OpusClip: AI That Cuts Podcast Episodes Into Short Vertical Clips

OpusClip takes a long video, such as a filmed podcast episode or interview, and cuts it into short vertical clips for YouTube Shorts, TikTok and Instagram Reels. Its AI reads the whole conversation, picks the moments most likely to hold attention, reframes them so the speaker stays in the center of a phone screen, and adds animated captions. For podcasters who record on video but never find the time to make clips by hand, it turns one episode into a week of social posts in minutes. It is made by OpusClip, an AI video company that raised funding from SoftBank Vision Fund 2 in 2025 and says more than 20 million creators and businesses use it. (last updated 10/18/2026)

How Podcasters Benefit From Using OpusClip

• Clips without an editor: paste a YouTube link or upload the episode file and get a set of finished short clips back, captions included.
• A starting shortlist: every clip gets a Virality Score from 0 to 99 on paid plans, so you review the strongest candidates first instead of scrubbing through an hour of footage.
• The speaker stays in frame: AI reframing follows whoever is talking and switches layouts when two or more people are on screen, which suits interview and panel shows.
• Captions people read with the sound off: animated captions with keyword highlights and emojis, in more than 20 languages.
• Publish from one place: paid plans post clips straight to YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, and Pro adds a scheduler for LinkedIn, Facebook, X, Threads, Bluesky and Pinterest.
• Room to finish by hand: Pro exports projects to Adobe Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve when a clip needs a human touch.

OpusClip Features

AI Clipping

• Finds highlights across the whole episode and can stitch moments from different parts into one clip
• Clip lengths from under a minute up to 15 minutes
• Choose the part of the video to clip and the clip length; Pro adds topic search and “prompt to clip” (describe the moment you want)
• Auto hook: an attention-grabbing opening line at the start of each clip
• Virality Score on Starter and Pro, based on hook, flow, value and trend

Reframing and Captions

• 9:16 vertical on every plan; Pro adds 1:1 square and 16:9 widescreen
• Speaker tracking, dynamic layout switching and a screenshare layout
• Animated caption templates with emoji and keyword highlights
• Pro: custom fonts, brand vocabulary, intro and outro cards, and up to 4 brand templates

Editing

• Text and timeline editing (Starter and Pro)
• Filler word and pause removal (Starter and Pro); bad take removal, speech enhancement and eye contact correction (Pro)
• AI and stock B-roll, AI voice-over, music and text overlays

Publishing and Teams

• Clip titles, descriptions and hashtags written for you (Starter and Pro)
• Direct posting to YouTube, TikTok and Instagram (Starter); scheduling to nine platforms (Pro)
• Team workspace with 2 seats per Pro pack, up to 4, and 100GB of storage
• API, Zapier and an MCP connector on Pro

Pricing and Plans

• Free: $0, 60 processing minutes a month, 9:16 clips only, watermark on exports, files deleted after 3 days
• Starter: listed at $15 a month, 150 processing minutes a month, no watermark, Virality Score, editing and direct posting
• Pro: listed at $29 a month, 300 processing minutes a month (or 3,600 a year on the annual plan), all aspect ratios, scheduler, team workspace and Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve export
• Business: custom pricing for larger teams, API volume and single sign-on
• A processing minute is a minute of source video, so a one-hour episode uses about 60 of them. Failed projects get their minutes back.
• Prices and plans as listed by OpusClip in October 2026 (Q4 2026). They are subject to change, and this page may not be updated straight away, so check OpusClip’s pricing page before you subscribe.

Our Take And Observations On OpusClip

OpusClip is the tool most podcasters compare every other clip maker with, and for a filmed conversation it does the job well: it finds usable moments, keeps faces centered and captions them in a style that works on Shorts and Reels. Independent reviews in 2026 broadly agree that it is strongest on talking-head and interview content, and that roughly two clips in three are usable with little or no trimming. The rest start a beat too late, end before the punchline or lack the context to stand alone, so plan on a human pass before anything goes out. Reviewers also note that it judges clips from the transcript, so moments that depend on what is on screen get missed, and that captions slip on names, jargon and strong accents. The Virality Score is a useful way to sort, not a forecast.

It needs video. If your show is audio only, an audiogram tool such as Headliner is the better fit. Compared with tools already in the guide, Vizzy Studio adds visuals to audio episodes, and Swell AI turns episodes into written articles and show notes. OpusClip is the one built around letting the AI pick the clips. The free plan is enough to test it on a real episode, but its watermark and 3-day file limit make it a trial rather than a working plan. The prices shown on its pricing page can change with the billing period you pick, so check before you subscribe.

Pros:

• Fast, good first cut of clips from interview and talking-head video
• Speaker tracking and captions that suit vertical video
• Posting and scheduling built in, so clips go out from one place
• A free plan that is enough to test it properly

Cons:

• About a third of clips need trimming or miss context, so a human review is still needed
• Works from video only; audio-only shows need a different tool
• Free exports carry a watermark and are deleted after 3 days
• Widescreen and square clips, the scheduler and team seats are Pro only