Video comparison
Runway vs Synthesia
AI video generation and creative production experiments · Enterprise training videos and AI avatar presentations
| Decision point | Runway | Synthesia |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | AI video generation and creative production experiments | Enterprise training videos and AI avatar presentations |
| Category | Video | Video |
| Price | Free + paid plans | Paid plans |
| AIToolsEssentials score | 4.2/5 | 4.2/5 |
Evidence status
Creative plans: Free $0 with 125 one-time credits and 5 GB storage; Standard $15 monthly or $12/month billed annually with 625 credits/month; Pro $35 monthly or $28/month billed annually with 2,250 credits/month and 500 GB storage; Max $95 monthly or $76/month billed annually with 9,500 credits/month and up to one month of credit rollover; Enterprise has custom pricing and credits. Standard and Pro subscription credits do not roll over; purchased credits do not expire. The pricing page states Gen-4.5 costs 12 credits per generated second.
Official sources checked 2026-08-25Open verification questions
- The self-serve terms authorize training on Inputs and Outputs, while Runway separately advertises no training on Enterprise customer data. The precise Enterprise exceptions depend on the separate Enterprise agreement and cannot be generalized to self-serve plans.
- The pricing page does not provide a fixed Enterprise price or credit allocation.
Official pricing and Help Center pages agree on the 625/2,250/9,500 monthly credit allocations. Terms last updated May 11, 2026 state that Runway does not claim ownership of Inputs or Outputs and does not restrict commercial use of Outputs, subject to compliance with the agreement. The same terms grant Runway a perpetual license to use Inputs and Outputs for model training, labeling, classification, moderation, and related improvement. The privacy policy says submitted voice and face characteristics may be biometric data and are used only to provide the requested biometric-enabled feature. Runway's official voice-verification documentation requires explicit, in-app consent from the same speaker before custom-voice training and prohibits non-consensual replicas. Terms also prohibit impersonation and submitting another person's photograph without permission. Official voice-consent source: https://help.runwayml.com/hc/en-us/articles/29828787723411-Voice-verification
Basic is $0 with 1,200 credits/month. Starter is displayed at $29/month with 1,200 credits/month, or $18/month billed yearly with 14,500 credits/year. Creator is displayed at $89/month with 3,600 credits/month, or $64/month billed yearly with 44,000 credits/year. Enterprise has custom pricing and credits, unlimited video minutes subject to its terms, 240+ stock avatars, and unlimited Personal Avatars subject to reasonable consumption and compute.
Official sources checked 2026-08-25Open verification questions
- The pricing page is internally inconsistent: its annual cards display Starter at $18/month and Creator at $64/month, while its FAQ states $264/year for Starter and $804/year for Creator. Those annual totals do not equal the displayed monthly equivalents, so no corrected value was inferred.
- The reviewed public terms permit use of Customer Data to improve the services but do not clearly state whether that includes general model training, nor do they identify a self-serve training opt-out. A stronger no-training claim could not be verified.
- Commercial use is not unrestricted: Stock Avatar advertising and sensitive-context uses can require written consent, an Enterprise plan, or both.
Customer Terms effective July 20, 2026 say the customer owns Customer Data, including Inputs and Outputs, while Synthesia owns Synthesia Content. Customers receive a limited license to Synthesia Content during the subscription and, after termination, to the extent that content was incorporated into generated videos, subject to continuing compliance. The terms license Customer Data to Synthesia only as reasonably necessary to provide, maintain, and improve the services, address security/support issues, comply with law, prevent fraud, or as expressly authorized in writing. The privacy policy generally describes Synthesia as processor of Customer Data under customer instructions. Personal-avatar documentation requires a live consent recording matching the person shown; stock avatars are based on actors who consented. The Acceptable Use Policy prohibits rights violations, deceptive impersonation, and disabling provenance mechanisms. It restricts paid social advertising with Stock Avatars unless Synthesia gives express written consent; Custom Avatar advertising requires appropriate consent from the depicted individual. Stock-avatar use in sensitive endorsement-like contexts, news, politics, or current-events content is also restricted. Acceptable-use source: https://www.synthesia.io/legal/acceptable-use-policy
How to decide
Match each platform to your actual workflow constraints. Run one real workflow in each finalist before paying.
Quick recommendation
Use the trial checklist on each review page and the free scorecard to record time-to-result, corrections needed, and monthly cost at your expected volume before committing to a plan.