The tool stack if you will not appear in the video
Do not buy one “YouTube AI.” Buy a voice, a way to cut B-roll, and only then an avatar if you actually need a person in frame.
- Voice: ElevenLabs
- Text or URL to a cut: Pictory
- Optional talking head: Synthesia for explainers, HeyGen for social look. Training courses that need quizzes: Colossyan
Still deciding whether to start? Read how to start an anonymous YouTube channel first. This page is the shopping list.
Three jobs, not one logo
Screen recordings with a voice. A script over B-roll. A presenter who is not you. Mixing all three in one $29/mo tool is how the video looks like every other AI channel and gets dumped.
Pick the pattern first. Then pick the tool. A screen-recording channel does not need Synthesia. A training channel does not need InVideo’s template pack.
Skip list
- Generic “10 best AI video tools 2026” pages. Including ours if we ever slip into that.
- Paying for HeyGen and Synthesia at the same time.
- InVideo plus Pictory plus CapCut plus Descript. Pick a cutter.
- Buying the first logo on a “10 best” page.
Pricing checked September 2026.