MakeUGC is the better pick if you buy paid ad creative and want lip-synced AI actors reading your script, exported as video files you upload to Meta or TikTok ads yourself. Relay (relaystudio.ai) is the better pick if you want an organic brand TikTok that keeps posting: it writes and designs a month of slideshows and videos from formats getting views in your niche, you swipe to approve, and it sends what you approve to your TikTok on a schedule. They overlap less than the “AI UGC” label suggests.
Key takeaways
- MakeUGC is a script-to-video ad tool: talking AI actors, product-in-hand shots, custom avatars, 50+ languages and an API (MakeUGC pricing).
- Relay is an organic TikTok tool: it makes a month of posts, you swipe to approve, and it sends each approved post to your TikTok on its day, then makes new takes of the ones that do well.
- MakeUGC exports video files and leaves posting to you, and it can remake proven paid ads from its Content Library (MakeUGC).
- MakeUGC’s self-serve plans are AI only. Relay’s Scale plan includes its creator network, where drafts can go to creators who post them from their accounts, out of the same 150 monthly posts.
- As of October 2026, MakeUGC starts at $59 a month, or $29 a month billed annually (pricing). Relay starts at $49 a month after a $25 first month, with 2 months free on annual plans. They price different things: MakeUGC sells monthly usage, Relay sells posts made and sent to TikTok.
What is the difference between Relay and MakeUGC?
MakeUGC calls itself a “script-to-video ad engine built for performance marketers” (MakeUGC product overview). Relay makes TikTok content for your brand and sends the posts you approve to your TikTok.
| Relay | MakeUGC | |
|---|---|---|
| What it makes | Slideshows (TikTok photo posts) and videos in your brand’s voice | Talking AI actor videos, product-in-hand videos, custom avatars, images (pricing, API docs) |
| How you start | Paste your website or App Store link, answer quick one-tap questions, no brief | Write or generate a script, pick an avatar, generate; or recreate an ad from its Content Library (MakeUGC) |
| Where it posts | Your TikTok inbox: each approved post lands on its day, where you add any finishing touches and tap Post. TikTok only today. | Not to your TikTok account: you download MP4s for Meta Ads Manager, TikTok Ads or other platforms (overview). Enterprise is a managed service; finished ads land in your MakeUGC dashboard (enterprise) |
| Approval flow | Swipe right to approve, left to pass, edit the words first, or switch on Autopilot to approve for you | You review each render; Growth includes 3 seats, Pro adds approval flows and 5 seats, Enterprise adds brand review and approval workflows (pricing) |
| Analytics | Views for every post in one place, new takes of winners, hooks compared | Self-serve plans list no post tracking (pricing, overview); results live in your ad platform |
Who should pick MakeUGC instead?
- You run paid acquisition and need avatar creative in volume. It is built for DTC brands, media buyers, affiliates and agencies running paid campaigns on Meta, TikTok and YouTube, and says a video typically renders in about 2 minutes (overview).
- You want a talking presenter. Lip-synced AI actors reading your script are the core product, from a library its pricing page puts at 300+ on Starter and 1,000+ on Pro, plus custom avatars on Growth and Pro and product-in-hand shots on every plan (pricing, custom avatars).
- You want to recreate proven paid ad formats. Its Content Library and Ad Remake recreate high-performing UGC ads with your product (MakeUGC).
- You need many languages, every channel or an API. It lists 50+ languages, exports HD, 2K or 4K files on Growth and Pro (Starter is 480p/720p), and its pricing FAQ says API use draws on the plan allowance at no extra cost, though its feature pages also show separate API plans from $99 a month, so confirm before building on it (pricing).
Who should pick Relay?
- You don’t want to write briefs. Relay learns your brand from your website or App Store link, so it works for apps as well as ecommerce brands.
- You want the formats picked for you. Relay makes slideshows and videos from what is getting views in your niche.
- You want scheduling handled, with a say first. Swipe to approve, then Relay sends each post to your TikTok inbox on its day. See how posts reach your TikTok.
- You want real people in the mix. Scale includes Relay’s creator network.
- You want a loop, not a pile of files. Every post’s views sit in one place, and Relay makes new takes of winners.
Relay has generated over one billion views.
How do MakeUGC and Relay get posts onto TikTok?
MakeUGC’s output is a file: HD MP4s for upload to Meta Ads Manager, TikTok Ads and other platforms (overview). Enterprise is a managed service: finished ads land in your MakeUGC dashboard for review (enterprise), and its public pages don’t describe scheduling posts to a brand’s TikTok account. Uploading and scheduling stay with your team.
Relay connects to your TikTok once through TikTok’s official login and sends each approved post to your TikTok inbox on its day. You open the draft, add a caption if it is a video, choose who can see it and tap Post. Either way, TikTok requires AI content showing realistic-looking people to be clearly disclosed (TikTok Creator Academy), so when you post, turn on the AI-generated content setting if the post uses realistic AI imagery, and the content disclosure toggle where it applies. More in TikTok’s AI content rules for brands.
Does MakeUGC or Relay write the content for you?
MakeUGC can start from your script or write one from your product page (MakeUGC). It can also start from what already works: its Content Library holds “hundreds of real, high-performing UGC ads filtered by niche, style and format,” and you add your product image and dialogue to remake one (MakeUGC). Its Ad Remake, on every plan, makes a version of a winning ad with your product (pricing). Either way, on self-serve plans you choose each ad to make.
Relay starts from your website and what is getting views in your niche, then makes a month of organic slideshows and videos in your brand’s voice, and your job is to swipe. The difference is who runs the plan, not who can see winning formats.
Does MakeUGC or Relay use real human creators?
MakeUGC’s self-serve product is AI only, and openly so: it pitches itself to small advertisers on $20 to $100 a day budgets who can’t justify $300 to $800 human creator fees (overview).
Relay makes AI posts for your own account on every plan. On Scale, up to 150 posts a month in total are split between your TikTok and the creator network, where creators in Relay’s network of 50,000 can post your approved drafts from their own accounts. For UGC ads made for you, Relay’s managed UGC ads service makes ads from the creator network at about $5 a creative (a $5 creative and a creator-filmed video with negotiated usage are different units). For the tradeoffs, read AI UGC vs creator UGC.
How do Relay and MakeUGC prices compare?
Monthly list prices as of October 2026 (Relay, MakeUGC):
| Plan | Price per month | What you get each month |
|---|---|---|
| Relay Starter | $49 ($25 first month) | 40 posts made, 20 sent to your TikTok, just you |
| Relay Growth | $99 ($45 first month) | 120 posts made, 60 sent, up to 3 people |
| Relay Scale | $249 ($149 first month) | 300 posts made, 150 sent (your TikTok and creator network combined), up to 5 people |
| MakeUGC Starter | $59 | 500 usage units, 15+ premium models, 480p/720p export |
| MakeUGC Growth | $79 | 1,000 usage units, 50+ premium models, Batch Mode, HD to 4K export |
| MakeUGC Pro | $149 and up | 2,000 to 5,000 usage units, all premium models, approval flows, 5 seats |
| MakeUGC Enterprise | Custom | Creative strategist, volume API pricing (pricing), Managed by MakeUGC done-for-you service (enterprise) |
MakeUGC sells a monthly allowance that each generation draws down by model, duration and resolution, shared between the app and the API, and unused units don’t roll over (pricing FAQ). Pro is $149 for 2,000 units; MakeUGC’s feature pages list 3,000 and 5,000 unit options at $199 and $249 (plan options). On its API, a talking-actor video costs 100 units (API docs), so Starter’s 500 units cover about 5 of them, roughly $12 each at Starter’s $59 monthly price.
MakeUGC’s annual billing brings Starter to $29 a month, the lowest ongoing monthly rate on this page, and Growth to $39, and its $1 trial renews at the plan’s full price (pricing). Its refund policy allows a full refund within three business days of a purchase or renewal if you haven’t used much of the allowance, or a possible 50% refund if you’ve used under half, within its time limits, and a refund deletes your videos (refund policy). Relay’s 1-day trial needs a card and converts to the paid first month unless cancelled, its fees are non-refundable, and its annual plans give 2 months free.
When is Relay the wrong pick for a MakeUGC buyer?
- You need Instagram, YouTube or Meta posting. Relay’s self-serve product sends to TikTok only.
- Nobody on your team will open TikTok. Each post lands in your TikTok inbox, where somebody adds any finishing touches and taps Post.
- You need more than 150 posts a month sent to TikTok. Scale, the top self-serve plan, sends 150 (Growth 60, Starter 20).
- You want a self-serve tool for paid ads. Self-serve Relay makes organic content and doesn’t manage ad spend. Relay’s managed service makes the ad creative; a media buyer or agency runs the account.
- You want guaranteed views. Relay doesn’t promise them.
Try it on your own account
If the job is a brand TikTok that posts every week, paste your website at relaystudio.ai and start the 1-day trial, or read how Relay handles AI UGC videos. Running MakeUGC for paid ads and Relay for the organic account also works. More options: MakeUGC alternatives.
Who is behind Relay?
Relay is part of Kinetic, which has launched 10 apps since March 2025 with organic TikTok as its primary growth driver. People on Relay’s team have worked with brands including Hims, Calm, ButcherBox and Hopper.