Cards vs Contentdrips for carousels
Contentdrips is a LinkedIn-first content studio. It generates posts and carousels from a topic or a link, dresses them in your brand kit, and publishes them on a schedule. Cards does the middle piece only: text you wrote goes in, a consistent set of slides comes out. The clearest practical difference is the meter. Contentdrips counts AI credits, and Cards counts nothing.
| Cards | Contentdrips | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the text comes from | Your own writing, laid out as typed | AI writes it from a topic, blog URL, YouTube video, or TikTok |
| What you pay for | A flat plan, with nothing metered | AI credits: one carousel costs 10, a blog import 15 |
| Free tier | Unlimited exports, no account for the first 8 cards | 50 AI credits once, 1 brand, basic templates |
| Paid plans | Pro at $5 a month | Starter $15 a month for 500 credits, Pro $26 for 1,200 |
| Slides per carousel | 8 signed out, 18 on a free account, 200 with Pro | Set by the template and your credit balance |
| Templates | Six visual templates, saved styles, collage layouts | 1,000+ templates, with the best ones on paid plans |
| Canvas sizes | Instagram square and portrait, Story and Reels, LinkedIn, X | LinkedIn and Instagram |
| Branding | Saved styles reapply your fonts and colors | Branding kit applies fonts, colors, and logo across designs |
| Publishing | Buffer channels, with Pro | Publishes to LinkedIn and Instagram, plus a bulk planner |
| Video | Renders the deck as an MP4 up to 30 seconds, with Pro | Not listed among its outputs |
| Automation | None | API, MCP, and Zapier on paid plans |
Contentdrips figures checked July 2026 on its pricing page. Plans move, so read theirs before you decide.
Credits versus a flat plan
Almost everything Contentdrips does well has a price per use. A generated carousel costs 10 credits, a blog or YouTube import 15, an AI image 25. Starter gives 500 credits a month for $15, Pro gives 1,200 for $26, and the free plan gives 50 once. Whether that is cheap depends on how much you publish, and you have to keep score.
Cards has nothing to count. Splitting, layout, preview, and image export are free and unmetered, on an account or without one. Pro at $5 a month raises the carousel to 200 cards and unlocks video, URL import, Buffer publishing, and multi-format export.
The wording stays as you wrote it
Contentdrips writes the post for you and can match the tone of what you have published before. Cards never touches the wording. Paste an essay or a thread and it breaks the text into slides, redrawing them as you edit.
Smart split goes one step further on Markdown. Headings, quotes, lists, and code blocks each get a typed slide, so a pasted article arrives structured rather than chopped by length. That runs free.
Where each one publishes
Contentdrips is built around LinkedIn and Instagram and posts to them directly, with a bulk planner for a couple of weeks at a time. Cards exports for five canvases, including Story and Reels at 1080×1920 and X at 1600×900, and sends posts through Buffer with Pro. It has no PDF export, so a LinkedIn document carousel means assembling the exported images yourself.
When Contentdrips is the better pick
Choose Contentdrips if you want the copy generated, a large template library, an automatic brand kit across every design, or scheduling and API access in the same tool. Cards is the leaner option when the writing is already done and you want it on screen in a minute.
Questions
- Is Cards a free Contentdrips alternative?
- For making and exporting carousels, yes. Cards charges nothing for the editor, the layout, or the image export, and the first 8 cards need no account. Contentdrips also has a free text-to-carousel tool that works without a login. The difference shows up on everything else: its AI generation, branding kit, and publishing run on credits and paid plans, while Cards Pro is a flat $5 a month.
- Does Cards charge credits?
- No. Nothing in Cards is metered per generation. Contentdrips prices its AI work in credits: a carousel costs 10, a blog or YouTube import 15, an AI image 25. The free plan hands out 50 credits one time, so it works as a trial.
- Does Cards write the copy?
- No. You paste the text and Cards splits it into slides on word and line boundaries, keeping your wording. Smart split reads Markdown structure so headings, quotes, lists, and code each get their own slide. Contentdrips generates the copy from a topic or a link.
- Can Cards publish to LinkedIn?
- Through Buffer, with Pro. Connect a Buffer account and Cards sends the rendered images to your channels, publishing now or scheduling up to 30 days ahead. Contentdrips publishes to LinkedIn and Instagram itself.
- Can I turn the carousel into a video?
- Yes. Twelve motion presets animate the deck and Cards renders it as an MP4 up to 30 seconds for Reels and TikTok. The preview is free for everyone; rendering the file is Pro.