Interactive Avatars are real-time Avatars that hold a live conversation with people. A visitor speaks, and the Avatar listens and answers as the conversation happens. You decide what the Avatar knows, how it speaks, and what it should avoid doing.
š Interactive Avatars is in beta. Features and options can change.
How Interactive Avatars Work
A visitor starts a conversation, and the Avatar listens through the visitorās microphone. The Avatar then answers in a live voice conversation, using the instructions you give it. You can also ground the Avatarās answers in your own knowledge.
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AI disclosure is a setting you turn on. When it is on, an AI label appears and visitors are told they are talking to an AI.
What Interactive Avatars Can Do
Interactive Avatars hold a live conversation instead of playing a recorded video. Synthesia includes starting points for these roles:
Website assistant: Answers product and FAQ questions on your website.
Sales advisor: Qualifies visitors on pricing pages and books demos.
Shopping guide: Guides shoppers to the right product and checkout.
Support agent: Troubleshoots common issues and escalates when stuck.
Onboarding guide: Walks new users through setup and first steps.
Ways to Create an Interactive Avatar
You can create an Interactive Avatar in Synthesia or with the API. Both options use the same real-time Avatars.
Build in Studio
Build in Studio is the no-code option. You do not write code to create, publish, or deploy your Avatar. When your Avatar is ready, you choose how visitors reach it: a widget that you copy and paste into your website, an embed that places the Avatar inline on a page, or a hosted link on a page that Synthesia hosts.
To build an Interactive Avatar in Synthesia:
Describe what the Avatar should do, and answer a few follow-up questions. Synthesia writes the Avatarās instructions and first message.
Edit the instructions, greeting, voice, and knowledge to fit your needs.
Publish the Avatar.
Deploy the Avatar as a widget, an embed, or a hosted link
Review conversations and analytics in Synthesia.
A website widget adds the Avatar to your own pages with an embed snippet. A hosted link opens the Avatar on a page that Synthesia hosts.
Build with the API
Build with the API is the option for developers. You build the experience on your own stack:
You bring the LLM and the speech-to-text. Synthesia renders the Avatar and offers built-in text-to-speech if you do not want to bring your own.
You connect to the Avatar through LiveKit.
You build the interface that your visitors use.
To get started, you need Python 3.10 or later and a Synthesia API key with Interactive Avatar access.
You review keys, usage, and analytics in the Developers section.
Which Option Should I Choose?
Choose Build in Studio if you want to create and deploy an Avatar without writing code.
Choose Build with the API if you want to use your own LLM, speech-to-text, and tools in your own application.
š¬ FAQs
What is the difference between a widget and the API?
What is the difference between a widget and the API?
A widget is one of three ways to deploy an Interactive Avatar that you built in Synthesia. It is a snippet you copy and paste into your website pages. The other two are an embed and a hosted link. The API is a separate way to create an Interactive Avatar. Developers write code, bring their own LLM and speech-to-text, and connect through LiveKit.
Do I need to write code to create an Interactive Avatar in Synthesia?
Do I need to write code to create an Interactive Avatar in Synthesia?
No. Creating an Interactive Avatar in Synthesia requires no code. To add a widget or an embed to your website, you paste a snippet into your pages.
Can I use my own LLM?
Can I use my own LLM?
Yes, with the API. You bring the LLM and the speech-to-text, and Synthesia renders the Avatar.
Can I change what Synthesia writes for my Interactive Avatar?
Can I change what Synthesia writes for my Interactive Avatar?
Yes. In the editor, you can read and change everything Synthesia writes, including the prompt and the first message.
Can I tell visitors they are talking to an AI?
Can I tell visitors they are talking to an AI?
Yes. AI disclosure is a setting you turn on. When it is on, an AI label appears and visitors are told they are talking to an AI. To learn more, check out What does the EU AI Act Article 50 mean for my Synthesia videos?.
How much do Interactive Avatars cost?
How much do Interactive Avatars cost?
Interactive Avatars use credits. On Self-serve and Enterprise plans, the list price is 10 credits per minute, which is $0.10 per minute of Avatar usage.
What is LiveKit?
What is LiveKit?
LiveKit is the real-time audio and video technology that connects your application to the Avatar when you build with the API. To learn more, check out the Synthesia Avatar plugin in the LiveKit docs.
What's Next?
š To set up an Avatar with the API, check out Interactive Avatars in the Synthesia Developer Docs.
š To build an Avatar in Synthesia, check out How do I create an Interactive Avatar?