Six AI clipping tools compared on the things that decide a switch from Opus Clip: what the free plan really allows, whether you pay per minute, per clip or per hour, whether posting is built in, and what the caption styling looks like.
6 tools compared · Last reviewed
Opus Clip is the tool that made long-video-to-shorts a category, and on 14 September 2026 its pricing page listed a free-forever plan with 60 credits a month, Starter at $15 a month on monthly billing only, and Pro at $29 a month or $14.50 billed yearly. It is still the most complete editor in the group. People look elsewhere for four reasons: the free plan's three-day export window, the Starter plan's monthly-only billing, the lack of a scheduler below Pro, and the wish for a simpler unit than credits.
The alternatives differ most in how they count. Vizard and Opus Clip both spend one credit per minute of source video. Klap charges per clip generated. 2short.ai sells hours of analysis. quso.ai sells credits that double on yearly billing. Submagic sells credits it equates to finished videos. Descript is a whole editor with clipping inside it. The right choice depends on whether your footage is long and your clips few, or the other way round.
Every price here was read on 14 September 2026 from the vendor's own pricing page, or, where a page builds its prices in the browser, through a rendering fetch that the entry names. Munch's page showed no prices even when rendered, so it is not ranked. Captions has moved to generative video and is not a clipper any more.
Opus Clip's free clips stop being exportable after three days. Vizard's free plan has the same three-day storage; quso.ai gives seven days; 2short.ai lets you export generated clips on its free Starter plan without a stated expiry. If you clip in bursts, that difference matters.
Starter is monthly-only and Pro is where the scheduler lives
Opus Clip's $15 Starter cannot be billed yearly, and posting to social lives on Pro. Vizard puts scheduling to six accounts on its entry paid plan at the same $14.50 annual price, and quso.ai bundles a planner.
Credits versus clips versus hours
Creators with two-hour podcasts and a handful of clips per episode are better served by Klap's per-clip pricing; creators with short source videos and many clips are better served by per-minute credits. 2short.ai's hours are the simplest unit of all.
Captions are the whole point for some people
Opus Clip's captions are good; Submagic's are the ones people copy. If the clip is found already and the job is styling it, Submagic is the tool, and it can be paired with any clipper here.
How we chose
We added the tools people move to from Opus Clip — Vizard, Submagic, quso.ai and 2short.ai — to our directory, alongside Klap and Descript which were already listed, then read each vendor's pricing page on 14 September 2026. Vizard's page renders client-side and was read through a rendering fetch; Klap's plan table was present in the HTML served to us that day. Munch showed no prices even when rendered and is not ranked. Klap's listing was re-priced the same day. Prices carry billing terms; where a page did not state a figure, the entry says so.
Best for: Creators who want clipping and scheduling in one tool at Opus Clip's price
The direct swap. Vizard finds highlights, captions them and schedules them to six social accounts on Creator, at $29 a month or $14.50 billed yearly ($174 a year), the same annual figure as Opus Clip Pro, with 4K export and no watermark. Business at $39 or $19.50 yearly adds 20 accounts, a shared workspace and $5 seats. Prices read through a rendering fetch on 14 September 2026.
Free tier: Yes — 60 credits a month, one credit per minute of upload.
Watch out: Three-day storage on the free plan and a younger editor than Opus Clip's. Its pricing page cannot be read without a browser.
Best for: Podcasters with long episodes and a few clips each
Klap charges per clip generated rather than per minute of source, which is the better deal when your footage is long and your output is selective. On 14 September 2026 its plan table listed Basic at $14 a month billed yearly for 100 clips, Pro at $39 for 300 and Pro+ at $94 for 1,000, with unlimited social accounts and analytics on every plan.
Free tier: A trial with fair-use credits; no confirmed permanent free plan.
Watch out: Yearly prices only; the page shows yearly as 50% off monthly, so monthly billing is roughly double. Whether a genuinely free tier exists could not be confirmed.
Best for: Anyone whose real job is caption style, zooms and b-roll
The finishing tool. Submagic's animated captions, keyword highlights, auto-zoom, silence removal and Storyblocks b-roll are why its style is everywhere on Reels. Its page on 14 September 2026 listed Starter at $19 per member a month billed monthly or $12 yearly, Pro at $39 or $23 yearly and Business + API at $69 or $41 yearly, sized by credits it equates to 15, 40 and 100 videos.
Free tier: No; a free trial without a card.
Watch out: Per-member pricing and clip-length caps of two and five minutes on the lower tiers. It polishes clips more than it finds them; many people run it after Opus Clip rather than instead of it.
Best for: Budget creators on yearly billing who want a planner included
vidyo.ai under its new name, with pricing its page says is unchanged: Lite at $29 a month or $19 billed yearly, Essential at $39 or $26, Growth at $49 or $33, read on 14 September 2026. Yearly billing doubles the credits as well as cutting the price, and a content planner is built in.
Free tier: Yes — 75 credits a month at 720p.
Watch out: 720p and seven-day retention on the free plan, and a smaller editing toolset than Descript or Opus Clip.
Best for: YouTube-first creators who want the cheapest paid clipper
Priced by hours of analysis with every feature on every plan: Lite at $9.90 a month for five hours, Pro at $19.90 for fifteen and Premium at $49.90 for fifty, as listed on 14 September 2026. It is the simplest tool here to budget and the cheapest to start.
Free tier: Yes — a free Starter plan with a small monthly analysis allowance.
Watch out: The free allowance is stated as 30 minutes on the plan card and 15 in a footer line. No scheduler or publishing, and no yearly discount visible.
Best for: Creators who want a full text-based editor with clipping inside it
Descript is the whole studio: text-based editing, transcription, overdub, screen recording and AI clip suggestions, with plans at $16 (Hobbyist), $24 (Creator) and $50 (Business) per person a month billed annually. If clipping is one of several things you do to a recording, it replaces more than Opus Clip does.
Free tier: Yes — 1 hour of transcription a month, watermarked 720p.
Watch out: It is an editor first; the clipping is a feature, not the product, and per-person pricing on Creator and Business is above every clipper here.
Yes. Vizard (60 credits a month), quso.ai (75 credits at 720p), 2short.ai (a free Starter plan) and Descript (one hour of transcription) all have free tiers. Opus Clip's own free plan is 60 credits a month with a three-day export window.
What is the cheapest Opus Clip alternative?
2short.ai's Lite at $9.90 a month is the lowest paid price here. Klap's Basic at $14 a month billed yearly and Submagic's Starter at $12 a month billed yearly are next. Opus Clip Pro and Vizard Creator both cost $14.50 a month on yearly billing.
Which alternative has a built-in scheduler?
Vizard on its entry paid plan (six accounts, 20 on Business) and quso.ai through its content planner. Opus Clip's scheduler is on Pro. Klap connects unlimited social accounts. 2short.ai and Submagic do not schedule.
Which is best for podcasts?
Klap, because per-clip pricing suits long episodes with selective output, or Descript if you also edit the episode itself. Riverside's recording plans include clipping too if you record there.
What does Opus Clip cost?
Free forever with 60 credits a month; Starter $15 a month on monthly billing only with 150 credits; Pro $29 a month or $14.50 billed yearly ($174 a year) with 3,600 credits a year; Business custom, as listed on 14 September 2026.
Will my projects move over?
No tool imports another's projects. Source videos re-upload anywhere, and finished clips export as MP4 from every tool here. Export any clips you want to keep from Opus Clip before the free plan's three-day window or before a paid plan ends.
