AutoShorts.ai vs vidIQ
Two short-form clips tools, side by side. Same test criteria, same honesty about what breaks.
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#8 of 11 in Short-form clips
A set-and-forget faceless channel tool that writes, renders and auto-posts a new short to TikTok, YouTube and Instagram on a schedule
Best for: Creators who want one faceless channel to keep posting on autopilot and are happy to trade control for zero daily effort.
#10 of 11 in Short-form clips
A YouTube growth toolkit for keywords, ideas and optimization, with an AI clipper that turns long videos into Shorts
Best for: YouTube creators who want keyword research, video ideas and upload optimization in one place, and would like to cut Shorts from their long videos without a second subscription.
The short answer
More creators choose AutoShorts.ai than vidIQ, and it ranks higher in our short-form clips list. Pick AutoShorts.ai if you want creators who want one faceless channel to keep posting on autopilot and are happy to trade control for zero daily effort. Pick vidIQ if you want youtube creators who want keyword research, video ideas and upload optimization in one place, and would like to cut shorts from their long videos without a second subscription.
AutoShorts.ai: The simplest way to put a faceless channel on autopilot. You set a topic once and it keeps making and posting videos. That simplicity is also the limit, with one series per plan, 90-second videos, basic editing and no refunds.
vidIQ: The best-known YouTube growth toolkit, now with a built-in Shorts clipper. Buy it for the research and optimization tools. If clipping is your main job, a dedicated clip maker gives you more control, and vidIQ only publishes a clipping allowance for its top Max plan.
Specs side by side
| AutoShorts.ai | vidIQ | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $16/mo | From $16.58/mo |
| Free tier | ||
| Pricing | Free plan (1 test video) is temporarily paused. Paid plans from $16/mo billed yearly ($19 monthly), priced by posting frequency. | Free plan with 150 AI credits a month. Boost from $16.58/mo billed yearly ($19 monthly), Max from $39/mo yearly ($49 monthly). |
| Platforms | Web | Web, Chrome extension, iOS, Android |
| Best for | Creators who want one faceless channel to keep posting on autopilot and are happy to trade control for zero daily effort. | YouTube creators who want keyword research, video ideas and upload optimization in one place, and would like to cut Shorts from their long videos without a second subscription. |
| Last checked | 2026-10-19 | 2026-10-19 |
Pricing
AutoShorts.ai
Free plan (1 test video) is temporarily paused. Paid plans from $16/mo billed yearly ($19 monthly), priced by posting frequency.
- Free$0 (paused)
- Starter$16/mo yearly · $19 monthly
- Daily$33/mo yearly · $39 monthly
- Hardcore$58/mo yearly · $69 monthly
vidIQ
Free plan with 150 AI credits a month. Boost from $16.58/mo billed yearly ($19 monthly), Max from $39/mo yearly ($49 monthly).
- Free$0
- Boost$16.58/mo yearly · $19 monthly
- Max$39/mo yearly · $49 monthly
- EnterpriseCustom
- 1-on-1 CoachingNot listed
Key features
AutoShorts.ai
- Series automation that creates and posts a new video on a schedule
- Preset topics or a custom prompt that steers every video in a series
- Auto-posting to TikTok, YouTube and Instagram, one channel per platform per series
- Visual styles such as AutoShorts, Comic Book, Lego, Disney Toon, Minecraft, GTA V and Expressionism
- Motion credits that animate still AI images in each video
- Edit script, title, images and background music before a video posts
- Voice cloning on paid plans
- 30 languages, including English, Spanish, Hindi, Japanese and Arabic
- Video length options of 30 to 60 or 60 to 90 seconds
vidIQ
- AI Shorts clipping from long YouTube videos, with auto-crop and captions
- Keyword research and competitor analysis
- Daily video ideas, outliers and trend alerts
- AI title, description and tag suggestions
- Thumbnail maker
- AI Coach for personalized growth advice
- Browser extension with SEO scores on every YouTube video page
- Best-time-to-post recommendations
- vidIQ MCP to use vidIQ data inside Claude, ChatGPT and other AI tools
- Instagram Reel ideas and scoring (newer)
Strengths and weaknesses
AutoShorts.ai
- Truly hands-off once a series is set up
- Pricing tied to posting frequency is easy to understand
- Every video is generated fresh, so a series does not repeat the same clip
- Voice cloning and no watermark on every paid plan
- Cancel from the billing page in one click
- Honest FAQ on account warm-up and shadowban risk
- Only one series per plan, so one plan means one channel per platform
- Videos max out at 90 seconds, no long-form
- Mostly still images by default; motion is rationed by credits
- Editing limited to script, title, images and music
- No refunds, and the free plan is paused
- Videos are deleted from AutoShorts servers after 120 days
vidIQ
- Free plan and free browser extension with real value
- Combines research, optimization and clipping in one subscription
- Clipper is tied to your YouTube channel, so no uploads or downloads
- Extension puts data right on YouTube pages
- MCP access included on every plan, even Free
- Low price for Boost compared with buying separate tools
- Not a video generator or editor, so it cannot make videos from scratch
- The pricing page only gives a clipping allowance ("up to 11 hours") for Max
- Credits are shared across AI features, so heavy clipping competes with other tools
- Clip editing controls are thin next to dedicated clip makers, based on what vidIQ shows
- Built around YouTube; TikTok and Reels clips are an export target, not a focus
- Growth claims in testimonials are anecdotes, not guarantees
Try AutoShorts.ai
Free plan (1 test video) is temporarily paused. Paid plans from $16/mo billed yearly ($19 monthly), priced by posting frequency.
Try vidIQ
Free plan with 150 AI credits a month. Boost from $16.58/mo billed yearly ($19 monthly), Max from $39/mo yearly ($49 monthly).