Translate Videos to English With AI (Dubbing AI)

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I've been watching video AI and generally AI tools for 3 years now, always keeping a close eye on the newest innovations in the field. The other day I had a rare but positive 'WTF' moment, which happens every couple of weeks and with the newest AI features. 
This time, this moment was generated by Synthesia: I wanted to translate a video of me speaking in English and tested their dubbing feature. I asked the tool to create a German version of it and expected a half-baked version of my original video. Boy, was I wrong! The dubbed video was perfect! My voice had been cloned near perfection, the copy was translated immaculately, and fit my lip sync to a tee.

I think this year, translating videos with AI, aka dubbing, will be a very common thing, simply because the technology is ready and social media, YouTube, etc., are global markets. Speaking of Youtube, you already see the platform delivering various languages to you, if your settings allow it. But you'll also see dubbing and AI video translators for eCommerce, website content, trainings and tutorials because it's just so easy to use.

What is Dubbing with AI?

Dubbing is the practice of replacing a video's original language with a voiceover in another language. With AI this means that the AI first transcribes the text, translates it and generates a cloned AI voice with perfectly times the voice over over the original video.

Americans will not be as used to dubbing as other nations. As a Hungarian living in Germany, most of the movies I watched as a youngster on TV were dubbed. Usually the quality isn't very good, it's hard to match the timing of the lip sync and voice of the actor perfectly to the original. So in this instance, AI can absolutely do it better than humans.

How to translate videos to English (or any other language) with AI

The process is actually super easy! I I'll walk you through the dubbing feature with Synthesia, because I love their quality, but further down I'll compare prices and scopes because there are big differences.

First, you have to upload your original video file (up to 2.5h) or paste a Youtube link (only max. 2min) onto the platform. The tool will automatically detect the original format and you enter the final language at this point, I'm choosing Hungarian because I want to be able to evaluate the language quality.

Synthesia let's you also choose if the video lenght can slightly be adjusted or if the original length should be preserved. Now all you have to do is wait, which in my case with a 2 minute video took about 1 minute.

What's the best tool for translating videos to English or dubbing with AI?

Drumroll....So I tested ElevenLabs, HeyGen and Synthesia for this mission. The final translated videos' quality couldn't be any further apart! ElevenLabs: My least favorite because the lipsync is not timed perfectly and the voice doesn't sound like my voice at all. This is worse than the dubbing done by humans.

HeyGen: The lipsync and timing is definitely better, but not perfect yet. I can still see that this is AI generated and not the original video. The voice is a bit closer to my own, but still various nuances away.

Synthesia: By far the winner in this showdown! The lip sync and timing is incredibly good and the voice is really close to my own. 
Check out the videos below, starting out with the winner Synthesia!

Free video dubbing and translate videos to English for free- Details

On HeyGen, I can generate 3 minutes of video per month; it doesn't matter if that's for dubbing, AI avatars, or any other of their cool features. The free dubbed video on HeyGen has a watermark, though.  With ElevenLabs, I was able to dub my 1.37-minute video for 3255 free credits, and I receive 10.000 credits per month. This makes it possible to translate videos with up to 4-5 minutes for free with ElevenLabs.  Synthesia currently doesn't allow you to dub videos on their free plan, which is sad, because they generated the best dubbed video by far.

What's the best deal for translating videos to English with AI?

Depends on which quality you require. If you want few video minutes translated but on a very high level, you should use Synthesia, simply because it generated the best results by far. Sadly it's also the most expensive out of the three tools, because dubbing 10 minutes on the Starter plan will cost you $18 monthly on the annual plan.  If dubbing is your main goal but quality can be lower, HeyGen at $29/month is the best all-round deal. Also HeyGen offers pure audio dubbing for projects where the protagonist is only visible in small scale or not throughout. For audio dubbing the lip sync is not matching, therefore the credits are much cheaper.  If you need pure voice dubbing at scale, ElevenLabs Pro at $99/month for 250 minutes is the most cost-efficient at volume.

Which tool let's me download translated videos to English without a watermark?

ElevenLabs will let you download translated videos without a watermark. They give you 10,000 monthly free credits and I've created my dubbed video with 1.37min length for 3255 credits. So roughly you can generated 4-5 minutes of unwatermarked and free dubbed videos with ElevenLabs monthly.

(above are the first dubbing with AI tests of Murf AI...didn't work too well back then).

Do the translated videos come with captions?

Yes, on all three tools (Synthesia, ElevenLabs & HeyGen) it was possible to download the videos with captions in translated language. Since they generate a transcript of the voiceovers in the targeting language anyways, it's easy for the tools to deliver this feature too. Matter of fact, with most online video translators this is a preset you have to untick if you don't want captions included.

What's the difference between dubbing and audio dubbing? (especially for HeyGen)​

- Audio dubbing translates and replaces only the audio track. Your video visuals stay completely untouched, meaning no lip sync adjustment. It is faster, cheaper, and works well when the speaker is small on screen, for screen recordings, or B-roll-heavy edits where perfect lip sync is not critical - Full video dubbing (video translation) does everything: translates the speech, clones your voice, generates new audio, and resyncs your lips and facial movements to match the new language.

My Conclusion: The Best AI Dubbing Tool to Translate Videos to English in 2026

If you have made it this far, you already know that AI-powered video translation is no longer a gimmick. It is genuinely ready for real use cases and the gap between the three tools I tested is big, but I assume it will be closed this year. Synthesia is the clear winner on quality, and if you are creating professional training videos, tutorials, or any content where your credibility is on the line, there is no competition. Yes, it is the most expensive of the three, but the output justifies it completely.

HeyGen is a strong middle ground, especially if dubbing is your main use case and you can live with results that are not quite perfect yet. The unlimited audio dubbing feature makes the $29 plan a very solid deal for creators who mostly need translated voice-overs across videos into multiple languages rather than perfect lip sync.

ElevenLabs surprised me the most, but in the wrong direction. For a tool that is best in class for voice generation, the dubbing results were disappointing. That said, if you need a video translator for free without a watermark and a few minutes per month is enough, it remains the only free option that lets you download clean.

The bottom line is this: dubbing AI has arrived and 2026 is the year it goes mainstream. Whether you are a course creator, a YouTuber, a brand, or just someone who wants to reach a global audience with their best video content, there is now a tool and a price point for everyone. Start with Synthesia if quality is everything, and HeyGen if you want the best value for money. Either way, do not sleep on this feature. It is one of those rare AI moments that genuinely changes how you think about content.