Reviews
5 min read

ShortlyAI Review: Is this the best AI writing tool? (2023)

Written by
Marty Youssef
Updated on
December 19, 2022
We're reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you.

ShortlyAI is a popular AI writing tool that promises to help users write better, faster and more efficiently. But is it really the best AI writing tool out there? In this article, we'll take a close look at ShortlyAI and see whether it lives up to the hype.

Table of content

What is ShortlyAI?

ShortlyAI is an AI-powered writing tool that was launched in August 2020 by Qasim Munye to solve the problem of writer's block. It promises to solve this problem by using artificial intelligence (AI) techniques such as natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) to continue writing your sentence for you.

In 2021, ShortlyAI was acquired by Conversion.ai (now Jasper AI). However, ShortlyAI still remains as its own standalone product. If you'd like to learn more about Jasper AI, we recommend reading our review.

How does ShortlyAI work?

ShortlyAI works by using OpenAI's GPT-3 engine to generate text. GPT-3 is an extremely powerful AI engine that is used by many of the leading AI writing tools on the market today. It applies AI techniques, including natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) to generate human-like text.

man holding up a yellow sticky note with the letters AI

How do you use ShortlyAI?

To use ShortlyAI, simply go to the website and sign up for an account.

Once, you've completed the sign up process, you can visit the home dashboard and click the New button on the top righthand side of the screen.

ShortlyAI dashboard

You will then be prompted to select a template for either a non-fiction blog article or a creative story. For this review, we selected the blog article option.

ShortlyAI options

You will be taken to a new blank word editor where you can give the AI a brief of what you are planning to write about. You are told to describe the article as if you were speaking to a friend in a casual manner. You can also dictate how much the AI will write at a time by selecting the output length.

ShortlyAI editor


Next, give the article a title and then hit the Write for me button to let the AI generate some content for you. You can work with the AI to improve the generated content using slash commands. For example, you can type:

  • /instruct to give instructions on what the AI should write next (e.g. /instruct [write about...)
  • /rewrite to rewrite selected text in a different way
  • /shorten to make selected text more concise
  • /expand to extend selected text

The content generated is automatically saved for you. Once you are satisfied with your article, you can click the share button on the top righthand side of the editor and copy a link to share your article with others.

How much does ShortlyAI cost?

ShortlyAI offers a free trial which lets you generate only a small amount of content to test out the tool. After that, you will need to pay for a premium plan which costs $65 USD per month on the monthly plan or $65 per month if you choose the annual plan.

ShortlyAI Pricing Page

ShortlyAI pros

Here are some of the  pros we found using ShortlyAI:

Ease of use

ShortlyAI is extremely easy to use. The sign up process is straightforward and the user interface is very intuitive. Even if you've never used an AI writing tool before, you'll be able to figure out how to use ShortlyAI within minutes.

Unlimited documents

Another great thing about ShortlyAI is that there are no limits on the number of documents you can create. This means that you can use ShortlyAI to generate as much content as you want without having to worry about running out of credits.

Refined commands

ShortlyAI's slash commands are much more refined and offer more options than the some other AI writing tool. For example, the /rewrite command not only allows you to rewrite selected text, but also lets you specify how you want it to be rewritten. This is a great way to improve the quality of your content without having to put in too much

Free trial

Although you are limited in the amount of content you can generate on the free trial, it's still a great way to test out the tool and see if it's right for you.

ShortlyAI cons

While there are some positive things about ShortlyAI, there are also drawbacks that we found:

AI generated content that doesn't make sense

In our experience, we found the AI content generated didn't always make sense. For example, we would occasionally have content generated that included parts of our article brief in the paragraphs.

Limited content types

ShortlyAI only allows you to generate content for blog articles and stories. This is great if that's what you're looking for, but if you need to generate other types of content, such as social media posts or product descriptions, you'll need to look at other AI tools such as Copy AI or Jasper AI.

It's feels expensive

The monthly price of $65 is quite high compared to other AI writing tools on the market. If you compare it to something like Copy AI, which charges $49 USD per month with a more robust set of features, it is clear that ShortlyAI is quite expensive for what you get.

ShortlyAI alternatives

There are a number of other alternative AI writing tools on the market with more features and lower prices. Here are some of the best AI writing tools:

Copy AI

As mentioned in the last section, Copy AI is an AI writing tool that offers a more robust set of features than ShortlyAI. With Copy AI, you can generate content for a wider range of purposes, such as social media posts, product descriptions, and email subject lines. The monthly price is also lower, at $49 USD per month.

If you'd like to learn more, you can read our Copy AI review.

Shortly AI vs Copy AI

Jasper AI

Jasper AI is another AI writing tool that offers a more comprehensive set of features than ShortlyAI. With Jasper AI, you can generate content for a wide variety of purposes, use recipes to automate content generation, and write content in over 25 languages. Jasper AI starts from only $40 USD per month for the Starter plan, which again is cheaper than ShortlyAI.

If you'd like to learn more, you can read our Jasper AI review.

ShortlyAI vs Jasper AI

Rytr

Rytr is an AI writing tool that offers a number of features that ShortlyAI doesn't have, such as the ability to generate content in multiple languages, the ability to target specific audiences, and the ability to create different types of content such as social media posts and product descriptions. Rytr also has a lower monthly price than ShortlyAI, starting only $9 USD per month.

If you'd like to learn more, you can read our Rytr review.

ShortlyAI vs Rytr

Our Verdict

Our review has covered all the key features as well as the pros and cons of ShortlyAI. Although ShortlyAI has some great features, such as an intuitive user interface and the ability to generate unlimited content, there are also some drawbacks such as the limited content types and AI content generated which doesn't always make sense which make it difficult to recommend. If you're looking for an AI writing tool, we recommend you check out some of the alternatives mentioned in this review such Copy AI or Jasper AI.

In short, if you are looking for an AI writing tool, ShortlyAI is a good option, but there are better options available that offer more features and start at a lower price.

Write better and faster content with ShortlyAI
Try ShortlyAI for free