7+ Best AI Video Generator Tools for Text-to-Video Magic
Do you want to create video content but don’t have the time or resources?
As a screenwriting teacher and story coach, I’ve had to generate short videos as part of my presentations, and it wasn’t always an easy or quick process. Normally, it involves taking my lessons and then generating scripts, which I can use as the basis for the videos I create from scratch.
Now, not only can I use AI to assist with the writing process, but with overall content generation as well. It’s helped me streamline the process so I have more time to dedicate to the lessons and my clients’ needs, rather than the process of putting together the videos.
I wish I had resources like these in past years!
Check out these top AI video generators and create professional-looking videos in minutes! You won’t believe how easy it is to get started!
These tools allow you to create videos that look professional without needing special video production skills or software.
Read this article to learn more about the best AI video generators for text-to-video!
Neil Chase Film is supported by its readers. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Thank you for your support!
How I Evaluated Each AI Video Generator
To check how good each of these AI video creators is, I went to each software program and had it create a video using the same script. This allowed me to evaluate:
- How easy it is to generate a video from text.
- How long it takes to generate a video.
- How good the AI voice sounds.
- How engaging the resulting video is!
Here’s the script that I used to create a video with each software program:
What are the Best AI Video Generators?
Let’s be real, the best AI video generators are the ones that allow you to make a video from just your written ideas or maybe a video script, in as short a time as possible!
A video generator, to me, means that the program will be able to use its AI magic to make the world a better place by creating a video that teaches people a concept, or helps them solve a problem, or even just entertains them or makes them laugh – and it does this without the human video creator needing to be on-camera or even record any video footage themselves.
During my research and testing phase of writing this article, I found AI software tools that create different types of videos without too much human input. My favorites were ones that created these kinds of videos:
- Videos that blend stock footage with AI voiceovers and on-screen text (check out invideo or Pictory).
- Videos that feature AI “talking head” avatars alongside a slideshow or background (check out HeyGen or Synthesia).
- Videos that feature AI-developed animations with AI voiceovers.
Each type of AI video generator has unique strengths, and I’m sure that one of them will work for your needs! Read on to learn about the best options.
1. Invideo
Invideo is a high-quality AI video tool. It can help you create easy AI-generated videos from just a text prompt. These videos include background music, stock video footage, and text on-screen!
You can also use invideo's AI to help you edit your own videos faster, add custom AI voiceovers and cute on-screen images, and use their huge stock footage library.
Overview
OK, I know this sounds crazy, but with invideo’s new script-to-video feature, you really can create a whole video from just a written script, without ANY human input!
I couldn’t believe it myself, but I tried out the brand-new feature and it worked just as promised (if you’re curious what the video looked like, click here to go directly to the video here in the article). Invideo is also extremely budget-friendly and easy-to-use, so it was a no-brainer to give it the top spot!
Seriously, go check out the video below and then head on over to invideo to try it for yourself for free!
Top Features
- Has a library of 50+ AI-based templates to get you started (convert your text into videos easily in just three steps).
- It’s easy to use, even for users with no video editing experience.
- Invideo’s huge library of royalty-free images and videos makes it easy to create high-quality videos without spending hours searching for the perfect clip.
- Invideo’s artificial intelligence ensures that every video is unique and perfectly optimized for social media platforms.
- You can also use invideo to edit your own video footage – it’s a multi-purpose video editing and video generation software tool!
InVideo has introduced new features to make video creation easier:
- AI Video Generator: Create videos from simple text prompts.
- Version 3.0: Offers live-action, animated, or anime-style videos.
- Multilingual Support: Provides voiceovers in over 50 languages.
- Enhanced Editing Tools: Allows real-time edits with simple commands.
Pricing
There are four levels of pricing for invideo:
Free Plan: Create 10 minutes per week of ai generated videos. You’ll get access to templates and a media library (however, your exported video will contain a watermark).
Plus: $28 per month – Get 50 minutes per month of AI videos generated, and no watermark on videos when they are exported.
Max: $48 per month – for 200 minutes per month of AI video generation!
Generative: $96 per month – get extra generative credits so you can create way more videos from text.
My advice is to try the free version and see if you even like the videos that it creates for you. Then, it will really just depend on how many minutes of video generation you’ll need each month. If it’s less than 50 minutes of video, go with the Plus plan.
If you need more minutes, you’ll need the Max or Generative plan! All are reasonable for what you get.
invideo Pros
invideo Cons
My Experience With invideo’s New Script-to-Video Feature
Invideo has my favorite AI video generating tool! I was able to create my video with the topic of “what is an independent film” easily and surprisingly quickly. I chose to use their “script to video” option and added my existing script. Invideo then chose stock footage automatically, as well as adding on-screen text and transitions between scenes.
First, I logged in to invideo. I then chose to use the “scrip to video workflow”. Here’s how it looks when you are creating your video:
After adding my script, I added the type of background music that I wanted, along with the type of voice I wanted it to use.
Invideo ‘script-to-video’ finished product (with literally no human-editing after being created using the above text prompts):
This video is impressive, considering how short a time it took me to make it (less than 5 minutes!). I think their AI voice is one of the most realistic that I’ve heard in any video generation program!
Please note that I could have changed out any of the stock videos or the text in the video – I just didn’t choose to as I was happy with what it had chosen for me!
Bottom Line
If you want to generate the easiest faceless videos using AI, then my top recommendation is invideo. Their AI will take your written idea and create a video that has related stock video footage, background music, and even smooth transitions and on-screen text in just minutes!
It also works as a high-quality video editing program that uses AI to help make the video editing process faster.
2. Pictory
Pictory is an AI video editing program that is amazing for making videos for social media. I love their huge stock footage library, and the variety of on-screen fonts, images and cute graphics.
One of the most useful features is that you can use their AI to quickly extract short clips from your longer-form videos. This is great for anyone who wants to post IG reels or YT shorts!
Make sure you use the code "neil65" to get 50% off your Pictory subscription!
Overview
Pictory is an excellent option for anyone looking for AI video editing tools. It also has an easy “script-to-video” option, where it will create you a video in a similar way to invideo.
The software is also very user-friendly, so even those without prior video editing skills or experience can edit videos quickly.
Overall, Pictory is an excellent choice for creating high-quality personal or marketing videos without spending much time or money.
Top Features
Pictory is an excellent AI video gen for several reasons.
- Pictory offers a wide range of templates that can be customized to fit any need.
- Its AI capabilities allow it to create videos automatically based on existing content, making it a highly efficient tool (it uses AI to find “golden nuggets” in your long-form video content so you can quickly create branded short-form content for social media).
- Pictory is constantly learning and improving its algorithms, meaning that its output quality will only improve over time.
- It is very user-friendly, meaning anyone can generate high-quality videos without prior experience.
- Pictory adds transcription for all videos automatically.
- Pictory has a free trial for its Standard pricing level, so you can try out the software before you buy it!
Pictory has recently added these new features to make video creation easier:
- Add-Ons: You can now customize your plan with extra tools that fit your needs.
- Pictory GPT: Quickly create videos from just an idea – right inside ChatGPT!
- Multilingual Support: Enjoy AI visual search and premium voiceovers in 29 more languages.
- Brand Kit: Keep your videos looking consistent with this useful branding tool.
Pricing
Starter: $23 per month (or $19/month if you pay yearly) – make up to 30 videos per month.
Professional: $47 per month (or $39 per month if you pay yearly) – make up to 60 videos per month and use hyper-realistic voices from ElevenLabs.
Teams: $119 per month (or $99 if you pay yearly) – make up to 90 videos each month, and use their collaboration tools.
I’d recommend going with their Professional level, as access to the ElevenLabs AI voices is worth it – they sound way more realistic than the standard voices!
Pictory Pros
Pictory Cons
My Experience With Pictory
I used Pictory to create my video using their script-to-video feature. It was so easy to use! Here’s how it looks when you add your script to Pictory’s script-to-video generator:
Pictory took my text and added stock video footage to it intelligently, using AI, when I clicked “proceed”. It also added the script to the video as text on the screen, based on the look of the template that I chose. I did need to change one of the stock videos, as it had picked the same one twice.
Other than that, it was easy and quick to create my video! You can take a look at the user interface here:
And here’s the completed video! Please note that I had full control over which video clips were used, whether the words showed up on the videos, the background music, and the type of AI voice used. There are almost unlimited ways to customize your video with Pictory!
I’d actually say that it was a bit easier to customize and change the generated video with Pictory (as compared to invideo), so if customization is a priority, Pictory might be a good choice for you!
Bottom Line
Pictory is best for video editors who need to quickly and easily create short-form video content from their existing long-form blog posts or videos. Its also fantastic for creating videos using stock footage from either a blog post or an existing script.
Use coupon code neil65 to get 50% off your Pictory subscription!
3. HeyGen
HeyGen is the best AI avatar generator for social media videos! It's got a unique AI technology that allows you to "clone" yourself as an AI avatar. This can help influencers and solopreneurs make lots of videos quickly and easily!
Plus, you can also use their very realistic-looking avatars if you don't want to use a clone of yourself.
Overview
HeyGen is my favorite AI digital avatar generator overall. It can help you create and edit fun, interesting videos that feature either existing avatars, or even your “digital twin”! The technology is pretty amazing, it can create an avatar that both looks like you and sounds like you (using voice cloning).
Top Features
- Talking Avatars: With HeyGen, you have a choice of over 100 AI avatars, featuring diverse ethnicities, ages, and poses. Input your script, and instantly create a spokesperson video with accurate lip-syncing.
- Custom Avatars: HeyGen enables you to craft your own unique talking avatar. In a brief 3-minute process, you can develop an AI avatar that represents you in new videos.
- Text to Speech: HeyGen offers a text-to-speech feature with a vast selection of over 300 voices in 40 different languages. This tool is ideal for creating top-notch voiceovers in an efficient manner.
- Text to Video: Convert text into professional-grade videos directly from your web browser in just a matter of minutes with HeyGen.
- Creative Styles: Unleash your creativity using HeyGen’s array of fonts, images, and shapes, enhancing the visual appeal of your videos.
- Face Swap Videos: If you’ve ever wanted to feature yourself in a video, HeyGen simplifies the process. Just upload a photo, apply a face swap with an AI avatar, and voilร , you’re the face of your video.
- Talking Photos: Animate your photos with HeyGen. Upload any portrait, add your text, and transform it into a talking photo. This feature is freely accessible and unlimited for all users.
Pricing
You can choose between five Creator plans and five Business plans, with a scaling number of available monthly credits which determine your maximum total video length. They range between $29/month and $899/month, or $24/month and $720/month with an annual subscription.
A meeting with HeyGen’s sales team can be booked if you’re interested in an Enterprise plan.
A free trial is also available, which lets you create a 1-minute demo video to test HeyGen’s features out. This includes the ability to try out your digital twin avatar!
- Text-to-Video: Turn simple text into videos with “talking heads” without filming yourself – you can even create an AI avatar that looks and sounds just like you!
- Virtual Avatars: Create avatars with motion, dressed how you like, in any background.
- Video Translation: Improve audio quality and add clear translations with ease.
- AI Screen Recorder: Record your screen and add avatars without using a camera.
- API Tools: Developers can now use HeyGen in their own apps for automatic content creation.
My Experience with HeyGen
HeyGen is quite an easy program to use. Its user interface looks a lot like Canva’s, so if you are familiar with it, you’ll find HeyGen very easy! It looks a lot like a video editing program, with the video timeline at the bottom of the screen, as shown below:
Here’s the “what is an independent film” video that I created using HeyGen. The avatar and voice were created by HeyGen. I think the avatar looks pretty realistic and the voice is excellent!
Bottom Line
HeyGen is an ideal AI video creation tool for solopreneurs, small business owners, and online influencers. In my experience, the AI avatars from HeyGen are the most lifelike in appearance and voice among those I’ve tested. The opportunity to create videos with your “digital twin” at such an affordable rate is remarkable!
They provide a free trial, allowing you to experiment with the technology. You can even create an instant avatar that resembles and sounds like you to determine if HeyGen suits your requirements.
4. Synthesia
Synthesia is an easy-to-use AI Avatar program that is best for the needs of medium to large businesses. It's great for creating training and explainer videos that are way more engaging than just having employees read the information they need to know.
Their AI voices are quite good, and their "digital humans" are looking more realistic all the time. You can see some videos that I've made with Synthesia when you click to see my review!
Overview
Synthesia is a powerful artificial intelligence video generator that can create realistic human faces from scratch. This technology can create lifelike avatars for movies, games, and other digital content.
Synthesia’s technology is based on a deep learning algorithm that can generate high-quality video footage from a 2D photo. The algorithm can learn the details of a face, including the shape of the nose, eyes, and mouth. As a result, Synthesia can create incredibly realistic faces that can fool even the most experienced observers.
In addition to creating realistic faces, Synthesia can generate engaging videos with realistic backgrounds and lighting conditions. This makes it possible to create videos that look like they were shot in real life. Synthesia’s technology is truly remarkable, and it has the potential to revolutionize the way we create digital content.
Top Features
Synthesia is one of the leading video generation platforms for AI. Here are some of the reasons why:
- Synthesia offers a wide range of video generation options, making finding the right solution for your needs easy.
- The platform is highly scalable, so you can generate training videos on demand without any problems.
- Synthesia’s video quality is excellent, thanks to cutting-edge AI-driven video creation technology.
- The platform is very user-friendly, so you can create videos quickly and easily.
- If you like the idea of using AI to create digital avatars but want to see more options, you can check out my article on 7+ great alternatives to Synthesia.
- Expressive AI Digital Avatars: These avatars show human-like emotions and movements – which will make your AI videos seem more lifelike to viewers.
- AI Video Assistant 3.0: This tool turns your text into engaging video content.
- AI Dubbing (Beta): Translate your videos into 29 languages quickly, making them accessible to a wider audience.
- Brand Kit: Easily add your company’s colors, fonts, and logos to your videos for consistent branding.
Pricing
Synthesia’s Starter plan is $18/month. The Creator plan is $64/month. The Enterprise plan, tailored for larger companies, offers flexible pricing based on your specific requirements.
Synthesia Pros
Synthesia Cons
My Experience with Synthesia
The Synthesia interface is pretty easy to use. You have your video scenes on the left hand side, and you’ll add your video script to the bottom of the screen. You can change the AI voice and avatar, add text, video and images to your slides, and add logos and branding.
Take a look at the user interface below!
Here’s the video that was created by Synthesia:
I think the video looks great! The voice is quite realistic, and it looks very professional. This is why I think that Synthesia is a great video generator for businesses.
Bottom Line
Overall, Synthesia is an excellent choice for anyone looking for a top-quality AI video generator. If you need an AI powered video maker that can scale on demand and deliver high-quality results with realistic-looking human avatars, Synthesia is worth considering.
5. Veed.io
VEED is a great AI video editing option for people who just want to edit their own videos. It can help you quickly edit your own videos using its AI technology.
One of its best features is the ability to add easy (and pretty accurate) subtitles using AI.
Overview
Veed.io is an AI video-generating tool that offers various templates to choose from. You can select a template based on your industry, style, and preferences. With Veed.io, you can create AI videos in just a few minutes without prior experience or design skills.
The videos are automatically generated based on the information you input, such as text, images, and footage. You can also customize the videos to match your brand identity and style.
VEED is a good video generation option if you need a video editing program as well as an AI video generator. It’s good for people who have real-life videos to edit, and who want a bit of AI assistance with it!
Top Features
Veed.io is a powerful video editing tool that utilizes AI to generate professional videos automatically. Here are some great features:
- Veed.io can create videos in various styles and formats, making it perfect for businesses of all types and sizes.
- The quality of the videos produced by Veed.io is exceptionally high, thanks to the tool’s ability to select only the best video footage and splice it together seamlessly.
- Overall, VEED is more meant for people who want to edit and make videos with their own video footage. If that’s you, it might be worth it to pay the higher cost to get more editing options.
VEED has introduced new features to enhance your video creation experience:
- AI-Powered Editing Tools: Automate tasks like adding subtitles, text-to-speech, background noise removal, and more to streamline your workflow.
- AI Avatars: Create personalized digital avatars that look and sound just like you – letting you scale your content creation easily!
- Clips Feature: Quickly transform your long-form content into short social media clips, complete with auto-framing and subtitles.
Pricing
Veed.io has four pricing options:
Free Plan: Good for one-off, up to ten-minute videos (watermarked).
Lite: Note that you get very little access to any of their stock audio or video with the lite plan (this is why I say that VEED is better for those who want to use their own video footage).
Pro: Includes access to all of VEED’s AI tools, as well as their full stock audio and video library. You also get to translate your video automatically into over 50 different languages.
Enterprise: Contact them for information!
Overall, my take is that VEED is best for people who want to generate videos that use their own recorded footage. If you are looking to create “faceless” videos for YouTube or social media, this is not the best program for you.
Veed.io Pros
Veed.io Cons
Bottom Line
In conclusion, Veed.io is a good AI video editing tool if you just want to edit your own video footage. It offers a wide range of benefits for businesses and content creators, such as AI-generated subtitles (although other programs will do this these days too).
6. Lumen5
Lumen5 is a premium video editing and generation software that uses artificial intelligence to help you edit and create your videos.
It's best for businesses and prolific video content creators who want lots of control of their videos.
Overview
Lumen5 is an excellent AI video creation platform for businesses looking to automatically create business videos in only a few minutes. With Lumen5, you can create professional videos from scratch or edit existing videos to create new content.
Lumen5 uses a combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and video editing software to generate videos that look realistic enough to pass for human-generated content. Lumen5 offers a wide range of templates and customization options, making it easy for businesses to create AI videos that fit their branding and style.
If you’re looking for an easy-to-use AI video generator that produces high-quality results, then Lumen5 is worth considering.
Top Features
- Easily create videos from scratch or edit existing videos
- AI video makers find that they love the wide range of templates and customization options
- Uses AI and video editing software together to create realistic videos that look like they were created by a human
- Repurposes blog posts into AI videos (great for your text to video AI video generator needs)
- AI-Powered Video Creation: Use artificial intelligence to effortlessly turn your text content into videos.
- Custom Templates: Design and use personalized templates to maintain brand consistency across all your videos.
- Better Media Library: Access an extensive collection of stock images, videos, and audio tracks to improve your videos.
Pricing
There are four levels of pricing for Lumen5:
Community: Free version of the AI software – videos contain watermarks, and the quality is lower (720p resolution)
Basic: $29 per month (or $19 if you pay yearly!) – no watermarks on your videos!
Starter: $79 per month (or $59 if you pay yearly) – you can use their stock photos and videos, and the video resolution is higher (1080p)
Professional: $149 per month – includes brand kits, custom watermarks, and more!
Lumen5 Pros
Lumen5 Cons
My Experience with Lumen5
Lumen5 has another great script-to-video feature. It was very easy to use, and the video that it generated is very cute! I inputted my script and Lumen5’s AI generated the stock video clips and the subtitles on the screen.
I actually tried out the Lumen5 AI video generator in two different ways: one using the โscript-to-videoโ option, and one using the AI voiceover option. The videos turned out really quite different!
I actually liked the โscript-to-videoโ option best, as it included dynamic, moving text on the screen as well as interesting visuals and nice music (all of it done by AI). Nothing is static in this video, and that’s a big draw for me. However, it’s a bit boring as it doesn’t include any talking. You can see this video below:
The other video included a great AI voiceover, but unfortunately, the visuals were really boring! I had to spend about 20 minutes playing around with using different video footage and adding some on-screen text in order to create the video that you can see below:
Bottom Line
So, neither of these options from Lumen5 was exactly what I was looking for – which is a software program that will take a written script and turn it into a fun-to-watch video with as little human input as possible.
I liked what it created when I took the time to change things up, so if you have lots of time and you like having full control over your videos, Lumen5 might still be a good choice for you.
If youโre looking for easy, fast videos – go with invideo or Pictory!
7. Colossyan
Colossyan is a great AI avatar generator tool for anyone who wants to include multiple avatars in a single video slide - it's the only avatar generator that allows this!
It's great for educational and training videos.
Overview
Colossyan is a fantastic option if you need to create AI videos for a business. You can create an AI avatar of yourself or use one of their 50+ avatars. You can even clone your voice – so you never need to be on-camera again (unless you want to)!
Top Features
Colossyan is a great AI video generator option. Here’s why:
- It offers a wide range of professional video styles to choose from, so you can find the perfect look for your project.
- It can create an AI-generated human face for your brand videos (choose from 50+ existing avatars).
- The software is easy to use, with an intuitive interface that makes creating videos quick and easy.
- It provides high-quality video output, ensuring your videos look fabulous no matter where they’re viewed.
- It offers a free trial, so you can try the service before committing to it.
Pricing
While Colossyan is not cheap (most businesses will need the Business plan at least), its software is fantastic for executives who would rather not be on camera.
Colossyan Pros
Colossyan Cons
My Experience With Colossyan
Colossyan is another easy-to-use AI avatar video generator. It has some features that are unique, such as the ability to put up to 4 different avatars in in a single slide. I found that it is best for creating educational and training videos, simply due to how it is laid out on the page. Here’s how the interface looks:
Here’s how the video looked:
Bottom Line
Colossyan is best for business owners and executives who don’t want to be on camera (or don’t want to deal with using actors)! I think it’s best for creating training and educational videos. It’s fantastic that you are able to have up to four avatars in a video at once.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, there are many different AI video generators to choose from. Filmmakers and video creators these days have so many options for using AI in their film and video projects!
As noted in this article, if you want to create a professional-looking video with that personal touch (without being in front of the camera!), one of the best options is using an AI video generator. Theyโre easy to use and can help you create videos that look great without requiring any prior video editing skills.
Whether you want to create a video that uses human faces, AI animation, or other visuals, you’ll find the best AI video generators on this list!
I hope these suggestions help you create easy, fantastic-looking videos for sharing!
Common Questions (FAQs)
How do I make a human AI video for free?
Clickย this link to Synthesia.ioย to make a human AI video for free. Alternatively, you could try outย HeyGenย if you want to create a โdigital twinโ of yourself for free, orย Colossyanย if you want to create an educational video for free.
What is an AI video generator?
AI video generators are computer programs that can create videos from scratch using artificial intelligence algorithms. These programs are designed to mimic (as much as possible) the creative process of human content creators by analyzing aย scriptย and then generating a video that tells the story. Some AI video generators will even allow you to create an AI-generated human face to use in your video.
How do I increase the quality of my videos?
If you need to improve the quality of your videos, tryย AI video upscaling software programs, such asย Topaz Video Enhance AI. These programs will take your existing lower-quality videos and use AI to upscale them to 4k or even 8k picture quality!
Editorial Process:
Neil reviewed each of these AI video generator programs, and created at least one video with each one before writing this review. You can see each video in this article. All opinions and observations in this article come from real-world experience. Read our editorial process here.
Some of the links in this article may be affiliate links, which can provide compensation to us at no cost to you if you decide to purchase a paid plan. These are products weโve personally used and stand behind. This site is not intended to provide financial advice. You can read our affiliate disclosure in our privacy policy.
Want to use AI to be the best digital creator you can be? Check out these other amazing AI programs:
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