Synthesia vs Elai
Deciding between Synthesia and Elai? Compare all features and pricing side by side to see which one is right for you.
Compare the features side by side
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Why choose Synthesia’s avatars?
Synthesia's avatars are superior due to their large and inclusive selection of stock avatars, as well as the inclusion of 6 gestures which add more dynamic and lifelike movements.
Lastly, the lip sync rating of 4.5/5 further enhances the realism of the avatars, solidifies Synthesia as the leader in the AI video generation space.
See a Synthesia avatar in action:
Why choose Elai’s avatars?
Elai's avatars offer a unique advantage with their custom photo avatars feature, allowing users to use their own photo or image to create a personalized avatar that looks exactly like them.
Using Elai, you can also create an animated mascot avatar based on an illustration.
See an Elai avatar in action:
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Explore Synthesia's 140+ Avatars
Synthesia comes with an ever-increasing set of diverse and professional avatars which you can use in your videos.
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Synthesia or Elai – which one offers better voices?
Both Synthesia and Elai offer a large selection of languages for text-to-speech voiceovers - 130+ and 75+ respectively. Additionally, both platforms offer the ability for users to upload custom audio voiceovers for their avatars (Corporate plans only), and clone their voices for text-to-speech voiceovers.
Both tools offer Ai script assistants and auto-captioning, making it easy for users to generate scripts and captions for audio or video content. Elai goes one step further and offers auto-translation, which Synthesia does not currently offer.
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AI Voices in 130+ Languages
Need a realistic sounding voice or voice-over for your avatar? We've got you covered, with our wide range of languages and accents.
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Making videos with Synthesia and Elai
Both Synthesia's STUDIO and Elai's Builder feature all the basic online video editing features, including animations, transitions, PPT uploads, stock media, and aspect ratios.
On the other hand, Synthesia STUDIO includes a screen recorder tool - a must-have for any modern video creator, as well as video analytics.
Here's a brief overview of Synthesia's video platform:
The rendering time is also quite different, with Synthesia coming out as a leader with a 5-minute rendering time for a 40-second video.
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Want to add multimedia?
Synthesia and Elai offer very similar stock media options, and allow users to upload their own media.
The biggest difference is that Elai features a larger stock music library, while Synthesia features a larger stock video library.
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Explore Synthesia's features
Synthesia STUDIO is a simple and intuitive video editor for modern video creators.
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Do both platforms offer templates?
Both Synthesia and Elai have a library of stock templates, though Elai offers a more extensive range, with around 55 landscape-oriented templates, and 50 mobile-oriented templates.
On the other hand, Synthesia's 90+ example videos can be duplicated and edited, essentially acting as editable templates.
Both companies offer custom brand templates to enterprise clients.
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55+ Video templates
Synthesia comes with a large library of video templates which are professionally designed, fully customisable, and delightfully easy to use.
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Elai’s security & ethics
Elai does offer Single Sign-On (SSO), but does not seem to be SOC compliant. This can stand in the way of big enterprises using the software.
Synthesia’s security & ethics
In contrast, Synthesia has a strict content moderation policy (automated & manual), as well as SSO. The platform recently became SOC 2 Type II certified.
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Enterprise-grade security
Synthesia just became SOC2 Type II certified!
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How does the customer service compare?
Looking at the most trusted software rating platform (G2), ratings for both Synthesia and Elai are excellent - 4.8/5 and 4.7/5 respectively. Synthesia does have more reviews, though - 770+ compared to Elai's 50.
With regards to customer support, Synthesia offers support for all users both by chat and email, whereas Elai offer customer support through email only.
In contrast to Elai, Synthesia also has dedicated Customer Success Managers (CSMs) for Corporate plan users.
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Synthesia is the #1 rated AI video creation platform.
Synthesia is rated 4.8/5 on G2 with over 500 reviews.
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Other reasons to choose Synthesia
Synthesia is a comprehensive platform that offers a range of features, including a Knowledge Base for any questions about the platform, Synthesia Academy for simple tutorials and beginner courses made by in-house L&D experts, and Integrations with 35+ tools.
Additionally, Synthesia recently launched an Examples page, that showcases real examples of videos made in Synthesia. The video can be cloned and adjusted to individual needs. Lastly, you can find a list of Service Providers to help with your video needs.
Other reasons to choose Elai
In comparison, Elai has fewer features. But it does have a Help Center and integrations with 9 platforms.
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Try Synthesia for free
Make your free AI video and see how it works.
Fundamental AI research advantage
Being the oldest & biggest company in the space, we have a bigger AI dataset for training our models. Our focus in continually solving fundamental AI problems has a direct effect on STUDIO.
- $10M R&D investment in 2023
- Best lip sync & voice quality
- Largest team of AI researchers
Most trusted brand
As the leaders of the AI video generation space since 2017, we have strong ethics and content moderation policies. That is mirrored in our customer reviews.
- Human & machine moderation
- 4.8/5 960+ G2 reviews
- Strong moderation policies
Enterprise grade security
Synthesia is currently the only enterprise-ready AI video platform, with a dedicated security team, regular penetration tests and official accreditation to back this up.
- Single Sign-On (SSO)
- GDPR compliant
- SOC 2 Type II compliant
1.8x faster video generation
On average, a 40-second Synthesia video generates in about 5 minutes. It takes Elai 9 minutes.
Built-in screen recorder
No need to use switch between tools to create a video. Use the built-in screen recorder to create videos from start to finish.
We might be biased, but our customers aren't. See what they have to say.
Having a presenter who can instantly say what you want to say (and in the way you want to say it) is invaluable. A remarkable new authoring tool, without a doubt.
Synthesia removes the skill and cost barriers in terms of voice acting and videography that's usually required to create talking-head training videos.
The user interface is intuitive, and it's easy to produce video content quickly. Also super easy to edit, change elements, and manipulate the script.
I don't need to record my videos to get a better effect on the video. I can shoot videos in multiple languages in minutes with an avatar.
It raises our content to the next level, helping us gain interest and engagement in our services. The speed of production and the fact that it only takes one person is a great cost reduction.
When creating courses with audio, if the narrator leaves the organization, we don't have to settle for two different voices or search for a similar voice. We can easily recreate all voiceovers with Synthesia.
What I don't like about Synthesia is when we use bullet points. The manual process of finding the timing to sync the screen text appearance with the avatar's speech is time consuming.
What I do not like so much is the editing of the avatar's pauses. In the area where you insert the text, there should be a menu bar that allows you to click on it and insert pauses or gestures.
The product is still in development, and as a user, I sometimes need to use creative workarounds. However, I do appreciate that I feel like Synthesia approaches this by making our company's needs part of further product developments.
Synthesia pricing:
Free
1 minute of video
$0
Basic
15 minutes of video/month
$29/month
Advanced
50 minutes of video/month
$99/month
Corporate plan
Custom pricing
The difference in numbers
Here are a few quick facts about both companies in numbers.

See how Synthesia compares to other AI video generators
Frequently asked questions
Is Synthesia AI free?
You can make a free demo video to test our AI generator (limited to 200 words). Simply upload or type in your script, and get your video.If you love the results, you can upgrade to our Personal pricing plan ($30/month) or contact us for a custom Corporate plan.
Does Synthesia cost money?
For Personal plan users, Synthesia costs $30 per month. The price for corporate plan users is customized according to the organisation's needs.
Who owns Synthesia?
Synthesia was founded in 2017 by Victor Riparbelli, Steffen Tjerrild, Prof. Matthias Niessner, and Prof. Lourdes Agapito.
Is Synthesia an AI?
Yes, Synthesia is an AI video generation platform. AI in this case stands for artificial intelligence, and is used by Synthesia to generate audiovisual content, more specifically, synthetic video.
What is better than Synthesia?
While Synthesia is the leading AI video generation software, there are a few alternatives on the market. To compare them side by side, check out this list of top 6 AI video generators.