---
title: When to use Synthesia vs invideo
description: Synthesia for avatar-led training, SCORM and embeds that update. invideo for explainers with no avatar, one-scene updates and bulk slide decks.
---
It depends on whether a face is the point. Use Synthesia when an avatar presenter carries the training, your LMS wants SCORM, or you want shared links and embeds that update when you edit. Use invideo for explainers with no avatar, for changing one scene and keeping the rest, and for turning many slide decks into videos.

Synthesia has live co-editing with cursors on its Corporate plan, except that one person edits the script at a time, and it keeps a version history you can restore. invideo is a multiplayer editor: you, your teammates and your agents work in one cloud project at the same time and watch every edit land live, each agent under its own name. Every timeline has branches, checkpoints and tags, like git branches for code: each person or agent works on their own branch, you compare the branches, restore any checkpoint, and make the winning branch the default. Anyone you share with can fork the project.

Both tools make training and explainer videos from a script. Synthesia builds around an AI avatar. invideo builds around a timeline, and can add an avatar as one clip.

The job: a five minute onboarding video from a slide deck and a script, then a fix to one line after a policy change.

**In Synthesia.** You drop in the deck, the script or a URL. Synthesia makes a draft with an avatar presenter and a voice. You adjust it scene by scene in its editor, with your team in the same draft. You publish as a link, an embed or a SCORM package. To fix the line, you edit the script and publish again, and Synthesia says embedded videos update. An agent reaches Synthesia through its MCP server or API, but Synthesia says Studio drafts cannot be edited from the connector.

**In invideo.** Your agent turns the deck into images with `media` `document.pages`. It voices each slide with a TTS model. A good pick is `elevenlabs_text_to_speech.elevenlabs_tts_v4`. Your agent can search for others with `find_models`. It places the slides and the voice on a timeline and adds captions with `add_captions`. To fix the line, it voices only the new line, swaps that clip on a branch, and exports again. The rest of the video stays as it was.

## At a glance

Checked on 29 October 2026 against Synthesia's site, and on 3 November 2026 for collaboration and agent access. They may change.

| | Synthesia | invideo |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Editable timeline after the cut | An editor by scene | Yes, on a branch you can review |
| Collaboration | Live co-editing with cursors; one person edits the script at a time | People and named agents in one cloud project, with branches and checkpoints |
| Versions | Version history with restore, or copy a version into a new video | Branches, checkpoints and tags on every timeline |
| Generation | Avatars from a script, deck or URL | Many models; an avatar as one clip with `heygen_photo_avatar` or `kling_avatar.pro` |
| Captions | Not stated on its homepage | `add_captions` from a transcript |
| Agent access | An MCP server and an API; Studio drafts cannot be edited from the connector | CLI and skills for terminal agents; MCP server for clients without a shell |
| Project files out | Link, embed or SCORM | MP4, or a project for Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro or DaVinci Resolve |
| Offline | No, it runs in the cloud | No, invideo runs in the cloud |
| Batch | Videos at scale from one template | `duplicate_timeline` and `export` per deck, run in parts |

Models retire. If a model is not found, your agent runs `find_models` with the job in words, uses the best match, and tells you.

## Use Synthesia when

Synthesia is built for presenter-led training.

- You want an avatar presenter on screen for most of the video.
- Your LMS needs a SCORM package. invideo exports MP4, not SCORM.
- You want shared links and LMS embeds to update when you edit.
- You dub existing videos into other languages with the speaker's voice.
- Your team writes and reviews the training together in one draft.

## What Synthesia does better

Say it plainly. Synthesia is better at some things.

- **Avatars.** Lifelike avatars from a script are the core product. invideo runs avatar models as clips, not as a presenter studio.
- **SCORM.** It publishes SCORM for an LMS. invideo does not.
- **Embeds that update.** It updates shared links and LMS embeds when you edit. An invideo export is a new file.
- **Dubbing.** It dubs existing videos in the speaker's voice. invideo has no one-shot dubbing model. Your agent dubs step by step. It reads the words with `audio.transcript` and translates them. It voices the new script with a TTS model, or clones the voice with `seed_audio_1_0.ta2a`. It swaps the sound with `video.replaceAudio`, then re-syncs the lips with `sync_lipsync_v3.video` or `kling_lipsync`.

## Use invideo when

invideo fits training that does not need a face.

- You want an explainer from slides, screen shots, stock or generated scenes, with no avatar.
- You change one scene or one line often, and want the rest of the video untouched.
- You turn many decks into videos, one timeline per deck.
- You want your agent to edit the same draft you have open, not only start new videos.
- You want to try a new script on a branch and keep the old cut at a checkpoint.

## Use both

Make the presenter in Synthesia, then finish in invideo. Export the avatar video as MP4. Your agent adds it with `add_media`, cuts it next to your slides and screen shots, and adds captions and music. For SCORM, export the final MP4 from invideo and wrap it in your LMS tool. The steps are on [Use Synthesia with invideo](/integrations/synthesia).

## Related

- [AI video tools compared, including invideo](/compare/alternatives)
- [When to use HeyGen vs invideo](/compare/heygen)
- [Use Synthesia with invideo](/integrations/synthesia)
- [Turn slides into a narrated video, one deck or hundreds](/how-to/training/slides-to-narrated-video)
- [Update one line and re-render, keep the rest](/how-to/training/update-one-line)
- [Dub existing footage](/how-to/training/dub-existing-footage)