Short answer
- Closest all-round HeyGen alternative: Synthesia, from $18 a month billed yearly, with a free Basic plan.
- Training and courses: Colossyan, with a free Starter plan and SCORM export on Professional ($59 a month on an annual plan).
- Lowest solo price: Elai Creator at $23 a month billed annually, or DeepBrain AI Studios Personal from $24 a month.
- Phone-first creators: Captions, with AI actors and digital twins from $24.99 a month on iOS.
- Staying with HeyGen? Read our HeyGen pricing breakdown first; the right plan may fix the problem.
HeyGen alternatives compared
For reference, HeyGen itself listed Free at $0 (3 watermarked videos a month, up to 1 minute each), Creator at $29 a month with 600 credits and 1080p export, Pro at $49 a month with 1,000 credits and 4K export, and Business at $149 a month plus $20 per extra seat.
| Tool | Free plan | Cheapest paid plan | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| HeyGen | 3 videos a month, up to 1 minute, watermarked | Creator $29 a month ($24 billed annually) | Marketing and social video, 4K on Pro |
| Synthesia | Basic: 10 minutes a month, watermarked, share by link | Starter $29 a month, or $18 a month billed yearly | Company training and internal video |
| Colossyan | Starter: free, 20 minutes a month with the NEO avatar engine | Professional $59 a month on an annual plan | Training courses, SCORM and interactive video |
| Elai | 1 minute, 1 user | Creator $29 a month, or $23 a month billed annually ($276 a year) | Low-cost explainers and e-learning |
| DeepBrain AI Studios | Up to 3 videos, up to 1 minute each, 720p | Personal from $24 a month | Unlimited avatar videos on a solo plan |
| Captions | Free tier without AI credits | Max $24.99 a month (iOS price) | AI actors and talking videos made on a phone |
HeyGen annual price from our HeyGen pricing check of October 21, 2026; all other figures read from the linked pricing pages on October 22, 2026.
Synthesia
Synthesia is the best-known HeyGen alternative and the one most often compared with it. Basic is free and gives 10 minutes of video creation or dubbing a month, 3 survey responses and 500 credits, but videos carry a Synthesia watermark and are shared by link. Starter costs $29 a month billed monthly or $18 a month billed yearly and adds downloads, logo removal and 125+ stock avatars. Pro starts at $89 a month, or $64 a month billed yearly, with 5 personal avatars and 180+ stock avatars. Enterprise is custom.
Synthesia leans toward corporate training: roleplays, surveys, interactive video and learner seats. It counts usage in credits, about 100 per minute of avatar video. Full details are on our Synthesia pricing page, and the two tools are compared plan by plan in HeyGen vs Synthesia.
Colossyan
Colossyan builds training videos and courses from PDFs, slides and scripts. Its Starter plan was listed as free, with $27 a month struck through and no credit card required. Starter includes all 300+ stock avatars, 20 minutes a month with the NEO avatar engine, videos up to 20 minutes, 15 custom avatars and 1080p output. Watermark removal and unlimited MP4 downloads start on Professional, listed at $59 a month on an annual plan (34% off), with $30 a month for each additional editor, 30 minutes a month with NEO and 10 minutes with NEO2, and 5 SCORM exports a month. Enterprise is custom and adds unlimited minutes and 4K.
Pick Colossyan over HeyGen if your output is courses and compliance training rather than social clips.
Elai
Elai is a lower-cost HeyGen alternative for explainers and e-learning. Free includes 1 minute of video and 80+ avatars. Creator costs $29 a month billed monthly or $23 a month billed annually ($276 a year) for 15 minutes a month in Full HD, which Elai prices at $1.93 or $1.53 per minute. Team costs $125 a month or $100 a month billed annually for 50 minutes a month, 3 editors and 3 guests, 4K video, premium voices and one selfie avatar with a voice clone. Enterprise is custom.
The trade-off is minutes: 15 minutes a month on Creator is tight if you publish several long videos a week.
DeepBrain AI Studios
DeepBrain AI’s AI Studios sells avatar video by plan rather than by minute. The Free plan allows up to 3 AI videos of up to 1 minute each, 1 custom avatar and 720p export. Personal is listed from $24 a month, with unlimited AI videos up to 30 minutes long, 3 custom avatars, 1080p export and 120 minutes of AI dubbing a month. Team is listed from $55 per seat a month, with videos up to 60 minutes, 5 custom avatars and 4K export. The page says annual billing saves 20%; it did not state which billing period the “from” prices assume, so treat that detail as unverified.
Captions
Captions started as a caption app and now sells AI actors, digital twins and AI-edited videos. Max costs $24.99 a month with 500 credits a month. Frontier tiers cost $69.99, $139.99 and $279.99 a month for 1,400, 2,800 and 5,600 credits. The pricing page notes that prices reflect iOS plans only, so web or Android prices may differ (unverified). Captions suits creators who film and edit on a phone; it is not built for training courses.
D-ID and Vidnoz
Two other common HeyGen alternatives load their prices with scripts, so we could not read the plan prices from their pricing pages; we leave those prices out rather than guess. D-ID’s pricing FAQ says video length is rounded up to the nearest 15 seconds, unused minutes do not carry over, and Trial and Lite plans carry a D-ID watermark. Vidnoz lists a free plan with 720p export and videos up to 3 minutes, and paid Starter and Business plans with 1080p export, videos up to 60 minutes and no watermark.
How to choose a HeyGen alternative
- Name the job. Training and courses point to Synthesia or Colossyan; social and marketing video points to HeyGen, Captions or DeepBrain.
- Count your minutes. Minute-based plans (Elai, Colossyan) are easy to budget; credit-based plans (HeyGen, Synthesia, Captions) need a test video to see real usage.
- Check export limits. Among the plans we read, 4K was listed on HeyGen Pro, Elai Team, DeepBrain Team and Colossyan Enterprise.
- Test free first. Make the same 1-minute script on two free plans before paying.
If you need generated footage rather than a talking presenter, avatar tools are the wrong category; see best AI video generator and the AI video pricing tracker. Free tiers across tools are compared in AI video free plans.
How we checked these tools
We read each vendor’s pricing page on October 22, 2026 and copied prices and limits as shown, in USD. Where a card offered monthly and yearly billing, we give both if both were readable. Anything a page did not state clearly is marked unverified or left out. No vendor paid for placement and there are no affiliate links.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best HeyGen alternative?
It depends on the job. For company training, Synthesia and Colossyan are the closest HeyGen alternatives, with SCORM export and training features. For a cheap solo plan, Elai Creator was $23 a month billed annually and DeepBrain AI Studios Personal was listed from $24 a month on October 22, 2026. For phone-made talking videos, Captions sells AI actors from $24.99 a month (iOS price).
Is there a free HeyGen alternative?
Several have free plans. Synthesia Basic gives 10 minutes of video a month, Colossyan Starter was listed as free with 20 minutes a month, DeepBrain AI Studios Free allows up to 3 videos of up to 1 minute, and Elai Free includes 1 minute. Free videos are watermarked or limited on every tool we checked.
Which HeyGen alternative is cheapest?
On the pricing pages we read on October 22, 2026, the lowest paid entry prices were Synthesia Starter at $18 a month billed yearly, Elai Creator at $23 a month billed annually and DeepBrain AI Studios Personal from $24 a month. HeyGen Creator was $29 a month, or $24 billed annually in our October 21 check.
Is Synthesia better than HeyGen?
Neither wins outright. Synthesia is cheaper at entry level on yearly billing and leans toward training; HeyGen offers 4K export on Pro and newer generation models. Our HeyGen vs Synthesia page compares the two plan by plan.
Have you tested these HeyGen alternatives?
No. This page is a documentation check of each vendor’s public pricing page. We have not scored avatar quality, lip sync or rendering speed.
Sources
Vendor facts on this page come from these public pages, checked October 22, 2026. Prices and plan limits change; confirm them at checkout.