5 AI Tools to Turn Long Videos Into Shorts

AI tools to turn long videos into shorts can help you find useful moments in a recording, add captions and fit the footage into a vertical frame. But which one suits your videos, and how much editing will you still need to do?

Suppose you record a ten-minute tutorial with one clear answer, a helpful example and a tip worth sharing. These tools can suggest the clips. Your job is to check that each result still makes sense.

Here are five options: OpusClip, Vizard, Klap, Riverside and Descript. This guide compares their documented features, pricing and suitable uses, followed by a simple checklist for choosing one.

How we researched this guide: We reviewed official product pages, pricing and help documentation on 29 October 2026. We have not tested the same recording across all five tools. The examples below explain what to check; they are not measured test results.

Which AI tools to turn long videos into shorts fit your workflow?

These are starting points, not quality rankings. A tool that suits a talking-head interview may need more adjustment for a screen tutorial.

1. OpusClip: For finding possible highlights

OpusClip identifies sections of longer videos and prepares short clips with captions and reframing. Its ClipAnything feature also accepts prompts to help find particular moments.

Suppose your video explains three product-photography mistakes. Instead of asking for random highlights, look for the section where you explain one mistake and show its correction. That gives the short a problem, an answer and a visible result.

OpusClip also offers a Virality Score. Treat this as a selection suggestion, not a forecast of views. Watch the clip even when the score looks impressive.

The free plan currently includes 60 monthly credits, watermarked output and no editing. Clips stop being exportable after three days. Download your trial results promptly and check whether you need paid editing access.

Who should consider it? Creators who want help finding candidate clips before deciding what to publish. Our OpusClip overview covers its wider features.

2. Vizard: For refining the cut through text

Vizard combines automatic clipping, captions and reframing with transcript-based editing. Removing transcript text can trim the matching footage, while the timeline allows further adjustments.

Imagine a suggested clip begins with, “As I mentioned earlier, use this setting.” Reading the transcript can help you find a clearer starting point. However, play the edited video afterwards: a neat sentence on the page can still sound abrupt.

For interviews, keep the question when the answer needs it. A clip beginning “Yes, absolutely” tells a new viewer very little without the preceding question.

Vizard’s free plan lists 60 credits per month, 720p exports, a watermark and three-day project storage. Check the current paid offer directly; the paid amounts did not render reliably during our research.

Who should consider it? People who prefer correcting spoken content through text while retaining control over timing. Read our Vizard listing for more background.

3. Klap: For speech-led videos and layout choices

Klap accepts uploaded videos and YouTube links, identifies moments and creates short clips. Its documented features include captions, reframing and layouts for conversations and screencasts.

The company describes speech-led material as a strong fit. Interviews, tutorials and spoken explanations are therefore sensible places to start.

The important check is what the viewer needs to see. In a mouse-cleaning tutorial, your face may matter less than your hands and the mouse. A vertical crop that follows you but hides the cleaning step weakens the lesson.

Klap’s current pricing page counts generated clips. That differs from the source-minute credits used for ordinary clipping by OpusClip and Vizard. A larger allowance number does not automatically mean better value.

Who should consider it? Creators working with spoken videos who want to explore suitable vertical layouts. Compare the export with the original wide frame before accepting the crop.

4. Riverside: For recordings already in your workflow

Riverside’s Magic Clips finds highlights from recordings and uploaded files. It offers animated captions and customization, and the editor can prepare vertical versions.^{[11], [12]}

If you already record interviews or podcasts in Riverside, check this option before adding another subscription. It may let you handle recording and repurposing in the same place.

Its documented automatic workflow requires content longer than three minutes with a transcript, so a ten-minute interview fits that requirement. Additional generation sets and controls depend on the plan.

For example, a guest may explain a useful idea after a long introduction. Keep the explanation and any essential question, rather than choosing a dramatic sentence that loses its meaning outside the conversation.

Who should consider it? Existing Riverside users and interview creators who value a connected recording workflow. Our Riverside overview explains its broader role.

5. Descript: For shorts that need a fuller edit

Descript’s Create Clips feature sits within a broader audio and video editor. It suggests sections, while transcript editing, captions and layout controls help you refine the result.

Consider it when your recording also needs corrections. You might remove a repeated explanation, fix a tool name in the transcript and then prepare a shorter version.

Always protect the speaker’s meaning. Removing a pause is different from removing “not” from a recommendation. Listen to the complete edited sentence before exporting.

Descript separates media allowances from AI credits. Check both: processing a recording and using AI features are different usage counters.

Who should consider it? Creators who want to stay involved in the edit and need more than automatic clip selection. See our Descript listing for its wider editing features.

AI shorts makers: free limits and pricing

Prices below are in USD before applicable taxes. Annual equivalents require yearly billing; they are not flexible monthly prices.

For ordinary clipping, OpusClip and Vizard document one credit per source minute. Under those rules, a ten-minute video uses ten credits. Additional AI features may have separate charges.

Before paying, check watermark removal, caption editing, download resolution and storage expiry. Compare how many usable clips you can finish, rather than the biggest number on the pricing page.

Free limits and pricing: what are you paying for?

Prices below are in USD before applicable taxes. Annual equivalents require yearly billing; they are not flexible monthly prices.

For ordinary clipping, OpusClip and Vizard document one credit per source minute. Under those rules, a ten-minute video uses ten credits. Additional AI features may have separate charges.

Before paying, check watermark removal, caption editing, download resolution and storage expiry. Compare how many usable clips you can finish, rather than the biggest number on the pricing page.

How to compare AI video clipping tools using your own video

To compare AI tools to turn long videos into shorts, start with one ten-minute recording you own or have permission to process. Choose clear speech, one practical example and a demonstration that needs to remain visible.

Follow the same process in each tool:

1. Upload the same original file.
2. Choose the correct spoken language.
3. Request vertical 9:16 output where supported.
4. Aim for a similar length, such as 30–60 seconds. This is your comparison setting, not a platform requirement.
5. Review the first three suggestions, or all suggestions if fewer appear.
6. Save the initial exports before correcting them.
7. Note the plan, retries and time spent fixing each clip.

Where instructions are supported, try this:

Find three clips of roughly 30–60 seconds. Each should explain one complete idea, include any essential demonstration and end after the answer. Avoid openings that depend on an earlier section.

Keep the first export and your corrected version separate. This helps you see how much work the tool handled and how much remained for you.

Three checks before you publish a short

1. Does it make sense without the long video?

An opening such as “this fixes it” leaves viewers guessing. Start where the problem becomes clear and finish after the useful result.

For example, “move the lamp” needs the explanation of glare and the improved product shot. Keep those parts together, even if the clip becomes slightly longer.

2. Are the captions correct and readable?

Listen while reading. Check names, prices, dates, technical terms and words such as “can’t.” For mixed Hindi and English, inspect both languages carefully.

Also check placement. Accurate captions still cause trouble if they cover a button, product label or important part of the demonstration. Preview the final export on your phone.

3. Does the crop preserve the useful detail?

Watch the whole clip, not only its opening frame. A moving crop can lose a product, chart or cursor halfway through.

If a screen tutorial becomes unreadable in vertical format, use a wider layout or a separate close-up. The viewer should understand the step without guessing what disappeared outside the frame.

Which tool should you start with?

Try OpusClip or Vizard for automatic suggestions. Consider Klap for speech-led layouts. If you already use Riverside or Descript, evaluate their clipping features before buying another service.

Once the clip has a complete idea, our YouTube Shorts hook guide can help improve its opening without promising something the video never delivers.

Choose one recording and finish one useful short first. The right AI tools to turn long videos into shorts should reduce the work between your original recording and a clear, publishable clip.