripts turned into avatar videos | Paste a script or upload slides, pick an avatar | Web, API | Free plan (1 minute); Creator $23/month, yearly |
| Avatars inside a full browser video editor | Video timeline with auto subtitles and AI tools | Browser, mobile app | Free plan; Creator $10/user/month, yearly | |
 Captions | An AI copy of you plus AI editing on your phone | AI edit styles on your own video, with manual controls | iOS, Android, web | Free version; Max $24.99/month |
| Cutroom | Turning one clip of you talking into a finished 9:16 ad | Edits your clip for you: cuts, captions, b-roll, hook | Web | First video free; Lite $19.99/month |
- Synthesia
- Best for
- Training and company videos with avatars
- Approach
- Pick a template, paste a script, choose an avatar
- Platform
- Web, API
- Pricing from
- Free plan; Starter $18/month, yearly
- Creatify
- Best for
- Avatar video ads made from a product page
- Approach
- Paste a product link, an avatar reads the script
- Platform
- Web
- Pricing from
- Free plan; Starter $39/month
- MakeUGC
- Best for
- UGC-style ads read by an AI actor
- Approach
- Write a script, pick an AI actor, generate
- Platform
- Web, API
- Pricing from
- $59/month sale price; $1 trial
- Arcads
- Best for
- UGC-style ads read by AI actors, at volume
- Approach
- Type a script, pick an actor, edit in the app
- Platform
- Web
- Pricing from
- Not published
D-ID
- Best for
- Talking photos and chat agents, for developers
- Approach
- Upload a photo or pick an avatar, add a script
- Platform
- Web, API
- Pricing from
- 14-day trial; Lite $4.70/month, yearly
Colossyan
- Best for
- Workplace training courses with avatars
- Approach
- A PDF, slides or a prompt becomes an avatar video
- Platform
- Web
- Pricing from
- Free plan; Professional $59/month, yearly
Elai
- Best for
- Slides and scripts turned into avatar videos
- Approach
- Paste a script or upload slides, pick an avatar
- Platform
- Web, API
- Pricing from
- Free plan (1 minute); Creator $23/month, yearly
VEED
- Best for
- Avatars inside a full browser video editor
- Approach
- Video timeline with auto subtitles and AI tools
- Platform
- Browser, mobile app
- Pricing from
- Free plan; Creator $10/user/month, yearly
- Captions
- Best for
- An AI copy of you plus AI editing on your phone
- Approach
- AI edit styles on your own video, with manual controls
- Platform
- iOS, Android, web
- Pricing from
- Free version; Max $24.99/month
Cutroom
- Best for
- Turning one clip of you talking into a finished 9:16 ad
- Approach
- Edits your clip for you: cuts, captions, b-roll, hook
- Platform
- Web
- Pricing from
- First video free; Lite $19.99/month
The four kinds of HeyGen alternative
HeyGen alternatives fall into four groups, by the kind of video you get.
- Synthesia, Colossyan, Elai and D-ID are avatar tools for presenter videos, mostly training and explainers.
- Creatify, MakeUGC and Arcads make avatar ads for social media, from a product link or a script.
- VEED and Captions are video editors with avatars built in, so you can make the avatar video and edit it in one place.
- Cutroom edits a clip of you into a finished ad. Avatars are an extra on its Basic plan.
Who is on screen, and what you get
| Kind | Tools | On screen | You get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avatar tool | Synthesia, Colossyan, Elai, D-ID | A stock avatar or a copy of you | A presenter video |
| Avatar ad tool | Creatify, MakeUGC, Arcads | An AI actor | A short video ad |
| Editor with avatars | VEED, Captions | An avatar or your own footage | A video you still edit yourself |
| Ad editor | Cutroom | You, from one clip | A finished 9:16 ad |
Kind: Avatar tool
- Tools
- Synthesia, Colossyan, Elai, D-ID
- On screen
- A stock avatar or a copy of you
- You get
- A presenter video
Kind: Avatar ad tool
- Tools
- Creatify, MakeUGC, Arcads
- On screen
- An AI actor
- You get
- A short video ad
Kind: Editor with avatars
- Tools
- VEED, Captions
- On screen
- An avatar or your own footage
- You get
- A video you still edit yourself
Kind: Ad editor
- Tools
- Cutroom
- On screen
- You, from one clip
- You get
- A finished 9:16 ad
This is the whole editor
Highlight a phrase and a clip lands on those exact words. No timeline, no keyframes, no layers.
Synthesia
Synthesia is the closest match to HeyGen, built for company training. You pick a template, paste a script and choose an avatar and a voice.
- Best for: onboarding, compliance and product training in many languages.
- Price: Starter is $18 a month billed yearly, or $29 monthly. Creator is $64 a month billed yearly, or $89 monthly.
- Free plan: yes, up to 10 minutes a month with 9 avatars and a watermark.
- Starter has more than 125 avatars and removes the logo. Creator adds 5 personal avatars and lets developers connect it to their own software.
- Every paid plan covers more than 160 languages and voices. Enterprise adds 1-click translation, brand kits, company login and export to training platforms.
- Tradeoff: it is made for training videos, not social ads, and 1-click translation is only on Enterprise.
D-ID
D-ID turns a photo into a talking video and also builds live chat agents. Developers can build its avatars into their own app.
- Best for: a talking video from one photo, a chat agent on your website, or avatars inside your own app.
- Price: Lite is $4.70 a month billed yearly, for 10 minutes a month. Pro, at $16 a month billed yearly, allows business use, and Advanced is $108.
- Free plan: none, but a 14-day trial gives you 3 minutes with a full-screen watermark.
- D-ID translates videos across more than 120 languages.
- Tradeoff: Lite keeps a watermark and is for personal use only, and unlike HeyGen there is no editor for layouts, b-roll or captions.
Creatify, MakeUGC and Arcads
Creatify, MakeUGC and Arcads make social video ads read by an AI actor, not presenter videos. Look at these if you use HeyGen to make ads.
- Best for: online shops and apps that test many video ads.
- Creatify makes an ad from a product link. Starter is $39 a month for about 20 video ads, and there is a free plan.
- MakeUGC has more than 1,000 AI actors that read your script. Startup is $59 a month, a sale price at half the normal price, with a $1 trial.
- Arcads also has more than 1,000 AI actors and translates ads into 30+ languages, but it does not publish a price.
- Tradeoff: they are built for short ads, so they are the wrong tool for training videos.
Colossyan
Colossyan makes training videos and full courses with avatars. You drop in a PDF, a slide deck or a prompt, and it makes the video.
- Best for: learning teams that need whole courses, not single videos.
- Price: Professional is $59 a month billed yearly, or $89 monthly.
- Free plan: yes, 20 video minutes a month with no card, and unlimited course creation.
- Colossyan has more than 300 stock or custom avatars and more than 100 languages.
- It adds quizzes and branching scenarios, where the viewer's choice changes what comes next. Professional includes 30 minutes a month, no watermark and 5 exports to training platforms.
- Tradeoff: it is built for training, not marketing, and Professional at $59 a month billed yearly costs more than twice HeyGen Creator.
Elai
Elai turns a script or a PowerPoint deck into an avatar video. You pay by the minutes of video you make each month.
- Best for: presentations and training turned into avatar videos.
- Price: Creator is $23 a month billed yearly, or $29 monthly, for 15 minutes of video. Team is $100 a month billed yearly, for 50 minutes.
- Free plan: yes, 1 minute of video, with 80+ avatars and 75+ languages.
- Elai translates a video into more than 75 languages in one click, and it can clone your voice in 28 languages.
- Tradeoff: a custom avatar of you costs an extra $199 a year, and extra minutes cost $2 each.
VEED
VEED is a browser video editor with AI avatars, AI voices and text-to-video built in.
- Best for: small teams that make avatar videos and edit real footage in the same week.
- Price: Creator is $10 per user a month, Pro is $21 and Studio is $35, all billed yearly.
- Free plan: yes, with a watermark that goes away on Creator.
- Every paid plan includes unlimited auto subtitles, and Pro adds several brand kits.
- Tradeoff: you pay per user, and translation needs Pro and covers more than 50 languages, against more than 175 on HeyGen.
Captions
Captions is a phone app that can make an AI copy of you and also edit video you filmed.
- Best for: creators who work on their phone and want an AI copy of themselves for some videos and an AI edit for the rest.
- Price: Max is $24.99 a month, and Scale runs from $69.99 to $279.99 a month.
- Free plan: yes, a free version for trimming and transitions. The AI features are paid.
- Its AI edit cuts scenes and adds b-roll, and it writes captions in more than 100 languages. It can also fix eye contact and remove background noise.
- Tradeoff: Captions shows only its iPhone prices and no yearly price, so you cannot compare it with HeyGen's $24 yearly plan.
HeyGen alternatives pricing
HeyGen has a free plan with 3 videos a month up to 1 minute. Creator is $29 a month, or $24 a month billed yearly.
Free option and cheapest paid plan
From each company's pricing page, checked 21 September 2026. Yearly means billed once a year.
| Tool | Free option | Cheapest paid plan |
|---|---|---|
| HeyGen | 3 videos a month up to 1 minute, watermark | Creator: $24 a month yearly, $29 monthly |
| Synthesia | 10 minutes a month, 9 avatars, watermark | Starter: $18 a month yearly, $29 monthly |
| Creatify | Up to 2 video ads a month, watermark | Starter: $39 a month |
| MakeUGC | No, a $1 trial for 72 hours | Startup: $59 a month (sale price) |
| Arcads | No free plan; a free trial is mentioned | Not published |
| D-ID | 14-day trial: 3 minutes, watermark | Lite: $4.70 a month yearly, personal use |
| Colossyan | 20 minutes a month, no card | Professional: $59 a month yearly, $89 monthly |
| Elai | 1 minute | Creator: $23 a month yearly, $29 monthly |
| VEED | Free plan with a watermark | Creator: $10 per user a month yearly |
| Captions | Free version, no AI features | Max: $24.99 a month (iPhone price) |
| Cutroom | First video free, no card, within 7 days | Lite: $19.99 a month |
Tool: HeyGen
- Free option
- 3 videos a month up to 1 minute, watermark
- Cheapest paid plan
- Creator: $24 a month yearly, $29 monthly
Tool: Synthesia
- Free option
- 10 minutes a month, 9 avatars, watermark
- Cheapest paid plan
- Starter: $18 a month yearly, $29 monthly
Tool: Creatify
- Free option
- Up to 2 video ads a month, watermark
- Cheapest paid plan
- Starter: $39 a month
Tool: MakeUGC
- Free option
- No, a $1 trial for 72 hours
- Cheapest paid plan
- Startup: $59 a month (sale price)
Tool: Arcads
- Free option
- No free plan; a free trial is mentioned
- Cheapest paid plan
- Not published
Tool: D-ID
- Free option
- 14-day trial: 3 minutes, watermark
- Cheapest paid plan
- Lite: $4.70 a month yearly, personal use
Tool: Colossyan
- Free option
- 20 minutes a month, no card
- Cheapest paid plan
- Professional: $59 a month yearly, $89 monthly
Tool: Elai
- Free option
- 1 minute
- Cheapest paid plan
- Creator: $23 a month yearly, $29 monthly
Tool: VEED
- Free option
- Free plan with a watermark
- Cheapest paid plan
- Creator: $10 per user a month yearly
Tool: Captions
- Free option
- Free version, no AI features
- Cheapest paid plan
- Max: $24.99 a month (iPhone price)
Tool: Cutroom
- Free option
- First video free, no card, within 7 days
- Cheapest paid plan
- Lite: $19.99 a month
When is HeyGen still the better choice?
HeyGen is still the better pick when you cannot be on screen, or when one video must go out in many languages.
- HeyGen translates one video into more than 175 languages and dialects.
- Its digital copy of you presents for you, so a team that does not film can still make videos.
- HeyGen drafts a whole video from a prompt, a link or a document. Colossyan does something similar, but only for training.
- Business adds company login, export to training platforms, and links to tools such as Zapier and HubSpot.
Where Cutroom fits
Cutroom is for ads with you in them instead of an avatar. You film one clip of yourself talking, and Cutroom edits it into a finished vertical ad.
- You upload one clip of yourself talking, up to 3 minutes long.
- Cutroom cuts it, adds captions timed to your voice, puts b-roll on the words you pick and adds a hook.
- You get a finished 9:16 MP4. Lite, at $19.99 a month, covers about 10 finished 30-second ads.
- Basic, at $39.99 a month, adds AI avatars and generated music, with up to about 7 minutes of avatar video a month.
- Your first video is free, with no card, and you have 7 days to make it. It carries a Cutroom mark; Lite at $19.99 a month removes it.
Which HeyGen alternative should you choose?
It depends on who is on screen and what you need to do with the video afterwards.
Which HeyGen alternative to choose
Choose Synthesia if you make training videos in many languages and want the closest thing to HeyGen.
Choose Creatify if you use HeyGen to make ads and want avatar ads made from a product link.
Choose MakeUGC if you want AI actors reading your ad scripts, with a price you can see and a $1 trial.
Choose Arcads if you test many AI actor ads every week and do not mind asking for a price.
Choose D-ID if you need talking photos or a chat agent inside your own app.
Choose Colossyan if you are building training courses with quizzes for your company's learning platform.
Choose Elai if you turn slide decks into avatar videos and want to pay by the minute.
Choose VEED if you want avatars and a full browser editor with subtitles in one place.
Choose Captions if you edit on your phone and want an AI copy of you plus an AI edit of your real videos.
Choose Cutroom if you are happy to film yourself and want a finished 9:16 ad from one clip. Your first video is free.
Questions people ask
- What is the best HeyGen alternative?
- Synthesia is the closest HeyGen alternative, especially for training videos. Creatify, MakeUGC and Arcads are better for avatar ads, and D-ID is cheaper. Colossyan is better for full courses, and VEED or Captions put avatars inside a video editor.
- Is Synthesia better than HeyGen?
- For training videos, yes. Synthesia is built for training, with 125+ avatars on Starter and 160+ languages, from $18 a month billed yearly. HeyGen is better for marketing, with a digital copy of you and 175+ languages.
- Which HeyGen alternative is cheapest?
- D-ID Lite, at $4.70 a month billed yearly, though it keeps a watermark and is for personal use only. VEED Creator is $10 per user a month and Synthesia Starter is $18, both billed yearly. Colossyan has a free plan with 20 minutes a month.
- Is there a free HeyGen alternative?
- Yes. Colossyan's free plan gives 20 minutes of video a month with no card, and Synthesia's gives 10 minutes with a watermark. Creatify, Elai and VEED also have free plans, and your first Cutroom video is free.
- Can I use my own face instead of an avatar?
- Yes, two ways. You can film yourself and let Cutroom or Captions edit the real video. Or you can build a digital copy of yourself with HeyGen, Synthesia or Captions, which still needs you to record yourself first.
- Does Cutroom have avatars?
- Yes, on Basic at $39.99 a month, which also adds generated music. Basic's credits cover up to about 7 minutes of avatar video a month. The free first video is an edit of a clip you filmed, not an avatar.
Can you be on camera for a minute? Film one clip and compare the finished ad with your last avatar video. Your first video is free.