Originally published at ffmpeg-micro.com
Faceless YouTube channels make money. That's not the interesting part. The interesting part is that most of the work can be automated, and the people doing it well are publishing 30+ videos per week without touching editing software.
The pipeline looks like this: pick a niche, generate scripts, create visuals, compose the video with FFmpeg, and schedule uploads. Each step can be automated. This post walks through the full stack.
Pick a niche that works for automation
Not every YouTube niche is automatable. You need content where the visuals don't require custom footage. That means niches built on stock clips, screen recordings, text overlays, or generated images.
Niches that work well:
- Motivational/quote compilations
- Reddit story narration
- News roundups and "top 10" lists
- Educational explainers with slides or diagrams
- Product reviews using B-roll and screenshots
- Coding tutorials with screen capture
Niches that don't automate well: vlogs, travel content, cooking channels, anything where the camera work IS the content.
The revenue math is simple. YouTube pays roughly $2-8 CPM (cost per 1,000 views) depending on the niche. Finance and tech niches pay closer to $8. Entertainment and gaming hover around $2-3. At 100,000 monthly views with a $5 CPM, that's $500/month. Scale to 300,000 views and you're at $1,500/month.
Script generation with AI
Each video needs a script. For a 60-second Short, that's about 150 words. For a 5-minute explainer, roughly 750 words.
Use Claude, GPT-4, or any capable LLM with a system prompt tailored to your niche:
curl -X POST https://api.anthropic.com/v1/messages \
-H "x-api-key: YOUR_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"model": "claude-sonnet-4-6-20250514",
"max_tokens": 1024,
"messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Write a 150-word script for a YouTube Short about 5 underrated productivity apps. Punchy, direct, no filler."}]
}'
For batch production, store your topic list in a spreadsheet or database and loop through it. One API call per script. At scale, you're generating 30+ scripts per week for under $1 in API costs.
Turn scripts into audio with TTS
Text-to-speech has gotten good enough that viewers can't always tell. ElevenLabs and OpenAI's TTS are the top options.
curl -X POST https://api.openai.com/v1/audio/speech \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"model": "tts-1",
"input": "Your script text goes here...",
"voice": "onyx"
}' --output narration.mp3
This gives you an MP3 file for each video. Batch it the same way: loop through scripts, generate audio, save to a folder.
Compose the video with FFmpeg
This is where it all comes together. You need to combine background footage, text overlays, and narration into a final video. FFmpeg handles all of it.
Basic composition: background + audio
ffmpeg -i background.mp4 -i narration.mp3 \
-c:v copy -c:a aac -shortest output.mp4
Add text overlays for key points
ffmpeg -i background.mp4 -i narration.mp3 \
-vf "drawtext=text='5 Apps You Need':fontsize=48:fontcolor=white:x=(w-text_w)/2:y=100:enable='between(t,0,3)'" \
-c:a aac -shortest output.mp4
At scale: use the FFmpeg Micro API
When you're processing 30+ videos per week, running FFmpeg locally becomes a bottleneck. Server resources, queue management, error handling. The FFmpeg Micro API handles all of that.
curl -X POST https://api.ffmpeg-micro.com/v1/transcodes \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"inputs": [
{"url": "https://storage.example.com/background.mp4"},
{"url": "https://storage.example.com/narration.mp3"}
],
"outputFormat": "mp4",
"options": [
{"option": "-c:v", "argument": "libx264"},
{"option": "-c:a", "argument": "aac"},
{"option": "-shortest", "argument": ""}
]
}'
FFmpeg Micro processes the video in the cloud, scales automatically, and returns a download URL when it's done. No server to manage. No FFmpeg to install. You pay per minute of video processed.
Automate the full pipeline with n8n or Make
The glue that connects everything is a workflow automation tool. n8n and Make.com both work. The workflow:
- Trigger: New row in a Google Sheet (or cron schedule)
- Script generation: Call Claude/GPT API with the topic
- TTS: Send script to ElevenLabs or OpenAI TTS, save the audio file
- Upload assets: Push background video and audio to cloud storage
- Compose: Call FFmpeg Micro API to combine assets
- Poll for completion: Check job status until done
- Download: Grab the output video URL
- Upload to YouTube: Use the YouTube Data API to publish
Each step is an HTTP request. No custom code required if you're using n8n or Make. The entire pipeline runs on a schedule.
The math at 30 videos per week
Running this pipeline at 30 videos per week costs roughly:
- Script generation (LLM): ~$3/month (150-word scripts are cheap)
- TTS: ~$15/month (ElevenLabs starter plan or OpenAI TTS at $15/1M characters)
- Video processing (FFmpeg Micro): ~$10-20/month depending on video length
- Automation (n8n Cloud or Make): ~$20/month
- Total: ~$50-60/month
Against potential YouTube ad revenue of $500-1,500/month at 100k-300k views, the margins are strong. The timeline to 100k monthly views varies wildly by niche, but channels publishing daily content consistently tend to hit it within 6-12 months.
What separates channels that make money from channels that don't
Volume alone isn't enough. The channels that actually monetize share a few patterns:
They pick high-CPM niches. A finance channel earning $8 CPM needs 125,000 views for $1,000/month. An entertainment channel at $2 CPM needs 500,000 views for the same revenue. Niche selection is the highest-leverage decision in the whole pipeline.
They optimize thumbnails and titles. Automated content production means nothing if nobody clicks. Spend time on thumbnails (Canva templates work), and test titles. This is the one step that benefits from human judgment.
They batch process. Instead of making one video at a time, they generate a week's worth of scripts, produce all the audio, compose all the videos, and schedule everything in one session. The pipeline described above does exactly this.
They reinvest early revenue. First $500/month goes into better stock footage subscriptions, higher-quality TTS voices, or a second channel in a different niche.
FAQ
How many videos per week should I publish?
Start with 5-7. Increase to daily (7/week) once your pipeline is stable. Channels doing 30+ per week usually have multiple series or formats running in parallel.
Do faceless channels get monetized by YouTube?
Yes. YouTube's Partner Program requires 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours (or 10M Shorts views). Content type doesn't matter as long as it's original and provides value. Compilations of other people's content get flagged. Original scripts with stock footage do not.
Can I use this for YouTube Shorts specifically?
Absolutely. Shorts are actually easier to automate because they're 60 seconds max. Shorter scripts, simpler compositions, faster processing. And Shorts can drive subscribers fast, which helps you hit the monetization threshold.
What's the best automation tool for this?
n8n if you want self-hosted control and unlimited workflows. Make.com if you want a visual builder and don't mind the per-operation pricing. Both integrate with FFmpeg Micro, YouTube, and LLM APIs.
Is this against YouTube's terms of service?
No. YouTube's policies target spam, misleading content, and reused content without added value. Original scripts, original compositions, and genuine informational content are fine. Channels that just re-upload other people's videos get taken down. Channels that automate original content production don't.
Last verified: June 2026. API examples use FFmpeg Micro v1, Claude API, and OpenAI TTS.
