Stills, not footage
A 60-second video needs about 16 illustrations at 1 credit each, instead of 60 seconds of generated video at up to $0.68 a second.
AI video maker for creators & small businesses
Videos that look expensive. For about five dollars.
Etchly turns one idea into a narrated, illustrated, fully animated video: script, AI voice, artwork, music and captions, ready for YouTube, TikTok, Reels or your website. It gets you the cinematic look without paying for every second of generative video.
- ~$5
- for a finished 60-second video, all-in
- ~10s
- to render a 60-second 1080p video
- 0
- cameras, mics or editing timelines
Script◆AI voiceover◆Illustrations◆ Animation◆Music & SFX◆Captions
The cinematic look, without the per-second bill.
Full generative video models like Seedance, Veo and Sora charge for every second of footage they invent, and you pay again every time a take comes out wrong. Etchly draws a handful of still illustrations and animates them with its own motion engine. The result moves like a produced video, and the bill doesn't grow with every second of generated footage.
Our own motion engine
Parallax depth, camera push-ins and pans, line art that draws itself on, talking characters and kinetic titles, all rendered natively.
No reroll roulette
An AI reviewer checks every scene and fixes timing and layout. Edits re-render in seconds, and anything unchanged is reused for free.
Everything included
Script, voiceover, music, sound effects, captions and post copy come with every video. No stack of five subscriptions.
What a 60-second 1080p video costs
Seedance figures use typical third-party API rates of $0.42–$0.68 per generated second at 1080p with audio (October 2026). Generative clips run roughly 5–15 seconds, so a 60-second video is several generations stitched together. Prices change, so check the provider. The Etchly range is a 25-credit, 60-second video with 16 new illustrations on the Studio to Starter plans.
Press produce. Post today.
A real, unedited session: one click starts the pipeline, the video renders in about ten seconds, and the AI review checks every scene before you download. Only the review is sped up.
- 0:00 Pick a video from your library
- 0:08 Confirm the credit estimate
- 0:10 Voice, art, music, timing, then a 1080p render
- 0:22 AI review fixes timing and re-renders
- 0:28 Watch the MP4, or scrub the live preview
Built for people who need video but not a video budget.
Small businesses
Explain what you do in 60 seconds
Promos, FAQs, how-it-works videos and seasonal offers in your brand colors, for less than a lunch meeting, with no agency and no shoot.
Small business video Creators & prosumersRun a faceless channel without filming
Faceless YouTube channels, Shorts, TikTok accounts and Instagram pages: plan a 25-episode series, lock in a signature look and voice, and post every week.
Faceless channels Everyone elseMake the video you've been putting off
A class project, a club announcement, a family history, a passion topic. Type the idea and get a finished, captioned video.
Shorts, Reels & TikTokFour steps. No timeline editing.
01
Type a topic, or plan a season
“How our same-day repair works”, “5 myths about compound interest”, “the history of the tarot”. Etchly recommends the format, style, voice, hook and structure, or you pick them yourself.
- 15-second hooks to 5-minute deep dives
- Tone, pacing, energy and reading level
- Your brand kit: colors, fonts, logo, handle
02
Shape the script & scenes
Claude writes the narration and directs every scene: layouts, on-screen titles, the words that trigger each reveal, illustrations and sound effects. Edit anything, or ask for changes in plain English.
- Word budget fitted to your target length
- “Make the hook punchier” revises it in one sentence
- Titles, hooks and descriptions ready to post
03
Produce
One click runs the pipeline: an ElevenLabs voiceover with word-level timing, illustrations generated and cut out, an original music bed and sound effects, then a frame-accurate 1080p render. Anything that hasn't changed is reused, so you never pay twice.
- Live progress for every step
- Illustrations reviewed by AI before animating
- Loudness-normalized to −14 LUFS
04
Review, fix, export
An AI reviewer watches the finished video frame by frame and fixes late reveals, overlaps and clipped text. Tell it what's wrong, like “the logo only shows for a second”, and press Fix it.
- Instant live preview in the browser
- Per-effect audio faders
- MP4 download with captions burned in
A signature look, not stock footage.
Line art that draws itself on, copperplate engravings, watercolor washes, neon, paper collage, or cinematic shots with characters and camera moves. Every clip below was made in Etchly Studio.
One studio instead of five subscriptions.
Series & channels
Plan up to 25 episodes from one prompt. A series bible and episode memory keep characters and motifs consistent, and each part can recap the last and tease the next.
Brand kits
Your palette, fonts, logo placement, handle, icon packs and an end card, applied to every video automatically. Your business looks like your business, every time.
Motion engine
Full-frame plates, cut-out characters with depth and parallax, camera moves and talking characters, made from stills.
Learn moreHooks that stop the scroll
Ten hook types, nine structures, angles and CTAs, each one shaping how the script is written.
Learn moreVoices that fit
Hundreds of natural ElevenLabs voices, pacing tuned to each voice, and silence tightening so nothing drags.
Learn moreAI script writer
Scripts fitted to your target length, with scene direction, on-screen titles and post copy.
Learn moreCaptions that pop
Karaoke, pop, boxed or minimal captions, word-timed and burned in, plus a mixer that never re-renders.
Learn moreAI review
A reviewer watches every frame and fixes late reveals, overlaps and clipped text before you see it.
Learn more Rendering
~10sec
to render a 60-second 1080×1920 video.
Our own rendering engine draws every frame natively and encodes in parallel. A changed title, a timing tweak or a new mix comes back almost immediately, and you don't pay to regenerate footage. Render time on our render nodes. Writing, voice and new illustrations add a few minutes the first time.
Simple credits. Start free.
Every account starts with 10 free credits. You're only charged for work actually done: anything reused is free, and unused reservations are refunded.
Starter
$15/month
60 credits every month
For trying things out and the occasional video.
- About 2 brand-new 60-second videos*
- All video styles, 9:16 and 16:9
- Series & style presets
- ≈ $6.25 per finished 60-second video
Pro
$39/month
200 credits every month
For creators and businesses publishing every week.
- About 8 brand-new 60-second videos*
- All video styles, 9:16 and 16:9
- Series & style presets
- Priority rendering
- ≈ $4.88 per finished 60-second video
Studio
$99/month
600 credits every month
For daily uploads, agencies and multiple brands.
- About 24 brand-new 60-second videos*
- All video styles, 9:16 and 16:9
- Series & style presets
- Priority rendering
- ≈ $4.13 per finished 60-second video
What does a video cost?
- 1–2
- credits for ideas, recommendations, a script or a revision
- 2 + 4/min
- credits to produce and render a video
- 1
- credit per new illustration
* A 60-second video with 16 brand-new illustrations is about 25 credits from idea to MP4, including script, voice, art, music and captions. Videos that reuse illustrations cost less, and re-renders that reuse everything are free.
Make better videos for less.
60 faceless channel ideas for YouTube, TikTok and Instagram
60 faceless YouTube and TikTok channel ideas in 10 niches, each with an example title, plus how to test a niche, pick a platform and turn it into a series.
Can faceless AI videos be monetized? 2026 platform rules
Can faceless AI videos be monetized? What YouTube's inauthentic content policy and TikTok, Instagram and Facebook rules say, plus an eligibility checklist.
How to start a faceless TikTok account (without filming)
How to start a faceless TikTok account without filming: niche, formats, hooks, length, posting cadence, honest monetization and real per-video costs.
Questions, answered.
What is Etchly?
Etchly (formerly Explainer Studio) is an AI video maker. You give it a topic and it writes the script, records an AI voiceover, illustrates every scene, adds music and captions, and animates it all into a finished 9:16 or 16:9 MP4.
How is Etchly so much cheaper than Seedance, Veo or Sora?
Full generative video models bill for every second of footage they invent, and you usually pay again for rerolls. Etchly generates a small set of still illustrations and animates them with its own motion engine, using parallax, camera moves, draw-on line art and talking characters. You get a polished, cinematic result without paying per second of generated video.
Will my videos look as good as generative video?
For explainers, stories, listicles, countdowns, product walk-throughs and social ads, the result is close: illustrated, animated and cinematic. If you need photoreal people or real-world physics in motion, full generative video is still the better tool, and we'll tell you that honestly.
How much does one video cost?
A brand-new 60-second video with 16 new illustrations is about 25 credits from idea to MP4, roughly $4–6 depending on your plan. Re-renders that reuse everything are free.
Do I need to show my face, record my voice or know editing?
No. Narration comes from natural AI voices, every visual is generated and animated for you, and there is no editing timeline. You choose the topic and approve the result, and you can change anything in plain English.
Can I use it for my business?
Yes. Small businesses use Etchly for explainers, FAQs, promos, onboarding and social posts. Brand kits keep your colors, fonts and logo on every video.
Is there a free plan?
Every account starts with 10 free credits and no card required, enough to script and produce a short 15-second video. Paid plans start at $15/month.