Synthesia is a candidate for organizations producing multilingual training, onboarding, or explainer videos with avatars, templates, brand controls, and collaboration in one workflow.
Have a subject expert review the script and Thai-speaking listeners check comprehension. Establish permission and withdrawal procedures for a person's avatar. If expressive performance matters, compare filmed presenters and HeyGen using the same script. This assessment uses information recorded on 1 August 2026, not testing by PickByTask.
Contents — jump to a section
What does Synthesia do?
Synthesia offers AI avatars, custom avatars, multilingual voices, templates, screen recording, collaboration and brand features. Documentation covers product-based workflows and APIs.
These features help produce scripted videos without having to shoot a presenter every time, but they are not a replacement for instructional design, content experts, translators, and accessibility review.
Ideal job
- Onboarding that updates when policy or screen changes
- compliance training with script owner and revision history
- product education in many languages consistent visual/template
- internal communication that do not require high emotional performance
Not suitable for sensitive testimony, apologies, leadership messages, or courses where hands-on demonstration and interaction are more important than speaking on camera.
Visit Synthesia ↗Price and video minutes
Pricing Separate plans, video allowance, avatar/team capability by inspection date. Must note minute generation, regeneration, custom avatar slot, language/voice, collaboration, export and API.
The cost per lesson should include expert time reviewing script, translator, caption, scene revision, and LMS packaging. Platforms may reduce production costs but do not eliminate review costs.
Instructional design
Start with the learning objective and assessment, not selecting an avatar. The script should divide the scene according to concept, use visuals to help explain, not put every word of text on the screen. and determine the point at which the learner must stop thinking or take a test outside of the video.
Compare learning completion/quiz outcomes with the original format. The number of videos produced is not used as evidence that learning is improving.
Thai language and pronunciation
The fixture should have official words, corporate terms, product names, numbers, and abbreviations for Thai language examiners to listen to both on their own and when putting together an avatar. Check for pause, stress, caption timing, and the meaning of translation.
If pronunciation is fixed with spelling workaround, keep the middle glossary and retest when voice/model changes.
Visit Synthesia ↗Avatar and context suitability
Measure eye contact, gesture, lip sync, framing, and artifact on mobile/desktop screens. Stock avatars may be suitable for general content. Custom avatars provide continuity with the organization but require consent and may lead students to believe that the presenter actually spoke the message.
HR, safety or harassment content should pass sensitivity review because the synthetic presenter may reduce or increase trust differently according to the group of learners.
Collaboration and revision
Test the roles of script writer, subject-matter expert, brand reviewer, and publisher. View comments, version, approval, and template locking. When policies change, you must be able to track which videos use the old script version and need to regenerate.
Exporting video alone may not be enough for future fixes. Save the source script, media assets, glossary, and project owner in the central system.
Consent and custom avatar
Terms of Service is the main source of service terms. Organizations must also have consent specifying the language, content, channel, duration, advertisements, and withdrawal rights when employees are issued to stop generation and manage old videos according to the contract.
Do not create an avatar from an image/video that you have permission to view but do not have permission to create likeness. Authentication during onboarding does not replace approval of every sensitive script.
Security and information
Synthesia Security Help start an enterprise assessment, checking for DPA, subprocessors, regions, retention, training controls, SSO/role, and planned deletion. Internal scripts may reveal policies or information before they are published, so an approved workspace must be used.
API integration must limit keys, check for job failures, and not record scripts/URLs with more secret information in the log than necessary.
Visit Synthesia ↗External reviews
G2 has positive themes of ease, speed and avatar with dissent about flexibility/price. Capterra, GetApp and Software Advice are in the same Gartner pool.
Trustpilot provides billing/support dissent TechRadar provides editorial review of usability/quality. We count independent groups conservatively and do not average ratings.
Comparison with HeyGen and actual shooting
Use the same 90 second training script. Measuring creation time, pronunciation defects, avatar acceptance, approval steps, cost and updates one scene HeyGen is suitable for comparison. translation/avatar workflow. The actual shooting is the baseline for human performance and trust.
Verdict
Synthesia makes sense for organizations that have existing content governance and need to update multilingual video. If the team doesn't already have script owner, consent registration, and accessibility review, the tool will increase the number of videos faster than the ability to control quality.
Decision making table for L&D
| Requirement | Synthesia is worth trying out. | Options that should be compared |
|---|---|---|
| Update policy frequently | You can edit scene/script without recording the whole thing. | slide + human narration |
| multiple languages | There is a translator and glossary in the middle. | subtitle/voice-over from voice actors |
| learner trust | avatar via pilot with the target audience | true presenter or subject expert |
| LMS tracking | export/package Can connect to the destination system according to requirements | authoring tool that supports SCORM/xAPI directly |
The AI avatar is just a means of presentation. If the assessment and learner support are not complete, the video should not be counted as "successful" from export.
Accessibility and delivery
Check editable captions, transcript, contrast, on-screen text, audio clarity, and cognitive load. Don't let the avatar read long messages while the screen is displaying another message. Learners must stop, rewind, and access the content without relying only on sounds or images.
Open files in your organization's production LMS. Check thumbnails, caption language, mobile playback, completion events, and video changes without breaking the original link. If the platform does not create the required package, include the authoring tool step in the TCO.
Support and content retirement
Test tickets regarding pronunciation and custom avatar withdrawal separately because they are different risks. Record who verified their identity, who deleted assets, and whether there is proof of completion. When the policy expires, all videos from LMS, intranet, and embedded links must be retired.
Create a video registry that ties owner, script version, language, avatar consent, review date, and retirement date. This is more important than the number of templates when your organization has hundreds of videos.
FAQ
Can Synthesia replace the teacher?
Suitable for some types of static content, but not a replacement for discussion, coaching, and comprehension assessment. Learning flow must be designed around video.
Is Thai good?
Not graded until tested. pronunciation, caption and translation by Thai examiners
Can custom avatars always be used?
Based on consent/contract, expiry, revocation and management are required when the owner's likeness leaves the organization.
