Table of Contents
Start with ngram if you want to turn approved training material into a finished video and keep it current. Bring a script, webpage, uploaded PDF or PowerPoint, screenshots, footage or audio. Choose a planning-capable premium model to review the proposed script and scenes, then create, revise, brand and localize the lesson before sharing it or downloading an MP4 on a paid plan.
Synthesia also creates from source material. Its Assistant builds an editable outline, while Syren creates videos from a brief and supplied media, with chat and targeted visual changes. Compare the complete job you repeat: preparing the lesson, changing a policy or product step, making another language version and delivering it to viewers.
Compare Synthesia alternatives
| Capability | ngram | Synthesia | HeyGen | Colossyan | Elai.io | Pictory | VEED | D-ID | InVideo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Write a script from a video brief | |||||||||
| Add a speaking AI presenter | |||||||||
| Create a presenter from your own face | |||||||||
| Generate narration from text | |||||||||
| Clone your own voice | |||||||||
| Use your own recorded narration | |||||||||
| Use uploaded video footage | |||||||||
| Use uploaded images | |||||||||
| Generate non-presenter footage from a prompt | |||||||||
| Add editable on-screen text | |||||||||
| Rearrange video scenes | |||||||||
| Revise the narration script | |||||||||
| Revise the video project through chat | |||||||||
| Translate spoken narration | |||||||||
| Create wide and vertical videos | |||||||||
| Reuse a project for a new version | |||||||||
| Export a finished MP4 |
For the detailed ngram workflow and plan comparison, see ngram vs Synthesia.
1. ngram: training videos from source to delivery
Use the approved script verbatim, or ask ngram to build the explanation from your source. Upload a PDF file or PowerPoint rather than pasting a PDF link. Add your own screenshots and recordings when the lesson needs to show the actual product. With a planning-capable premium model, review the plan containing the script before production; the cheaper model starts production directly.
Choose from the presenter library or use your own custom face and voice. For a discussion or scenario, Conversation can put two or more presenters on screen: choose Conversation with Opus 5.5 and Presenter Voice set to Auto, then review the cast and speaking turns in the plan. You can also make a narrated whiteboard, motion-graphics or footage-based lesson without a presenter. Upload your own MP3 narration or music when you already have the recording.
Create supporting images in Image Lab and clips in Clip Studio, with reference images and supported first- and last-frame controls. Reuse them with your supplied material in the video. A Brand Kit on Premium or Ultimate carries motion and image direction, voice and tone into generation. Choose saved intro and outro slides separately when you want those bookends. Premium includes one kit, custom voice and custom face; Ultimate supports unlimited kits, voices and faces, plus teammates.
When the material changes, explain the update in chat or pin the relevant preview moment. Use desktop inline controls or the full timeline for direct changes. With uploaded recorded speech, request pause or filler removal, noise cleanup, eye-contact correction or sensitive-information blurring as needed. Restore saved versions, fork a new direction or reuse a conversation you own for the next lesson.
Enable captions when you want them; they are off by default. Depth Captions can place selected emphasis behind a prominent presenter. Localize the spoken narration, on-screen text and captions, with lip-sync for compatible presenter footage, including uploaded recordings. Review terminology and timing in each language before delivery.
Hosted Videos is in Beta. Publish a public link or embed with adaptive playback and viewing analytics. Basic adds uploads, unlisted links and an ordinary button CTA; Premium adds a branded player, passwords, expiry and recipient links. Ultimate adds email gates, forms, quizzes, polls and deeper analytics. The social calendar is also in Beta for LinkedIn, X and YouTube. For a product walkthrough, Browser Handoff can collect real screenshots through a compatible chat workflow, with you handling sign-in when needed.
All signed-in users can manage API keys. Creating video through an API key requires Basic or above and credits; supported connected apps can create within Free limits. This gives your team a way to repeat an approved workflow from its own tools.
From this input to this video
A script based on NIST’s published guidance becomes a whiteboard training video with captions.
Prompt
Create a 45-second animated cybersecurity training video that teaches recognizing and reporting phishing using NIST’s small-business guidance at https://www.nist.gov/itl/smallbusinesscyber/guidance-topic/phishing to small-business employees. Use my script verbatim for the voiceover — do not rewrite it: An urgent message can make a risky click feel necessary. Phishing impersonates a trusted sender to steal information or deliver harmful software. Pause when a message asks for a password, a payment, a download or immediate action. Check the sender, and verify the request through a contact method you already trust. Do not use the message’s own link or phone number to verify it. Report suspicious messages using your organization’s process. If you already clicked, tell your security contact promptly. Pause, verify and report. Read NIST’s phishing guidance and learn your team’s reporting process. Explain the idea with the warning signs and verification steps in the NIST guidance and reinforce each key term with clear on-screen labels. Visual style: whiteboard. Tone: calm and practical. Open with a short real-world hook, walk through the concept step by step, then close on a one-line recap and this call to action: Read NIST’s phishing guidance and learn your team’s reporting process. Add captions for muted playback.
Selected style
Whiteboard
Read the video transcript
An urgent message can make a risky click feel necessary. Phishing impersonates a trusted sender to steal information or deliver harmful software. Pause when a message asks for a password, a payment, a download or immediate action. Check the sender, and verify the request through a contact method you already trust. Do not use the message’s own link or phone number to verify it. Report suspicious messages using your organization’s process. If you already clicked, tell your security contact promptly. Pause, verify and report. Read NIST’s phishing guidance and learn your team’s reporting process.
Create your training video
Adapt the brief for your audience, then attach your approved source material in ngram.
Prepare the lesson
Use an approved script and source material. Export slides or documents you want to include as a supported upload, such as PowerPoint or PDF.
Set the direction
Fill in the audience, topic, script and call to action below. Select a style, then attach your materials and choose your Brand Kit in ngram.
Review and deliver
Choose a planning-capable premium model to approve the plan containing the script. Review and revise the result, then publish or download the MP4 on a paid plan.
Make it yours
Fill in your details here, or continue and finish your brief in ngram.
Video generation uses credits. Review your estimate in ngram. MP4 downloads require Basic or higher.
How credits workngram plans and usage
Free includes 1,000 credits per month and one premium-model video of up to 60 seconds per UTC calendar month, using those credits. Premium AI video generation has a base rate of 10 credits per second; a cheaper model uses 3. Editing a finished premium-model video requires Basic or above, including one made with the Free allowance. Free can continue cheaper-model edits with available credits.
With monthly billing, Basic is $29 with 3,000 credits, Premium is $59 with 10,000 and Ultimate is $299 with 50,000. Annual equivalents are $23.20, $47.20 and $239.20 per month, with the annual credit allocation supplied upfront. Every paid plan includes unlimited MP4 downloads without an extra download-credit charge: Basic up to 720p, Premium up to 1080p and Ultimate up to 4K.
2. HeyGen: Video Agent and AI Studio
Video Agent combines scripts, documents, images and footage with presenters, narration and generated visuals. Chat Mode lets you refine a plan; Autopilot begins with less intervention. Continue with scene-specific chat requests or open a copy in AI Studio for direct control over text, media, timing, transitions and captions.
Its native Creative Studio creates supporting images and clips. Voice cloning, recorded-audio input and video translation support additional versions. Check the native tool and model your selected account can use.
Creator is $29/month with 600 credits and 1080p export. Pro starts at $49/month with 1,000 credits and 4K; Business is $149/month with 1,500 shared credits and additional seats at $20/month. Brand Kit is included on Creator and Pro. Web and developer API pricing are separate; generation estimates depend on the model and action.
3. Colossyan: Cora and scene authoring
Cora reads documents, slides, webpages and scripts, asks about the audience and builds a scene plan. The plan proceeds after 30 seconds if you leave it unchanged. Edit scripts, select objects for a targeted change or describe a global revision in chat. Uploaded videos contribute their audio transcript as source context.
A standard storyboard can open as a normal draft, where you choose the final avatar and voice and use the scene editor. Cora uses a placeholder presenter; Enhanced storyboards stay in the generator. The native editor also supports uploaded images, footage and narration, multiple presenters, music, subtitles and language variants. AI image generation is a separate native capability.
Professional costs $89/month, or $59/month equivalent annually, for one editor. It includes 30 NEO and 10 NEO2 minutes monthly; annual billing supplies 360 and 120 upfront. Additional editors cost $45/month or $30/month equivalent annually, up to three editors. Monthly minutes do not roll over, and another render consumes generation allowance.
4. Elai.io: story outlines and presenter scenes
Elai starts from a template, blank video, AI Storyboard, PowerPoint or PDF. Storyboard turns a topic, URL or text into an outline and script. In story view, review headings, speech, media and layouts; rewrite the speech with AI or change the slides directly before rendering.
Its editor combines stock or custom presenters, text-to-speech or uploaded narration, images, footage, music and animated elements. Native AI image generation is available on Team and Enterprise. It also supports captions, language variants, wide or vertical formats, hosted sharing and MP4 download. The AI Chat Assistant, in Enterprise early access, lets you request changes to text, images, narration, voices, animations and slides inside the editor.
Creator is $29/month or $23/month equivalent annually, with one user and 15 minutes/month. Team is $125/month or $100/month equivalent annually, with three editors, three guests, 50 minutes/month and 4K. The included Selfie Avatar and Voice Clone offer applies to annual Team. Rendering an edited version deducts minutes again; extra minutes cost $2/minute with an active paid subscription.
5. Pictory: Video Agent, AI Studio and editing
Pictory’s Video Agent develops a brief into a script and scenes using your source material. Revise through chat or its editor, then generate the finished video. Its source workflows include webpages, documents, slides and recordings; AI Studio generates images and footage, and native presenter and custom-voice tools add another way to deliver the script.
The editor combines supplied media, captions, narration and music. Translation creates a new language version of a supported Pictory project. Keep the editable original so later corrections can update the source rather than starting from an exported MP4.
Monthly plans are Starter at $29 with 2,000 shared AI credits, Professional at $59 with 6,000 and Teams at $199 with 18,000. Annual plans supply 24,000, 72,000 and 216,000 credits upfront. Annual checkout can include a promotion, so compare the selected total and renewal terms. API usage has separate commercial terms.
6. VEED: AI Studio and browser editing
VEED’s dashboard brings together AI Studio, its editor and AI Playground. Develop a script, generate scenes and media, or edit supplied footage. Native tools cover captions, voice cloning, speech cleanup, eye-contact correction and spoken-language translation; avatar access varies by region.
The editor supports direct media and text changes, music, trimming and export. Plans have different export resolutions, AI allowances and brand controls; inspect the selected regional offer and billing period. The separate developer API and Fabric product have their own usage terms.
7. D-ID: editable presenter video
D-ID Studio uses templates or a blank canvas, a stock or custom presenter, and a script or recorded audio. Generate a draft script from a topic, then customize scenes with uploaded images, footage, text and graphics. Edit as New duplicates a generated video with its settings so you can change the script, voice, presenter or background and render another version.
Native Video Translate creates spoken-language versions with voice identity and lip-sync. The API provides another recorded-video creation route.
Studio pricing separates usage and rights: Lite is $5.90/month with 10 minutes and personal-use licensing; Pro is $29/month with 15 minutes and commercial use; Advanced is $196/month with 100 minutes and a custom logo. Annual totals for those base allowances are $56, $191 and $1,293. Usage rounds up to 15-second intervals, and unused monthly minutes expire. Check watermark and selected allowance terms.
8. InVideo: Agent Two and a multitrack editor
Agent Two works with images, footage, scripts and PDFs as project context. Build a script and storyboard, generate visuals and narration, then request changes or use the multitrack editor. Native avatar and voice tools support presenter scenes alongside your own recordings.
Its video translator accepts an uploaded video or existing InVideo project and a target language, then creates translated speech for review and export. The editor also covers direct cuts, sound mixing, captions and dubbing. Supported Remote Agents connect AI clients to the editable project.
Plans meter agent work and generated assets with credits. Basic currently includes 190 credits per seat per month, with different allowances and model access on higher tiers. Compare the selected billing total, renewal price, generation estimate and account access for the complete lesson.
Compare the update you need to repeat
Take one approved lesson and one concrete change: a policy sentence, a screenshot or a product step. With ngram, bring the source, choose your presenters or visual style, review the plan on a compatible premium model and create the lesson. Revise that change, make the language versions you need and deliver through a hosted link, embed or paid MP4 download. Keep the brief and source files for the next update.
What the audience research says
TechSmith’s 2024 Video Viewer Study found that 83% of respondents preferred video for instructional or informational content and 87% preferred a real person over an animated character or AI avatar. This is a dated audience survey, not a test of current avatar products. Consider the audience and purpose when choosing a presenter.
Grand View Research estimates the AI video-generator market at $788.5 million in 2025 and forecasts about $3.44 billion in 2033, a 20.3% CAGR for 2026–2033. The separate Strategic Market Research digital-avatar forecast estimates $6.3 billion in 2024 and $22.5 billion in 2030. Their categories and time windows differ; neither is a product-quality ranking.
Bring an existing lesson into ngram
Keep the editable original in its source app. Download the finished video using that account’s export permissions and upload it to ngram as footage, alongside the approved script or current source files. Add the audience, key message and next action. The original timeline and avatar identity do not transfer with the MP4.
For a new lesson, start with an approved script, webpage, uploaded PDF or PowerPoint. Select a planning-capable premium model if you want to approve the script and scenes first. Review the video, request the changes you need, localize the narration, labels and captions, then publish or download with the appropriate plan.
Continue with ngram vs Synthesia, the training-video template, PDF to video or training-video use cases.
Frequently asked questions
Which Synthesia alternative can handle the full training-video workflow?
Start with ngram for the complete supported job: bring approved material, review a plan on a compatible premium model, create with presenters or original visuals, revise in chat or the editor, localize and deliver. It also supports recorded-speech edits, reusable Brand Kits, saved versions and hosted-video tools. Match the selected plan and model to the lesson you want to make.
Can ngram make avatar-led and multi-presenter videos?
Yes. Use a library presenter or your own custom face and voice. Conversation supports two or more on-screen presenters with Opus 5.5 and Presenter Voice set to Auto; review the speaking turns in the plan. Premium includes one custom face and voice, while Ultimate supports unlimited custom faces and voices.
Can I try ngram for free?
Free includes 1,000 monthly credits and one premium-model video of up to 60 seconds per UTC calendar month, using credits. Public sharing and embeds are available. Basic or above is required to edit a finished premium-model video and download MP4s. Free can continue cheaper-model edits with available credits.
Can Synthesia create from documents and recordings?
Yes. Assistant accepts prompts, files and URL context and builds an editable outline. Syren also works with documents, decks, screenshots, footage, music and spoken audio, with chat and targeted element edits. Studio and Syren keep separate video projects, so choose the route that fits the source and editing controls you need.
How do I update and translate a lesson in ngram?
Provide the revised source or approved wording and describe the change in chat, or pin its preview moment. Direct desktop and timeline controls are also available. Localize narration, on-screen text and captions, and use lip-sync for compatible presenter recordings. Check the resulting language version before publishing.
How do I apply branding and deliver the video?
Configure a Brand Kit on Premium or Ultimate and select it in the composer. Enable captions when wanted. Publish a public link or embed through Hosted Videos Beta, or download an MP4 on any paid plan. Basic adds unlisted links; Premium adds branded players and access controls; Ultimate adds email gates, forms, quizzes and polls.
