If you’re knee-deep in video automation or looking to build workflows that crank out dynamic videos at scale, chances are you’ve stumbled across Creatomate. Their API is built for developers who want full control over automated video creation, personalization, and animation, without touching a traditional video editor.
Sounds powerful, right?
It is. But it's also a tool that’s built for developers, by developers. That’s both its strength and its Achilles’ heel.
Let’s walk you through what Creatomate is, what it’s capable of, where it shines, and how Submagic API stacks up, especially if you’re building for real-world social media workflows, agencies, and creators who want magic in three clicks.
So, what is the Creatomate API? Creatomate is an API-first video automation platform designed to generate personalized and dynamic videos at scale using code. It’s built for developers who want to programmatically create videos using templates, JSON data, and logic to customize everything, text, images, animation, audio, layout, you name it.
You send an API call, and it renders a video. Simple in theory. A little more involved in practice.
Think : automated video creation, GIF generation, and AI workflows for e-commerce, onboarding flows, video ads, or marketing automation.
It plays nicely with Node.js, JavaScript, Zapier, and no-code tools like Make or Pabbly. You can bring in external data using JSON, plug into CRMs, and run automated workflows that generate dozens, or thousands, of videos.
What Creatomate can do If you’re technical (or have a dev team), Creatomate gives you fine-grained control over:
Dynamic video generation from templates Automated GIF creation Personalized videos for emails, onboarding, and sales Complex animations and transitions Render video from JSON data Full support for video editing logic in code Scalability for e-commerce product videos Easy integration into ai agents or ChatGPT workflows They even offer a visual editor to build templates without needing After Effects.
You can build your templates, generate an API key, and scale video production in a programmatic way. Solid if you’re doing high-volume rendering or looking to bake video into your SaaS or backend system.
What the Creatomate API can’t do Here’s a hot take, it’s not built for creators. It’s not even really built for video editors. It’s built for engineers. Which is not a bad thing at all. In fact, at Submagic, we’re expanding our product to reach engineers.
Taking a leaf out of Creatomate’s excellent playbook.
If you’re not comfortable with functions, JavaScript, or Node.js, the learning curve can be a bit much. While there’s a step-by-step tutorial library, setting up real workflows often requires custom scripting, API orchestration, and debugging.
Some things to keep in mind:
You have to create or upload your own templates Real-time editing or tweaking videos after rendering? Not really Doesn’t have creator-focused tools like b-roll suggestion, AI voice enhancements, or social video optimization No native subtitle generator, which is crucial for social media content Credit card required even for trials The UI is more functional than friendly In other words, if your end goal is content creation for social media, especially Shorts, Reels, or TikToks, this is not a plug-and-play tool.
Who is Creatomate for? Developers building custom video workflows Product teams integrating video into SaaS Marketing ops teams running highly personalized outbound Agencies with engineering support and enterprise-level clients Any AI automation nerd building tools with ChatGPT or Zapier Creatomate API use cases Here are some excellent use cases for the Creatomate API
E-commerce product videos at scale Generating personalized sales videos from a CRM Turning spreadsheets into GIFs or product demo reels Video retargeting at scale with custom animations Embedding auto-generated videos in email campaigns If you’ve got a technical team and a big vision, Creatomate can be a powerful layer in your stack.
What about the Submagic API? Alright, let’s talk about the other side of the coin.
Submagic API was built by creators, for creators, agencies, and platforms that want to move fast, automate the repetitive stuff, and generate scroll-stopping content without writing code.
Where Creatomate gives you the engine and says “build the car,” Submagic hands you the keys to a Tesla and says “drive.”
However. The Submagic that was built for the no code warriors has quickly evolved to serve the folks who have Terminal fire up on restart. The new Submagic API wraps up all the tried and tested features our users love and packages it up into an API.
Here’s what you can do with it:
Auto-generate viral short-form videos from long-form content Pull transcripts with industry-leading accuracy Generate magic clips with auto cuts, zooms, captions, and formatting Add b-roll, background music, and sound effects, automatically Translate subtitles with one API call Use AI to write video descriptions and titles Instantly trim videos, add transitions, or crop for platforms And here’s the best part: it’s three clicks from raw video to export-ready content. The workflow is what makes it magic.
Who is Submagic API for? Agencies managing dozens of clients Solo creators scaling their content across platforms SaaS platforms wanting to offer built-in video editing Marketplaces automating customer testimonial videos AI tools and chatbot agents that need social-ready content If your end-user is creative, not technical, Submagic is the API you want to build on.
Key differences between Submagic API and Creatomate API
Feature
Submagic API
Creatomate API
No-code friendly
Yes
Somewhat (but requires setup)
Built for developers
Light dev use
100%
Templates required
No
Yes
Subtitle generator
Built-in
Not native
Video automation
Yes
Yes
GIF support
Not yet
Yes
AI-powered edits
Auto zoom, b-roll, sound fx
Requires manual setup
Best for
Creators, agencies
Developers, SaaS
Content style
Social media, Reels, Shorts
Ads, onboarding, internal tools
Setup time
Minutes
Hours or days
JSON required
No
Yes
Personalized videos
Yes
Yes
Built-in workflow logic
Yes
No
Real-time edit & preview
Yes
No
ChatGPT integrations
Supported
Supported
Key take aways If you’re building a highly custom video generation platform from scratch, and you’ve got code in your DNA, Creatomate API is a strong contender.
But if your users care more about reach, virality, and content that’s designed to win social feeds, not code snippets, then the Submagic API is the smarter move.
Less time fiddling with JSON, more time publishing shorts that actually convert.
And if you’re wondering if this kind of automation works? I’ve seen agencies cut down post-production time by 80% just by switching to Submagic’s AI workflows.
If you’ve got questions on what’s possible with the API or want a quick tutorial walkthrough, just hit me up. I’m always down to geek out over video automation.
