Synthesia Avatar Builder credits: 14 per option, and Sume jobs

Synthesia's Avatar Builder consumes 14 credits for each option you generate, so asking for three options costs 42 credits. Sume works per request instead: each call to POST /v1/avatar-1.0/generate creates one job, which you poll until it completes.

Synthesia numbers are from its Avatar Builder page (docs updated 2026-09-09); Sume details from Create new avatar, read 2026-10-01. This post does not state a Sume price for avatar creation; check the rate card for the current figure.

How does Synthesia count Avatar Builder credits?

The page says each option generated for a Style avatar consumes 14 credits, and gives the examples 2 options = 28, 3 = 42 and 4 = 56. You choose how many options to generate, then pick one. It also notes that generating avatars takes 2 to 3 minutes.

How does Sume create an avatar?

There are three input paths: a text prompt, a profile of structured traits (the props input type), or a reference image (the photo input type). The request carries a top-level avatar_handle plus an input union. The handle may include a leading @; Sume stores it without it. Each request creates a job; poll it, then use the returned handle or resource id for avatar videos.

What happens when the balance is too low?

Sume reserves against the workspace's spendable USD balance at submit. If it is not enough, the submit fails with 402 insufficient_credits before provider work starts, per Generation admission.

Which should I plan around?

If you want to browse several candidate looks in a UI and pick one, Synthesia's option count is the unit to budget. If you are building avatar creation into an app, budget per request and per job: one request, one job, one result. To compare candidates on Sume you would submit more than one request, each with its own handle and Idempotency-Key. For the video stage, see AI avatar video pricing per minute.