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AI faceless TikTok / Shorts agency: cheapest tool stack
Produce faceless short-form videos (TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels) for several clients with an AI pipeline and a small team.
Prices are official, dated and quoted (latest check 2026-10-18). Change any number and the stacks update. Ranking never depends on affiliate status.
- Shorts per month: 151.7
- Shorts per week: 35.0
- Video minutes per month: 113.8
- Narration minutes per month: 113.8
- Narration characters: 113,750.0
- Seconds of AI footage per month: 3,412.5
- Social accounts: 15.0
- Posts per week: 105.0
- Minutes per short: 0.8
The three stacks
Cheapest stack
| Category | Tool | What it does | $/month | Manual h/week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Script / LLM | Gemini API Gemini 3.8 Flash, paid tier | Writes scripts/drafts automatically from a prompt template in your pipeline. | $2.05 | 0.0 h |
| Voiceover | Gemini API 3.8 Flash-Lite TTS, paid tier | Text-to-speech voiceover via API. | $1.04 | 0.0 h |
| AI-generated footage | Stock footage instead Uppbeat Pro (billed yearly) | Use stock clips instead of AI footage. | $14.99 | 2.9 h |
| Code rendering licence (Remotion) | Remotion Free License | Code-rendered videos in React; free for individuals and companies of up to 3 people. | $0.00 | 0.0 h |
| Rendering compute | Your own computer Local rendering | Render with the Remotion CLI on a machine you already have. | $0.00 | 0.0 h |
| Editing / captions | Remotion captions In your composition | Burns captions in the code-rendered video using the script/timestamps you already have. | $0.00 | 0.0 h |
| Scheduling / posting | Post by hand Native apps | Upload in each platform's own app. | $0.00 | 5.2 h |
| Human review | QA time that no tool removes (assumption). | — | 2.3 h | |
| Total | $18.08/mo | 10.5 h/week | ||
Balanced stack
| Category | Tool | What it does | $/month | Manual h/week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Script / LLM | Gemini API Gemini 3.8 Flash, paid tier | Writes scripts/drafts automatically from a prompt template in your pipeline. | $2.05 | 0.0 h |
| Voiceover | Gemini API 3.8 Flash-Lite TTS, paid tier | Text-to-speech voiceover via API. | $1.04 | 0.0 h |
| AI-generated footage | Runway API grok_imagine_1_5_lite, 720p | Generates b-roll clips from prompts via API. | $153.56 | 0.0 h |
| Code rendering licence (Remotion) | Remotion Free License | Code-rendered videos in React; free for individuals and companies of up to 3 people. | $0.00 | 0.0 h |
| Rendering compute | Your own computer Local rendering | Render with the Remotion CLI on a machine you already have. | $0.00 | 0.0 h |
| Editing / captions | Remotion captions In your composition | Burns captions in the code-rendered video using the script/timestamps you already have. | $0.00 | 0.0 h |
| Scheduling / posting | Publer Professional | Schedules posts; priced per social account (every 10th free). | $70.00 | 1.8 h |
| Human review | QA time that no tool removes (assumption). | — | 2.3 h | |
| Total | $226.65/mo | 4.1 h/week | ||
Most automated stack
| Category | Tool | What it does | $/month | Manual h/week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Script / LLM | Gemini API Gemini 3.8 Flash, paid tier | Writes scripts/drafts automatically from a prompt template in your pipeline. | $2.05 | 0.0 h |
| Voiceover | Gemini API 3.8 Flash-Lite TTS, paid tier | Text-to-speech voiceover via API. | $1.04 | 0.0 h |
| AI-generated footage | Runway API grok_imagine_1_5_lite, 720p | Generates b-roll clips from prompts via API. | $153.56 | 0.0 h |
| Code rendering licence (Remotion) | Remotion Free License | Code-rendered videos in React; free for individuals and companies of up to 3 people. | $0.00 | 0.0 h |
| Rendering compute | Your own computer Local rendering | Render with the Remotion CLI on a machine you already have. | $0.00 | 0.0 h |
| Editing / captions | Remotion captions In your composition | Burns captions in the code-rendered video using the script/timestamps you already have. | $0.00 | 0.0 h |
| Scheduling / posting | Publer Professional | Schedules posts; priced per social account (every 10th free). | $70.00 | 1.8 h |
| Human review | QA time that no tool removes (assumption). | — | 2.3 h | |
| Total | $226.65/mo | 4.1 h/week | ||
Every option, per category
Sorted by price at your numbers. “Doesn’t fit” means a plan limit (users, minutes, subscribers…) is exceeded.
Script / LLM
| Tool / plan | $/month | h/week | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini API Gemini 3.8 Flash, paid tier Price doubles on 1 Jan 2027 ($1.50 / $7.50 per 1M tokens). | $2.05 | 0.0 h | Price sourceGemini 3.8 Flash, paid tier: $0.75 per 1M input tokens, $3.75 per 1M output tokens through 31 Dec 2026 (doubles from 1 Jan 2027). Free tier: free of charge. (checked 2026-10-18, read on the official page 2026-10-18 (snapshot gemini-pricing))
Formula: |
| Claude Pro Usage limits apply. | $20.00 | 2.9 h | Price sourceClaude Pro: $20 billed monthly, $17/month with annual billing (checked 2026-10-18, read on the official page 2026-10-18 (snapshot claude))
Formula: |
| Jasper Pro (1 seat) | $69.00 | 2.9 h | Price sourcePro: $59/month billed yearly or $69/month billed monthly (checked 2026-10-18, AI writing calculator (aiwritercost): jasper fact jasper/1)
Formula: |
| Gemini API Gemini 3.8 Flash, free tier Rate limits apply; content may be used to improve Google's products. Off unless you allow free tiers. | doesn’t fit | Price sourceGemini 3.8 Flash, paid tier: $0.75 per 1M input tokens, $3.75 per 1M output tokens through 31 Dec 2026 (doubles from 1 Jan 2027). Free tier: free of charge. (checked 2026-10-18, read on the official page 2026-10-18 (snapshot gemini-pricing))
Formula: |
Voiceover
| Tool / plan | $/month | h/week | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini API 3.8 Flash-Lite TTS, paid tier Price doubles on 1 Jan 2027. Text tokens assumed at 4 characters each. | $1.04 | 0.0 h | Price sourceGemini 3.8 Flash-Lite TTS, paid tier: $0.50/1M text input tokens and $6.00/1M audio output tokens = $0.0015 per 10 s of audio through 31 Dec 2026 ($0.003 from 1 Jan 2027) (checked 2026-10-18, read on the official page 2026-10-18 (snapshot gemini-pricing))
Formula: |
| Murf API, Falcon (pay as you go) Commercial terms of API output not checked here. | $1.14 | 0.0 h | Price sourceAPI pay as you go: Falcon $0.01 per 1,000 characters, Gen2 $0.03 per 1,000 characters; $10 of free credits for new users (checked 2026-10-18, TTS calculator (ttscost): murf fact murf/api-rates)
Formula: |
| ElevenLabs API, Flash/Turbo models | $4.55 | 0.0 h | Price sourceAPI text to speech: $0.04 per 1,000 characters (v4 Turbo, v3 Conversational, Flash/Turbo), stated as about $0.04 a minute; 20,000 characters = about 20 minutes (checked 2026-10-18, TTS calculator (ttscost): elevenlabs fact elevenlabs/api-turbo)
Formula: |
| Resemble AI Flex | $4.57 | 0.0 h | Price sourceFlex: $0 base fee, monthly; text to speech billed per second at $0.00067 (checked 2026-10-18, TTS calculator (ttscost): resemble fact resemble/flex)
Formula: |
| ElevenLabs API, v3 / Multilingual | $9.10 | 0.0 h | Price sourceAPI text to speech: $0.08 per 1,000 characters (v4, v3, v2 Multilingual), stated as about $0.08 a minute; 10,000 characters = about 10 minutes (checked 2026-10-18, TTS calculator (ttscost): elevenlabs fact elevenlabs/api-rate)
Formula: |
| Speechify API Starter | $10.00 | 0.0 h | Price sourceAPI: Free $0 (500K characters/month); Starter $10/month (1.9M, then $10 per 1M); Pro $99/month (13.5M, then $8 per 1M); Scale $499/month (78M, then $6 per 1M) (checked 2026-10-18, TTS calculator (ttscost): speechify fact speechify/api-plans); API: Free $0 (500K characters/month); Starter $10/month (1.9M, then $10 per 1M); Pro $99/month (13.5M, then $8 per 1M); Scale $499/month (78M, then $6 per 1M) (checked 2026-10-18, TTS calculator (ttscost): speechify fact speechify/api-plans)
Formula: |
| ElevenLabs Creator Extra minutes are 'about' $0.20 on Creator. | $22.00 | 0.0 h | Price sourceCredits per month: Free $0 (10,000), Starter $6 (30,000), Creator $22 (121,000), Pro $99 (600,000), Scale $299 (1.8M, 3 seats), Business $990 (6M, 10 seats) (checked 2026-10-18, TTS calculator (ttscost): elevenlabs fact elevenlabs/plans); Minutes included (text to speech): Free about 10, Starter 30, Creator 121, Pro 600, Scale 1,800, Business 6,000; extra minute about $0.36 / $0.20 / $0.18 / $0.17 / $0.17 / $0.17 (checked 2026-10-18, TTS calculator (ttscost): elevenlabs fact elevenlabs/minutes); Commercial License is listed from Starter up ("Everything in free, plus Commercial License"); Additional Credits are listed from Creator up (checked 2026-10-18, TTS calculator (ttscost): elevenlabs fact elevenlabs/commercial)
Formula: |
| ElevenLabs Pro | $99.00 | 0.0 h | Price sourceCredits per month: Free $0 (10,000), Starter $6 (30,000), Creator $22 (121,000), Pro $99 (600,000), Scale $299 (1.8M, 3 seats), Business $990 (6M, 10 seats) (checked 2026-10-18, TTS calculator (ttscost): elevenlabs fact elevenlabs/plans); Minutes included (text to speech): Free about 10, Starter 30, Creator 121, Pro 600, Scale 1,800, Business 6,000; extra minute about $0.36 / $0.20 / $0.18 / $0.17 / $0.17 / $0.17 (checked 2026-10-18, TTS calculator (ttscost): elevenlabs fact elevenlabs/minutes)
Formula: |
AI-generated footage
| Tool / plan | $/month | h/week | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stock footage instead Uppbeat Pro (billed yearly) Safelisting covers YouTube channels; check terms for client work (Uppbeat Pro covers client projects). | $14.99 | 2.9 h | Price source$14.99/mo (yearly billing) (checked 2026-10-17, LicenseLens: uppbeat / Pro / price)
Formula: |
| Runway API grok_imagine_1_5_lite, 720p | $153.56 | 0.0 h | Price sourceRunway API: credits cost $0.01 each; gen4_turbo 5 credits/s; grok_imagine_1_5_lite (720p) 3 credits/s; wan3 (720p) 10 credits/s (checked 2026-10-18, read on the official page 2026-10-18 (snapshot runway-api))
Formula: |
| Runway API gen4_turbo | $255.94 | 0.0 h | Price sourceRunway API: credits cost $0.01 each; gen4_turbo 5 credits/s; grok_imagine_1_5_lite (720p) 3 credits/s; wan3 (720p) 10 credits/s (checked 2026-10-18, read on the official page 2026-10-18 (snapshot runway-api))
Formula: |
| Veo 3.1 (Gemini API) Lite, 720p | $255.94 | 0.0 h | Price sourceVeo 3.1 per second: Lite $0.05 (720p) / $0.08 (1080p); Fast $0.10 (720p) / $0.12 (1080p); Standard $0.40 (checked 2026-10-18, read on the official page 2026-10-18 (snapshot gemini-pricing))
Formula: |
| Veo 3.1 (Gemini API) Lite, 1080p | $409.50 | 0.0 h | Price sourceVeo 3.1 per second: Lite $0.05 (720p) / $0.08 (1080p); Fast $0.10 (720p) / $0.12 (1080p); Standard $0.40 (checked 2026-10-18, read on the official page 2026-10-18 (snapshot gemini-pricing))
Formula: |
| Veo 3.1 (Gemini API) Fast, 1080p | $614.25 | 0.0 h | Price sourceVeo 3.1 per second: Lite $0.05 (720p) / $0.08 (1080p); Fast $0.10 (720p) / $0.12 (1080p); Standard $0.40 (checked 2026-10-18, read on the official page 2026-10-18 (snapshot gemini-pricing))
Formula: |
| Runway Max (app) App plan: you prompt and download clips by hand (about 30 s per clip assumed). | doesn’t fit | Price sourceRunway app: Standard $15/mo (625 credits = 52 s Gen-4.5), Pro $35 (2,250 credits = 187 s), Max $95 (9,500 credits = 791 s); 20% less on yearly billing (checked 2026-10-18, read on the official page 2026-10-18 (snapshot runway))
Formula: |
Code rendering licence (Remotion)
| Tool / plan | $/month | h/week | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Remotion Free License | $0.00 | 0.0 h | Price sourceRemotion is free for individuals and companies of up to 3 people (commercial use allowed); 4+ people need a Company License: Creators $25/month per seat, or Automators $0.01 per render with a $100/month minimum (checked 2026-10-18, read on the official page 2026-10-18 (snapshot remotion-pro))
Formula: |
| Remotion Company License: Creators | doesn’t fit | Price sourceRemotion is free for individuals and companies of up to 3 people (commercial use allowed); 4+ people need a Company License: Creators $25/month per seat, or Automators $0.01 per render with a $100/month minimum (checked 2026-10-18, read on the official page 2026-10-18 (snapshot remotion-pro))
Formula: | |
| Remotion Company License: Automators | doesn’t fit | Price sourceRemotion is free for individuals and companies of up to 3 people (commercial use allowed); 4+ people need a Company License: Creators $25/month per seat, or Automators $0.01 per render with a $100/month minimum (checked 2026-10-18, read on the official page 2026-10-18 (snapshot remotion-pro))
Formula: |
Rendering compute
| Tool / plan | $/month | h/week | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your own computer Local rendering Hardware and electricity are not counted. Rendering time on your machine is not counted as your time. | $0.00 | 0.0 h | Price sourceRemotion is free for individuals and companies of up to 3 people (commercial use allowed); 4+ people need a Company License: Creators $25/month per seat, or Automators $0.01 per render with a $100/month minimum (checked 2026-10-18, read on the official page 2026-10-18 (snapshot remotion-pro))
Formula: |
| Remotion Lambda (AWS) Pay per render Based on Remotion's own cost example for a 10-minute HD video ($0.103). Measure your own composition; S3 and data transfer extra. | $1.17 | 0.0 h | Price sourceRemotion Lambda cost example (2048 MB, us-east-1): a 10-minute remote HD video rendered for $0.103-$0.108; a 1-minute video for $0.017-$0.021 (checked 2026-10-18, read on the official page 2026-10-18 (snapshot remotion-lambda-cost))
Formula: |
Editing / captions
| Tool / plan | $/month | h/week | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Remotion captions In your composition | $0.00 | 0.0 h | Price sourceRemotion is free for individuals and companies of up to 3 people (commercial use allowed); 4+ people need a Company License: Creators $25/month per seat, or Automators $0.01 per render with a $100/month minimum (checked 2026-10-18, read on the official page 2026-10-18 (snapshot remotion-pro))
Formula: |
| Captions Basic Credit use per captioned video is not published, so the fit is not checked. | $9.99 | 3.5 h | Price sourceHelp article, for iOS and web: Free $0 and 60–200 credits that do not refresh; Basic $9.99 and 200 credits; Max $24.99 and 500; Frontier $69.99 and 1400; Frontier 2x $139.99 and 2800; Frontier 4x $279.99 and 5600. (checked 2026-10-18, AI Video Ad Cost: captions fact 1)
Formula: |
| Submagic affiliate Business | $138.00 | 1.8 h | Price sourceHelp centre, updated 30/09/2026: Starter is $19 per month for 15 video uploads, Professional is $39 per month for 40 video uploads, and Business is $69 per month for 100 video uploads. Annual billing is up to 41% off. Magic Clips is a $19 add-on. (checked 2026-10-18, AI Video Ad Cost: submagic fact 5); Help centre length limits, with the asterisks as rendered: Starter 2 minutes, Professional 5 minutes, Business 30 minutes. (checked 2026-10-18, AI Video Ad Cost: submagic fact 8)
Formula: |
| Submagic affiliate Professional | $156.00 | 1.8 h | Price sourceHelp centre, updated 30/09/2026: Starter is $19 per month for 15 video uploads, Professional is $39 per month for 40 video uploads, and Business is $69 per month for 100 video uploads. Annual billing is up to 41% off. Magic Clips is a $19 add-on. (checked 2026-10-18, AI Video Ad Cost: submagic fact 5); Help centre length limits, with the asterisks as rendered: Starter 2 minutes, Professional 5 minutes, Business 30 minutes. (checked 2026-10-18, AI Video Ad Cost: submagic fact 8)
Formula: |
| Submagic affiliate Starter Monthly price from Submagic's help centre (30 Sep 2026); one seat per 15 uploads assumed. | $209.00 | 1.8 h | Price sourceHelp centre, updated 30/09/2026: Starter is $19 per month for 15 video uploads, Professional is $39 per month for 40 video uploads, and Business is $69 per month for 100 video uploads. Annual billing is up to 41% off. Magic Clips is a $19 add-on. (checked 2026-10-18, AI Video Ad Cost: submagic fact 5); Help centre length limits, with the asterisks as rendered: Starter 2 minutes, Professional 5 minutes, Business 30 minutes. (checked 2026-10-18, AI Video Ad Cost: submagic fact 8)
Formula: |
Scheduling / posting
| Tool / plan | $/month | h/week | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Post by hand Native apps | $0.00 | 5.2 h | No tool to buy. |
| Publer Professional | $70.00 | 1.8 h | Price sourcePer social account: Professional $5/mo ($4 billed yearly), Business $10/mo ($8 billed yearly), in US dollars (checked 2026-10-18, Social scheduler calculator (schedulercost): publer fact publer/prices)
Formula: |
| Buffer Essentials | $90.00 | 1.8 h | Price sourceMonthly billing: Essentials $6, Team $12 per channel a month (checked 2026-10-18, Social scheduler calculator (schedulercost): buffer fact buffer/monthly); Yearly billing: Essentials $5, Team $10 per channel a month ($60 / $120 a year) (checked 2026-10-18, Social scheduler calculator (schedulercost): buffer fact buffer/yearly)
Formula: |
| Buffer Free | doesn’t fit | Price sourceFree: up to 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel, 1 user (checked 2026-10-18, Social scheduler calculator (schedulercost): buffer fact buffer/free)
Formula: | |
| Publer Free | doesn’t fit | Price sourceFree: 1 user, 3 social accounts (except X), 10 scheduled posts per account (checked 2026-10-18, Social scheduler calculator (schedulercost): publer fact publer/free)
Formula: | |
| SocialPilot Essentials | doesn’t fit | Price sourceBilled monthly: $30, $50, $100, $200 (checked 2026-10-18, Social scheduler calculator (schedulercost): socialpilot fact socialpilot/monthly); Accounts 7 / 15 / 25 / 50; users 1 / 3 / 6 / unlimited; extra account $4/mo, extra user $5/mo (checked 2026-10-18, Social scheduler calculator (schedulercost): socialpilot fact socialpilot/limits)
Formula: |
Not covered (yet)
- CapCut: no verifiable official USD price.
- Client contracts and invoicing: see the freelance stack.
Affiliate disclosure: links marked “affiliate” may earn Built & Stuck a commission at no extra cost to you. They are chosen after the ranking is computed and never affect it. Manual-hours figures are estimates from the assumptions above, not measurements.
Questions
What does a faceless Shorts pipeline cost per video?
Script and voice via API cost cents per short. AI footage and per-account scheduling are the lines that grow with volume; the calculator shows the per-month total for your client count.
Do I need a Remotion company licence for an agency?
Only when your company has four or more people. Up to three people, Remotion's free licence allows commercial use.
Do affiliate links change the ranking?
No. The ranking only uses price, manual hours and your hourly value. Some tools have a marked affiliate link; the calculation never reads it.