Sandcastles AI Cost: Overpriced For What You Get? (2026)
Updated
Sandcastles AI costs $5 a month for the Starter plan, $49 for Pro, $99 for Visionary and $499 for Titan. Pro, Visionary and Titan cost about 20% less when billed yearly. Starter is offered inside the app after sign-up and is not on the public pricing page.
Sandcastles AI is fairly priced for a creator who uses its script writing and channel analysis and spends every credit each month. Sandcastles AI is expensive for two uses: outlier search alone, and API access, which only the $499 Titan plan includes. The Sandcastles AI alternatives cover both for less.
Viral Outliers is our product and competes with Sandcastles, so weigh this page with that in mind. Prices were read from the tools' own sites between October 7, 2026 and October 12, 2026; check their pricing pages before you buy.
How much does each Sandcastles AI plan cost?
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly | Credits a month | Cost per credit | What it adds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $5/month | Monthly only | Not published | Not published | Offered in the app after sign-up, not on the public pricing page; credits not shown at checkout |
| Pro | $49/month | $39/month ($468 up front) | 100 | $0.49, or $0.39 yearly | MCP connector, 3 verified channels, 3 workspaces, 150 competitors per workspace, 12-hour refresh |
| Visionary | $99/month | $79/month ($948 up front) | 250 | $0.40, or $0.32 yearly | 5 verified channels, 5 workspaces, 250 competitors per workspace, 6-hour refresh |
| Titan | $499/month | $399/month ($4,788 up front) | 1,500 | $0.33, or $0.27 yearly | API access, 20 verified channels, 20 workspaces, guest access for agencies, 1-hour refresh |
What does one Sandcastles AI credit cost?
One Sandcastles AI credit costs $0.49 on Pro, $0.40 on Visionary and $0.33 on Titan when billed monthly. Billed yearly, one credit costs $0.39, $0.32 and $0.27.
Sandcastles spends credits on three actions: analysing videos, writing scripts and running reports. Sandcastles does not publish how many credits each action takes, or how many credits the Starter plan includes. The cost per credit is the only figure you can compare before you sign up.
What does the Sandcastles AI pricing page not tell you?
The Sandcastles AI pricing page leaves out six things: the Starter plan, the yearly billing behind the headline price, expiring credits, the refund rules, the lack of a pause option, and the plan the API requires.
Sandcastles has a $5 Starter plan that the pricing page does not list
The Sandcastles app offers a Starter plan at $5 a month after sign-up. The offer states that the rate never goes up while you stay on Starter and that you are never billed more unless you upgrade yourself. Neither the offer nor its checkout shows how many credits Starter includes.
The advertised Pro price is the yearly price
Sandcastles advertises Pro at $39 a month. That is the yearly rate, paid as $468 up front. Pro costs $49 when billed month to month.
Unused Sandcastles credits expire every month
Sandcastles credits do not roll over, on monthly or yearly plans. A Pro subscriber who uses 60 of the 100 credits pays $0.82 for each credit used, not $0.49.
Sandcastles refunds only the Starter plan
Sandcastles' terms of service state that all sales are final, with no refunds on monthly or annual fees for any reason. The Starter offer in the app is the exception: cancel and Sandcastles refunds your last $5 automatically.
A Sandcastles subscription cannot be paused
Sandcastles has no pause option. Its FAQ says to cancel and re-subscribe when you are ready.
The Sandcastles API requires the Titan plan
Sandcastles includes API access only on Titan: $499 a month, or $4,788 for a year up front. Pro and Visionary include the MCP connector but no API.
Reviews: Sandcastles had no Trustpilot page at the time of writing. One review site, which uses affiliate links, names the credits as the main drawback: at one credit per action, the 100 credits of the Pro plan are about three actions a day. Source: Creator Economy Tools.
Is each Sandcastles AI plan worth it?
Starter is worth it as a test, Pro and Visionary are worth it if you spend your credits, and Titan is worth it for agencies.
| Plan | Worth it if | Not worth it if |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | You want to test Sandcastles AI for a month. Cancel and the last $5 is refunded. | You need to know your credit allowance before paying. The checkout does not show it. |
| Pro | You use the script writing and the channel analysis most weeks and end the month with few credits left. | You only want to search for outliers. Cheaper tools include unlimited searching. |
| Visionary | You run out of Pro's 100 credits before the month ends. A Visionary credit costs $0.40 against $0.49 on Pro. | You are one creator who does not use 100 credits a month. The extra credits expire unused. |
| Titan | You are an agency with many client channels that needs guest access and the hourly refresh. | You only want API access to outlier data. Cheaper tools include an API on every plan. |
What are the cheaper Sandcastles AI alternatives?
The cheaper Sandcastles AI alternatives are Viral Outliers, Runwave AI, ViralFindr and Metricool. Each one is cheaper for a different use. The full comparison is in 7 Sandcastles AI alternatives compared.
| Tool | Starts at | Cheaper when |
|---|---|---|
| Viral Outliers | $17/month | You mainly search for outliers. Viral Outliers includes unlimited searching on every plan, plus a REST API and an MCP server. For the API alone, $15 for 1,500 credits buys a key with no subscription. |
| Runwave AI | $19/month, first month $5 (Starter) | You want a script written from one specific video, not a library to search. |
| ViralFindr | $14.95/month (Team) | You only need Instagram and a few searches a month. ViralFindr has a free plan. |
| Metricool | $25/month, or from $20/month billed annually (Starter) | You already know which accounts to watch. Metricool's free plan tracks 5 competitor profiles and its Starter plan 100. |
Is Sandcastles AI overpriced?
Sandcastles AI is overpriced for two uses and fairly priced for a third.
Outlier search is the first use. Sandcastles Pro costs $49 a month, and analysing a video you find spends credits. Viral Outliers costs $17/month with unlimited searching.
API access is the second use. Sandcastles includes its API only on Titan at $499 a month. Viral Outliers includes a REST API and an MCP server on every plan.
Sandcastles AI is fairly priced for a creator who has it analyse videos, write scripts and audit a channel every week, and who ends each month with no credits left. That creator gets three jobs from one subscription.
Our advice: start on the $5 Starter plan, or on one month of Pro billed monthly, and count the credits you have left at the end. Pay for a year only after that.
Frequently asked questions
Does Sandcastles AI have a free trial?
Sandcastles AI lists no free plan. After sign-up, the app offers the Starter plan at $5 a month, which works as a paid trial: cancel and Sandcastles refunds your last $5.
How much does Sandcastles AI cost per year?
Billed yearly, Sandcastles AI costs $468 for Pro, $948 for Visionary and $4,788 for Titan, paid up front. That is about 20% less than twelve monthly payments, with no refund if you stop early.
Do Sandcastles AI credits roll over?
No. Sandcastles credits refresh at the start of each month and unused credits expire, on monthly and yearly plans alike.
Does Sandcastles AI offer refunds?
Only on the Starter plan, where cancelling refunds your last $5. For Pro, Visionary and Titan, Sandcastles' terms of service state that all sales are final.
What is the difference between Sandcastles Pro and Visionary?
Sandcastles Visionary costs $99 a month against $49 for Pro and includes 250 credits instead of 100. Visionary also raises the limits: 5 verified channels, 5 workspaces, 250 competitors per workspace, 6-hour refresh.
How much does the Sandcastles AI API cost?
The Sandcastles AI API costs $499 a month, or $399 a month billed yearly, because only the Titan plan includes it. Viral Outliers includes an API on every plan from $17/month.
Related reading
Comparison
7 Sandcastles AI Alternatives Compared (2026)Seven Sandcastles AI alternatives compared on platforms, starting price, free access and API: who should pick each one, and when to stay with Sandcastles.
Sources
- Sandcastles: https://www.sandcastles.ai/ (checked October 12, 2026)
- Sandcastles: https://sandcastles.ai/legal/terms-of-service (checked October 12, 2026)
- Runwave AI: https://runwaveai.com/ (checked October 7, 2026)
- ViralFindr: https://viralfindr.com/ (checked October 9, 2026)
- Metricool: https://metricool.com/pricing/ (checked October 9, 2026)
- Metricool: https://metricool.com/premium-vs-free-metricool-plans/ (checked October 9, 2026)
- Metricool: https://help.metricool.com/competitor-analysis-ouhue (checked October 9, 2026)