Comparisons
Synthesia alternatives: 6 tools for the training video you actually want
People look for a Synthesia alternative for three reasons: price, the avatar (a different one, or none), or the kind of video. This guide sorts alternatives by need, with entry prices taken from their official pages on 5 October 2026.
2 min read
The short answer
If you still want an avatar, look at Colossyan (training, SCORM) or HeyGen (realism, dubbing). For animation, Vyond or Powtoon. For a whiteboard you compose yourself, VideoScribe. For a document turned into a drawn, sourced video that your experts correct by annotating, EducPilot.
Alternatives by need
| Need | Tool | Paid entry plan (checked on 5 October 2026) | Free to try |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avatar, training and SCORM | Colossyan | $59 per month billed yearly (Professional) | Free plan |
| Realistic avatar, dubbing | HeyGen | $29 per month (Creator) | 3 videos a month, 1 min |
| Character animation | Vyond | $58 per month billed yearly (Starter) | Not shown on the pricing page |
| Animated templates, all-in-one | Powtoon | $15 per month billed yearly (Lite) | Free plan, watermark |
| Hand-built whiteboard | VideoScribe | $12.50 per month billed yearly (Lite) | 7-day trial |
| Document to drawn video, corrected by annotation | EducPilot | €20 incl. VAT per month (Essentiel, 30 minutes) | 5 free minutes |
For reference, Synthesia starts at $29 per month ($18 billed yearly) for 10 minutes of video per month, with a free plan without downloads.
Colossyan: the closest alternative for e-learning
Avatars, several per scene for role-plays, SCORM export, interactive videos, automatic translation. Input from Word, PowerPoint and PDF. Pick it if your training lives in an LMS. Detailed comparison with EducPilot.
HeyGen: avatars and localisation
Very realistic avatars, voice cloning, 175+ languages and dialects, 4K on Pro. More marketing-oriented, useful for embodied, multilingual messages. Comparison.
Vyond: character animation
An AI-assisted animation studio, with 650+ voices and screen recording. Pick it if someone on the team enjoys animating. Comparison.
Powtoon: templates and an editor
Templates, characters, built-in AI tools (avatars, voices, dubbing), resale rights on Advanced. Comparison.
VideoScribe: the hand-built whiteboard
The reference tool for composing a whiteboard video yourself, image by image, in the browser or on your computer. Comparison.
EducPilot: when you do not want an avatar
EducPilot, a French AI training video software, starts from your documents (PDF, web page, text) and produces a drawn, narrated video in which every sentence cites its page. Your experts correct it by annotating the frame, from a plain link; only the annotated scene is rewritten. Its limits, said plainly: no avatar, no SCORM, three languages (English, French, Chinese), no direct PowerPoint or Word import (go through PDF).
Frequently asked questions
What is a free alternative to Synthesia?
Several tools have a free plan or a trial: Colossyan and Powtoon (free plans), HeyGen (3 videos a month), VideoScribe (7-day trial), EducPilot (5 free minutes at sign-up, no card). Limits (watermark, length, downloads) vary and are on their pricing pages.
Which Synthesia alternative has no avatar?
Vyond and Powtoon (animation), VideoScribe (hand-built whiteboard) and EducPilot (drawn video generated from your documents).
Sources
Official pricing pages, checked on 5 October 2026: Synthesia, Colossyan, HeyGen, Vyond, Powtoon, VideoScribe, EducPilot.
Prices in US dollars as shown by each vendor; they may change. Spotted an error? Write to bonjour@educpilot.org.
Compare on your own document
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- EducPilot vs Colossyan: avatars for e-learning, or a sourced drawn video?
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- EducPilot vs HeyGen: avatars and dubbing, or a drawn training video?
HeyGen excels at avatars, voice cloning and dubbing; EducPilot draws sourced training videos from your documents. Prices checked 5 October 2026.
- EducPilot vs Vyond: an animation studio or a video generated from your documents?
Vyond is a character animation studio with AI tools; EducPilot generates a drawn video from your documents. Prices checked 5 October 2026.
- EducPilot vs VideoScribe: build your whiteboard video, or have it generated?
VideoScribe lets you build whiteboard animations by hand; EducPilot generates the drawn video from your documents. Prices checked 5 October 2026.