VidovaSubmagic vs OpusClip vs Captions: which is best for short videos?
Submagic, OpusClip and the Captions app compared for Reels, TikTok and Shorts: what each one does, platforms, free plans, prices and limits, checked in October 2026.
Vidova teamLast updated
The short answer
Use OpusClip to cut many short clips out of long videos, Submagic to caption and polish short clips you already have, and Captions to record and edit on your phone with AI tools. OpusClip has a free plan with a watermark and paid plans from $15 a month. Submagic starts at $19 a month, or $12 a month billed yearly. Captions Max costs $24.99 a month on iOS.
Key takeaways
- OpusClip spends 1 credit per minute of the long video you upload, whatever you keep.
- Submagic counts videos per month and caps their length: 2, 5 or 30 minutes by plan.
- Captions is built around its phone app. OpusClip's Android app has no editor yet, and Submagic runs in the browser.
Which one fits your videos
These three tools overlap, but each starts from a different place. OpusClip starts from a long recording, such as a podcast or a webinar, and finds the moments that work as shorts. Submagic starts from a short clip and adds captions, zooms, B-roll and cuts. Captions starts on your phone, with a teleprompter, an editor and generative AI tools such as AI avatars.
We checked each product's pricing page, help center and App Store listing on October 27, 2026. Prices are in US dollars.
Submagic vs OpusClip vs Captions compared
| Detail | Submagic | OpusClip | Captions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Captioning and polishing short clips | Cutting many clips from long videos | Recording and editing on a phone with AI |
| Runs on | Web | Web, iOS, and Android in 8 countries (the Android app has no editor yet) | iOS, Android and web |
| Free plan | No free plan on the pricing page. The site has a Try for free button | 60 credits a month, watermark, no editing, export within 3 days | Free tier with 1 caption template and no AI credits |
| Paid from | Starter $19 a month, or $12 a month billed yearly | Starter $15 a month, monthly billing only | Max $24.99 a month (iOS price). The App Store also lists Basic at $9.99 a month |
| Next plan | Pro $39 a month, or $23 billed yearly | Pro $29 a month, or $14.50 a month billed yearly | Frontier $69.99 a month |
| How usage is counted | Videos per month (15, 40 or up to 100) and minutes per video (2, 5 or 30) | 1 credit per minute of source video. 150 or 300 credits a month | AI credits: 500 a month on Max, 1,400 on Frontier |
| Caption languages | 123 | 20+ | 100+ |
| Long video to shorts | Magic Clips | The core feature, with a Virality Score | Clips, on Max |
| Highest export | 1080p 30 fps on Starter, 2K on Pro, 4K 60 fps on Business | Up to 1080p on Free, highest available on paid plans | Not stated on its pricing page |
| Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve export | Not listed | Pro and above | Not listed |
Submagic
Submagic is a web app for short-form editing. You upload a video or paste a YouTube link, and it adds captions, removes silences, inserts B-roll and finds key moments. Its site says captions come "in 123 languages with 99% accuracy". You edit by changing the transcript, and Magic Clips turns one long video into several shorts.
Every paid plan exports without a watermark. Starter ($19 a month, or $12 billed yearly) gives 15 videos a month of up to 2 minutes each, exported at 1080p and 30 fps. Pro ($39, or $23 billed yearly) adds AI auto zooms, removal of bad takes and silences, clean audio, a Brand Kit and publishing to social accounts, with 40 videos of up to 5 minutes. Business ($69, or $41 billed yearly) raises the cap to 30 minutes per video and exports in 4K at 60 fps.
The limit to watch is the length cap. A 10-minute talk fits only on Business, so long recordings suit OpusClip better.
OpusClip
OpusClip is built for one job: it reads a long video, picks the moments most likely to work as shorts, reframes them to vertical and captions them. Each clip gets a Virality Score. Pro adds AI B-roll, export to Adobe Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve, 9:16, 1:1 and 16:9 frames, a social scheduler and a workspace for 2 people.
Its help center says processing costs "1 credit per minute of the original video imported", so a 30-minute podcast uses 30 credits whether you keep one clip or ten. You can choose a time range before processing to spend less. The free plan gives 60 credits a month, renders up to 1080p with a watermark, allows no editing and keeps clips exportable for 3 days. Starter costs $15 a month with 150 credits and no watermark. Pro costs $29 a month, or $14.50 a month billed yearly, with 300 credits that roll over for 2 months.
OpusClip also sells Agent Opus, a separate agent that generates new videos from an idea or a script. It shares the same credits on paid plans. Our roundup of AI video editing agents covers it.
Captions
Despite its name, Captions is a full editing app. Its plan table lists a teleprompter, trimming, zooms, sound effects, transitions, resizing and captions in 100+ languages. The free tier has 1 caption template and no AI credits. Max ($24.99 a month) adds AI Edit styles, a chat-based editor that makes changes for you, Clips for turning a long video into short ones, AI avatars and digital twins, and 500 credits a month for generated B-roll, music, sound effects and images. Frontier ($69.99 a month) gives 1,400 credits and the most advanced generative models.
Captions says its listed prices "reflect iOS plans only". The US App Store also lists a Basic plan at $9.99 a month or $64.99 a year. The app runs on iOS and Android, and there is a web version.
Submagic vs OpusClip, and Captions vs Submagic
Submagic vs OpusClip. If your source is a long podcast, stream or webinar, OpusClip is the better fit: it is priced by source minutes and built to find clips. If your source is a short talking clip you already filmed, Submagic is the better fit: its captions, zooms and B-roll are the product, and every paid plan is watermark-free. Both can do the other job, but at a worse price for it.
Captions vs Submagic. Captions suits a creator who films and edits on a phone, wants a teleprompter, and is curious about AI avatars and generated footage. Submagic suits a business or team that edits in a browser, wants a shared workspace and brand templates, or needs an API to caption videos in bulk.
Where Vidova fits
Vidova is an AI video editor run by an agent, not a caption tool. It transcribes speech, cuts pauses and filler words, adds animated word-by-word captions and reframes 16:9 footage to 9:16 by tracking a face. It can also cut short clips from a podcast. What it adds is the rest of the edit: music cut on the beat, titles, B-roll, sound effects and changes you ask for in plain words, all on a timeline you can edit by hand.
Cut this 40-minute podcast into three vertical clips of under 60 seconds. Pick the moments where we disagree, follow the speaker's face, add word-by-word captions with the key word in color, and remove the long pauses.
Vidova does not give clips a virality score or schedule posts, so for high-volume clipping OpusClip is the better tool. The free plan adds a watermark, exports at 720p and takes projects up to 1 minute long. You can start free. Paid plans start at $19 a month, remove the watermark and export up to 4K at 60 fps. Try the free auto subtitle generator, read how to turn a long video into Shorts, Reels and TikToks, or see Vidova vs OpusClip.
