Any marketer that is worth their weight knows that in order to succeed they will need to produce some amount of video content.
The problem is that high-quality brandable video content is expensive and time-consuming to create.
Pictory aims to solve this problem by harnessing the power of cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Their goal is to make it as simple as hitting a button on your laptop to produce video content that you would be proud to share with your audience.
Will they succeed? Read my in-depth Pictory review to find out.
What is Pictory?
Pictory is a cloud-based SAAS (software as a service) product that is designed to intelligently turn long-form content such as blog posts, sales letters, and even other lengthy video content into high-quality brandable videos suitable for uploading to YouTube or sharing on social media.
Who is Pictory For?
Anyone who needs to quickly convert their words into video should consider using Pictory.
I personally use Pictory to convert my affiliate blog posts into short digestible videos that I can upload to YouTube for even more traffic and sales.
Another example of someone who could benefit from Pictory is an agency that wants to create video content for their clients without having to invest in the overhead of expensive video equipment and software.
TIP
Easy content hack. ChatGPT and Pictory will allow you to create content quickly. This video was created using ChatGPT for the script off of 1 prompt and the actual video and text using Pictory. I personally did the voice over to give it a more. human and authentic al dente touch
Welcome to Pictory: the AI that produces a month of video and social content from longform content, such as blogs and webinars, in minutes. Create, edit, and share social content like never before.
Pictory Features
Pictory boasts a suite of features to help subscribers get the most out of their written content by converting it into easy-to-consume videos.
I’ll highlight some of the most useful features below
Easily Convert Blog Posts into Videos
Thanks to Pictory, converting articles into videos has never been easier.
When prompted, simply paste the post URL and watch the AI work its magic!
From there the process is quite painless:
1. Review/Edit Text Summary
Pictory will attempt to summarize your written content, pulling out the most important sentences to base the video around.
However, before you have Pictory’s AI create the video itself, you have the opportunity to review the script and make any necessary edits using a drag-and-drop interface.
2. Review/Edit the Storyboard
Once you are happy with the script created from your blog post, Pictory’s AI will pair it with imagery and video from its massive stock library of media.
Using Pictory’s one-click interface, you can edit the video however you want by adding and deleting scenes, swapping media, or even uploading your own assets
3. Add Music and Voiceover
Now that your video looks perfect, you have the option to let Pictory add music and voiceovers to your video.
Pictory will attempt to choose the optimal background music for your video, but you also have the option to choose a different track from their free stock music library or even upload your own music.
If you require a voiceover from your video, you can record your own inside of the interface, or there is the option to choose an AI-enabled “voiceover artist” to read your script.
4. Customize Brand Appearance/Settings
Now that your video looks and sounds exactly like you want, you can tweak the brand settings to take it to the next level.
Pictory gives you the ultimate in brand customization by allowing you to change the color scheme and font, and even add your own brand’s logo as a watermark.
5. Preview and Render Final Video
At this point, your video masterpiece is finished. Just check it one last time in the preview window, generate the final cut and download your MP4 file!
Auto Caption Videos
A study by Verizon Media claims that approximately 85% of people watch videos with the sound off, so adding accurate captions to your video content has never been more important.
Furthermore, the same study indicates that 80% of consumers are more likely to watch a video to completion if it contains captions.
Thankfully Pictory will automatically caption any video you create, so when you share it with your audience, you can rest easy knowing that they are consuming your content.
Auto Summarize Lengthy Videos
Do you already have a lengthy video from a webinar, podcast, or Zoom recording that you would like to share with your audience, but want to shorten it down to just the key takeaways?
You use the Pictory AI interface to create a short summary video from your long-form video content.
These short summary videos are perfect for sharing on social media!
Access to 3 Million Stock Video Clips
How can you make a video if you don’t have any video footage to go with your script?
Well, it’s no problem at all if you use Pictory…
Pictory’s AI engine will take your words and match them with video clips from a library of over 3 million choices.
Don’t like a clip that’s chosen for your video? You can do a manual search of the stock video library and swap it out with one click!
AI Realistic Voiceover Artists
Want to do a voiceover for your video but don’t want to use your own voice?
No worries, because Pictory comes loaded with a suite of AI-enabled voiceover artists that can do the job for you!
You can choose from a number of realistic sounding AI voiceover artists sorted by gender, country of origin, and age.
Pictory Pricing Plans
New Pictory users can choose from 2 different pricing plans after starting out on a Free Trial account.
Free Trial
Pictory offers new users a VERY GENEROUS Free Trial account that doesn’t require a credit card to get signed up.
The Free Trial account is awesome because it lets you play around with Pictory unrestricted before making the decision if you want to upgrade to becoming a paying customer.
When on the Free Trial plan, you have the ability to create 3 video projects, each up to 10 minutes in length.
When I first started using Pictory I jumped on the free trial and after an hour of using the software, I had converted a blog post to a video and knew that it was well worth signing up for a paid plan.
Standard Plan ($23 per month)
The Standard Plan is great for creators who only need to make a handful of videos each month.
A subscription to the Standard Plan includes (per month):
- 30 videos
- Up to 10-minute video length
- 10 hours of video transcription
- 3 branded templates
- Library of 5000 music tracks
- Access to 25 AI voices
You should be aware that the Standard Plan limits the video output to 480p.
Premium Plan ($47 per month)
The Premium Plan is the plan that I am currently using, and while it is pricier than the Standard Plan I think that it is well worth the extra $24 per month.
A subscription to the Premium Plan includes (per month):
- 60 videos
- Up to 20-minute video length
- 20 hours of video transcription
- 10 branded templates
- Library of 15000 music tracks
- Access to 42 AI voices
- Automatic voiceover sync
- High-definition video output (720p/1080p)
- 3 video formats (1:1, 16:9, 9:16)
- Social media scheduling integration w/Hootsuite
If you are serious about sharing top-quality video content with your audience then the Premium Plan is what you should sign up for.
Enterprise Plan (Contact for pricing)
If you are a large agency or company that requires large-scale usage, you may want to contact Pictory about their Enterprise Plan.
There is no pricing available on their website regarding the Enterprise plan or its limits, so you will have to contact them directly to find out more.
How to Sign Up for a Plan
Signing up for Pictory is a painless process, but you must sign up for the Free Trial plan first, and then once you have an account you can choose to upgrade to a paid plan at your leisure.
Choose to start your free trial by navigating to the pricing option on the header menu or clicking the purple FREE TRIAL button in the upper right corner of the window
You can choose to start with a Free Trial and test out the platform before deciding if you want to pay for a plan
After you sign up for a free trial you will get the option to upgrade to a paid subscriber once you’ve decided that Pictory is right for you.
To upgrade to a paid plan, click on the Upgrade button on the header bar and choose the plan you would like to purchase.
The Premium Plan is the best overall value and is what most people will require for creating video content.
If you want to save some money, you can sign up for an annual plan and get 2 months of Pictory for free!
Top Pictory Alternatives
Pictory has many competitors, as more companies are popping up every day in the AI video creation space.
In this section, I’ll highlight a few of the best Pictory alternatives.
Vidnami
Vidnami used to be the de facto choice for inexpensive online video creation. They had thousands of loyal customers.
That all changed when GoDaddy acquired Vidnami in 2021.
GoDaddy has temporarily (or maybe permanently) shut down Vidnami, so it isn’t currently available, making Pictory a great alternative for Vidmani users.
Wisecut
Wisecut is another AI-driven software solution for video creation, but it is a bit different from Pictory.
The goal of Wisecut is to take your existing videos and use AI and voice recognition technology to edit them for you.
If you are a video creator who would happily pay a monthly subscription to have your videos intelligently edited by a machine, then Wisecut may be something worth looking into.
Frequently Asked Questions
Have some additional questions regarding Pictory pricing and subscription plans that weren’t already covered in this review? Please see the section below
Is There a Free Trial?
Yes, there is a free trial. In fact, you must sign up for the free trial before you can upgrade to a paid plan.
Is There a Lifetime Deal (LTD) Available?
Unfortunately no there is not a lifetime deal currently available. There used to be an Appsumo LTD but that offer has expired.
Pictory Review: The Final Verdict
Pictory is the best solution for bloggers, content creators, and marketers who are looking to generate more traffic and sales through sharing video content.
It’s not only very affordable but also extremely easy to navigate, allowing most users to get amazing results in very little time, and with almost no learning curve.
With Pictory, you don’t have to waste time or a ton of money creating easily sharable video content. You get to leverage the power of AI and cloud-based software to create high-quality videos with very little effort.
