api.video vs Synthesia Pricing (2026)
How do these two stack up on price? Here's what each one costs, what you get, and where the value sits.
Video Encoding
- FREE for unlimited minutes
Video Hosting
- $0.00285 per minute of video stored
Video Delivery
- $0.0017 per minute of video delivered
Pay as you go
- 100 Upload API calls/min
- 200 Write API calls/min
- 500 Read API calls/min
- Audit Logs (up to 5 days)
- 99.999%
- Public Terms
- Credit Card, Apple Pay, SEPA (on request), Monthly Billing
- Customizable player
- Any video player (3rd party)
- HLS & MP4 output
- Upload by URL
- Custom domain
- Encoding from 240p to 4K
- Adaptive Delivery
- Concurrent Live Stream
- Simulcasting / Restreaming
- Live stream DVR functionality
- Record a live stream
- Encoding from 240p to 4K
- Adaptive Delivery
- 24/7 Live streaming
- Low-latency
- RTMPS and SRT protocols
- Video transcription
- Video translation
- Video summarization
- Generate Thumbnail
- Trimming / Clipping
- Watermark
- Captions
- Chapters
- Upload your own Thumbnail
- 1 month Analytics Retention
- 3 months Analytics Retention
- 12 months Analytics Retention
- Usage Analytics per Project
- Webhooks
- Metadata & video tagging
- Video analytics
- Data visualization
- Basic API Authentication
- Advanced API Authentication
- Private Video
- Private Live Stream
- Delegated Upload Tokens
- Domain referer playback restrictions
- AES Encryption 128bits
- Video Restore
- Ecosystem Catalog (see dedicated section)
- Direct Upload
- Progressive Upload
- Video Import Tool
- Delivery on the CDN (worldwide)
- Delivery on origin
- Backup & Recovery
- Accessing mezzanine files
- Normalization
- Analytics plugins for 3rd party players
- Built-in HTML5 player
- Native Android & iOS mobile player
- Screen & webcam recording SDKs
- CMS & no-code/low-code integrations
- API clients & SDKs
Enterprise plan
- 200 Upload API calls/min
- 1000 Write API calls/min
- 2500 Read API calls/min
- Audit Logs (up to 60 days) & Domain Referrer
- Isolated storage
- Security Reviews
- 99.999% + SLA credits
- Signed MSA, SLA, DPA
- Wire Transfer, Annual Billing, Payment schedules
- Customizable player
- Any video player (3rd party)
- HLS & MP4 output
- Upload by URL
- Custom domain
- Encoding from 240p to 4K
- Adaptive Delivery
- Concurrent Live Stream
- Simulcasting / Restreaming
- Live stream DVR functionality
- Record a live stream
- Encoding from 240p to 4K
- Adaptive Delivery
- 24/7 Live streaming
- Low-latency
- RTMPS and SRT protocols
- Video transcription
- Video translation
- Video summarization
- Generate Thumbnail
- Trimming / Clipping
- Watermark
- Captions
- Chapters
- Upload your own Thumbnail
- 1 month Analytics Retention
- 3 months Analytics Retention
- 12 months Analytics Retention
- Usage Analytics per Project
- Webhooks
- Metadata & video tagging
- Video analytics
- Data visualization
- Basic API Authentication
- Advanced API Authentication
- Private Video
- Private Live Stream
- Delegated Upload Tokens
- Domain referer playback restrictions
- AES Encryption 128bits
- Video Restore
- Ecosystem Catalog (see dedicated section)
- Direct Upload
- Progressive Upload
- Video Import Tool
- Delivery on the CDN (worldwide)
- Delivery on origin
- Backup & Recovery
- Accessing mezzanine files
- Normalization
- Analytics plugins for 3rd party players
- Built-in HTML5 player
- Native Android & iOS mobile player
- Screen & webcam recording SDKs
- CMS & no-code/low-code integrations
- API clients & SDKs
Basic
Starter
- Download your videos
- AI Video Assistant
- AI Dubbing
- Remove Synthesia logo
- 1 editor & 3 guests
- 125+ Synthesia AI Avatars
- Custom on-brand Avatars
- Chat/email support
Creator
Popular- 5 Personal Avatars
- AI Dubbing
- Branded video pages
- API access
- Multiple avatars per scene
- Interactive videos
- 1 editor & 5 guests
- 180+ Synthesia AI Avatars
- Custom on-brand Avatars
- Priority chat/email support
Enterprise
- Unlimited video minutes
- 1-Click Translations into 80+ languages
- 240+ stock AI Avatars
- Unlimited Personal Avatars
- SAML/SSO
- Live team collaboration
- Brand Kits
- SCORM export
- AI Dubbing
- Tailored onboarding
- Implementation services
- Dedicated CSM
- Enterprise community
- Access to live events
- Academy & certifications
api.video vs Synthesia FAQ
- Which one is cheaper?
- One or both use custom pricing, so it depends on your specific needs.
- Can I use either one for free?
- Both offer free plans, so you can try each without paying. Start with whichever fits your workflow better and upgrade when you hit the limits.
- How do they charge?
- Different approach here. api.video uses usage-based pricing, while Synthesia goes with hybrid. That changes the math depending on your team size and usage.
- Which one is a better deal?
- Depends on what you need. api.video: They're positioning as the developer-friendly, transparent-pricing alternative to Mux and Cloudflare Stream — similar usage-based model but with free encoding as a differentiator. That $0 encoding line is a direct shot at competitors who charge for transcoding, targeting cost-conscious dev teams building video into their apps. Synthesia: At $19-$89/mo, Synthesia is priced below HeyGen's comparable tiers and positions itself as the accessible enterprise-adjacent option — not the cheapest AI video tool, but cheaper than hiring a video team. They're clearly targeting mid-market teams and L&D departments who want scale without production overhead.
Keep tabs on both.
We'll monitor pricing changes for api.video and Synthesia and let you know when something moves.