So I signed up for Artlist.io service on a 40% discount for $19.99 a month to try Sora 2 Pro AI out, this was a BlackFriday promo they were offering. I figured it might be a good time to try Sora Pro 2 but Artlist.io had no intention of delivering on my membership of 55 vids as a matter of fact, you can see in the email screenshots below I signed up at 1;44 Nov 25th, and at 5:07 same day and 2 very poor vids the $19.99 16,500 credits have been exhausted.
So $19.99 was not a actual membership it was more of chance to Artlist to grab your credit card to try and upgrade you. Artlist credit system is nothing more than a scam, from my investigation it doesn’t seem like there is any chance I would realize anything near my 55 videos. It’s a good idea if you are going to use services like Artlist you need to use a vertical card to cut them off when you want to quit, because up to this point Artlist support hasen’t even responded.
The reason I’m suing is I’m dying to find out: after paying $19.99 and only getting 2 videos, with no more Artlist.io credits left and not being able to edit my prompts on the AI videos I generated—has anyone actually gotten anywhere near the 55 videos or 206 images they promised? I’m doing my best to investigate going though their AI models, but without those credits, it just doesn’t seem possible to hit anywhere close to the numbers they quoted me at signup and I think this is where bringing Stripe into this too in important, they are taking payments for these scammers.
This is a breakdown you can see on the right side in yellow the Artlist.io credits needed to generate text to video:
I canceled Artlist.io service once it wanted me to add more money as you see above just a few short hours later, it was clear the $19.99 was just to get credit card number then quickly start upgrading you.
Artlist credit system is scam in my opinion, I wish I would have seen all the negative reviews before giving them my credit card details, the negative reviews on Artlist are interesting and we discovered, Artlist Licensing and Copyright Issues… and I am not alone in having this experience, many of the negative reviews on Artlist.io on TrustPilot have had the same experience:
- Unexpected copyright claims on “licensed” music: Many users receive Content ID strikes or claims on YouTube despite using tracks from Artlist’s library, even with “forever” or lifetime licenses. Appeals are often rejected, and resolution requires resubscribing or providing proof that’s hard to obtain.
- “Forever” license scam: The perpetual access promise is misleading; users report being forced to renew subscriptions to clear claims on old videos, effectively paying twice for the same content.
- Claims from misattributed tracks: Music licensed via partners (e.g., Adobe Stock) gets flagged by Artlist as unlicensed, leading to disputes and blocked videos.
Subscription and Billing Problems
- Aggressive auto-renewals and cancellation hurdles: Subscriptions renew without clear notices, and canceling is difficult—users say support ignores requests, leading to unwanted charges even after contacting them months in advance.
I made sure to use a virtual credit card so I could cut these scammers off, plus screenshot the cancellation to protect myself from any future fraudulent charges, from all the reviews and Reddit I read on Artlist.io this was clearly an issue.
No-refund policy after minimal use: Even for short trials (e.g., generating one video), full refunds are denied, with excuses like “you’ve already used it.”- Hidden extra costs: Access to the catalog requires a subscription, but clearing claims or using music in certain ways demands additional payments, making it feel like a “pay-to-use” trap.
Many others who have used Artlist.io complain about Customer Support and Technical Reliability
- Unresponsive or slow support: Tickets go unanswered for days or weeks, with no confirmation emails; chat agents are unhelpful, and public pressure (e.g., on X) is often needed to get resolutions that is why I am going to bring a lawsuit.
- Website and app outages: Frequent slowdowns, download failures, and login errors disrupt workflows—e.g., Motion Array integrations break without notice.
- Rendering glitches: Watermarks appear unexpectedly during exports, and AI-generated content includes unwanted artifacts.
Content Library and AI Features
- Limited or outdated library: Smaller selection compared to competitors, lacking depth in genres (e.g., trending or commercial tracks) and stems for customization; not ideal for modern ads or docs.
- Underwhelming AI tools: Generations are inconsistent (e.g., “walk” prompts result in jumps), credits deplete quickly on short outputs, and results look “awful” or low-quality—users feel it’s overpriced and not worth the hype.
- Artlist.io Credit system feels exploitative: It feel’s like Artlist is not looking to offer great AI services, Limited monthly credits force buying more, but outputs still fail, leading to wasted money.
These user issues have fueled calls for boycotts and class-action discussions, especially around Artlist.io “forever” license changes. For alternatives, other creators have recommend Epidemic Sound or AudioJungle but I’m not sure what you wouldn’t just goto the source of these AI models and use ChatGPT.
I will be posting the 2 vid examples, screencast, and demand letter coming soon.
Artlist legal team has responded:
