Aubrium vs Sandcastles: which is better for finding viral reels?
Sandcastles watches channels you pick on three platforms. Aubrium searches Instagram reels from accounts your size. We make one and paid for the other.
When we signed up for Sandcastles on 19 September 2026 and let it set up a fitness watchlist for us, the smallest account we could see in it had 301,000 followers. The biggest had 3.1 million.
That one detail explains most of the difference between these two tools. Sandcastles watches the channels on your watchlist across Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and the ones it picked for us were big. Aubrium is a library of Instagram reels from accounts with 1,000 to 100,000 followers. In its Fitness category, read on 22 October 2026, the middle post comes from an account with 12,028 followers.
Both are good at what they're built for. We paid for Sandcastles and used it, we read its website again this week, and we built Aubrium, so read this knowing that. Sandcastles is also one of the ten tools in the best tools to find viral reels, and if you're leaving it, the best Sandcastles alternatives covers the rest. Here's how the two compare on what each one finds, what it costs, and who it suits.
Pick Sandcastles if you post the same videos to TikTok and YouTube Shorts and already know which channels you want to watch. Pick Aubrium if you post on Instagram, have under 100,000 followers, and want ideas from accounts your size, filtered by niche and country. Both full plans start at $49 a month; Sandcastles also starts new accounts on a $5 Starter plan.
A searchable library of Instagram reels that reached far more people than the account has followers, from accounts with 1,000 to 100,000 followers.
Tracks the channels you add across Instagram, TikTok and YouTube and flags their outliers. A global search comes with Pro and up.
Which one shows reels from accounts my size?
Every tool in this category hunts for the same thing: posts that did far better than the account usually does. The difference is which accounts they look at.
You can add smaller accounts to a Sandcastles watchlist yourself, and its global search on Pro and up reaches beyond the list. Its help centre lists an account-size filter, from Nano to Mega, when you're finding channels to add.4 What its video lists didn't have when we used them was a filter for account size or country, and its help centre lists neither for videos today.6 Aubrium's library filters by both.
Why that matters: when an account with 3 million followers gets 5 million views, that's a normal day. When an account with 6,000 followers gets 5 million, the idea did the work. That's the reel worth studying.
Aubrium vs Sandcastles at a glance
| Feature | Aubrium | Sandcastles |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | Partly: Instagram only | Yes: Instagram, TikTok, YouTube Shorts |
| How it finds reels | Yes: A library you search, plus rivals you track | Yes: Channels you add; a global search on Pro and up |
| Accounts your size | Yes: Built from accounts with 1,000–100,000 followers | Partly: A size filter when finding channels; none on videos |
| Country filter | Yes: Yes | No: Not on their site; not in the app on 19 Sep |
| Hooks | Yes: The hook type on every post | Yes: A hook generator |
| Transcripts | Yes: On 99% of reels with a spoken hook | Yes: Download any video's transcript |
| Carousels and photos | Yes: Yes | Partly: Videos only when we used it |
| Scripts | Yes: Make my version, scripts, carousels, Remix | Yes: Yes |
| Inside ChatGPT or Claude | Yes: Yes, over MCP | Partly: Pro and up |
| API | No: No | Partly: Titan, $499 a month |
| Team or agency seats | No: No | Partly: Guest workspaces on Titan |
| Posts or schedules for you | No: No | No: Not on their site |
| Entry price | Yes: $49 a month | Yes: $49 a month, or $39 billed yearly; a $5 Starter for new accounts |
| Trial and refunds | Partly: No trial; a full refund within 15 days of your first payment | Partly: No free plan; no refunds on Pro, Visionary or Titan |
We read each tool's own site and Sandcastles' help centre on 22 October 2026, and used a paid Sandcastles account on 19 September 2026.1, 2, 4
Where Sandcastles is better
It wins on reach across platforms, and on plans for teams.
TikTok and YouTube Shorts too
One watchlist covers all three platforms. Aubrium is Instagram only.
A big global search
On Pro and up it searches far beyond your watchlist. When we used it, a pilates search turned up reels at up to 810 times their creator's usual.
Agency and API plans
Titan adds guest workspaces and an API. Aubrium has neither.
Yearly pricing
Every full plan is cheaper billed yearly. Aubrium is monthly only.
Where Aubrium is better
It wins on small accounts, filters and formats.
Accounts your size
Every post in the library comes from an account with 1,000 to 100,000 followers. That's 196,476 creators.
Country, and labels on every post
Filter by country, hook type, format, whether someone is on camera, and whether it looks AI-made.
Carousels and photos
The library holds every format, not just video. In fitness alone, 1,505 of the 18,479 viral posts are carousels or photos.
Pricing compared
Both full plans start at $49 a month. After that the two climb differently.
| Plan | Aubrium | Sandcastles |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | $49 a month (Lite): 2 Instagram accounts, 100 Sparks | $49 a month (Pro): 100 credits, or $39 billed yearly |
| Middle | $99 a month (Growth): 5 accounts, 250 Sparks | $99 a month (Visionary): 250 credits, or $79 billed yearly |
| Top | $249 a month (Pro): 10 accounts, 1,000 Sparks | $499 a month (Titan): 1,500 credits, or $399 billed yearly |
| Starter | None | $5 a month, offered once to new accounts: 10 credits, no global search or MCP7 |
Aubrium is monthly only, and every plan has every tool. Sparks pay for what you make, topic searches and rivals: 2 for a script or a carousel, 10 for a topic search, 40 to track a rival for 30 days. Browsing the library is included.2 At Sandcastles, credits "go towards three actions: analyzing videos, writing scripts, and running reports", and they refresh each month.1
Which one should you pick?
It comes down to where you post and how big the accounts you learn from are.
Pick Sandcastles if you…
- Yes: post the same videos to TikTok and YouTube Shorts
- Yes: already know the channels you want to watch
- Yes: run an agency or need an API
- Yes: would rather pay yearly
Pick Aubrium if you…
- Yes: post on Instagram
- Yes: have under 100,000 followers
- Yes: want ideas from accounts your size, in your country
- Yes: want carousels and photos as well as reels
Questions people ask
Is Aubrium better than Sandcastles?
It depends where you post. For Instagram creators under 100,000 followers, Aubrium shows ideas from accounts your size, filtered by niche and country. If you post to TikTok and YouTube Shorts too, Sandcastles covers all three.
Does Sandcastles work for small accounts?
You can add small accounts to your watchlist yourself, and its help centre lists an account-size filter for finding channels. Its video lists had no size filter when we used them on 19 September 2026, and the accounts we could see in the fitness watchlist it set up for us started at 301,000 followers.
Which is cheaper?
Both full plans start at $49 a month. Sandcastles is $39 a month billed yearly, and new accounts can start on its $5-a-month Starter plan, offered once. Aubrium is monthly only.
Do they have a free trial?
Neither has a free plan or a trial. Sandcastles' help centre says its $5 Starter "is a paid plan, not a free trial".8 Aubrium gives a full refund within 15 days of your first subscription. Sandcastles doesn't refund Pro, Visionary or Titan, and its help centre says cancelling the $5 Starter refunds your most recent $5 payment.5
Can I use them inside ChatGPT or Claude?
Yes. Aubrium works inside them through its MCP connector. Sandcastles' MCP connector is included on Pro, Visionary and Titan.
How we did this
We read sandcastles.ai, its help centre and aubrium.com on 22 October 2026. We also paid for Sandcastles and used it on 19 September 2026. The starter watchlist, its follower counts and the pilates search come from that session, and Sandcastles may have changed since.
Aubrium's numbers come from its own library on 22 October 2026, counting the posts members can see. Aubrium makes this page.
Sources
- Sandcastlessandcastles.ai · Plans, credits, refunds, the MCP connector. Read 22 October 2026.
- Pricingaubrium.com · Plans and Sparks. Read 22 October 2026.
- Refund policyaubrium.com · The 15-day refund on a first subscription. Read 22 October 2026.
- Finding channelsSandcastles help centre · The account-size filter when finding channels. Read 22 October 2026.
- Can I get a refund?Sandcastles help centre · Refunds by plan, including Starter. Read 22 October 2026.
- Video filter settingsSandcastles help centre · Every filter on the Videos tab, with no account-size or country filter among them. Read 22 October 2026.
- PlansSandcastles help centre · The $5-a-month Starter plan, offered once, and what it leaves out. Read 22 October 2026.
- How do I choose a plan when I sign up?Sandcastles help centre · Starter is a paid plan, not a free trial. Read 22 October 2026.
Changelog
- Re-checked against Sandcastles' site and help centre: its account-size filter for finding channels; no refunds on Pro, Visionary or Titan (its help centre says Starter is refunded on cancel); the $5 Starter plan for new accounts; what credits pay for; the MCP line no longer names Aubrium plans; the transcript figure re-read (99% of reels with a spoken hook); "middle account" corrected to the account behind the middle post; a link to the Sandcastles alternatives page. Also: the watchlist's follower counts are the accounts we could see; the pilates search's top figure given exactly (up to 810 times); Aubrium's rival tracking price; a row for posting and scheduling; sources for the video filters and the Starter plan.
- First version.
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