AI Video Tools Compared: Sora vs Runway vs HeyGen vs Synthesia (2026)

A client asked us last month to produce a 60-second product explainer video. Two years ago that meant storyboarding, hiring a motion graphics freelancer, three rounds of revisions, and $3,000–$5,000 out the door. Four-week turnaround if everything went smoothly.

We produced it in two days using a combination of HeyGen for the AI presenter and Runway for the b-roll transitions. Total cost: about $120 in platform credits. Was it as good as a custom-animated piece from a top studio? No. Was it 90% as effective for a LinkedIn ad? Absolutely. And it existed two days later instead of four weeks later. That's the tradeoff, and for most business use cases, it's a good one.

AI video is the most overhyped and underexplained category in AI right now. The demos look magical. The reality is messier. Some tools generate footage from text. Some create talking-head videos with AI avatars. Some edit and transform existing footage. They're solving fundamentally different problems, and comparing them directly is like comparing a camera to a teleprompter — they're both "video tools" but that's where the similarity ends.

Here's what each one actually does, what it costs, and which one to use for which business scenario. No hype. Just practical reality.

Two Categories, Four Tools

Before comparing them head-to-head, understand that these tools do different things:

Footage Generators: Sora and Runway

These create video clips from text descriptions or images. You write "a golden retriever running through a wheat field at sunset, slow motion, cinematic" and get 5–20 seconds of generated footage. There's no human face, no script — it's synthetic b-roll.

Avatar Presenters: HeyGen and Synthesia

These create talking-head videos with AI-generated (or cloned) human presenters. You write a script, choose an avatar, and get a video of a realistic-looking person delivering your message. Think: training videos, product walkthroughs, personalized sales outreach, multilingual content.

Comparing Sora to Synthesia is like comparing Photoshop to PowerPoint. They're both "content creation tools" but the use cases barely overlap. The real comparison is Sora vs Runway (footage) and HeyGen vs Synthesia (avatars).

Sora: The Impressive-But-Frustrating One

OpenAI's Sora generated more hype than any AI tool since ChatGPT. The early demos were jaw-dropping — photorealistic footage that looked like it came from a RED camera. The reality of using Sora for business is more complicated.

What Sora Does Well

• Visual quality: When it works, Sora produces the highest-quality generated footage available. The motion is smooth, lighting is natural, and the "AI look" is minimal.
• Complex scenes: Multiple objects, camera movement, interaction between elements — Sora handles scene complexity better than competitors.
• Length: Up to 20 seconds per generation, which is meaningfully longer than Runway's 4–10 seconds.

Where Sora Falls Short

• Consistency: Generating 5 clips for the same video often produces visually inconsistent results. Color grading, lighting direction, and style can vary between generations, making editing a chore.
• Control: You describe what you want and hope for the best. Fine-grained control over camera angle, motion speed, and specific composition is limited compared to Runway.
• Hands and physics: Still struggles with realistic hand movements, object interactions, and physics. A "person picking up a coffee cup" might produce a hand that morphs through the cup or fingers that multiply.
• Generation time: Complex prompts can take several minutes. Not the instant gratification you might expect.

Pricing: Available through ChatGPT Plus ($20/month, limited generations) and ChatGPT Pro ($200/month, higher limits). API access is priced per second of generated video.

Best for: Hero b-roll for social media, ad backgrounds, concept visualization. Situations where you need 5–15 seconds of impressive-looking footage and can cherry-pick from multiple generations.

Runway Gen-3: The Practical Production Tool

Runway has been in the AI video space longer than anyone else, and that experience shows. Where Sora is impressive but unpredictable, Runway is reliable and controllable. The quality ceiling is lower than Sora's best output, but the floor is higher — you get usable results more consistently.

What Runway Does Well

• Control: Image-to-video is Runway's killer feature. Upload a frame and tell it how to animate. This gives you precise control over style, composition, and starting point that text-to-video can't match.
• Editing tools: Remove objects, extend scenes, apply motion to still images. Runway is an editor, not just a generator. This makes it useful for actual production workflows.
• Consistency: Style transfer tools help maintain visual consistency across clips. Critical for producing a cohesive final video from multiple generated segments.
• Speed: Generations complete in 30–90 seconds typically. Fast enough for iterative prompt refinement.

Where Runway Falls Short

• Clip length: 4–10 seconds per generation. You need to stitch multiple clips for anything longer, and maintaining continuity across clips takes effort.
• Photorealism: Good, but Sora's best outputs look more naturally photorealistic. Runway's output sometimes has a subtle "digital" quality.
• Pricing at scale: Credits deplete fast if you're iterating on complex prompts. Heavy users hit the credit ceiling mid-month regularly.

Pricing: Standard plan at $12/month (125 credits). Pro at $28/month (625 credits). Unlimited at $76/month. One generation costs 10–50 credits depending on settings.

Best for: B-roll production, product demos with motion, social media videos, transforming still images into video. Teams that need controllable, consistent output over raw quality.

HeyGen: The Avatar Workhorse

HeyGen is our most-used AI video tool for client projects, which might surprise people expecting Sora to dominate. The reason is simple: most business video is someone talking to a camera. Product explanations, sales pitches, onboarding walkthroughs, training modules, customer updates. HeyGen handles all of these without a camera, studio, or scheduling coordination.

What HeyGen Does Well

• Avatar quality: The stock avatars are good. The custom avatars (cloned from your own footage) are startlingly good. Lip sync is accurate, head movement is natural, and the uncanny valley effect is minimal in the latest models.
• Translation: Translate your video into 40+ languages with lip sync that matches the new language. A 2-minute English product video becomes a Spanish, French, German, and Japanese version in about 10 minutes. The dubbing quality rivals professional services.
• Personalization at scale: Generate 100 variations of a sales video, each addressing the prospect by name and company. This is HeyGen's secret weapon for outbound sales teams.
• Speed: A 2-minute talking-head video renders in 5–10 minutes. Script change? Re-render in 10 minutes. No reshoots, no scheduling, no "can we get the talent back in."

Where HeyGen Falls Short

• It's still an avatar: No matter how good the technology gets, discerning viewers can tell. The gaze, the micro-expressions, the subtle humanity — it's not quite there. For CEO addresses or sensitive communications, use a real person.
• Limited motion: Avatars are mostly head-and-shoulders. No walking, no demonstrating products with hands, no environment interaction. It's a talking head. Period.
• Custom avatar requirements: Creating a clone of yourself requires 2–5 minutes of specific footage. The quality of that source footage directly determines the clone quality. Bad input = bad avatar.

Pricing: Creator plan at $24/month (3 credits/month). Business at $60/month (unlimited seats). Enterprise custom. One credit = ~1 minute of video.

Best for: Training videos, product walkthroughs, sales outreach, multilingual content, internal communications, anything where "someone explaining something" is the format.

Synthesia: The Enterprise Choice

Synthesia pioneered the AI avatar video space and has the largest enterprise footprint. If HeyGen is the nimble startup, Synthesia is the established player your compliance team won't object to.

What Synthesia Does Well

• Enterprise features: SOC 2 compliance, SSO, team management, brand kits, approval workflows. The stuff that matters when you're rolling out to a 500-person organization.
• Template library: Pre-built video templates for training, onboarding, product updates, and more. Useful for teams that want results fast without design expertise.
• Avatar diversity: 230+ stock avatars across ethnicities, ages, and styles. Important for large organizations creating content for diverse audiences.
• Screen recording integration: Record your screen alongside the avatar for software walkthroughs and tutorials. This is genuinely useful for SaaS companies.

Where Synthesia Falls Short

• Pricing: Significantly more expensive than HeyGen. Starter at $22/month (10 min/month). Enterprise pricing runs $60–$100+/month per seat. The per-minute economics favor HeyGen for high-volume production.
• Avatar realism: HeyGen's latest avatar models have a slight edge in naturalness, particularly for custom avatars. Synthesia is catching up but as of early 2026, HeyGen's lip sync is marginally better.
• Flexibility: More template-driven than HeyGen. Great for standardized content, less great for creative or unconventional formats.

Best for: Enterprise training and L&D, standardized corporate communications, organizations that need compliance certifications, teams that prefer template-driven workflows.

Use Case Winners

• Social media b-roll and ads: Sora (quality) or Runway (consistency and control)
• Product explainer videos: HeyGen (avatar) + Runway (b-roll inserts)
• Sales outreach: HeyGen (personalized avatar videos at scale)
• Training and onboarding: Synthesia (templates, enterprise compliance)
• Multilingual marketing: HeyGen (best dubbing + lip sync)
• Event teasers and promos: Sora (cinematic quality) or Runway (more control)
• Customer testimonials: None — use real customers on real video. AI avatars for testimonials destroys trust.

Monthly Cost: Real Scenarios

Light User (4–6 Videos/Month)

A small business posting weekly social videos and occasional product updates. HeyGen Creator ($24) + Runway Standard ($12) = $36/month total. Produces 4–6 talking-head videos and supplementary b-roll. Compare to: $800–$2,000 for the same content from a freelance videographer.

Medium User (15–20 Videos/Month)

A marketing team producing regular content across social channels plus internal training. HeyGen Business ($60) + Runway Pro ($28) + Sora via ChatGPT Plus ($20) = $108/month. Compare to: $4,000–$8,000 in traditional production.

Heavy User (50+ Videos/Month)

An enterprise L&D team or agency producing at scale. Synthesia Enterprise ($100+/seat) or HeyGen Enterprise (custom pricing). Budget $200–$500/month. Compare to: not even financially possible with traditional production at this volume.

What AI Video Still Can't Do

Let me be direct about the limits because the marketing around these tools makes them sound more capable than they are.

• Full-length content: Generating a coherent 5-minute video from scratch isn't possible with any current tool. You're generating clips and assembling them. The editing and narrative work is still human.
• Real human emotion: Avatars can smile and gesture but they can't convey genuine warmth, humor, or vulnerability. For brand-building content where emotional connection matters, use a real person.
• Physical product demos: No AI tool can show someone actually using your product. Unboxing, hands-on reviews, physical demonstrations — these need real footage.
• Consistent characters: Generating the same fictional person across multiple scenes with different poses, outfits, and settings is extremely difficult with current tools. Possible with workarounds, but not reliable.
• Real-time or live video: These are all pre-rendered tools. No AI-generated live streaming, no real-time video calls with avatars (yet — HeyGen's streaming avatar is early but not production-ready for most use cases).

Getting Started

Start with the problem, not the tool. What video do you need to produce, and how often?

If you need someone explaining something on camera: start with HeyGen's free trial. Upload a script, pick an avatar, see if the quality meets your standard. You'll know in 10 minutes.

If you need motion graphics and b-roll: start with Runway's free tier. Upload a product image and animate it. Generate a few clips from text prompts. See if the output fits your brand.

If you just need occasional eye-catching footage for social: ChatGPT Plus gives you Sora access at $20/month. Try a few generations and decide if the quality justifies a dedicated workflow.

In most cases, you'll end up with one avatar tool and one footage tool. That's the practical reality of AI video in 2026 — no single tool does everything, but the right combination covers 80% of business video needs at 10% of traditional production cost.