Captions vs Tolstoy (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Captions grades higher than Tolstoy: 2.4 against 1.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 6, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Captions grades higher on the free plan, ease of use and platforms. Tolstoy grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on features.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Captions
AI video editor and generator for short talking-head videos
Tolstoy
AI studio for ecommerce product videos, ads and shoppable video
Which one is for you
Pick Captions if
- Fits if you post talking-head videos to TikTok, Instagram or YouTube Shorts
- Works for marketers who want many ad versions with AI actors and no filming, on Max
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you came for AI Edit or Clips, as both start on Max at $24.99 a month
- Skip it if you want one subscription on every device, since the $4.99 Lite plan works only on Android
- Not for you if you start on your phone and finish on your laptop, because projects stay on the device and don't sync
- Tight if you rely on AI Edit for longer clips, as it stops at 2 minutes on iOS and 1 on the web
- Watch out: free AI credits are 60 to 200 once and never refresh, and Prompt to Video uses 16 credits per 6 seconds
Pick Tolstoy if
- Fits if you run an online store and want product photos and ads made with AI
- Works for teams that want shoppable video on product pages
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a free plan, since none is listed on the pricing page
- Pricey if you add people, at $20 a seat a month on Plus and Business
- Watch out: video viewers are counted separately, and extra ones cost $10 per 1,000 on Plus
- Watch out: credits drain at different rates for different models and actions
- Skip it if you sell nothing online, because it is built for stores
How we grade them
| 2.4GPACaptionsFair | 1.6GPATolstoyWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DBasic is $9.99 a month, but it doesn't include the things people come here for. AI Edit, the chat editor, Clips and AI Twins all start on Max at $24.99, two and a half times this category's middle, and the credits still run out at 500 a month. | CPlus is $16 a workspace a month billed yearly ($20 monthly), which sits level with the category's $14 middle. Business is $80, and extra seats cost $20 each. |
| Free plan and trial | CManual editing with one caption template, and exports carry no watermark. But the AI credits are 60 to 200, once, and they never refresh. | FThe pricing page lists no free plan or trial. The homepage says Start for free, but its terms weren't confirmed. |
| Features | CAI Edit, a chat editor you type instructions into, captions in 100+ styles, dubbing into 30+ languages in a clone of your voice, AI avatars and Clips. The gaps the listing names are real: AI Edit stops at 2 minutes on iOS and 1 on the web, and projects don't sync between devices. | CMedia Studio, Ads Studio, Storefront Studio and Shop Bots. Credits aren't a fixed number of photos or videos, so what a plan buys is hard to predict. |
| Ease of use | A4.7 from about 38,000 App Store ratings. You pick an editing style and it does the cutting, or you type the change you want, so there's no timeline to learn first. | CNo store rating on record. Connecting your store, setting up bots and learning the credit system comes first. |
| Platforms and integrations | BiPhone, Android and the web, with a public API. But there's no Mac or Windows app, so on a computer it's the browser only, and the Android app is Captions Lite, a different, manual editor. | CWeb only, with Meta the only integration listed. |
| Best for | short talking-head videos that edit themselves | AI product photos, ads and shoppable video for online stores |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Captions and Tolstoy. How we grade
Price against what you get
Captions starts at $4.99 a month and scores 3.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Tolstoy starts at $16 a month and scores 2.0.
Captions scores higher and starts $11.01 a month lower. Of the other screen recording and video tools on the chart, 1 scores higher than Captions for less, and 51 score higher than Tolstoy for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Captions also covers transcription, noise cancellation and video editing.
- Tolstoy also covers video generation, chatbots and ad creative.
At a glance
| Captions | Tolstoy | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Paid |
| Starts at | $4.99 per month for Lite (Android only); Basic is $9.99 per month | $16 per workspace / month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | Captions in one template, camera, trim, zoom, sounds, transitions and resize, exported without a watermark, plus 60 to 200 one-time AI credits that do not refresh. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Mirage (NOCAP, Inc.) | Tolstoy |
| Price read from | captions.ai | gotolstoy.com |
| Checked | Oct 6, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Captions
- There is no Mac or Windows app: on a computer it runs in the browser, and projects are stored on the device and do not sync between devices.
- The Android app is Captions Lite, a manual editor. Its $4.99 Lite plan works only on Android; iOS and web need a separate subscription.
- AI Edit, the chat-based editor, Clips and AI Twins start on Max at $24.99 a month, and Prompt to Video uses 16 credits for every 6 seconds.
- The pricing page says its prices reflect iOS plans and lists no yearly prices; Basic and Lite appear only in the help center.
Tolstoy
- Usage is capped monthly: AI credits, plus video viewers counted separately; extra viewers cost $10 per 1,000 on Plus and $7 on the first two Business steps.
- Credits are not a fixed number of photos or videos; models and actions use different amounts.
- Extra team members cost $20 per seat a month on Plus and Business.
- The homepage offers Start for free, but the pricing page lists no free plan; its terms were not confirmed.
Key features
Captions
- AI Edit
- Pick an editing style and the app cuts scenes and adds B-roll, zooms, transitions, music and captions. It handles clips of up to 2 minutes on iOS and 1 minute on the web.
- Chat-based editor
- Type the change you want and the editor applies it. Each message uses 2 credits and each action taken 1 credit, with more for generated media.
- Captions, translation and dubbing
- Generates captions in 100+ styles, translates subtitles into 100+ languages and dubs video into 30+ languages with a clone of the speaker's voice.
- AI avatars and AI Twin
- Generates a talking-head video from a script using a built-in AI actor or a digital twin of yourself. The Max plan allows up to 30 AI Twins.
- Clips
- Turns one long video into a batch of short clips that are ready to post. Clips is included from the Max plan.
- Eye contact, denoise and trimming
- Corrects eye contact, removes background noise and cuts pauses and filler words. On Android, eye contact and denoise need the Lite plan.
Tolstoy
- Media Studio
- Creates product photos, reshoots, colorways, videos and creator-style content.
- Ads Studio
- Turns content into ad creative and Meta campaigns, including creative refreshes.
- Storefront Studio
- Adds virtual try-on, shoppable video and a Personal Shopper assistant to a store.
- Shop Bots
- AI agents for roles such as creative director or ads manager, whose work the team reviews and approves.
- Forward
- Hands-on setup and workshops from Tolstoy's team, an add-on to Business and included in Enterprise.
Plans
Captions
Free$0
Basic manual editing with one caption template and watermark-free exports. 60 to 200 lifetime credits that do not refresh.
Lite$4.99
per month, Android only
Manual editing on Android with dubbing, caption styles, teleprompter, eye contact and denoise. Cannot be used on iOS or the web.
Basic$9.99
per month, or $64.99 per year on the US App Store
200 credits a month, with captions and dubbing, script generator, teleprompter, eye contact, denoise and Reddit to Video.
Max$24.99
per month, billed monthly
500 credits a month, AI Edit, the chat-based editor, Clips, up to 30 AI Twins and generated B-roll, music and images.
Frontier$69.99
per month, billed monthly
1,400 credits a month and faster generation. Frontier 2x is $139.99 with 2,800 credits and Frontier 4x is $279.99 with 5,600.
EnterpriseCustom
Bulk credit discounts, custom seat options, account management, onboarding and training-data exclusion.
Tolstoy
Plus$16
per workspace / month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly)
4,000 AI credits a month (3,000 Studio, 1,000 Onsite AI) and 5,000 video viewers a month; extra viewers $10 per 1,000.
Business$80
per workspace / month, billed annually ($100 billed monthly)
20,000 AI credits and 25,000 video viewers a month; steps at $160 and $400 a month billed annually add credits and viewers. Studio credit top-ups available.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom usage and contracts, security and permission controls, bot versioning, custom integrations, and Tolstoy Forward included.
Ways to pay less
Captions
- Annual discount
Discount on yearly subscriptions
The help center says yearly subscriptions are discounted against 12 months of monthly billing. The US App Store lists Basic at $64.99 a year against $9.99 a month.
Tolstoy
- Annual discount
Yearly billing lowers the monthly price
Plus is $16 a month billed yearly ($192) against $20 monthly; the Business steps are $80, $160 and $400 against $100, $200 and $500.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Captions or Tolstoy?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Captions is cheaper to start with: $4.99 a month, against $16 a month for Tolstoy. Captions starts at $4.99 per month for Lite (Android only); Basic is $9.99 per month, and Tolstoy starts at $16 per workspace / month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Captions or Tolstoy?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Captions has a free plan. Tolstoy does not.
Which platforms do Captions and Tolstoy run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Captions lists iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.