Captions vs Synthesia

Captions

• Creators posting short talking-head videos to TikTok, Instagram and YouTube Shorts
• Marketers producing ad variations with AI actors instead of filming
• People who want captions and translated subtitles added automatically

Synthesia

• Training and L&D teams producing videos without filming
• Localizing existing videos into many languages
• Turning slide decks and documents into narrated videos

Captions

• There is no Mac or Windows app: on a computer it runs in the browser, and projects are stored on the device and do not sync between devices.
• The Android app is Captions Lite, a manual editor. Its $4.99 Lite plan works only on Android; iOS and web need a separate subscription.
• AI Edit, the chat-based editor, Clips and AI Twins start on Max at $24.99 a month, and Prompt to Video uses 16 credits for every 6 seconds.
• The pricing page says its prices reflect iOS plans and lists no yearly prices; Basic and Lite appear only in the help center.

Synthesia

• Basic videos carry a Synthesia watermark; downloading videos and removing the logo start on the Starter plan.
• Usage is metered in credits: video costs about 100 credits a minute, so Starter's 1,250 monthly credits add roughly 12 minutes.
• Self-serve plans include 1 editor; Starter adds 3 guests and Pro 5, and guests are invited to comment on videos.
• SAML/SSO, live team collaboration, SCORM export and 1-click translation are listed under the Enterprise plan.

Captions

AI Edit

Pick an editing style and the app cuts scenes and adds B-roll, zooms, transitions, music and captions. It handles clips of up to 2 minutes on iOS and 1 minute on the web.

Chat-based editor

Type the change you want and the editor applies it. Each message uses 2 credits and each action taken 1 credit, with more for generated media.

Captions, translation and dubbing

Generates captions in 100+ styles, translates subtitles into 100+ languages and dubs video into 30+ languages with a clone of the speaker's voice.

AI avatars and AI Twin

Generates a talking-head video from a script using a built-in AI actor or a digital twin of yourself. The Max plan allows up to 30 AI Twins.

Clips

Turns one long video into a batch of short clips that are ready to post. Clips is included from the Max plan.

Eye contact, denoise and trimming

Corrects eye contact, removes background noise and cuts pauses and filler words. On Android, eye contact and denoise need the Lite plan.

Synthesia

AI avatars

Videos are presented by stock AI avatars, from 9 on Basic to 240+ on Enterprise, or by a personal avatar created from a single photo.

Script, file or slides to video

The AI Video Assistant turns a prompt, link or file into an editable video, and PowerPoint decks can be imported and narrated.

AI dubbing and translation

Dub an uploaded video or YouTube link into 70+ languages, 140+ on Enterprise, keeping the speaker's voice. Lip-sync uses twice the credits.

Interactive videos

Add clickable calls to action, branching paths and quizzes that show viewers a final score. Interactive videos are listed from the Pro plan.

Roleplay and Survey Sessions

Avatar-led roleplay practice and conversational surveys. Roleplay learner seats can be added to any plan at $29 per learner a month, or $25 a month on yearly billing.

AI Screen Recorder and API

A Chrome extension makes editable screen recordings, and the Synthesia API creates and dubs videos programmatically.

Captions

• Free$0

  Basic manual editing with one caption template and watermark-free exports. 60 to 200 lifetime credits that do not refresh.

• Lite$4.99

  per month, Android only

  Manual editing on Android with dubbing, caption styles, teleprompter, eye contact and denoise. Cannot be used on iOS or the web.

• Basic$9.99

  per month, or $64.99 per year on the US App Store

  200 credits a month, with captions and dubbing, script generator, teleprompter, eye contact, denoise and Reddit to Video.

• Max$24.99

  per month, billed monthly

  500 credits a month, AI Edit, the chat-based editor, Clips, up to 30 AI Twins and generated B-roll, music and images.

• Frontier$69.99

  per month, billed monthly

  1,400 credits a month and faster generation. Frontier 2x is $139.99 with 2,800 credits and Frontier 4x is $279.99 with 5,600.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Bulk credit discounts, custom seat options, account management, onboarding and training-data exclusion.

Synthesia

• Basic$0

  10 minutes of video or dubbing, 3 survey responses and 500 credits a month, with 1 editor and 9 AI avatars. Videos carry a watermark.

• Starter$18

  per month, billed yearly; $29 billed monthly

  1,250 credits a month on top of the free allowance, video downloads, no Synthesia logo, 3 guests and 125+ AI avatars.

• Pro$64

  per month, billed yearly; $89 billed monthly

  6,000 credits a month, 5 personal avatars, interactive videos, branded video pages, 5 guests and 180+ AI avatars.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Unlimited video minutes, 240+ avatars, 1-click translation, SAML/SSO, live team collaboration, brand kits and SCORM export.

Captions

• Annual discount

  Discount on yearly subscriptions

  The help center says yearly subscriptions are discounted against 12 months of monthly billing. The US App Store lists Basic at $64.99 a year against $9.99 a month.

Synthesia

• Annual discount

  Save up to 4 months with yearly billing

  Starter is $18 a month billed yearly against $29 billed monthly, and Pro is $64 against $89. Synthesia describes this as saving up to 4 months.