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Best AI Clip Makers
AI clip makers that turn long videos, podcasts and streams into short vertical clips, ranked on independent reviews and user ratings, with free tiers, credit costs, watermarks and the clip tools built into apps you already use.
Quick answer: The best AI clip maker for most people is OpusClip, because it is the only clipper picked by both Zapier and Buffer after testing, it rates 4.9 from about 8,600 App Store ratings, and its free plan gives 60 credits a month. For the clipper users rate highest, Vizard is the best alternative, with 4.7 from 2,521 reviews on Trustpilot and the same 60 free credits. For caption-led clips, Submagic is the pick, and if you record your podcast on Riverside, its built-in Magic Clips saves a step. The one caveat: every free tier here watermarks or limits exports, so budget for a paid plan if you post daily.
This page ranks tools that turn one long video into several short ones automatically: finding the best moments, cutting them to vertical, tracking the speaker, adding captions and scoring each clip. That is a different job from the page next to it:
- Best AI video editors ranks full editing suites, from DaVinci Resolve to CapCut.
- This page ranks the long-to-short repurposing job: upload a podcast, stream or webinar, get a batch of shorts.
Which one should you pick?
| If you want | Pick | Price | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| The best all-round clipper | OpusClip | Free, 60 credits a month; Starter $15/month; Pro $29/month or $174/year | Picked by Zapier and Buffer; 4.9 from about 8,600 App Store ratings |
| The highest user ratings and a free tier | Vizard | Free, 60 credits a month; from $29.99/month in the iOS app | Trustpilot 4.7 (2,521); G2 4.7 (429); App Store 4.8 (800) |
| Clips where the captions do the work | Submagic | Starter $19/month or $12/month billed yearly, plus the Magic Clips add-on | Trustpilot 4.5 (857); G2 4.6 (85); Beebom’s pick for captions |
| Clips from a podcast you record on Riverside | Riverside Magic Clips | Free with watermark; Pro $29/month or $24/month billed yearly | Included on every plan; G2 4.8 (1,757) for Riverside overall; Buffer pick for podcasters |
| Free, inside an app you already use | CapCut, TikTok Smart Split or YouTube | Free | Covered under “Clip tools built into apps you already use” below |
What you need to know about AI clip makers
They all do the same four things. A clipper transcribes the video, picks moments it thinks will stand alone, crops them to 9:16 with the speaker kept in frame, and burns in animated captions. The differences are in how good the moment-picking is, how much you can edit afterwards, and what the free tier lets you export.
Pricing runs on credits, and a credit is usually a minute of uploaded video. Vizard’s pricing page says “1 credit = 1 minute of video”, and OpusClip’s help centre charges “1 credit per minute of the original video imported”. A 60-credit free tier is therefore about one hour of source video a month. Submagic and Klap count finished videos or clips instead.
“Virality scores” are each vendor’s own estimate. OpusClip and Vizard both score clips for viral potential. Treat the score as a sorting aid, not a prediction.
Short-form is where the views are. YouTube Shorts “now averages 200 billion daily views”, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan wrote in his annual letter on 21 January 2026. That is why TikTok, YouTube, CapCut and Canva have all added their own long-to-short tools.
Independent testing focuses on OpusClip. Zapier and Buffer each picked OpusClip as their clipping tool after testing. The Podcast Host ran a 59-minute episode through OpusClip Pro and got 24 clips in about eight minutes. Beebom tested AI short video makers on long podcast uploads and named picks for OpusClip, Submagic, Klap and Vizard. For the other tools, user ratings with real volume on Trustpilot, G2 and the app stores carry the ranking.
Best AI clip makers ranked
| Rank | Tool | Best for | Free plan | Paid from | Watermark on free | Independent evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | OpusClip | Best overall | 60 credits a month; exports expire after 3 days | $15/month (Starter) | Yes | Zapier and Buffer picks; App Store 4.9 (about 8,600); G2 4.6 (124); Trustpilot 4.0 (510) |
| 2 | Vizard | Highest user ratings | 60 credits a month, 720p export | $29.99/month (iOS, 600 credits) | Yes | Trustpilot 4.7 (2,521); G2 4.7 (429); App Store 4.8 (800); Beebom pick |
| 3 | Submagic | Caption-led clips | Free trial, no card | $12/month billed yearly, plus Magic Clips add-on | No watermark on Starter | Trustpilot 4.5 (857); G2 4.6 (85); Beebom pick |
| 4 | Riverside Magic Clips | Podcasts recorded on Riverside | Yes | $24/month billed yearly (Pro) | Yes | G2 4.8 (1,757, whole platform); Buffer pick |
The top picks, reviewed
1. OpusClip: best AI clip maker overall
Price: Free, 60 credits a month; Starter $15 a month (150 credits); Pro $29 a month or $174 a year Free plan limits: Watermark on caption templates, no editing, exports expire after three days Ratings: App Store 4.9 from about 8,600; G2 4.6 from 124; Trustpilot 4.0 from 510
OpusClip is the best AI clip maker for most people because it has the broadest independent support of any clipper and a usable free tier. It is the only clipping tool in Zapier’s AI video roundup, which picks it for “extracting viral clips from long-form video”, and Buffer picked it for “turning one long video into several short-form videos”. The iPhone app rates 4.9 from about 8,600 ratings on the App Store, and it rates 4.6 from 124 reviews on G2. The Podcast Host’s hands-on review got 24 clips from a 59-minute episode in about eight minutes and concluded that the clips are first drafts: it saves time rather than replacing judgement.
What you get: A virality score on each clip, editing and direct posting to YouTube Shorts, TikTok and Instagram from Starter up, with Starter exports kept for 30 days. Pro adds AI B-roll, posting to more networks, no export expiry, and access to OpusClip’s video editing and scheduler APIs and an MCP connector, according to its pricing page.
Why it wins: The strongest independent record, a free tier that covers about an hour of video a month, and a low $15 entry plan. It was a close call with Vizard, which has more and higher user reviews; OpusClip won on the independent tests.
Limitations: Its Trustpilot score, 4.0 from 510 reviews, includes 20% one-star reviews. The free tier watermarks clips and deletes exports after three days, so download what you want.
Best for: Podcasters, YouTubers and marketers who want shorts from long videos with as little editing as possible.
2. Vizard: best for user ratings and a free tier
Price: Free, 60 credits a month; in the iOS app, plans run from $29.99 a month for 600 credits to $979 a year for 36,000 Free plan limits: Watermark, 720p export, clips up to 10 minutes, 3-day storage Ratings: Trustpilot 4.7 from 2,521; G2 4.7 from 429; App Store 4.8 from 800
Vizard is the best choice if you want the clipper users rate most highly. It holds 4.7 from 2,521 reviews on Trustpilot, the largest Trustpilot review count of the clippers here, and 4.7 from 429 on G2. Beebom picked it for long-form podcasters with a single speaker. Vizard’s pricing page defines one credit as one minute of video, so the free tier covers an hour a month, and API access with rate limits comes on every tier, the free one included.
Why it ranks second: More and better user reviews than OpusClip, but no pick from Zapier or Buffer, and its free tier exports at 720p with a watermark (Vizard).
Limitations: The cheapest paid plan in the iPhone app is twice OpusClip Starter’s price. Free projects expire after three days.
Best for: Solo podcasters and creators who want to try a clipper free for a month before paying.
3. Submagic: best for caption-led clips
Price: Starter $19 a month or $12 a month billed yearly (45 credits, about 15 videos); Pro $39 or $23; Business $69 or $41. Magic Clips, the clipping feature, is a separate add-on subscription Free: Free trial, no card Ratings: Trustpilot 4.5 from 857; G2 4.6 from 85
Submagic is the best choice when the captions are the point. It started as a captioning tool, and its Magic Clips add-on cuts long videos into vertical shorts, according to Submagic’s help centre. Beebom named it best for captioning short-form content. It rates 4.5 from 857 reviews on Trustpilot and 4.6 from 85 on G2. Exports on every paid plan carry no watermark, according to its pricing page, and Starter includes free B-roll.
Why it ranks third: The best captions of the ranked tools and a solid review record, but clipping is its second job, sold as an add-on, and Starter caps videos at two minutes.
Limitations: No ongoing free plan. The plan price does not include Magic Clips, so the real cost of clipping is higher than the Starter figure.
Best for: Creators whose clips live or die on punchy, animated captions. For captioning alone, see best AI subtitle generators.
4. Riverside Magic Clips: best for podcasters recording on Riverside
Price: Free with a Riverside watermark; Pro $29 a month or $24 a month billed yearly Included: Magic Clips on every plan Ratings: G2 4.8 from 1,757 (Riverside as a whole)
Riverside Magic Clips is the best choice if you already record on Riverside. It turns a recorded episode into short clips without exporting anywhere else, and it is included on every plan, the free one too, according to Riverside’s pricing page. Buffer picked Riverside for “podcasters and interviewers”, and Riverside rates 4.8 from 1,757 reviews on G2, though those reviews cover the whole recording platform, not clips alone.
Why it ranks fourth: The easiest path for Riverside users, but only for video recorded there or uploaded to it, and the free plan watermarks output.
Limitations: Not a general clipper for videos you host elsewhere, such as a YouTube back catalogue.
Best for: Podcast and interview hosts who record remotely on Riverside.
Clip tools built into apps you already use
Several big platforms now do long-to-short clipping themselves. None has the clip-specific evidence to be ranked above, but if you already use one, try it before paying for another tool.
| Tool | What it does | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CapCut AI clip maker | Picks highlights from long uploads, reframes 16:9 to vertical with subject tracking and adds captions | Free to try online; plan limits vary, check in the app |
| TikTok Smart Split | Splits videos longer than a minute into captioned vertical clips in TikTok Studio on the web, announced in October 2025 (TikTok) | Free |
| YouTube “Turn audio into Short” | Makes Shorts of 8 seconds to 3 minutes from podcasts and audio-first videos in YouTube Studio on desktop, in English, in the US, UK, Canada and Australia (YouTube Help) | Free |
| Descript | Underlord creates clips and highlights from your edit | Hobbyist $24/month, $16 billed yearly |
| Canva Highlights | Scans a long video for its key moments and trims them | Canva Pro |
| Adobe Express Clip Maker | Long video to social clips with subtitles; desktop and English only | Adobe Express plans |
| Kapwing Repurpose Studio | Clips long videos in Kapwing’s browser editor | Free with watermark; Pro $16/month billed yearly |
| VEED Clips | Prompt-driven clipping that centres the speaker and adds subtitles | VEED plans |
| StreamYard AI clips | Clips from your live streams and recordings: 2 generations a month free with a logo, 6 on Core, 25 on Advanced | Free and paid plans |
For the full editors behind several of these, see best AI video editors.
Other tools worth knowing (not ranked)
These tools aren’t ranked because there isn’t enough independent assessment of them yet.
Dedicated clippers
| Tool | What it does | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Katto | Captioned vertical clips from a YouTube link or an upload of up to 90 minutes, with reframing, AI B-roll, clip scores and publishing to seven platforms; priced per video, with no credits | Free, 2 videos a month, 720p, watermarked; Solo €8.90/month or €4.90/month billed yearly (10 videos) |
| Klap | Shorts from speech-heavy video, with analytics and posting to TikTok, Instagram and LinkedIn; Beebom picked it for dubbing clips into other languages | Basic $14/month billed yearly (100 clips) |
| quso.ai | Formerly vidyo.ai, with plans and prices unchanged: clipping plus scheduling and analytics | Free, 75 credits a month, 720p, watermarked; Lite $29/month or $174/year |
| Reap | Clipping, captions and dubbing, with API, CLI and MCP access on every paid plan | Free, 1 hour a month, 720p, watermarked; Creator $9.99/month billed yearly (10 hours, 1080p) |
For gaming and live streams
- Eklipse turns Twitch, YouTube Live and Kick streams into highlight clips and posts them to TikTok, Shorts, Reels and Facebook. It rates 4.1 from 971 reviews on Trustpilot. Premium starts at $24.99 a month.
- StreamLadder converts stream clips to vertical, and its ClipGPT feature finds highlights in Twitch, YouTube and Kick VODs from the Creator plan up. StreamLadder says 1 million streamers have made 12 million clips with it.
Podcast-first tools
- Castmagic turns podcast transcripts into show notes and posts, with unlimited media clipping from its Hobby plan at $19 a month billed yearly.
- Headliner makes audiograms and video clips for audio-only podcasts, with 4.8 from about 5,000 App Store ratings; Basic is $95.99 a year in the iPhone app. For podcasts generated from documents, see best AI podcast generators.
Pricing compared
| Tool | Free tier | Cheapest paid plan | What you get for it |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpusClip | 60 credits a month, watermark | Starter $15/month | 150 credits, about 150 minutes of video |
| Vizard | 60 credits a month, 720p, watermark | $29.99/month (iOS) | 600 credits, about 600 minutes |
| Submagic | Trial | Starter $12/month billed yearly | 45 credits, about 15 videos; Magic Clips extra |
| Riverside | Yes, watermark | Pro $24/month billed yearly | Recording plus Magic Clips |
| Katto | 2 videos a month, 720p, watermark | Solo €4.90/month billed yearly (€8.90 monthly) | 10 videos a month, up to 60 minutes each |
| Klap | Data not available | Basic $14/month billed yearly | 100 clips a month |
| quso.ai | 75 credits a month, watermark | Lite $29/month | 100 credits, 1080p |
| Reap | 1 hour a month, watermark | Creator $9.99/month billed yearly | 10 hours, 1080p |
| Descript | Free plan | Hobbyist $16/month billed yearly | 10 hours of media, full editor |
Best AI clip maker for each job
Best free AI clip maker
OpusClip is the best free AI clip maker, because its free plan gives 60 credits a month, about an hour of video, from the clipper with the strongest independent record. Vizard matches the 60 credits at 720p, and TikTok Smart Split and YouTube’s Turn audio into Short are free inside the platforms themselves.
Best AI shorts generator for YouTube
OpusClip is the best for YouTube Shorts, because it reframes, captions and scores clips and can post directly from Starter up. If your channel is podcast-first and in an eligible country, try YouTube’s own Turn audio into Short in YouTube Studio first.
Best AI video clipper for podcasts
Riverside Magic Clips is the best for podcasts you record on Riverside, because it is included on every plan with no export step. For podcasts recorded elsewhere, Vizard is the pick, because Beebom named it best for long-form podcasters with a single speaker and users rate it 4.7 from 2,521 Trustpilot reviews.
Best for captions
Submagic is the best for caption-heavy clips, because it is a captioning tool first and Beebom picked it for captions. Clipping long videos needs its Magic Clips add-on.
Best for gaming and streams
Eklipse is the most-reviewed stream clipper, with 4.1 from 971 Trustpilot reviews. StreamLadder is the alternative for Twitch and Kick creators.
Best for agencies and developers
OpusClip Pro includes video editing and scheduler APIs and an MCP connector, and Reap includes API, CLI and MCP access on every paid plan. Vizard offers API access on every tier with rate limits.
How to get clips worth posting
- Feed it good audio. Every clipper picks moments from the transcript, so clean speech gets better clips.
- Generate more than you need. Expect to keep a handful from each batch; The Podcast Host’s test produced 24 clips from one hour and treated them as first drafts.
- Check the first three seconds. Clippers often start a beat late. Trim to the hook.
- Fix the captions. Names, jargon and numbers are where transcription errors show.
- Ignore the virality score when your judgement disagrees. It is the vendor’s own estimate.
- Download free-tier clips quickly. OpusClip deletes free exports after three days, Vizard’s free projects expire after three days, and quso.ai keeps free data for seven.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best AI clip maker?
OpusClip is the best AI clip maker for most people, because it is the clipping pick in both Zapier’s and Buffer’s tests, rates 4.9 from about 8,600 App Store ratings and has a free plan of 60 credits a month. Vizard is the best alternative, with 4.7 from 2,521 Trustpilot reviews, and Submagic is the best for caption-led clips.
What is the best free AI clip maker?
OpusClip and Vizard both give 60 free credits a month, which is about an hour of source video. Both watermark free clips: OpusClip deletes free exports after three days, and Vizard exports free clips at 720p. TikTok Smart Split and YouTube’s Turn audio into Short are free inside those platforms.
Is OpusClip free?
Yes, OpusClip has a free plan with 60 credits a month, roughly 60 minutes of uploaded video. Free clips carry a watermark on caption templates, cannot be edited and expire after three days. Starter costs $15 a month and Pro $29 a month, or $174 a year.
What are the best OpusClip alternatives?
Vizard is the best OpusClip alternative, rating 4.7 from 2,521 Trustpilot reviews and 4.7 from 429 on G2, with the same 60 free credits a month. Submagic is the alternative for caption-led clips, Riverside Magic Clips for podcasts recorded on Riverside, and Klap for dubbing clips into other languages.
How do AI clip makers choose clips?
AI clip makers transcribe the video, look for passages that stand alone as a complete thought or hook, and cut them to vertical with the speaker kept in frame. Many then score each clip for viral potential, but that score is the vendor’s own estimate, not an independent measure.
Can AI turn a podcast into clips?
Yes. Riverside Magic Clips does it for podcasts recorded on Riverside, Vizard and OpusClip do it for any uploaded video, and Headliner makes clips and audiograms for audio-only shows. In The Podcast Host’s test, OpusClip produced 24 clips from a 59-minute episode in about eight minutes.
Does YouTube have an AI clip maker?
Yes, for some channels. YouTube Studio’s “Turn audio into Short” makes Shorts of 8 seconds to 3 minutes from podcasts and audio-first videos, on desktop, in English, in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, and the video needs a transcript.
Does CapCut turn long videos into shorts?
Yes. CapCut’s AI clip maker picks highlights from long uploads, reframes them to vertical with subject tracking and adds captions, and CapCut offers it to try free online. Plan limits vary by region and platform, so check in the app.
How much does an AI clip maker cost?
Most AI clip makers cost $10 to $30 a month. OpusClip Starter is $15 a month, Klap Basic is $14 a month billed yearly and Reap Creator is $9.99 a month billed yearly; Submagic Starter is $12 a month billed yearly before its Magic Clips add-on. OpusClip and Vizard charge one credit per minute of uploaded video.
What is the difference between an AI clip maker and an AI video editor?
An AI clip maker turns one long video into several short clips automatically, choosing the moments, reframing to vertical and adding captions. An AI video editor is a full editing suite where AI speeds up tasks such as masking, captioning and cutting silences. Several editors, including Descript, CapCut and Kapwing, now include a clipping feature.