Free AI clipping tools compared: minutes, watermark and limits
As of October 2026, the free plans in this comparison that export without a watermark are OpenShorts self-hosted and 2short.ai. Opus Clip, Vizard and OpenShorts Cloud watermark their free exports; Quso does not say on its pricing page. Klap, Submagic and SendShort have no ongoing free plan.
The free plans differ more than the headline "free" suggests: from no ongoing plan at all to 75 minutes a month, from 720p to 1080p, and from 3 days to 7 days before your clips are gone.
Hosted: first video free up to 60 minutes, then 20 minutes a month, watermarked, no card. Self-hosted: MIT, no watermark, no cap.
Free AI clip generators, side by side
Each vendor's figures checked on the date in its row, on its public pricing page. "Not stated" means the page did not say, not that the answer is no.
| Tool | Free allowance | Max resolution | Watermark | Card needed | Limits | Paid from | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenShorts self-hosted | No cap (your hardware) | Same as your source | No | No (no account at all) | Needs Docker and your own Gemini key or a local LLM | Free, MIT | 2026-10-05 |
| 2short.ai | 30 min of analysis a month | 1080p | No | Not stated | YouTube links only | $9.90/month | 2026-10-05 |
| Opus Clip | 60 min of source a month | 1080p | Yes | Not stated (the 7-day Pro trial needs none) | No editing; export within 3 days | $15/month | 2026-10-05 |
| Vizard | 60 min of uploads a month | 720p | Yes | Not stated | Uploads up to 60 min, exports up to 10 min, 3-day storage | $14.50/month billed yearly ($29 monthly) | 2026-10-05 |
| Quso | 75 min a month (about 1 credit per min) | 720p | Not stated | Not stated | Data kept 7 days, no scheduling | $19/month billed yearly ($29 monthly) | 2026-10-05 |
| OpenShorts Cloud | First video whole up to 60 min, then 20 min a month | Same as paid plans | Yes | No (Google sign-in) | Clips kept 7 days | $12/month | 2026-10-05 |
| Klap | One video, once | Not stated | Not stated | No | No ongoing free plan | $14/month billed yearly | 2026-10-05 |
| Submagic | None; a trial instead | n/a | n/a | No (for the trial) | No free plan | $12/month billed yearly | 2026-10-05 |
| SendShort | None; 3 free videos at sign-up | n/a | n/a | Not stated | No free plan; long-video clipping from the $29 plan | $19/month ($15 billed yearly) | 2026-10-05 |
Paid prices are the cheapest entry plan; where a vendor discounts yearly billing, the price shown is the one it advertises, and the alternatives hub has each plan in full.
How we built this table
Every figure for a third-party tool comes from that vendor's own public pricing and help pages, read on the date shown in the "Checked" column. We list only what the vendor states. When a pricing page is silent on a point (whether the free plan needs a card, whether Quso's free exports are watermarked), the cell says "Not stated" instead of guessing. The figures for OpenShorts come from our own plans. Vendors change free tiers without notice, so check the vendor's page before you rely on a number, and tell us if one has moved.
"Free allowance" is what you can process each month for $0. Tools meter in different units: Opus Clip, Vizard and Quso count minutes of video imported, 2short.ai counts minutes analysed, and Klap, Submagic and SendShort count clips or videos. A one-off trial is not counted as a free plan.
Which free plan fits which use?
- You need clips you can post today, without a watermark: 2short.ai's free plan if your sources are already on YouTube and 30 minutes a month is enough; self-hosted OpenShorts if you can run Docker and want no cap.
- You want the most free minutes on a hosted tool: Quso (75 minutes at 720p), then Opus Clip (60), Vizard (60), 2short.ai (30).
- You want to judge quality on a full-length episode: the OpenShorts Cloud free plan clips your first video whole up to 60 minutes, so a complete podcast or webinar fits.
- You want 1080p on free: Opus Clip (watermarked) or 2short.ai (no watermark). Vizard and Quso cap free exports at 720p.
- Your footage is private: only self-hosting keeps the video on your own machine. Every hosted free plan, ours included, means uploading it.
- You only want to try a tool once: Klap's one free video and the Submagic and SendShort trials work for a single test, not for ongoing use.
Why the watermark column matters
A watermark on a free export is not a bug or a trick: it is the vendor's way of covering GPU time and AI calls for people who are not paying. That is also why a watermark-free hosted free plan is rare, and why the generous ones tend to cap something else instead: links only, minutes analysed, a short storage window. The structural exception is software you run yourself, where there is no vendor cost to recover. The reasoning is laid out on the free AI clip generator page.
The OpenShorts Cloud free plan follows the hosted rule and says so: its clips are watermarked, and paid plans from $12/month are not. The pricing table on the homepage has every plan.
What happens when the free plan runs out?
- 2short.ai: paid plans from $9.90/month.
- Opus Clip: paid plans from $15/month.
- Vizard: paid plans from $14.50/month billed yearly ($29 monthly).
- Quso: paid plans from $19/month billed yearly ($29 monthly).
- OpenShorts Cloud: Starter at $12/month for 100 minutes, or self-host for $0.
To price your own monthly volume across the tools that meter minutes, use the calculator on the alternatives hub or the Opus Clip pricing breakdown.
Common questions
- Which free AI clip generator has no watermark?
- As of October 2026, the free plans in this comparison that export without a watermark are OpenShorts self-hosted and 2short.ai. Opus Clip, Vizard and OpenShorts Cloud watermark their free exports; Quso does not say on its pricing page. Klap, Submagic and SendShort have no ongoing free plan. Watermark status is taken from each vendor's pricing page on the checked date.
- What is the best free AI clip generator?
- It depends on what you need from free. For the most free minutes on a hosted plan, Quso gives 75 a month at 720p. For clips you can post without a watermark, 2short.ai's free plan (30 minutes, YouTube links only) or self-hosted OpenShorts (no cap, your own machine). To try a tool on one long video, the OpenShorts Cloud free plan clips the first video whole up to 60 minutes, watermarked.
- Is the OpenShorts free plan watermarked?
- Yes. The OpenShorts Cloud free plan watermarks its clips and keeps them 7 days; paid plans from $12/month do not, and upgrading removes the mark from clips already made. The self-hosted edition, free under MIT, has no watermark at all.
- Do free AI clipping tools need a credit card?
- Among the plans we checked, OpenShorts Cloud (Google sign-in), Klap's one free video and the Opus Clip and Submagic trials state that no card is needed. Most other vendors do not say on their pricing pages either way; self-hosted OpenShorts has no account at all.
- Why do free AI clipping tools add a watermark?
- Because the GPU time and AI calls behind every clip cost the vendor money, and the watermark is what turns a free user into a paying one. Software you run yourself has no such cost to recover, which is why self-hosted OpenShorts can be free without one.
Sources
- 2short.ai: free tier and entry price checked 2026-10-05; details on our 2short.ai comparison.
- Opus Clip: free tier and entry price checked 2026-10-05; details on our Opus Clip comparison.
- Vizard: free tier and entry price checked 2026-10-05; details on our Vizard comparison.
- Quso: free tier and entry price checked 2026-10-05; details on our Quso comparison.
- Klap: free tier and entry price checked 2026-10-05; details on our Klap comparison.
- Submagic: free tier and entry price checked 2026-10-05; details on our Submagic comparison.
- SendShort: free tier and entry price checked 2026-10-05; details on our SendShort comparison.
- OpenShorts: plans and source on GitHub.