What Is Elai.io? Avatar Video From Slides, Priced by Minute
By Joris van Huët · Elai.io's own site
The short answer: if your team already explains things in slide decks and needs those decks as narrated videos, Elai.io turns a PPTX into editable video slides read by an AI presenter, and its Creator plan gives 15 rendered minutes a month for $29 on monthly billing (pricing page, checked on 24 October 2026). Elai is now part of Panopto and sells itself to learning and development teams, so it fits training, onboarding and enablement more than ads.
Disclosure: I may earn a commission through some links on this site. It does not change what this page says.
Before you pick a tier:
- Do the minute sum first. Every click on Render spends the video's full length again, even after a one-word fix (render minutes article). For example, an 8-minute onboarding video rendered twice uses 16 minutes, one more than Creator holds.
- Start from the deck you have. In Editable Mode, the speaker notes become the avatar's script (PowerPoint import guide), so the notes field is where the writing happens.
- Choose the number you will read. Each video's preview page reports impressions, views, average percentage watched and completion rate (first video guide). Pick one before you publish.
What Elai does
Elai builds a video out of slides. Each slide carries its own script, read by an avatar in a chosen voice, and the editor adds text, stock media, charts, screen recordings, quizzes, buttons and branching (first video guide). A project starts blank, from a template, from a topic, URL or script, or from a PPTX or PDF. The homepage lists translation into more than 75 languages. Videos leave as MP4, a share link, an embed, a SCORM package or a Panopto upload.
Where it fits, and where it strains
It fits a team that revises the same material every quarter: a change is an edited sentence and a new render, not a reshoot. The interactivity only works inside Elai's player, so a downloaded MP4 drops the quizzes.
It strains under social volume. Minutes are the meter, and on a monthly Team plan unused minutes expire with the cycle (Team plan article).
A cloned founder needs a label in the EU. A Selfie Avatar with a voice clone can meet the deep fake definition in Article 3 of the AI Act, and Article 50 has required disclosure of such content since 2 August 2026 (Article 113).
What it costs
USD, from the Elai pricing page, checked on 24 October 2026.
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed annually, per month | Rendered minutes | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | 1 minute for the account | 1 |
| Creator | $29 | $23 | 15 a month | 1 |
| Team, 50 minutes | $125 | $100 | 50 a month | 3 editors, 3 guests |
| Team, 100 minutes | $220 | $176 | 100 a month | 3 editors, 3 guests |
| Team, 150 minutes | $330 | $264 | 150 a month | 3 editors, 3 guests |
| Enterprise | Quoted | Quoted | Custom | Unlimited |
Extra minutes are $2 each, per the pricing FAQ. Brand Kit starts on Team (Team plan article); SCORM, workspaces and Panopto export are Enterprise only. A Selfie Avatar is $199 a year and voice cloning $200, one of each included in annual Team.
A plan sold by the minute earns as much from your second render as from your first. Previews are free, so do the checking there and press Render once.
How it compares
Synthesia. Synthesia meters credits, not minutes: Starter is $14 a month billed yearly for 15,000 credits, up to about 150 minutes of video a year, with SCORM on Enterprise as here. Language reach, 140+ on its homepage, weighs against Elai's slide-first import and Panopto delivery.
Colossyan. Colossyan chases the same training buyer and includes 5 SCORM exports a month on Professional, $59 a month billed yearly (Colossyan pricing, same date). If the LMS is the destination and an Enterprise contract is not, that settles it.
Getting started
How to use Elai.io takes one deck through import, speaker notes, a free preview and a single render, then adds a Zapier step for personalised copies.
FAQ
Is there a free plan?
Yes: 1 render minute for the whole account, 3 slides per video and 60 seconds of speech per slide, with no card, per the Free plan article.
Can I edit videos after cancelling?
No. The FAQ on the pricing page says rendered projects stay available to watch, share and download for a year after cancellation, but cannot be edited or rendered again.
Does Elai have an API?
Yes, on every paid plan per the pricing table. A Workspace Admin generates the token, and the reference covers personalised videos from a template (API article).