Sandcastles AI review, pricing and alternatives
Short version: Silma is the Sandcastles alternative for people who already make the video and want a verdict on it before it goes out. It scores your draft file before you post, reads the video’s frames as well as its words, tells you what to fix, and starts at $9 a month. Sandcastles is a research-and-writing tool: it finds outliers in video that is already public and writes hooks and scripts from them, from $49 a month.
What Silma does that Sandcastles does not claim
It checks your video before anyone sees it. Pre-Check takes the draft file and returns a 0 to 100 score, the likely drop points and a ranked list of fixes. Everything on sandcastles.ai works from video that is already published: its analyzer imports by public URL, and its personal dashboard scrapes your public profile. As of September 2026 it claims no pre-publish check.
It reads the frames, not just the words. Silma extracts frames and reads them together with the transcript, which is how it catches an overlay that is unreadable at that cut speed, or a visual that opens on a logo while the voice opens on the result. Sandcastles lists a transcript plus “visual hook” and “visual layout” categories, but does not say how the visual part is produced.
It tells you why, and leaves the writing to you. Sandcastles turns an outlier into a generated hook or script. Silma tells you why the post beat its baseline and what to change in your own version, then stops. For people who already have taste and a voice, that is the useful half: direction, not another draft to rewrite.
It costs less to start. Silma Lite is $9 a month and Starter, with competitor tracking, is $29. Sandcastles’ cheapest listed plan is Pro at $49, or $39 billed yearly.
What you get in both
Both cover Instagram, TikTok and YouTube Shorts. Both rank a post by how far it beat its own creator’s baseline rather than by raw views. Both break a video down into its hook and its format, and both let you follow competitor accounts and see what broke out.
Side by side
| Silma | Sandcastles | |
|---|---|---|
| Score a draft before posting | Yes, Pre-Check | Not claimed |
| Reads the video’s frames | Yes, frames plus transcript | Not stated |
| Ranked fix list for your video | Yes | Not claimed; writes a new script instead |
| Cheapest paid plan | Lite $9/mo, 200 credits, 1 tracked account | Pro $49/mo ($39 yearly), 100 credits |
| Middle tier | Starter $29/mo, 600 credits, 5 tracked accounts | Visionary $99/mo ($79 yearly), 250 credits |
| Top tier | Pro $79/mo, 1,500 credits, 15 tracked accounts | Titan $499/mo ($399 yearly), 1,500 credits |
| Idea feed ranked for your brand | Yes, Discover with a 0 to 10 fit score | Outlier database and curated collections |
| Done-for-you strategy | Yes, Silma Studio | Not offered on its pricing page |
| Platforms | Instagram Reels, TikTok, YouTube Shorts | Instagram, TikTok, YouTube Shorts |
| Ranked against the creator’s own baseline | Yes | Yes |
| Competitor tracking | 1, 5 or 15 accounts by plan | Up to 150 per workspace on Pro |
| Writes hooks and scripts | No, by design | Yes |
| MCP connector / API | No | MCP on every listed plan; API on Titan |
| Free trial | No | Yes, length not stated |
| Refunds | Case by case, per the terms | No, “all sales are final” |
Sandcastles prices, plan limits and feature names from sandcastles.ai, its help center and its terms of service, read 23 September 2026. Its /mcp and /collections pages also name a Starter plan that the pricing table does not show, so it is left out here. Silma prices from silma.app/pricing. “Not claimed” and “not stated” mean we did not find it on their site; we did not test the product.
When to choose Silma
- You make the video yourself and want a verdict on it before you post, with the fixes in order.
- You want to know why a competitor’s post worked at the level of frames, cuts and overlays, not only that it beat a baseline.
- You write your own hooks and do not want a generated draft in the way.
- You compete with a handful of accounts and $9 to $29 a month is the right price for that.
- You would rather hand the strategy to a person: that is Silma Studio.
When Sandcastles may fit better
- You want hooks and scripts generated for you.
- You monitor a whole category, well past 15 accounts.
- You want the data inside Claude or your own tools through an MCP connector or API.
Other tools people compare
Reelyze reads video with the same baseline maths and also writes scripts, compared here. Virlo is a social listening tool that now writes scripts too, compared here. Shortimize is a metrics dashboard for teams, compared here.
Know before you post. Upload a draft and get the score, the drop points and the fixes. Lite is $9 a month, cancel any time. Check your first video →
Questions
Is Silma a good Sandcastles alternative?+
Yes, if your job is deciding what to post and whether this video is ready. Silma scores your draft before it goes live, reads the video’s frames together with its transcript, and starts at $9 a month against Sandcastles’ $49. If your job is generating hooks and scripts in bulk, Sandcastles is built for that and Silma deliberately is not.
Can Sandcastles check my video before I post it?+
Not that its site claims as of September 2026. Its analyzer imports a video by URL from Instagram, TikTok or YouTube, so the video is already public, and its personal dashboard scrapes your public profile. Silma’s Pre-Check takes the draft file itself and returns a 0 to 100 score, the likely drop points and a ranked list of fixes before anyone has seen it.
Do both tools rank videos against the creator’s own baseline?+
Yes. Both rank a post by how far it beat its own creator’s baseline rather than by raw views, which is the right way to find ideas worth copying. The difference is what happens next: Sandcastles turns the outlier into a script for you, while Silma tells you why it worked and then checks your own version before you post it.
Which one is cheaper?+
Silma. Lite is $9 a month and Starter is $29, against Sandcastles Pro at $49, or $39 a month billed yearly. Silma Lite includes 200 credits, where a pre-check is 5 and a full breakdown of a new reel is 12; Sandcastles Pro includes 100 credits for analyses, scripts and reports. Sandcastles has a free trial, and its FAQ says it does not refund subscriptions.
Why does Silma not write scripts?+
Because the people it is built for already make the video and are not short of drafts, they are short of direction. A tool that writes your hook has to be right about your audience; a tool that tells you why last week’s post beat its baseline only has to be right about the evidence. Silma takes the second job on purpose, so the hook stays yours: it is the brain, not the hands.
Sources
- Sandcastles pricing, plan limits, credits, the yearly discount and the refund policy: sandcastles.ai and its terms of service, read 23 September 2026.
- Outliers “ranked by how far each one beat its own creator’s baseline”, the MCP connector and script writing: sandcastles.ai/mcp, read 23 September 2026.
- Platforms, import by URL, the three script paths, the analyzer’s categories and the personal dashboard: help.sandcastles.ai, read 23 September 2026.
- Silma plan limits and credit costs: silma.app/pricing; method: competitor analysis, Pre-Check, Discover.
Found something out of date? Email support@silma.app and we will fix it. Silma and Sandcastles are not affiliated.