Piotr Olszewski · updated October 12, 2026If you have a podcast, webinar or interview and want to turn it into 10 short clips, start with OpusClip - it finds the best moments, reframes them to vertical and adds captions. If you shoot short videos on your phone and need eye-catching captions, choose Submagic or CapCut. For editing conversations and podcasts, where you cut video like a text document, Descript is the best.
I checked pricing pages in October 2026. Prices are in US dollars, as listed by the vendors.
Quick picks
- Best overall for clips from long recordings: OpusClip - moment detection, a "virality" score, vertical reframing and publishing to TikTok, Shorts and Instagram.
- Best free: CapCut - a free editor with AI captions and templates, plus OpusClip Free for testing.
- Best for captions: Submagic - animated, creator-style captions and auto B-roll.
- Cheapest paid: Submagic Starter at $12 a month billed annually and Klap Basic at $14 a month billed annually.
- For podcasts and text-based editing: Descript.
Comparison table
| Tool | Starting price | Free plan | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpusClip | $15/mo | yes, watermarked | clips from long recordings |
| CapCut | not confirmed | yes | phone editing, effects, templates |
| Submagic | $12/mo (billed yearly) | trial, no card | dynamic captions and B-roll |
| Descript | $16/mo (billed yearly) | yes, 1 hour/mo | podcasts, text-based editing |
| Captions | $24.99/mo | limited | AI editing on iPhone, avatars |
| VEED | not confirmed | yes | browser editor for teams |
| Vizard | not confirmed | yes, 60 min/mo | clips plus a publishing schedule |
| Klap | $14/mo (billed yearly) | not stated | fast clipping at scale |
OpusClip
You upload a long video or a YouTube link to OpusClip, and it picks the moments, crops them to vertical, adds animated captions and scores each clip's potential. Higher plans add AI-generated B-roll, filler-word and pause removal, and publishing straight to TikTok, Shorts and Instagram.
Who it's for: podcasters, YouTubers and companies that record webinars.
Price: per the pricing page, Free is $0, but clips are watermarked and files expire after 3 days. Starter is $15 a month (watermark-free export, enhanced clipping modes that look at visuals and audio, not just speech), Pro $29 a month (100 GB storage, team workspace for up to 4 users, social scheduler, AI B-roll). Business is custom-priced.
Downsides:
- "virality" is an algorithm's score, not a guarantee of reach;
- captions need a review pass, especially for names and brands;
- the most interesting features (AI B-roll, scheduler) only come with Pro.
CapCut
CapCut is the most popular short-form editor for phone and desktop: templates, effects, auto captions, background removal, voice changers and a huge number of AI features. For most people making their own short videos, it's the first tool to try.
Who it's for: TikTok and Reels creators, small businesses and people editing on their phone.
Price: CapCut's site doesn't show pricing in a form I could read, and paid plan prices depend on country and app store. The basic version is free; some AI features and effects require a paid plan. Check the price in the app before buying.
Downsides:
- the best effects and some AI features are behind a paywall;
- license terms for music and effects in commercial use need to be read separately;
- it doesn't pick the best moments from a long recording on its own the way OpusClip does.
Submagic
Submagic specializes in "big creator" style captions: colored highlights, emoji, word animations, automatic B-roll and zooms. You upload a finished phone recording and a moment later you have a clip ready to post.
Who it's for: talking-head creators, coaches and personal brands.
Price: per the pricing page, Starter costs $19 a month or $12 a month billed annually (15 videos a month, up to 2 minutes each), Pro $39 or $23 billed annually (40 videos, up to 5 minutes), Business $69 or $41 billed annually (100 videos, up to 30 minutes). The trial doesn't require a card.
Downsides:
- video length caps on cheaper plans (2 minutes on Starter);
- the uniform "Submagic look" is easy to spot unless you customize it.
Descript
Descript transcribes your recording, and then you edit it like a document: delete a sentence from the text and it disappears from the video. It has filler-word removal ("um", "uh"), audio enhancement, overlays, captions and export to vertical clips.
Who it's for: podcasters and people recording courses and interviews.
Price: per the pricing page, Free gives you 60 media minutes a month and 100 one-time AI credits. Hobbyist costs $16 per person per month billed annually ($24 monthly, 10 hours, 400 AI credits), Creator $24 billed annually or $35 monthly (30 hours, 800 credits), Business $50 billed annually or $65 monthly. The vendor quotes up to 35% savings on annual billing.
Downsides:
- text-based editing works best with an accurate transcript, so check it on your own audio;
- it's not a tool for flashy transitions and effects;
- it takes getting used to if you know classic timelines.
Captions
Captions (now also branded Mirage) is an AI editing app: captions, chat-based editing, digital twins, and generated B-roll, music and sound effects. It's strongest on iPhone.
Who it's for: creators who shoot on their phone and want to edit without a computer.
Price: per the pricing page, Max costs $24.99 a month (500 credits), Frontier 2x $69.99 (1,400 credits), Frontier 4x $139.99, Frontier 8x $279.99. The vendor notes these are iOS plan prices. Unused credits roll over, up to 3x the monthly allowance.
Downsides:
- the free plan has only basic editing features;
- prices are listed for iOS and may differ on other platforms;
- generating with "Frontier" models eats credits quickly.
VEED
VEED is a browser-based video editor with AI captions, a clip generator, avatars, voice cloning and audio cleanup. It works well for teams because everything is in the cloud.
Who it's for: in-house marketing teams and anyone who edits in the browser.
Price: VEED's pricing page loads amounts dynamically in local currency, and I couldn't read them. The vendor says you can start for free without a card and save on annual billing. Check the price on the site before buying.
Downsides:
- I haven't confirmed current prices;
- AI features are billed in credits;
- with longer footage, working in the browser can be slower than a desktop app.
Vizard
Vizard does the same job as OpusClip: it picks moments from a long recording, adds captions, reframes to vertical and lets you schedule posts to social media.
Who it's for: people who want an OpusClip alternative with a built-in publishing schedule.
Price: per the pricing page, Free is $0, with 60 credits and 60 upload minutes a month, 720p export (up to 10 minutes) and 3 days of storage. Creator and Business plans have watermark-free 4K export and 50% off on annual billing, but I couldn't read the amounts from the page.
Downsides:
- free plan export is 720p only;
- paid plan prices need checking on the site.
Klap
Klap cuts long videos into clips and bills by the number of clips per month, which is handy at scale.
Who it's for: agencies and creators publishing dozens of clips a week.
Price: per the pricing page, Basic costs $14 a month billed annually (100 clips), Pro $39 (300 clips), Pro+ $94 (1,000 clips). The vendor says annual billing saves 50%.
Downsides:
- the pricing page says nothing about a trial;
- fewer manual editing tools than CapCut or Descript.
How to choose
- Long recordings? OpusClip, Vizard or Klap. Shooting short vertical videos directly? Submagic or CapCut.
- Test captions on your own footage. Upload the same one-minute clip to 2-3 tools and compare mistakes in names, jargon and numbers.
- Compare limits, not just price. Submagic counts videos and their length, Descript hours, Captions credits, Klap clips.
- Watermarks. Free plans on OpusClip and Vizard have export restrictions - for a brand account you'll usually need a paid plan.
- One tool to cut, another to finish. A common setup: OpusClip picks the moments, CapCut polishes the effects.
- Music rights. For ads and business accounts, check the license on library tracks.
Common mistakes
- Publishing captions without proofreading. AI gets names, brands and numbers wrong. Read the captions before posting.
- Trusting the "virality" score. The tool's algorithm doesn't know your audience. Test different moments.
- Clips that are too long. The first 2-3 seconds decide whether people keep watching - cut the intros.
- The same clip on every platform, unchanged. TikTok, Reels and Shorts have different safe zones for captions and buttons.
- Buying an annual plan before testing. Most tools have a free plan or a trial - use it.
FAQ
What is the best free AI tool for making TikToks and Reels?
CapCut, OpusClip (watermarked), Vizard (60 minutes a month, 720p), Descript (60 minutes a month) and VEED all have free versions. Submagic has a trial with no card required.
How do I turn a podcast into short clips?
Upload the episode to OpusClip, Vizard or Klap, pick the best suggested moments, fix the captions and export in vertical format. If you want to clean up "ums" and pauses first, run it through Descript.
OpusClip vs Submagic: which is better?
OpusClip when you have a long recording and want to pull many clips out of it. Submagic when you already have a short video and need eye-catching captions and B-roll.
Is CapCut free?
The basic version is. Some effects, templates and AI features require a paid plan, whose price depends on your country and app store.
How much do AI video editing tools cost?
Per the pricing pages as of October 2026, paid plans start at $12 a month (Submagic Starter, billed annually), $14 (Klap Basic, billed annually), $15 (OpusClip Starter) and $16 (Descript Hobbyist, billed annually).
What is the best AI caption generator for short videos?
Submagic is built specifically for animated, creator-style captions. CapCut's auto captions are a solid free option, and OpusClip adds captions automatically to the clips it cuts.
Sources
- OpusClip - pricing - checked October 12, 2026
- CapCut - checked October 2026
- Submagic - pricing - checked October 2026
- Descript - pricing - checked October 2026
- Captions - pricing - checked October 2026
- VEED - pricing - checked October 12, 2026, amounts not readable
- Vizard - pricing - checked October 2026
- Klap - pricing - checked October 2026