Hooked vs SendShort
Two short-form clips tools, side by side. Same test criteria, same honesty about what breaks.
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#1 of 11 in Short-form clips
A UGC-ad course plus an AI video studio for TikTok, Reels and Shorts, sold as a $29 monthly plan or a one-time pack that runs on your own AI keys
Best for: Ecommerce sellers and small marketers who want to learn how UGC-style ads are structured and then mass-produce them with AI avatars, without a monthly bill.
#9 of 11 in Short-form clips
A long-video-to-shorts clipper with animated captions, a full editor, a TikTok and YouTube scheduler, and an MCP connector for AI agents
Best for: Podcasters, coaches and agencies who want long recordings cut into captioned shorts and posted to TikTok and YouTube from one place, optionally driven from an AI assistant.
The short answer
More creators choose Hooked than SendShort, and it ranks higher in our short-form clips list. Pick Hooked if you want ecommerce sellers and small marketers who want to learn how ugc-style ads are structured and then mass-produce them with ai avatars, without a monthly bill. Pick SendShort if you want podcasters, coaches and agencies who want long recordings cut into captioned shorts and posted to tiktok and youtube from one place, optionally driven from an ai assistant.
Hooked: An unusual mix of course and studio with a genuinely different pricing model. The lifetime pack can be cheap if you are comfortable managing your own API keys. The marketing is loud and its numbers do not always agree with each other, so test carefully before you rely on it for paid campaigns.
SendShort: A broad, reasonably priced shorts workspace that now leans hard on AI-agent control. The catch is that the cheapest plan cannot clip long videos at all, so Professional is the real starting point for most people, and there is no free plan to test on.
Specs side by side
| Hooked | SendShort | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $29/mo | From $15/mo |
| Free tier | ||
| Pricing | No free plan. Pro is $29/mo with 1,000 credits. Or pay once ($89 app, $99 app plus course) and bring your own OpenRouter and ElevenLabs keys. | No free plan or trial. Paid plans from $15/mo billed yearly ($19 monthly), with a 24-hour refund window. |
| Platforms | Web, API | Web, API, MCP connector |
| Best for | Ecommerce sellers and small marketers who want to learn how UGC-style ads are structured and then mass-produce them with AI avatars, without a monthly bill. | Podcasters, coaches and agencies who want long recordings cut into captioned shorts and posted to TikTok and YouTube from one place, optionally driven from an AI assistant. |
| Last checked | 2026-10-19 | 2026-10-19 |
Pricing
Hooked
No free plan. Pro is $29/mo with 1,000 credits. Or pay once ($89 app, $99 app plus course) and bring your own OpenRouter and ElevenLabs keys.
- Pro (monthly)$29/mo · $290/yr
- Credit packsFrom $19
- Pack Course$49 once (listed down from $149)
- Pack App$89 once (listed down from $199)
- Complete Pack$99 once (listed down from $348)
SendShort
No free plan or trial. Paid plans from $15/mo billed yearly ($19 monthly), with a 24-hour refund window.
- Starter$15/mo yearly · $19 monthly
- Professional$23/mo yearly · $29 monthly
- Business$47/mo yearly · $59 monthly
Key features
Hooked
- Talking AI avatars for UGC-style ads, with or without a product
- Script to Video, TikTok slideshows, Reddit stories and "PDF to brainrot" formats
- Podcast and two-person "dualcast" formats
- AI script writer with hooks and on-screen directions
- 83 avatars and 76 voices in 25 languages, per the pricing page
- Built-in editor plus scheduling to TikTok, Instagram and YouTube
- Video course on UGC ads, with every lesson's prompt opening in the app
- Bring-your-own-keys mode via OpenRouter and ElevenLabs on lifetime packs
- API, agency mode and MCP / agent integrations
SendShort
- Long video to shorts, with AI picking the moments it scores highest for retention (Professional and up)
- Animated captions in 100+ languages, with caption themes and brand kits
- Caption translation and SRT export on Professional and up
- Auto B-roll, zooms, sound effects and AI hook titles
- Silence cutting and noise reduction
- Faceless videos from a prompt, TikTok slideshows, music videos, AI avatar and photo-to-video clips
- Timeline editor with your own fonts, B-roll, music and images
- Scheduler and content calendar for TikTok and YouTube, unlimited social accounts
- MCP connector for Claude, ChatGPT, Grok, Cursor and other assistants, plus a REST API
- Automated series that produce new clips on a schedule
Strengths and weaknesses
Hooked
- Rare one-time pricing in a category full of subscriptions
- Lifetime packs show the provider cost before each generation, according to Hooked
- Course teaches angles and scripts, not just button clicks
- Many short-form formats in one app, from avatar ads to slideshows
- Posting and scheduling built in
- Commercial use of your videos is allowed, per the FAQ
- No free plan or free trial is listed
- Lifetime packs are final sale with no refunds
- Bring-your-own-keys setup takes time and means managing two outside accounts
- Figures on the site conflict (3+ hours vs 1 h 13 min of course, 83 vs 100+ avatars, 25 vs 30+ languages)
- The "launch price ends October 15" banner was still up on October 19
- Course is aimed at beginners; Hooked itself says experienced ad buyers may find it short
SendShort
- One tool covers clipping, captions, light editing and scheduling
- Yearly billing cuts every plan by 20% or more
- Caption translation and SRT export are included from Professional
- MCP connector and API let you script clipping into your own workflow
- Unlimited social accounts on every plan
- Clear limits table on the pricing page
- No free plan and no free trial, only a 24-hour refund window
- Starter does not include long-video-to-shorts, the feature most people buy a clipper for
- Unused shorts do not roll over, and weekly limits reset every week
- The scheduler only posts to TikTok and YouTube
- Marketing copy and pricing disagree in places, such as the homepage calling it "100% free" and listing the API as Business-only
- Business is only "unlimited" up to 100+ shorts a month under fair use
Try Hooked
No free plan. Pro is $29/mo with 1,000 credits. Or pay once ($89 app, $99 app plus course) and bring your own OpenRouter and ElevenLabs keys.
Try SendShort
No free plan or trial. Paid plans from $15/mo billed yearly ($19 monthly), with a 24-hour refund window.