HeyGen vs Synthesia for ads

Can you run stock avatars in paid social ads?

On HeyGen’s Creator, Pro and Business plans, yes, with conditions; on Synthesia, only with its written consent, on any plan.

Synthesia’s Acceptable Use Policy, last updated 23 February 2024, prohibits this:

Incorporating a Stock Avatar in content for “promoted”, “boosted”, or “paid” advertising on any social media platform or similar media, absent written express consent from Synthesia

For a custom avatar, the same clause goes on, “you may do so only with appropriate consent from the individual.” On our reading, “boosted” also catches an organic post you promote later. The policy names no way to ask for that consent.

On testimonial-style scripts, Synthesia’s documents disagree, so the point is unclear. The policy bars a stock avatar that makes viewers think the actor “personally holds, endorses, or actually has your stated opinions”, which it allows “only on enterprise Service plans”. The help centre (22 July 2026) names no exception: stock avatars “can’t” “Endorse products or services”.

Are AI UGC ads legal? reads the FTC’s fake-testimonial rule as reaching an avatar that claims to have used the product, on either tool.

The same help article limits stock avatars to content that is “Neutral in tone” and “Fact-based and educational”. A script with “References to real people, companies, or current events” may not be eligible.

Synthesia’s policy also bars “Using the Services to promote or advertise age restricted goods, services or venues, including alcohol, tobacco, vaping products, psychoactive substances, firearms, gambling, sex toys, escort services and dating services”. It names no avatar or plan exception.

The help centre sends age-restricted “internal sales, packaging, distribution, logistics, education, or liability content” to a personal or studio avatar. It does not mention ads, so on our reading the policy’s ban still covers them.

HeyGen’s terms (last updated 23 July 2026) leave Creator, Pro and Business output free for “commercial purposes” (s.3). Its stock avatars page answers “Yes, on eligible paid plans” and adds: “You can use HeyGen videos for ads, marketing, social media, and client work.” The yes has conditions:

• Section 2 bars “representing that the User Output is entirely human generated” and, “to the extent required by applicable law”, requires you to disclose AI use. Which laws ask: AI ad disclosure rules.
• The moderation policy (3.1, effective 25 July 2024) bars “Promotion of goods and services related to commercial sex( Prostitution), Weapons/ ammunition, alcohol, online gambling, trade of endangered species, body parts and fluids, hazmat goods.”
• Section 4 bars Free-plan output from “advertising” and “client work”.
• Religious content and educational content that may show nudity or sex are “Conditional content” (moderation policy 3.2): “Such content can be created using custom avatars only.”

Plan by plan: HeyGen and Synthesia in the AI commercial use matrix.

Which costs less for a 30-second ad?

Monthly and pro rata, HeyGen Creator undercuts Synthesia Starter on every avatar model below, if every credit is used. Creator lists at $29 a month and Starter at $29 a month (HeyGen pricing page, Synthesia pricing page).

By the whole minute, Avatar IV with a Video Look and Avatar V cost more than monthly Starter. Billed yearly, the answer turns on the avatar model and on which Synthesia price holds (below the table).

Synthesia’s pricing page meters by the second, so its pro rata figures are by the second and its rows have no whole-minute figure. A 59-second video leaves “9:01 minutes” of Starter’s 10.

HeyGen’s rows use the per-minute rates in its credits article (17 September 2026), which also says “HeyGen will show the credit cost in-product before you generate”. Yearly plans get their credits month by month (plans article).

The rows leave out Photo Looks and Custom Expressive Motion. That Avatar IV option adds 40 credits a minute, lifting a monthly 30-second ad to $1.72, above monthly Starter.

For ads without Synthesia’s consent, the fair match is a HeyGen stock avatar against a Synthesia personal avatar. Synthesia’s FAQ ties that avatar to yearly plans and quotes $264 a year for Starter, against the card’s $216.

If the FAQ is right, yearly Starter costs $0.90 a 30-second ad by the card, or $1.10 by the FAQ, if every minute is used. Both are under Avatar V’s $1.16 on monthly Creator. On yearly Creator, Avatar V’s $0.96 sits between them.

Every plan and length: HeyGen pricing and Synthesia pricing; your own volumes: the cost per AI ad calculator.

Can you make an ad with your own face or a spokesperson’s?

Yes on both, with the person’s consent: one digital twin on HeyGen Creator, an unclear count on Synthesia Starter.

HeyGen Creator includes “1 Custom Digital Twin (Video Avatar)”, its plans article (24 September 2026) says. The Free plan’s one custom avatar cannot appear in ads (terms s.4).

The person shown must give “explicit consent”, and “You are responsible for honoring any request by or on behalf of an Actor to remove content depicting the Actor wherever you have published such depictions” (moderation policy 2.1). On our reading, one request can pull every live ad with that face.

Synthesia’s personal avatar needs a consent video that “must be recorded live and must include the on-screen passcode”, recorded by the person shown (help centre). Such avatars “can mention brands” (help centre).

How many Starter includes is unclear. The pricing page’s compare plans table lists “3 personal avatars”, and the personal avatar help article (22 July 2026) agrees: “Starter: 3 free avatars”.

But the Starter card lists none, and the FAQ says “One custom personal avatar is included with the annual Starter and Creator plans.” Ask Synthesia before buying monthly Starter for ads; the Synthesia profile covers the rest of the process.

Which reaches more languages with one ad?

HeyGen, on each pricing page’s own count: 175 against Synthesia’s 70+ below Enterprise.

HeyGen’s compare plans table lists “175 languages & dialects” for video translation on every paid plan and 30+ on Free. Synthesia’s pricing page gives presenters “160+ languages & voices” on every plan, but its translation lists “70+ languages” below Enterprise and 140+ on it.

Dubbing one 30-second ad also costs less on HeyGen Creator than on monthly Synthesia Starter, if every credit is used. The figures below assume part minutes count pro rata, which neither page states. On Creator at $29 a month, lip-synced translation in Speed mode takes 6 credits a minute: $0.15 (credits article).

On Synthesia Starter at $29 a month, 1,200 credits make 48 minutes of dubbing, so a 30-second dub costs $0.30 without lip sync. Lip sync “Uses 2× credits when enabled”, so a lip-synced 30-second dub costs $0.60 (pricing page).

What happens to your ads and avatars when you cancel?

HeyGen’s help centre says your videos and avatars are kept; on Synthesia, access to them ends with the billing period.

HeyGen’s pricing FAQ says a cancelled account “moves to the Free plan” when the cycle ends, and “Unused credits do not carry over.” Its plans article says “All of your avatars, videos, and projects will still be accessible when you’re ready to sign back up.” Monthly credits roll over “for one more month” while you pay.

On our reading, the Free plan’s ad bar (s.4) covers output “generated under a Free Plan”, so ads made while paying stay usable. Section 5 of the terms is the exception: if HeyGen ends your account over a breach, “you must cease use of and delete any Outputs”, which on our reading includes live ads.

Synthesia’s billing article (10 September 2026) says “Once the billing period ends, you lose access to Synthesia and all videos in your account”, so export finished ads first.

The Customer Terms (20 July 2026) add that “Avatars cannot be exported” (Data Portability and Deletion).

Neither refunds a period already paid: HeyGen’s payments are “non-refundable, except where required by law” (s.7(d)), and Synthesia’s “fees paid are non-refundable” except as its Contract states (Payment Terms).

Synthesia’s terms also ask for renewal notice “at least thirty (30) days” before the term ends, while its billing article says to cancel “before your renewal date”. Neither page says how the two fit.

What Trustpilot reviews raise about each

Both profiles counted the 20 latest Trustpilot reviews on 24 September 2026. The samples cover different spans, so we set the counts side by side without comparing them.

HeyGen’s 20 were posted on 22 and 23 September 2026, 17 of them marked “Invited” (asked for by the company). Of the 20, 11 praise the product or its ease of use. Among the complaints, 3 dispute a charge and 2 report slow or poor output (HeyGen profile).

Synthesia’s 20 were posted 6 May to 14 September 2026. Of the 20, 5 report a video rejected by moderation, one made with the reviewer’s own custom avatar. Another 5 praise a Synthesia webinar, and 3 say their minutes lapsed monthly or ran out (Synthesia profile).

If neither fits

At list price, if every credit is used, Creatify costs more per 30-second ad than any figure in the cost table above. JoggAI costs less than most.

Creatify and JoggAI on Starter by cost of a 30-second ad and monthly price (JoggAI from pro rata to a whole minute). Prices read on the vendors’ own pages on 24 Sep 2026.

	Creatify	JoggAI
Cost per output at list price	$3.90 per 30-second video if every credit is used	$0.12 to $0.24 per 30-second video if every credit is used; pro rata
Monthly from (USD)	$39	$29

If you want an ad launcher beside the avatars, Creatify’s pricing page lists one. The version we read did not say which plans include it. On our reading its terms (s.6.3) leave unclear whether its AI actors count as licensed “Community Assets”.

Creatify bills avatar video in 15-second blocks, rounded up (help centre), so a 16-second ad costs as much as a 30-second one (pricing page). More in the Creatify profile.

If you want one credit balance for the web app and the API, JoggAI’s pricing page lists “Credits Sharing: API/MCP & Platform” on each plan card. Its plans sit in the price tracker.

JoggAI’s Starter card puts 144,000 credits at about 1,440 minutes of avatar video, about 100 credits a minute. The table’s low end assumes that rate pro rata, and the high end billing by the whole minute. JoggAI’s pricing page publishes no rounding rule.

Other avatar tools by job: HeyGen alternatives and AI UGC tools.