Best AI Video Clipping Tools 2026: Long Video to Shorts
Seven tools that cut a podcast, webinar or stream into vertical shorts, compared on what an hour of source footage costs and what each plan exports.
OpusClip is the best AI video clipping tool for most creators in 2026: a free plan to test, Starter at $15 a month (monthly billing only) for 150 minutes of source video, and Pro at $14.50 a month billed annually for 300 minutes. reap is the cheapest per hour, with 10 hours of clipping on Creator at $9.99 a month billed annually. Vizard gives the most minutes for the money among the big names, 600 credits on Creator at the same annual price as OpusClip Pro.
Pick Klap if you think in clips rather than minutes, Descript if you also edit the full episode, and Riverside if you record there already. Submagic is a captions-first editor with a clipping feature on top. Prices read on each vendor's pricing page in October 2026.
Key facts7 tools compared: OpusClip, Vizard, reap, Klap, Descript, Riverside, Submagic
- 7 tools compared: OpusClip, Vizard, reap, Klap, Descript, Riverside, Submagic
- Vizard (best for: Creators with many hours of footage who want the most clipping minutes from a major tool): Free (60 credits/mo, 720p); Creator $14.50/mo billed yearly ($174) or more on monthly billing, from 600 credits
- reap (best for: Budget-minded creators who need many hours of clipping and some dubbing): Free (1 hr/mo, watermarked); Creator $9.99/mo billed annually ($119.88) for 10 hours of clipping
- Klap (best for: Creators who plan output by number of clips rather than hours of source footage): Basic $14/mo for 100 clips, Pro $39/mo for 300 clips, Pro+ $94/mo for 1,000 clips (all billed yearly)
An AI clipping tool takes one long video, finds the moments most likely to hold attention, and exports them as captioned vertical clips for Shorts, TikTok and Reels. Almost every tool on this list charges by minutes of source video you upload, not by clips produced, so a two-hour podcast costs the same whether it yields three clips or thirty. That billing unit is the single most useful number for comparing them.
AIpresso data: Toolradar, the software directory Dupple runs, evaluated 158 tools for its video editing ranking as of October 2026. The seven tools here are the ones built to turn existing footage into shorts, rather than general editors or footage generators.
How we ranked: in October 2026 we read each vendor's pricing page and help documentation, converted every entry plan to a cost per hour of source video where the vendor bills by minutes, and ordered the list by how well each tool does the clipping job for the price. We ran no hands-on tests, so nothing here rates clip quality. For a wider view of video tools, see best AI video editors and best AI tools for video creators.
Top Picks
Based on features, real-world fit, and value for money.
The best-known AI clipper: Virality Score ranking, animated captions in 20+ languages and direct posting to Shorts, TikTok and Reels.
Free (60 credits/mo); Starter $15/mo monthly only; Pro $29/mo or $14.50/mo billed annually
Creators who want the default clipping workflow with a free plan and a Premiere Pro export route
A clipper that bills 1 credit per minute and gives Creator twice OpusClip Pro's minutes at the same annual price.
Free (60 credits/mo, 720p); Creator $14.50/mo billed yearly ($174) or more on monthly billing, from 600 credits
Creators with many hours of footage who want the most clipping minutes from a major tool
The lowest cost per hour of source video here, with clipping, captions and dubbing hours on every paid plan.
Free (1 hr/mo, watermarked); Creator $9.99/mo billed annually ($119.88) for 10 hours of clipping
Budget-minded creators who need many hours of clipping and some dubbing
| Tool | Pricing | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| OpusClip | Free (60 credits/mo); Starter $15/mo monthly only; Pro $29/mo or $14.50/mo billed annually | Creators who want the default clipping workflow with a free plan and a Premiere Pro export route |
| Vizard | Free (60 credits/mo, 720p); Creator $14.50/mo billed yearly ($174) or more on monthly billing, from 600 credits | Creators with many hours of footage who want the most clipping minutes from a major tool |
| reap | Free (1 hr/mo, watermarked); Creator $9.99/mo billed annually ($119.88) for 10 hours of clipping | Budget-minded creators who need many hours of clipping and some dubbing |
| Klap | Basic $14/mo for 100 clips, Pro $39/mo for 300 clips, Pro+ $94/mo for 1,000 clips (all billed yearly) | Creators who plan output by number of clips rather than hours of source footage |
| Descript | Free (60 min/mo); Hobbyist $16/mo billed annually or $24 monthly; Creator $24/mo annually or $35 monthly | Podcasters who edit the full episode and want clips from the same project |
| Riverside | Free (watermarked); Pro $29/mo billed annually ($348) or $35 monthly; Grow $36/mo annually | Podcast and interview teams that record on Riverside and want clips without exporting files |
| Submagic | Starter $19/mo (45 credits); Pro $39/mo; Business $69/mo; up to 41% off billed yearly | Creators whose priority is animated captions and quick edits, with clipping as an extra |
Pricing read from each vendor's own pricing page, checked Nov 2026. Every vendor here publishes a price.
OpusClip
The best-known AI clipper: Virality Score ranking, animated captions in 20+ languages and direct posting to Shorts, TikTok and Reels.
- Pricing
- Free (60 credits/mo); Starter $15/mo monthly only; Pro $29/mo or $14.50/mo billed annually
Best for: Creators who want the default clipping workflow with a free plan and a Premiere Pro export route
Pros
- Pro includes 300 credits a month with unused credits rolling over for 2 months, plus 2 team seats
- Pro exports to Adobe Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve and adds topic search and prompt-to-clip
- Starter and Pro both start with a free trial that needs no credit card
Cons
- Starter's 150 credits cover 2.5 hours of source a month, which a weekly two-hour show exceeds
- Free-plan clips carry a watermark and stop being exportable after 3 days
Vizard
A clipper that bills 1 credit per minute and gives Creator twice OpusClip Pro's minutes at the same annual price.
- Pricing
- Free (60 credits/mo, 720p); Creator $14.50/mo billed yearly ($174) or more on monthly billing, from 600 credits
Best for: Creators with many hours of footage who want the most clipping minutes from a major tool
Pros
- Creator includes from 600 credits a month, 10 hours of source, with 4K export and no watermark
- Creator manages 6 social accounts and schedules posts, with 100 GB of storage
- Uploads of up to 600 minutes and 30 GB per video on paid plans suit long livestreams
Cons
- The free plan exports at 720p only and keeps files for 3 days
- Team members cost $5 a seat a month on Business, on top of the plan
reap
The lowest cost per hour of source video here, with clipping, captions and dubbing hours on every paid plan.
- Pricing
- Free (1 hr/mo, watermarked); Creator $9.99/mo billed annually ($119.88) for 10 hours of clipping
Best for: Budget-minded creators who need many hours of clipping and some dubbing
Pros
- Creator includes 10 hours of clipping and 10 hours of captions a month, watermark-free at 1080p
- Creator adds 2 hours of dubbing and translation a month, Studio 5 hours plus 4K export
- Prompt-first clipping lets you name the topics the AI should look for
Cons
- The headline prices are billed annually; monthly billing costs more
- The free plan's single hour a month is watermarked
Klap
A clipper that charges for clips generated, so a long video that yields few clips costs little.
- Pricing
- Basic $14/mo for 100 clips, Pro $39/mo for 300 clips, Pro+ $94/mo for 1,000 clips (all billed yearly)
Best for: Creators who plan output by number of clips rather than hours of source footage
Pros
- Pricing counts clips generated, so long recordings with few highlights stay cheap
- All plans include AI clipping, analytics and unlimited social accounts
- Pro+ covers 1,000 clips a month for teams publishing at volume
Cons
- The prices shown are billed yearly, so the entry cost is a 12-month commitment
- A clip-based meter is harder to compare with minute-based rivals until you know your clips per video
Descript
A transcript-based editor whose Create Clips tool pulls shorts from the episode you are already editing.
- Pricing
- Free (60 min/mo); Hobbyist $16/mo billed annually or $24 monthly; Creator $24/mo annually or $35 monthly
Best for: Podcasters who edit the full episode and want clips from the same project
Pros
- Hobbyist includes 10 media hours and 400 AI credits a month, with watermark-free 1080p export
- Underlord, the AI co-editor, picks clip-worthy moments from the edited episode
- Creator steps up to 30 media hours, 800 AI credits and 4K export
Cons
- AI tools run on AI credits as well as media hours, two meters to watch
- Priced per person, so a team pays per editor
Riverside
A remote recording studio with Magic Clips built in, so clipping starts from the original high-quality tracks.
- Pricing
- Free (watermarked); Pro $29/mo billed annually ($348) or $35 monthly; Grow $36/mo annually
Best for: Podcast and interview teams that record on Riverside and want clips without exporting files
Pros
- Magic Clips is on every plan, including Free, and Riverside says it does not use AI credits
- Pro removes the watermark, records up to 4K and adds AI show notes, B-roll and filler-word removal
- Pro and Grow start with a 14-day free trial
Cons
- Clipping starts from Riverside recordings, so it fits teams that already record there
- Free exports carry a Riverside watermark and top out at 720p
Submagic
A captions-first short-form editor with Magic Clips to cut long videos into shorts.
- Pricing
- Starter $19/mo (45 credits); Pro $39/mo; Business $69/mo; up to 41% off billed yearly
Best for: Creators whose priority is animated captions and quick edits, with clipping as an extra
Pros
- Starter includes 45 credits, which Submagic equates to 15 videos, with no watermark
- Pro adds Storyblocks B-roll, auto zooms, bad-take and silence removal and a brand kit
- Business exports in 4K at 60 FPS and handles videos up to 30 minutes
Cons
- Plans count videos, not hours, and Starter caps video length at 2 minutes, so confirm Magic Clips usage at checkout
- Priced per member, so a team multiplies the bill
What it is
An AI video clipping tool is software that scans a long recording, picks highlight moments, reframes them to vertical, adds animated captions and exports short clips ready to post. The category splits three ways: dedicated clippers (OpusClip, Vizard, reap, Klap), editors with a clip feature (Descript, Submagic), and recording platforms that clip what they recorded (Riverside).
Why it matters
The bill scales with your recording schedule, not with your output. A weekly one-hour podcast uses about 4 hours of source a month; a daily livestreamer can pass 40. A plan that looks cheap for the first case runs out in a week for the second, so count your monthly hours of source footage before you compare prices.
Our arithmetic on printed prices for a creator clipping 8 hours of source a month, on annual billing: reap Creator covers it, since it includes 10 hours. Vizard Creator covers it with 600 credits of one minute each. Descript Hobbyist includes 10 media hours, but its AI tools run on a separate AI credit allowance. OpusClip Pro includes 300 credits, about 5 hours, so 8 hours needs a second Pro credit pack.
Watermarks and storage are the other traps. Free plans on OpusClip, Vizard and reap watermark their exports or limit them, and OpusClip's free clips stop being exportable after 3 days. For OpusClip's tiers in detail, read OpusClip pricing; for Descript's two meters, Descript pricing.
Key features to look for
Pricing
OpusClip's entry price is $15 a month on Starter, monthly billing only, for 150 credits; Pro is $174 a year on annual billing and costs more month to month. OpusClip's help center says processing costs 1 credit per minute of the original video. Sources: OpusClip pricing and OpusClip's credit rules, checked October 2026.
Our arithmetic on cost per hour of source video, annual billing: reap Creator works out to about $1.00 an hour ($9.99 for 10 hours), Vizard Creator to $1.45 for 600 minutes, and OpusClip Pro to $2.90 for 300 minutes. On monthly billing, OpusClip Starter is $6.00 an hour and Vizard Creator $2.90. Sources: Vizard pricing and reap pricing.
Klap bills clips instead: Basic's 100 clips at $14 a month on yearly billing is $0.14 a clip (Klap pricing). Descript Hobbyist includes 10 media hours for $16 a month billed annually (Descript pricing), Riverside Pro is $348 a year (Riverside pricing), and Submagic Starter is $19 a month on monthly billing (Submagic pricing). All prices in USD, checked in October 2026.
| Plan | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| OpusClip Free | Free | 60 credits a month, up to 1080p, watermark, clips exportable for 3 days |
| OpusClip Starter | $15/mo (monthly only) | 150 credits a month, no watermark, 1 brand template, filler and silence removal |
| OpusClip Pro | $29/mo, or $174/yr | 300 credits a month with 2-month rollover, 2 seats, Premiere Pro and DaVinci export |
| Vizard Creator | $29/mo, or $174/yr | From 600 credits a month, 4K export, no watermark, 6 social accounts, 100 GB storage |
| Vizard Business | $39/mo, or $234/yr | Shared workspace, 20 social accounts, brand kit, unlimited storage; seats extra |
| reap Creator | $9.99/mo billed annually | 10 hours of clipping and captions, 2 hours of dubbing, 1080p without watermark |
| reap Studio | $29/mo billed annually | 20 hours of clipping and captions, 5 hours of dubbing, 4K without watermark |
| Klap Basic / Pro / Pro+ | $14 / $39 / $94 per month, billed yearly | 100, 300 or 1,000 clips a month, unlimited social accounts, analytics |
| Descript Hobbyist | $16/mo annual, $24 monthly | 10 media hours, 400 AI credits, 1080p without watermark, Create Clips |
| Riverside Pro | $348/yr, or $35 monthly | Magic Clips and show notes, up to 4K recording, no watermark, 14-day trial |
| Submagic Starter / Pro / Business | $19 / $39 / $69 per month, monthly billing | 45, 120 or 300 credits a month; yearly billing saves up to 41% |
The bottom line
OpusClip is the default AI clipper for most creators, with a free plan, a monthly Starter tier and a Pro plan that exports to Premiere Pro. Vizard doubles OpusClip Pro's minutes at the same annual price, and reap is the cheapest per hour of footage. Klap suits creators who count clips, Descript and Riverside suit podcasters already editing or recording there, and Submagic suits caption-first creators.
See the tool pages on Toolradar for OpusClip, Vizard, Submagic, Descript and Riverside. On AIpresso, the OpusClip review, Descript review and Captions review go deeper on single tools, and best AI subtitle generators covers captioning on its own.
Cite this: AIpresso, "Best AI Video Clipping Tools 2026: Long Video to Shorts", November 2026.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best AI tool to turn long videos into short clips in 2026?
Is there a free AI video clipping tool?
How do AI clipping tools charge?
OpusClip vs Vizard: which is cheaper?
Can Descript make short clips from a podcast?
Which AI clipping tool is cheapest per hour of video?
Sources
Prices and plan details come from each vendor's own pricing page, re-checked by the Toolradar pricing tracker.
- Riverside pricingchecked Sep 2026
Some offers on this page may be paid placements or contain affiliate links.
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