Faceless.video vs Short.ai: One Bill or Two (2026)
We make a competing tool and we are not one of the two compared here. Prices are as published in July 2026.
Both of these sell credits, both generate faceless video, and both look like roughly $20 a month at a glance. The way they package it is completely different, and one of them has a free tier that changes the answer.
What each one costs
Faceless.video, one subscription:
| Plan | Monthly | Annual | Credits | Social accounts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $20 | $14/mo | 30 | 1 |
| Daily | $35 | $25/mo | 60 | Unlimited |
| Double | $59 | $41/mo | 120 | Unlimited |
| Studio | $149 | n/a | 350 | Unlimited |
Annual saves 30 percent. Daily and above add a priority render queue. Top-up credits cost $0.60 to $0.80 each depending on the pack. Credits roll over month to month.
Short.ai, two subscriptions:
| Part | Plan | Price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creation | From | $19/mo | 1,600 credits, about 40 faceless videos |
| Publishing | Free | $0 | 3 channels, limited to 3 posts a day |
| Publishing | Channel | $15/mo | 3 channels, unlimited scheduling |
| Publishing | Extra | +$5/channel | Beyond the first three |
Posts to TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook, which is the widest platform list in this category.
The thing most comparisons get wrong about Short.ai
Short.ai is usually written up as "about $34 a month" because $19 plus $15 is the combination that gives you everything. That is fair as a worst case, but it skips the free publishing tier.
The free channel plan covers three channels at up to three posts a day. For a faceless channel posting once daily, three posts a day is not a constraint. It is three times more than you need.
So the realistic entry for a lot of people is $19, not $34. You pay for creation and use the free publishing tier until its limits actually bind, which for a single daily channel may be never.
That reframes the comparison entirely:
| Setup | Faceless.video | Short.ai |
|---|---|---|
| 1 channel, daily | $35/mo (Daily tier) | $19/mo (free publishing) |
| 3 channels, daily | $59/mo (Double, unlimited accounts) | $19/mo if 3 posts a day each is enough |
| 3 channels, unlimited scheduling | $59/mo | $34/mo |
| 6 channels | $59/mo, unlimited accounts | $19 + $15 + $15 = $49/mo |
Short.ai is cheaper across most of that table. Faceless.video catches up as channel count climbs, because unlimited social accounts stop costing more and Short.ai's $5 per extra channel keeps adding up.
Where Faceless.video wins
Rollover. Almost nothing in this category does it, including Short.ai. Unspent credits stay yours. If your output is uneven, this is worth more than the price difference, because everywhere else an unused allowance is money burned.
One bill, one login, one thing to cancel. Two subscriptions is genuine friction, and it is friction at the exact moment you are trying to reduce the number of things you manage.
Unlimited social accounts from $35. No per-channel arithmetic at all above the Starter tier.
Top-ups without a plan change. $0.60 to $0.80 a credit for a busy month, rather than jumping a tier.
A priority render queue on Daily and above.
Where Short.ai wins
Price at low channel counts, if the free publishing tier works for you. $19 against $35 for a daily channel is a real gap.
Facebook. Neither Faceless.video nor most of this category reaches it. If Facebook is part of your distribution, Short.ai is on a very short list.
Four platforms from one tool. TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook.
More stated video volume at entry. 1,600 credits is described as about 40 faceless videos. Faceless.video's Starter is 30 credits and does not publish a per-video conversion, so 40 is the larger number you can actually point at.
A free tier to test the publishing half before paying for it.
Head to head
| Faceless.video | Short.ai | |
|---|---|---|
| Subscriptions | One | Two |
| Realistic entry | $20/mo | $19/mo with free publishing |
| Full-featured entry | $35/mo | $34/mo |
| Credits roll over | Yes | No |
| Stated videos at entry | Not published | About 40 |
| TikTok | Yes | Yes |
| YouTube | Yes | Yes |
| Not clearly stated | Yes | |
| No | Yes | |
| Social accounts | Unlimited from $35 | 3, then $5 each |
| Top-ups | Yes, $0.60 to $0.80 | Not stated |
| Affiliate commission | Page is offline | 30% for life |
Affiliate rates are as published in August 2026 and only matter if you write about the tool you pick. Short.ai pays 30 percent on renewals for as long as the customer stays and holds the cookie for 90 days. Faceless.video's footer still links to an affiliate site, but the address no longer resolves. For reference, ours is 30% recurring for as long as they stay.
How to choose
Is your output uneven? If some months are thirty videos and some are zero, Faceless.video's rollover is the most valuable feature in this comparison and you can stop reading. Short.ai has nothing equivalent.
Do you need Facebook or Instagram? Short.ai, and it is the only one of the two with a clearly stated four-platform list.
Running one or two channels on a steady schedule? Short.ai at $19 with the free publishing tier, provided three posts a day per channel is enough headroom. Check that limit against your plan before you rely on it.
Running six or more channels? Faceless.video, because unlimited accounts stops the per-channel fees that Short.ai keeps charging.
Want one invoice and no moving parts? Faceless.video. Two subscriptions that can fall out of sync is a real cost even when the arithmetic favors it.
A note on both
Both tools sell you a balance rather than a rhythm, and that is the thing worth thinking about hardest before buying either.
A credit balance is flexible, and flexibility is what most people think they want. But recommendation systems on YouTube and TikTok read consistency, and the channels that fail usually do so because posting became irregular, not because the videos were bad. A balance lets you skip a month. A schedule does not.
That is the idea PassiveShorts is built on: $19 per series a month posts three times a week on days you pick, $39 per series a month posts once a day, yearly charges 10 months instead of 12, and there are no credits at all, so there is nothing to run out of and nothing to roll over. Up to 10 series at once, each with its own topic, channel, visual style, voice, and schedule. Auto-posts to YouTube and TikTok, with 19 visual styles, six customizable caption presets, natural AI voices, and five ready-made topics plus a custom one. Full commercial rights, 7-day money-back guarantee.
The honest limits: no Instagram, no Facebook, and no rollover. If any of those three is a requirement, one of the tools above is your answer instead.
Related comparisons
- Faceless.video Alternatives — whether rollover is worth buying
- Short.ai Alternatives — the two-subscription structure explained
- AutoShorts.ai vs Faceless.video — a fixed rate against a rolling balance
- Why Faceless Video Tools Sell You Credits (And What It Costs You) — the three pricing models compared