7 Best Synthesia.io Free Alternatives
Synthesia.io is a robust cloud-based tool that uses AI (artificial intelligence) for creating videos from text input. There are many platforms where you can choose a template, type a text in a box, and the AI adds music, animations, and video effects to create a video.
But Synthesia goes a step beyond featuring human-like avatars that speech your text with lip-syncing and awesome realistic avatars.
This platform excels in AI video generation with unique features:
- 65+ realistic avatars (yes, forget about hiring actors or expensive video studios) with movement.
- 60+ languages to choose from (no need to hire translators to make your video available in other countries)
- 50+ pre-made templates to start creating videos in minutes.
- Supports 1080p resolution.
- Built-in editor to add additional text, shapes, and images.
- Free-royalty music tracks, you can also upload your music files.
- Download the video, embed it on your website, or share it through a link.
- Create a video from an article pasting the url.
- Voice and tone adjustment.
- Can include many languages in the same video.
- Screen recorder included.
- Create your custom avatar ( this is a paid-on feature)
Synthesia.io pricing starts at $30/month, and no free plan is available. To test the tool, you can create a video for free on their webpage
If you are on a budget and need a Synthesia.io alternative to create a video from text using AI, we have listed below seven free options.
Of course, these are limited versions, but all are a good starting point. Check them out:
Movio
Movio (formerly Talkingavatar) is a good Synthesia alternative that uses AI to create a video from text input.
This platform features 80+ human avatars, 20+ languages with more than 80 voices, multi-scene videos, 1080p videos, voiceover upload and custom music upload.
A unique feature of Movio is their additional library of 20+ human-like 3D avatars, which adds an interesting set of characters for creating almost any kind of video.
You have 100+ templates to start with, which you can customize adding text or others graphic assets.
The free plan allows to create a one-minute video with all public avatars. Next paid plan is $30/month for 10 minutes video length.
Related reading: Talking Avatar Creator Software
HourOne
With HourOne you can turn text into video using virtual human avatars. Like many similar services, you can create a video in three simple steps; 1-select a video and template layout, 2-choose a character and voice, and 3-create and share your video.
The free plan offers 3 minutes of video, 6 scenes per video, voices library, 100+ characters, pre-made templates, and watermark. Within this plan you can only share your video (no embed or download)
An amazing feature of Hourone is Script Wizard, that uses GPT3 to analyze and improve your script with a single mouse click.
For more features, the basic plan is $49/month with 18 minutes of published video, share, embed and download, 10 scenes per video and no watermark.
Colossyan
Colossyan is a Synthesia.io free alternative that features five human avatars in the free plan. This is more than sufficient for many uses when you need to create videos from text scripts using AI.
The free plan includes 5 minutes, 60+ languages, pre-made templates, up to 3 scenes per video, watermark, full commercial license and the possibility to download videos in 16:9 (for desktop videos and YouTube), 9:16 (for Instagram stories) and 1:1 format for Instagram posts. There is also the option to set a custom scene size, an interesting feature that gets you covered in any site or social media website.
The process to create a video is straightforward; from the drag-and-drop dashboard you can change actor position, background colors, add media, music, text and add transitions. In our experience, this is one of the best platforms available to create a video with human avatars.
If you need more features, a paid plan starts at $21/month with 10 minutes/month, 15 premium actors, in-app screen recording and no watermark.
Yepic
Yepic is a platform that turns your text script into a professional video in three simple steps. You choose a presenter, paste your script, create your video, and it is ready in minutes.
This software works in more than 40 languages and supports adding backgrounds and custom voiceovers. This is the only platform using human avatars that allows you to control avatar expressions.
The free plan brings 4 credits (1 credit = 1 video up to 1 minute), 2 digital avatars, 430+ voices, 3 slides per video, and custom background images. The downside of this plan is that rendering can take up to 24 hours.
A paid plan is £30/month, with full features and a rendering time of about 10 minutes.
Elai.io
Elai.io is an excellent Synthesia.io alternative to consider. This text to video platform allows you to build customized videos with a human-like presenter using only text and chat GPT-3 integration.
This cloud-based software supports 60+ languages, and custom images. There are also 30 human-like avatars, check in this pic some examples:
You can also get a professional-looking custom avatar for a $500 one-time payment, or a selfie avatar for an annual fee of $259.
Elai offers 1 minute/month and 35 avatars, with 1080p videos, stock image library, stock music library, stock video library, custom transitions, and animations.
If you need more minutes, you should move to a paid plan, starting at $29/month with 15 minutes/month, no watermark, auto-captions, and the option to upload your voice.
As with similar platforms, once you render your video there is a moderation time before the video arrives in your email inbox.
Wave.video
If human-like avatars are not essential for your project, Wave.video is a strong player in the video creator business and an excellent Synthesia.io alternative.
This platform includes multiple assets for creating and editing videos, audio editing, video hosting, and video marketing tools.
The AI is good at making videos from text input. You must select your preferred aspect ratio, input your text script (up to 50,000 characters), and publish the video. In a couple of minutes, the system automatically adds music and graphic elements to produce a high-quality video.
Signing up for the free plan gives you 15 seconds videos, a thumbnail maker, a library of 2M+ assets, and one hour of live streaming in 720p (with 6 guests) with a watermark. The free plan does not allow downloads, but you can share or embed it on your website.
Related reading: 19 Best AI Video Generator Text To Video – Free and Paid
Lumen5
Lumen5 is a solid Synthesia.io alternative with a generous free plan, featuring unlimited 720p videos with a watermark. The next plan is $11/month billed yearly, adds millions of free videos and images, and the possibility to add your own audio tracks.
The capital advantage of Lumen5 is the excellent AI performance. You must select a template and aspect ratio, add graphics and media assets, paste a text script and create the video. Then the magic starts, and the powerful Lumen5 AI extracts relevant points from your script to make a video in just minutes.
Invideo
Invideo is another Synthesia.io alternative for creating video from text using AI.
They have one of the best free plans available. That is 15 minute video duration, 60 video exports per month, a media library of 3M+ royalty-free assets, automated text to speech, and 5,000+ video templates.
If you are on a budget but keen to spend $15/month, you can create 40 minute 1080p videos, get 10 GB cloud storage and priority support.
Invideo can convert a script to video using AI and supports a url. This is useful to copy entire articles or blog posts to create a video.
This platform features a fantastic library of text-to-video templates, and the creation process is quick and straightforward. There is no need for editing knowledge to develop a professional-looking video.
Conclusión
When you need an AI text to video platform featuring human avatars, Synthesia.io is one of the best. Its strength lies in the quality of human-like avatars and excellent speech synthesis with more than 60 languages available.
But many video creators don´t need human avatars, so the other platforms listed here are an excellent option to start. You can test them and go for a paid plan later if you need to.