TubeGen vs AutoShorts: $149 Long-Form vs $19 Shorts (2026)
We make a third option, covered at the bottom. Prices are as published in August 2026.
TubeGen AI and AutoShorts.ai turn up on the same shortlists constantly, and the $149 against $19 gap makes it look like one of them is overpriced. Neither is. They do different jobs, and the price gap is mostly a description of which job.
The short answer
Pick AutoShorts.ai if you want a faceless Shorts channel that posts without you. It does that for $19 a month and TubeGen does not do it at all.
Pick TubeGen AI if you want 15 to 30 minute narrated, animated videos and you are happy to upload them yourself. AutoShorts cannot make those.
If you are still reading, it is probably because you are not certain which of those you want. That is the useful part, so it gets the rest of the page.
Side by side
| TubeGen AI | AutoShorts.ai | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $149/mo | $19/mo |
| Video length | Up to 30 minutes | Shorts |
| Auto-publishes | No, you export and upload | YouTube, TikTok, Instagram |
| Daily posting costs | Not applicable | $39/mo |
| Twice-daily posting | Not applicable | $69/mo |
| Channels per plan | 3 active projects | One series |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Refunds | None offered | Yearly is 2 months free |
| Voice cloning | Not the selling point | Included |
| Review before publish | You upload everything anyway | Edit-and-preview step |
What TubeGen actually charges for
| Plan | Price | Credits | Script limit | Animation per video | Active projects |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $149/mo | 33,000 | 3,000 words | 1 minute | 3 |
| Pro | $297/mo | 100,000 | 10,000 words | 10 minutes | 5 |
| Premium | $849/mo | 340,000 | 20,000 words | Unlimited | 10 |
Add-on credit packages start at $27 a month. TubeGen states that 33,000 credits buys roughly 200,000 words of script, about 1,320 minutes of voiceover, or about 1,650 images.
Read the script limits, because they are the clearest statement of what the product is for. A 3,000-word script is about a 20-minute video. If you are making 40-second vertical Shorts, you are paying $149 a month for capacity you will never reach.
The other number worth pausing on: there is no free trial listed, and the pricing page states plainly that refunds are not offered. You are committing $149 to find out whether the output suits you.
What AutoShorts actually charges for
$19 a month gets three posts a week. $39 gets daily. $69 gets twice a day. Every tier covers one series, so a second channel means a second subscription.
It auto-posts to TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram, includes voice cloning, and gives you an edit-and-preview step before anything goes out. That review step is the real differentiator against most tools in this bracket, and it is worth something if you are nervous about what an unattended pipeline will publish under your name.
The distinction that decides it
TubeGen automates production. AutoShorts automates the channel.
TubeGen exports a file. You upload it, write the title, pick the thumbnail, and schedule it, every time. That is fine if you are making four long videos a month. It is not what most people mean when they search for YouTube automation, and it is the single most common reason people are disappointed by TubeGen after paying $149 they cannot get back.
AutoShorts connects to your channel and publishes on the days you set. You touch it during setup and then roughly never.
So the price comparison is misleading in both directions. TubeGen is not an expensive AutoShorts. AutoShorts is not a cheap TubeGen. If you tried to use AutoShorts for 20-minute documentaries you would fail immediately, and if you tried to run a daily Shorts channel on TubeGen you would be uploading by hand seven days a week while paying eight times the price.
Where the comparison usually goes wrong
People find TubeGen through a search for automating a YouTube channel, see a polished long-form demo, and assume publishing is included because everything else appears to be. It is not, and nothing on the pricing page will get you there at any tier. $849 a month still exports a file.
The reverse mistake is rarer but real: assuming AutoShorts will grow into long-form later. It will not. Shorts is the product.
The third option
We build PassiveShorts, which sits on the AutoShorts side of that line and differs mainly on how many channels you can run.
$19 per series a month for three posts a week, $39 per series for daily, the same entry price as AutoShorts. The difference is that you can run up to 10 series at once from one dashboard, each with its own topic, channel, visual style, AI voice, caption style, and schedule. AutoShorts charges a full subscription per series.
Auto-posts to YouTube and TikTok. 19 visual styles. There is a separate form for building one video from a script you paste, if you want to keep the writing and hand over everything after it. Our videos run roughly 30 to 55 seconds.
There is a 7-day money-back guarantee, refunded automatically if you cancel in the window. Against a $149 non-refundable entry price, that is the difference that matters most when you are guessing.
Pick it if you want more than one faceless channel, or you want to be able to change your mind. Skip it if you need Instagram, which AutoShorts covers and we do not, or long-form video, which none of the $19 tools make.
Which to buy
| If you want | Buy |
|---|---|
| Long, narrated, animated video and you will upload it yourself | TubeGen AI |
| One Shorts channel, on Instagram as well, reviewed before publish | AutoShorts.ai |
| Several Shorts channels, or a refund window while you test | PassiveShorts |
Related comparisons
- TubeGen AI Alternatives: five options including four under $40, and what TubeGen credits actually buy
- AutoShorts.ai Alternatives: the same $19 and $39, a different bet on reviewing videos
- StoryShort AI Alternatives: the one tool that reaches into both Shorts and long-form
- Why Faceless Video Tools Sell You Credits: what a credit balance really costs
- YouTube Shorts Automation: what the six pipeline steps are, before you buy anything