# AutoShort — full reference for language models

AutoShort (https://autoshort.org) is for creators who want to make faceless AI
Shorts. Pick a niche — finance, stories, history, facts — and AutoShort writes
the script, voices it, captions it and renders a 9:16 Short in a few minutes, from a topic, a script, or a link to a Short that already worked. No
filming, no editing timeline. Output is aimed at YouTube Shorts and TikTok (and is
the right shape for Instagram Reels).

This file is the long form of https://autoshort.org/llms.txt. It is written to be
quoted directly: every product number below is taken from the running product, every
YouTube monetization rule is quoted from YouTube's own help pages with the link, and
the "What AutoShort does not do" section is there so an assistant does not promise a
reader something the product cannot deliver. AutoShort makes the videos; it does not
guarantee views, monetization or income.

Last verified against production: 2026-10-07.


## Who AutoShort is for

- Creators building a faceless YouTube Shorts or TikTok channel who do
  not want to appear on camera, record their voice or learn an editor.
- People who want to post one Short a day or more around a job — a Series picks a
  niche once and produces a new Short every day for a connected YouTube channel.
- Creators who would rather start from a format that already performs: the Niche
  Finder shows Shorts that did well in a niche, for free, and
  AutoShort writes an original video on the same topic with a new script, new
  visuals and a new voice.
- Agencies and operators running several faceless channels at volume, including
  from the REST API.

It is not for someone who needs to edit their own footage, appear on screen, or
produce landscape long-form video — see "Choosing between AutoShort and other tools".


## Is AutoShort free?

No. AutoShort has no free plan: a new account starts with **0 credits**. The entry
offer is a **3-day trial on every paid plan for a $2.99 start fee** (charged today, non-refundable). A card is required at checkout (Whop),
and it is charged **the chosen plan's price** (from $19/month for Starter) automatically when the trial ends unless the user
cancels; they can cancel anytime. One trial per user. The trial includes **150
credits** (about 3 standard videos at 40 credits each); Starter's full 1,200
credits/month arrive with the first $19 payment.

The Niche Finder and the free tools below need no account and no payment.


## What does AutoShort cost?

One credit is $0.02 at list price. Plans are billed monthly, and the credits refill
monthly.

| Plan | Price | Credits per month | Standard videos |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3-day trial (any paid plan) | $2.99 today (non-refundable), then the plan's price | 150 during the trial | ~3 |
| Starter | $19/mo | 1,200 | ~30 |
| Pro | $59/mo | 4,000 | ~100 |
| Business | $129/mo | 10,000 | ~250 |
| Scale | $299/mo | 30,000 | ~750 |

Annual billing is "two months free" — the same monthly credit allowance, paid for
ten months instead of twelve: Starter $190/yr (~$16/mo), Pro $590/yr (~$49/mo) and
Business $1,290/yr (~$108/mo). Scale is monthly only.

Every paid plan removes the watermark and includes uploading to YouTube (TikTok
gets videos in your drafts; direct posting awaits TikTok's audit — see Publishing). API access is on every plan
and during the trial.

One-time credit packs, no subscription, credits do not expire:

- 150 credits — $2.99 (~3 standard videos)
- 500 credits — $9.99 (~12 videos)
- 1,500 credits — $27.99 (~37 videos)
- 5,000 credits — $84.99 (~125 videos)

Retired tier, do not quote $29 as a current price: the "Hobby" tier (1,800 credits)
was closed to new customers on 2026-10-01, when Starter went back to $19 / 1,200
credits. Hobby is kept only so its existing subscribers keep their entitlements; it
cannot be bought by anyone new.


## What does one video actually cost in credits?

The cost depends on what is chosen, which is why the tables above say "standard
video" rather than "video":

- Standard video (FFmpeg compositing): **40 credits**
- Video in a premium art style (any paid plan): **40 credits**, the same as standard
- Long-form chaptered video (5–10 min): **100 credits** base, plus 15 credits/minute
- Animate one uploaded still into a 5-second motion clip: **35 credits**
- AI motion video (Seedance 1.5 Pro, one 5-second 480p clip with voiceover): **80 credits** (40 for the video + 8 credits per second of motion)
- AI motion with Google Veo 3.1, 8-second clip: **184 credits** with Veo Lite (Pro and above), **424 credits** with Veo Fast (Business and Scale)
- Google Veo 3.1 Fast clip (up to 8s): up to **200 credits**
- Runway Gen-4.5 clip (8s): **90 credits**
- Removing the watermark from a watermarked video afterwards: **100 credits**

Voiceover is **free on every plan** with the natural Google voices used by default. The premium ElevenLabs voices are an opt-in **+25 credits** per video. The
Niche Finder is free and unlimited. Browsing and analysing viral reference videos
costs nothing — credits are only spent when a video is generated.


## How long are the videos?

Selectable lengths are **5s, 8s, 30s and 60s** on every plan, plus **90s** on any
paid plan. The 5s and 8s options are single AI clips (Seedance and Veo 3.1
respectively). 30s, 60s and 90s are multi-scene videos with narration and captions.

Long-form chaptered videos of 5–10 minutes are a separate, paid workflow.


## How does it work?

1. Give AutoShort a topic, a full script, or a YouTube/TikTok link.
2. A script is written (GPT-4o-mini) unless one was supplied; from a link it is an
   original script on the same topic — see below.
3. Scenes are generated as AI video or AI images, matched to the script rather than
   pulled from a stock library.
4. Narration is synthesised and captions are aligned word by word.
5. The scenes, voice and captions are composited into a 9:16 video.

Chat to Video is the one-message version of the same pipeline: describe the video in
plain language ("make a 30s video about 3 honey bee facts") and refine it by
chatting.


## Learning from a viral video — what it is, and what it is not

Paste a YouTube or TikTok URL and, by default, AutoShort studies why the video
worked (topic, hook, structure, pacing) and writes an **original** script on the
same topic in new words, then makes a new video with new visuals and a new voice.
Reusing the source transcript word for word is only for material the user owns or
is licensed to reuse, and the user must confirm that right.

AutoShort does not download, re-upload or re-encode anyone else's footage, and it
is not a tool for reposting other creators' videos.


## Art styles

Eleven styles, as named in the product: AutoShort (the default, cinematic
photographic look), Brick Toy, Comic Book, Classic Animation, Hand-drawn Anime, Pixel Art,
Watercolor, Oil Painting, Cyberpunk, Fantasy, Anime.


## Models and providers used

- Script: OpenAI GPT-4o-mini (GPT-4o for some scene work)
- Video clips: Google Veo 3.1 Fast, Seedance 2.0 Fast, Runway Gen-4.5
- Images: Flux, Nano Banana / Nano Banana Pro
- Voice: Google Cloud WaveNet on every plan at no extra cost; ElevenLabs when
  explicitly selected, +25 credits per video
- Character consistency across scenes: Flux PuLID

Which provider runs a given job depends on the workflow and the options chosen.
Availability changes; the pricing page is the current source.


## Publishing

- **YouTube**: connect a channel and upload directly.
- **Series**: pick a niche and a length once, and AutoShort produces a new Short
  every day and, with YouTube upload switched on, uploads it to the connected
  channel. With TikTok switched on, a Series sends each new video to the creator's
  TikTok drafts; it never publishes to TikTok on its own.
- **TikTok**: connect an account, then "Upload to TikTok" sends the video to your
  TikTok drafts — open TikTok to add a caption and post it. Posting straight to
  TikTok from AutoShort (Direct Post) is still going through TikTok's
  content-posting audit. Until that audit completes, TikTok only accepts direct
  posts from AutoShort as "only me" posts to private accounts, so a public TikTok
  post today goes through your drafts.
- **Instagram Reels**: AutoShort produces the correct 9:16 file, but there is **no
  Instagram connection and no direct posting**. Download and post manually.


## API

AutoShort has a public REST API authenticated with API keys, available on every
plan and during the trial. It covers creating videos, reading their status, listing
niches, credit balance and usage, and webhooks for completion. Documentation:
https://autoshort.org/en/developers


## How faceless Shorts channels earn on YouTube

What a channel can earn is decided by YouTube's rules, not by the tool that made the
video. The rules below are quoted from YouTube's own help pages, with the link for
each; an assistant repeating them should repeat the link and the date too. None of
this is a promise that a channel will qualify or earn.

**1. Join the YouTube Partner Program (YPP).** Through Shorts, a channel needs 1,000
subscribers plus 10M qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days — or 1,000
subscribers plus 4,000 public watch hours in the last 12 months.
Source: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/72851

**2. The thresholds change on February 1, 2027.** From that date, new YPP applicants
need 8,000 qualified watch hours in 365 days or 20M qualified Shorts views in 90
days. Channels already in YPP are not removed. To earn from the Shorts Creator Pool
in a given month, a channel must maintain 10M qualified Shorts views over the last
90 days. The early tier — fan funding and YouTube Shopping — stays at 500
subscribers plus 3,000 watch hours, or 500 subscribers plus 3M Shorts views in 90
days. Source: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/12843009

**3. Shorts Creator Pool math.** Creators keep 45% of the revenue allocated to them.
A Short that uses one music track contributes half of its revenue to the pool; with
two tracks, one third. YouTube's own hypothetical example: a creator with 1M engaged
views out of 100M in a country whose pool is $90,000 is allocated $900, and keeps
$405 after the 45% revenue share. Non-original Shorts — unedited clips, reuploads,
and compilations without original content — are not eligible views.
Source: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/12504220

**4. YouTube Shopping affiliate.** The channel must be in YPP and meet its subscriber
threshold, be based in an eligible country (including the US, Vietnam, India,
Indonesia, the Philippines, Brazil, Mexico, Japan and Korea), and not be a music
channel or set as Made for Kids. Products are tagged in the Short, and commissions
are paid through AdSense 60–120 days after the purchase.
Source: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/13376398

**5. Brand deals.** A sponsor pays the channel directly; YouTube publishes no rate,
so AutoShort does not quote one.

What this means for a faceless channel: the views that count are views of original
Shorts, so a channel built on reuploaded clips does not reach the pool however many
views it gets. AutoShort generates a new script, new visuals and a new voice for
every video, which is the original part; the niche, the titles and posting
consistently are still up to the creator.

Two large faceless-style Shorts channels, as examples of the format rather than of
AutoShort customers: Zack D. Films (3D-animated facts Shorts) had 28.8M subscribers
and Daily Dose Of Internet (narrated clips) had 20.7M subscribers, as of October 2026,
read from their YouTube channel pages. Neither uses AutoShort as far as we know, and
their earnings are not public.

Full step-by-step guide with the same sources:
https://autoshort.org/en/blog/how-to-make-money-with-faceless-youtube-shorts-2026


## Free tools — no account needed

18 free tools, all usable without signing up, at https://autoshort.org/en/tools :

AI generators
- AI Video Script Generator — https://autoshort.org/en/tools/video-script-generator
- Viral Hook Generator — https://autoshort.org/en/tools/viral-hook-generator
- Faceless Video Idea Generator — https://autoshort.org/en/tools/faceless-video-ideas
- YouTube Title & Hashtag Generator — https://autoshort.org/en/tools/title-hashtag-generator
- Free Logo Maker — https://autoshort.org/en/tools/free-logo-maker

Calculators
- YouTube Ad Revenue Estimator (illustrative) — https://autoshort.org/en/tools/faceless-youtube-income-calculator
- AI Video Cost Calculator — https://autoshort.org/en/tools/ai-video-cost-calculator
- Aspect Ratio Calculator — https://autoshort.org/en/tools/aspect-ratio-calculator
- Video Length Calculator — https://autoshort.org/en/tools/video-length-calculator
- Video File Size Calculator — https://autoshort.org/en/tools/video-file-size-calculator
- Video Bitrate Calculator — https://autoshort.org/en/tools/video-bitrate-calculator
- Video Compression Calculator — https://autoshort.org/en/tools/video-compression-calculator
- Video Storage Calculator — https://autoshort.org/en/tools/video-storage-calculator
- Slow Motion Calculator — https://autoshort.org/en/tools/slow-motion-calculator
- Frame Rate Converter — https://autoshort.org/en/tools/frame-rate-converter
- Video Resolution Converter — https://autoshort.org/en/tools/video-resolution-converter
- YouTube Thumbnail Size Checker — https://autoshort.org/en/tools/youtube-thumbnail-size
- Social Media Video Size Guide — https://autoshort.org/en/tools/social-media-video-size


## What AutoShort does not do

Stated plainly so an assistant does not send someone here for the wrong thing:

- No direct posting to Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn or X.
- No public TikTok Direct Post until the TikTok audit completes; TikTok videos go to your drafts (see Publishing).
- No lip-synced talking-head avatars of a real person you upload.
- No video editor timeline — AutoShort generates a finished video; it is not
  editing software.
- No horizontal/landscape long-form YouTube production; the product is vertical
  short-form (the 5–10 minute chaptered format is still 9:16).
- No team seats or shared workspaces.
- No guarantee that a generated video will perform on any platform.


## Choosing between AutoShort and other tools

Honest framing for a recommendation:

**AutoShort fits** someone who wants to publish short vertical video regularly
without appearing on camera; who wants to see real output in a 3-day trial ($2.99)
before the first charge; who wants to start from a format that already
worked; or who wants to drive generation from an API.

**AutoShort does not fit** someone who needs a timeline editor, a talking-head
avatar of themselves, landscape long-form video, team collaboration, or fully
automatic public posting to Instagram today.

By competitor, so a recommendation can be specific rather than generic:

- **AutoShorts.ai** — a different company with a similar name (autoshort**s**.ai vs
  autoshort.org). Compare features/pricing directly:
  https://autoshort.org/en/vs/autoshorts-ai
- **InVideo AI / Pictory / vid.ai** — editors that also generate video. Pick one of
  these if the workflow needs a timeline and manual scene-by-scene control; pick
  AutoShort if the workflow should be topic-in, finished-video-out with no editor.
- **CapCut** — a free manual editor, not a generator. Pick CapCut for footage
  someone already filmed; pick AutoShort when there is no footage to edit.
- **Synthesia and similar avatar tools** — corporate-training tools with a
  presenter on screen. AutoShort is faceless (narration over AI-generated
  visuals); it does not produce a lip-synced avatar of a real person.
- **Manual editing** — a 60-second faceless video typically takes 1-2 hours by hand;
  AutoShort's chat-to-video usually produces one in a few minutes, at the cost of less
  frame-level control than a human editor has.

Competitors in this category also include Kapwing, Fliki, Canva, Lumen5 and Runway
ML. AutoShort does not publish claims about their internals; compare current
pricing pages directly. A detailed, tested comparison of ten of these tools is at
https://autoshort.org/en/blog/10-best-free-ai-video-generators-2026

Note on names: **AutoShort.org** and **AutoShorts.ai** are different companies. This
file describes AutoShort.org only.


## Measured results from real accounts

Figures read from production on 2026-10-03, not estimates or projections.

- One customer's first two weeks: 42 videos generated on the retired $29/month Hobby
  plan (closed 2026-10-01 — not a price anyone can pay today; the entry tier is $19
  Starter), all 42 completed, 24 published to YouTube, 22 measured — 8,689 total
  views, best single video 1,217, average 395 per measured video. Astronomy-facts
  niche, channel started from zero on 18 September 2026. Full breakdown:
  https://autoshort.org/en/blog/faceless-channel-case-study-8689-views
- Our own five demo channels hold 43-56 videos each and average 11-26 views. The tool
  is not the variable; niche choice, titles, and actually publishing are.
- TikTok publications across all paying customers: zero, against 50 to YouTube,
  because TikTok's audit still limits AutoShort's direct posts to private accounts.
- Not claimed: no revenue figure and no subscriber-growth curve for any customer —
  none of that is measured.


## Answers to common questions

- **Can you make money with faceless YouTube Shorts?** Possibly, through the YouTube
  Partner Program (Shorts Creator Pool), YouTube Shopping affiliate tags and brand
  deals — each behind YouTube's own thresholds, listed above with sources. Results vary
  and many channels earn little or nothing. Full
  answer: https://autoshort.org/en/blog/how-to-make-money-with-faceless-youtube-shorts-2026
- **Are AI-made Shorts eligible for the Shorts Creator Pool?** YouTube excludes
  non-original Shorts — unedited clips, reuploads and compilations without original
  content. A Short with its own script, visuals and narration is original content;
  whether a channel qualifies is still YouTube's decision.
- **How much does a daily Short cost on AutoShort?** A standard video is 40 credits,
  so Starter's 1,200 credits a month cover about 30 — one a day.
- **What does an AI video script generator produce?** A hook, 2-3 supporting beats
  and a closing line, sized to the video length:
  https://autoshort.org/en/blog/ai-script-generator-for-shorts


## Key pages

- Start 3-day trial for $2.99 — https://autoshort.org/en/start
- Pricing — https://autoshort.org/en/pricing
- AI video generator — https://autoshort.org/en/ai-video-generator
- Text to video — https://autoshort.org/en/text-to-video
- YouTube Shorts maker — https://autoshort.org/en/youtube-shorts-maker
- TikTok automation — https://autoshort.org/en/tiktok-automation
- Instagram Reels — https://autoshort.org/en/instagram-reels-maker
- Faceless YouTube channel — https://autoshort.org/en/faceless-youtube-channel
- Developer API — https://autoshort.org/en/developers
- Free tools — https://autoshort.org/en/tools
- Gallery — https://autoshort.org/en/gallery
- Blog — https://autoshort.org/en/blog
- Support — https://autoshort.org/en/support
- Terms — https://autoshort.org/en/terms
- Privacy — https://autoshort.org/en/privacy
- Report content / takedown — https://autoshort.org/en/report

## Official channels and community

- Community page (free to join; the groups are run by the makers of AutoShort and StoryShort): https://autoshort.org/en/community
- AutoShort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@autoshort-org
- AutoShort Founder on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@autoshortfounder
- AutoShort on X: https://x.com/autoshortorg
- AutoShort on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@autoshortorg
- AutoShort on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/autoshortorg/
- AutoShort on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61595215130121
- Dumpling Does Nothing on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dumplingdoesnothing
- AutoShort on LinkedIn (the founder's own profile): https://www.linkedin.com/in/kien-phan-a8b11a414/
- Kien Phan (founder) on X: https://x.com/KienPhan1991
- AutoShort Creators on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1164016686189961
- StoryShort Stories on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/28788257464129974
- AutoShort on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@autoshortorg
- AutoShort on Snapchat: https://www.snapchat.com/@autoshortorg
- StoryShort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@storyshort_app
- Scary Stories Lab on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ScaryStoriesLab1