AI-powered video platform for avatar-based business videos.
Synthesia is an AI video platform that enables companies to create professional videos without a camera, studio, or actors.
Content can be transformed from a prompt, script, document, PDF, or URL into multi-scene videos and then refined with avatars, voices, branding, and translations. The clear focus is on training, sales enablement, marketing, and internal communication.
Synthesia
The #1 AI video platform for business
Location: United Kingdom ⓘ Synthesia Ltd, 20 Triton Street, Regent's Place, 3rd Floor, London NW1 3BF, United Kingdom.
Creator Everything in Starter plus more Personal Avatars, API access, branded video pages, multiple avatars per scene, interactive videos, more AI avatars, priority support, and more credits. Other Enterprise Custom Enterprise plan with unlimited video minutes, translation, many stock avatars, unlimited Personal Avatars, SAML/SSO, live collaboration, Brand Kits, SCORM export, onboarding, dedicated CSM, and custom credits.
Credits / API / Custom Avatar Synthesia uses credits as a shared currency for AI usage features; custom Personal Avatars are included depending on the plan or expanded on the Enterprise side.
Target audience
Synthesia is primarily aimed at companies and teams that repeatedly create videos for training, product communication, sales enablement, marketing, or internal communication. Official use cases include L&D, Sales Enablement, Marketing, IT/Cybersecurity, Customer Service, and Business Operations, among others. The tool is also usable for solo users, but the core focus is clearly on professional, standardizable workflows rather than classic social video editing.
Outstanding features
Among the strongest features are the AI Video Assistant for converting text, files, PDFs, or URLs into a video draft, working with 240+ avatars and 160+ languages, Personal Avatars, AI Dubbing, 1-Click Translation, API automation, and interactive videos. In the enterprise segment, additional features include Brand Kits, SCORM export, SAML/SSO, Live Collaboration, and custom credits. This makes Synthesia less of a single AI feature and more of a complete production and delivery platform for business video workflows.
Key application areas
Particularly obvious use cases include onboarding, compliance and product training, converting SOPs/documents into video, multilingual localization, sales and enablement videos, internal updates, as well as product-related explainer videos. Synthesia explicitly positions itself as a tool for turning text- and document-heavy communication into videos that can be produced quickly, reused, and updated easily. Especially in internationally distributed teams, the combination of avatar, voice, dubbing, and translation is a key added value.
Usage & notes
According to Synthesia, the interface is designed so that even non-video editors can achieve results quickly; officially, the company describes the editor as being conceptually similar to a slide deck. At the same time, according to the pricing page, the platform is desktop-only, which is relevant for procurement decisions. From a data protection perspective, companies should note that while Synthesia offers a DPA, SCC/adequacy mechanisms, a DPO, an EU representative, and transparent subprocessor lists, it still integrates several third-party providers, and the customer remains responsible for the lawfulness of its inputs, integrations, and consents for Custom Avatars. Particularly important: for Custom Avatars, Synthesia explicitly requires the free and informed consent of the person concerned in the Customer Terms
| Target audience | Assessment |
|---|---|
| Private individuals | Conditionally suitable – usable for testing AI videos, but the focus is clearly on business video creation. |
| Self-employed / freelancers | Suitable – for explainer videos, product demos, social clips, training content, and multilingual customer communication. |
| SMEs | Very suitable – especially for training, onboarding, internal communication, marketing, and sales enablement. |
| Large enterprises | Very suitable – Synthesia is strongly geared toward scalable enterprise videos, SSO, SCORM, Brand Kits, collaboration, API access, and enterprise onboarding. |
| L&D, HR, Sales, and Marketing teams | Very suitable – Synthesia positions itself as an AI Video Platform for Business with AI avatars, voiceovers, and many languages. |
Hosting & Data
1) On-prem / local hosting
Meaning: The company operates the solution on its own hardware or within its own infrastructure. In the strictest sense, not only the application runs locally, but ideally the model as well.
2) Private cloud / data center
Meaning: The solution runs in a dedicated or more clearly separated cloud environment, often with a hosting provider or hyperscaler, but in a German data center or in a particularly controlled environment.
3) EU SaaS / managed
Meaning: The provider operates the solution itself as a service. The company uses the tool as a ready-made cloud service, ideally with EU data residency.
4) Hybrid
Meaning: One part of the processing remains internal / local / in a private cloud, while another part runs in an external cloud or EU SaaS.
5) AVV / DPA
Meaning: This is the data processing agreement or Data Processing Addendum. It governs that the provider processes personal data on behalf of the customer and is bound by the customer's instructions.
6) No training
Meaning: The provider does not use your prompts, uploads, attachments, chat histories, or outputs for training or improving the general model — ideally excluded by contract.
7) Open-source / transparency path
Meaning: There is a path toward greater technical transparency and sovereignty, for example through:
- open models
- documented components
- self-hostable parts
- traceable architecture
- export / switching options
| On-prem / local hosting | ❓ |
| Private cloud / data center | ⚠️ |
| EU SaaS / Managed | ✅ |
| Hybrid | ❓ |
| DPA / AVV | ✅ |
| No training on customer data | ⚠️ |
| Open source / transparency path | ⚠️ |
On-Prem / local hosting: indirect / not available
An on-premise or local hosting option is not indicated on the website.
Private Cloud / data center: partial
The website documents storage and processing in AWS with customer data in Ireland and backups in Frankfurt. However, a dedicated or tenant-specifically segregated private cloud environment is not explicitly described on the website.
EU SaaS / Managed: covered
The website mentions a managed cloud service with customer data in the EU, specifically in Ireland, as well as secondary backups in Frankfurt. This supports an EU-based SaaS operation, even if some processing may occur via subprocessors outside the EU/EEA.
Hybrid: unclear
A hybrid model with partial internal or local processing at the customer is not indicated on the website.
DPA / AVV: covered
A DPA/AVV is published on the website. It describes the controller/processor roles, subprocessors, and obligations in subcontracted processing.
No training: partial
The subprocessors page explicitly states for OpenAI that data is not used for internal purposes including training of the LLM models. At the same time, the published DPA version contains a passage according to which data may be included in an AI training dataset. A general website-based opt-out for AI training was not found.
Open source / transparency path: partial
The Security Practices page mentions open-source software and lists license dependencies. However, a genuine open-source, self-hosting, or model openness path is not described on the website.
Data processing
The website describes AWS-based processing with storage of customer data in Ireland and backups in Frankfurt. At the same time, it lists numerous subprocessors for hosting, video processing, speech processing, translation, moderation, and generative AI, including multiple companies in the USA as well as other providers within and outside the EU/EEA. For third-country transfers, the website refers to SCCs and Transfer Impact Assessments.
Conclusion
For users in the EU/EEA, from the website perspective Synthesia is better documented in terms of data protection law than many AI tools, especially because of the DPA, EU data storage, and transparent subprocessors list. However, for reliable GDPR-compliant use, conditions remain: review of the specific contractual documents, the activated functions, and the third-country transfers. Because of the documented external subprocessors and the training passage in the DPA, the overall assessment is 'conditional' and not 'yes'.
Sources
| On-prem / local hosting | ❓ |
| Private cloud / data center | ⚠️ |
| EU SaaS / Managed | ✅ |
| Hybrid | ❓ |
| DPA / AVV | ✅ |
| No training on customer data | ⚠️ |
| Open source / transparency path | ⚠️ |
On-Prem / local hosting: indirect / not available
An on-premise or local hosting option is not indicated on the website.
Private Cloud / data center: partial
The website documents storage and processing in AWS with customer data in Ireland and backups in Frankfurt. However, a dedicated or tenant-specifically segregated private cloud environment is not explicitly described on the website.
EU SaaS / Managed: covered
The website mentions a managed cloud service with customer data in the EU, specifically in Ireland, as well as secondary backups in Frankfurt. This supports an EU-based SaaS operation, even if some processing may occur via subprocessors outside the EU/EEA.
Hybrid: unclear
A hybrid model with partial internal or local processing at the customer is not indicated on the website.
DPA / AVV: covered
A DPA/AVV is published on the website. It describes the controller/processor roles, subprocessors, and obligations in subcontracted processing.
No training: partial
The subprocessors page explicitly states for OpenAI that data is not used for internal purposes including training of the LLM models. At the same time, the published DPA version contains a passage according to which data may be included in an AI training dataset. A general website-based opt-out for AI training was not found.
Open source / transparency path: partial
The Security Practices page mentions open-source software and lists license dependencies. However, a genuine open-source, self-hosting, or model openness path is not described on the website.
Data processing
The website describes AWS-based processing with storage of customer data in Ireland and backups in Frankfurt. At the same time, it lists numerous subprocessors for hosting, video processing, speech processing, translation, moderation, and generative AI, including multiple companies in the USA as well as other providers within and outside the EU/EEA. For third-country transfers, the website refers to SCCs and Transfer Impact Assessments.
Conclusion
For users in the EU/EEA, from the website perspective Synthesia is better documented in terms of data protection law than many AI tools, especially because of the DPA, EU data storage, and transparent subprocessors list. However, for reliable GDPR-compliant use, conditions remain: review of the specific contractual documents, the activated functions, and the third-country transfers. Because of the documented external subprocessors and the training passage in the DPA, the overall assessment is 'conditional' and not 'yes'.
Sources
Strengths & weaknesses at a glance
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|
| – Very strong specialization in scalable business videos rather than consumer gimmicks. | – The lower paid plans are relatively tight for collaboration: Starter = 1 editor + 3 guests, Creator = 1 editor + 5 guests. |
| – Broad feature set: avatars, dubbing, translation, API, Personal Avatars, interactive videos. | – Important governance/L&D features such as Brand Kits, SAML/SSO, SCORM, and Live Team Collaboration are in the Enterprise tier. |
| – Suitable for multilingual training and enablement workflows. | – The official pricing page shows an ambiguity/contradiction in the annual pricing: The plan comparison lists $18/month and $64/month with annual billing, but the FAQ section on the same page lists $264/year and $804/year. |
| – Clearly expanded compliance/security program with SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, ISO 42001, DPA, and a public subprocessor list | – According to the official pricing page, Synthesia is desktop-only. |
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GDPR-compliant usage possible?
The website documents several key building blocks for GDPR-compliant use in the EU/EEA region: privacy policy, DPA/AVV, named subprocessors, EU storage in Ireland as well as backups in Frankfurt, and international transfer mechanisms via SCCs. At the same time, the website lists numerous subprocessors outside the EU/EEA, and the published DPA version even describes the inclusion of data in an AI training dataset. Therefore, GDPR-compliant use in the EU/EEA appears possible only under certain conditions, in particular after reviewing the specific contractual situation, the activated features, and the third-country transfers.
Positive
Positive aspects include the DPA/AVV documented on the website, the subprocessor list, EU data storage in Ireland with secondary backups in Frankfurt, an EU GDPR representative in Denmark, as well as stated certifications such as ISO 27001, ISO 42001, and SOC 2 Type II.
Negative
A negative aspect is that, according to the website, transfers outside the UK and EEA may take place and numerous subprocessors are located in the USA or other third countries. In addition, the published DPA version contains a passage on the use of data for an AI training dataset. No explicit general opt-out statement for AI training was found on the website. On-premise or self-hosting options are not indicated on the website.
Server location
According to the website, customer data is currently stored in the EU in data centers in Ireland; operational backups are also located in Ireland, with secondary backups in the AWS Frankfurt region. In addition, the website describes data transfers to the USA within AWS services using SCCs. According to the subprocessor list, further processing also partly takes place via providers outside the EU/EEA.
