Synthesia Credits Per Minute (2026): The 120-Credits-a-Minute Math
Synthesia swapped minutes for credits, and the conversion isn't advertised on the pricing tiles: 2 credits per second, 120 per minute. Here's what your plan's pool actually buys, and the edits that don't cost a thing.
Direct answer
Synthesia charges 2 credits per second of video, which works out to 120 credits per minute, drawn from one shared credit pool across all AI features. That means Starter's 14,500 credits a year buy about 120 minutes of video, and Creator's 44,000 buy about 360 minutes; the free Basic plan's 1,200 credits a month cover roughly 10 minutes. Credits are only spent when you generate a video — drafts, previews and cosmetic edits are free. Verified against Synthesia's help center and its credits-migration changelog July 2026.
- Updated
- Jul 13, 2026
- Evidence
- 3 checks
- Sources
- 3 source links
- Target query
- synthesia credits per minute
Evidence used
- The per-second credit rate and the 'charged only on generation' rule were read from Synthesia's self-serve credits guide on Jul 13, 2026 (via a reader proxy), corroborated by Synthesia's own changelog.
- Per-plan credit allowances come from Synthesia's help guide; the minutes conversions are arithmetic from the 120-credits-per-minute rate.
- One item is flagged unverified: whether unused annual credits roll over is stated only by secondary sources.
How we checked this
- We quote Synthesia's own help-center and changelog wording; minute conversions are arithmetic from the stated per-second rate.
- We earn no commission on Synthesia via this page beyond general review coverage; the math is laid out so you can check it against your own plan.
Synthesia credits per minute by plan (verified Jul 2026)
| Plan | Credit pool | ≈ Minutes of video |
|---|---|---|
| Basic (free) | 1,200 / month | ~10 min/month |
| Starter | 14,500 / year (or 1,200/mo) | ~120 min/year |
| Creator | 44,000 / year (or 3,600/mo) | ~360 min/year |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom |
2 credits/second = 120 credits/minute, one shared pool. Minute figures are arithmetic from that rate. Whether unused annual credits roll over is not confirmed on a primary page.
The conversion: 2 credits per second, 120 per minute
Synthesia bills 2 credits per second of generated video, so one minute costs 120 credits. All AI features draw from a single shared credit pool rather than separate meters.
Synthesia moved from selling minutes to selling credits, and the conversion isn't printed on the pricing tiles — it's 2 credits per second, or 120 credits per minute. Synthesia's own migration changelog, "Introducing credits instead of minutes," documents the switch and the conversion, and the help center describes a single shared pool: credits cover video generation and the other AI features together, rather than each having its own allowance.
That single-pool design means heavy use of any one feature draws down the same balance you'd use for video minutes. The practical unit to think in is still minutes of finished video, because that's where most credits go — just remember every minute is 120 credits.
What each plan's credit pool buys in minutes
At 120 credits a minute, Starter's 14,500 annual credits buy about 120 minutes of video a year, Creator's 44,000 about 360 minutes, and the free Basic plan's 1,200 monthly credits about 10 minutes a month.
Running the arithmetic: Starter provides 14,500 credits a year (also offered as 1,200 credits a month), which at 120 credits per minute is roughly 120 minutes of video annually. Creator provides 44,000 credits a year (or 3,600 a month), about 360 minutes. The free Basic plan gives 1,200 credits a month — around 10 minutes of video — which makes it an evaluation sandbox rather than a production allowance.
One caveat we'll flag honestly: Synthesia's primary credits guide doesn't explicitly state whether unused annual credits roll over. Secondary sources say they don't (an annual plan is one yearly pool), but we couldn't confirm that on a primary Synthesia page — verify it on your own account if it's load-bearing for your budget. For where Synthesia fits overall, see the [Synthesia review](/reviews/synthesia) and the [Synthesia vs HeyGen comparison](/compare/synthesia-vs-heygen); the [cancellation explainer](/blog/synthesia-cancel-subscription) covers the video-deletion catch if you're weighing leaving.
When credits are spent — and when they aren't
Credits are consumed only when you generate a video. Drafts, previews and playback are free, and cosmetic edits — deleting script, reordering words, fixing punctuation, adjusting avatar framing or pronunciation — don't add cost. Regenerating recalculates by the new duration.
Synthesia states that "credits are used each time you create a video, depending on how long it is" — so the trigger is generation, not editing. You can build and preview a video, play it back, and revise the script without spending anything until you hit generate.
Cosmetic changes are free: deleting script, reordering words, punctuation fixes, avatar framing and pronunciation tweaks don't add cost. What does cost is regenerating — that recalculates credits based on the new video length. So the credit-efficient workflow is to get the script and settings right in draft, then generate once, rather than generating repeatedly to check small changes.
Sources checked
Official vendor pages used for pricing, rights and feature claims; checked Jul 13, 2026.
- Synthesia — self-serve guide to credits - credits charged per video by length; 2 credits per second of video
- Synthesia — introducing credits instead of minutes - the minutes-to-credits migration and the 120-credits-per-minute conversion
- Synthesia pricing - plan tiers, minute caps, custom-avatar add-on and watermark-free export