Head-to-head · profiles checked Sep 30, 2026
Choose ElevenLabs when you need a voice track and Synthesia when you need a presenter video. ElevenLabs has a free plan with 10k credits a month and a $6/month Starter plan with a commercial license. Synthesia's free Basic plan gives 10 minutes of avatar video but no downloads; Starter costs $29/month. Both offer AI dubbing, which is where they overlap.
We based this comparison on our ElevenLabs profile verified 2026-09-30 and our Synthesia profile verified 2026-09-29, both built from official vendor pages; it uses no third-party benchmarks and no vendor paid for placement.
ElevenLabs makes audio: speech from text, cloned voices, transcripts, music, sound effects and voice agents. Synthesia makes videos with an AI avatar presenting your script, plus screen recordings and SCORM export for training. Both dub existing video, so localization is the one job where they compete directly. Pick ElevenLabs when the deliverable is a voice track or a voice agent, and Synthesia when you need an on-screen presenter without filming.
Based on our ElevenLabs profile verified 2026-09-30 and Synthesia profile verified 2026-09-29; Synthesia's privacy policy and docs returned 404, and no benchmark was run.
Our own captures of each vendor's public pages. Click a frame for the full-size image.
If you only want the answer, this is the table. Everything below is the evidence from the two documented profiles.
| You want to | Use | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Record a voiceover for a YouTube video | ElevenLabs | ElevenLabs Starter adds a commercial license for speech audio |
| Make a training video with a presenter | Synthesia | Synthesia turns a script or PowerPoint into avatar-led training videos |
| Dub a video into another language | Either | ElevenLabs Dubbing and Synthesia AI dubbing both translate existing video |
| Narrate an audiobook or podcast | ElevenLabs | ElevenLabs lists audiobooks and podcasts as use cases |
| Clone my own voice | ElevenLabs | ElevenLabs documents instant and professional cloning; Synthesia's cloning plan availability is not verified |
| Transcribe a recording | ElevenLabs | ElevenLabs Scribe transcribes audio with timestamps; Synthesia lists no transcription |
| Record a screen tutorial | Synthesia | Synthesia includes an AI screen recorder and motion graphics |
| Export a course to an LMS | Synthesia | Synthesia Enterprise lists SCORM export |
| Answer customer calls with an AI voice | ElevenLabs | ElevenAgents builds voice agents with Twilio telephony |
| Add music or sound effects | ElevenLabs | ElevenLabs generates music and sound effects from text prompts |
| Plan | Tool | Price | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| ElevenLabs Free | ElevenLabs | $0 | 10k credits per month, about 10 TTS minutes, non-commercial only |
| ElevenLabs Starter | ElevenLabs | $6/mo | 30k credits, about 30 TTS minutes, 10 custom voice slots |
| ElevenLabs Creator | ElevenLabs | $22/mo ($11 first month) | 121k credits, about 121 TTS minutes, 1 Professional Voice Clone |
| ElevenLabs Pro | ElevenLabs | $99/mo | 600k credits, about 600 TTS minutes |
| ElevenLabs Scale | ElevenLabs | $299/mo per team | 1.8M credits, 3 workspace seats |
| ElevenLabs Business | ElevenLabs | $990/mo per team | 6M credits, 10 workspace seats |
| ElevenLabs Enterprise | ElevenLabs | Custom | Custom credits and seats |
| ElevenAPI pay-as-you-go | ElevenLabs | $0.08 per 1K characters (TTS v4 list) | Prepaid balance, minimum top-up $5 |
| Synthesia Basic | Synthesia | $0 | 1,200 credits, 10 minutes of video per month, 1 editor, no downloads |
| Synthesia Starter | Synthesia | $29/mo ($264/yr annual) | 1,200 credits, 10 minutes of video per month, 1 editor and 3 guests |
| Synthesia Creator | Synthesia | $89/mo ($804/yr annual) | 3,600 credits, 30 minutes of video per month, 1 editor and 5 guests |
| Synthesia Enterprise | Synthesia | Custom | Unlimited video minutes |
USD as published on each vendor's pricing page, checked Sep 30, 2026. ElevenLabs pricing in full · Synthesia pricing in full
| ElevenLabs | Synthesia | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly allowance | 10k to 6M credits by plan; 1 credit per TTS character | 1,200 to 3,600 credits, 10 to 30 video minutes; unlimited on Enterprise |
| Dubbing | 2,000 to 10,000 credits per minute depending on mode and watermark | 10 / 48 / 140 minutes per month by plan |
| Seats / team | 3 seats on Scale, 10 on Business, custom on Enterprise | 1 editor plus 3 guests (Starter) or 5 guests (Creator) |
| Unused allowance | Credits roll over up to two months on active paid plans, not on Free | Not stated |
| Feature | ElevenLabs | Synthesia |
|---|---|---|
| Text to speech | Yes | Yes (voiceovers in 160+ languages) |
| AI avatars | Not stated | Yes |
| Dubbing | Yes | Yes |
| Voice cloning | Yes (instant from Starter, professional from Creator) | Listed; plan availability not verified |
| Speech to text | Yes | Not stated |
| Screen recording | Not stated | Yes |
| Voice agents | Yes (ElevenAgents) | Interactive avatars listed |
| API | Yes, all plans | Yes, from Creator |
| Mobile apps | Yes | No, desktop-only |
| ElevenLabs | Synthesia | |
|---|---|---|
| Training on your data | Privacy Policy says audio and text may be used to train AI models | Not stated |
| Retention | Kept as long as needed; Zero Retention Mode on Enterprise (API only) | Not stated |
| Business controls | SSO and SCIM, audit logs, data residency (US, EU, India, Singapore), SOC2, BAAs | SOC 2, GDPR, ISO 42001, SAML/SSO |
Taken from each vendor's published policy pages at the time of our check. Policies change; the source links are at the bottom.
AI audio platform for text-to-speech, voice cloning, dubbing, transcription, music and voice agents.
Free stops at: 10k credits per month, 3 Projects in Studio
Verified elevenlabs.io (opens ElevenLabs website in a new tab)
Free · paid from $6/mo US · checked Sep 30
AI video platform for business that creates presenter videos with AI avatars and voiceovers in 160+ languages.
Free stops at: 1,200 credits per month, 10 minutes of video per month
Verified synthesia.io (opens Synthesia website in a new tab)
Free · paid from $29/mo US · checked Sep 29
Not as documented. ElevenLabs outputs speech audio, transcripts, dubbed audio or video, music, sound effects and voice agent conversations; Starter lists Image & Video, but no AI presenter avatars are documented. Synthesia's core product is avatar-led video, with 9 avatars on Basic up to 240+ on Enterprise.
Both dub video. ElevenLabs offers Dubbing v1 (29 languages) and v2 with voice preservation (92 languages), automatic dubbing on all plans and Dubbing Studio from Starter, plus API dubbing at $0.33 or $2.20 per minute. Synthesia lists 70+ output languages with 10, 48 or 140 dubbing minutes per month depending on plan.
At entry level, yes: ElevenLabs Starter is $6/month and Synthesia Starter is $29/month billed monthly. They sell different output, though. $6 buys about 30 minutes of speech audio; $29 buys 10 minutes of avatar video with downloads and dubbing.
ElevenLabs Free is non-commercial only; a commercial license starts on Starter. Synthesia Basic does not allow video downloads, which start on Starter. Synthesia's commercial-use terms for Basic are not stated in our profile.
Only official vendor pages. No third-party benchmarks, forum threads or press were used. How we review.
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