Best AI video clippers: cloud vs local Mac

Pick OpusClip, Vizard or 2short.ai if you clip links or uploads in a web app. Pick ClipsPal if you record talking-head video and want it to stay on your Mac. We make ClipsPal. Gling suits editing a raw recording before you publish.

AI video clippers compared

How we picked

We compared five things: input source, where the video is processed, how much control you keep over the edit, how you pay, and which platform it runs on.

Checked against each vendor's public site on 16 October 2026. Plans and prices change. We make ClipsPal, and nothing here is rated or ranked.

1. OpusClip

Best for: pasting a long video link and getting clips back in a browser.

OpusClip is a web app. You drop a video link (YouTube, Google Drive, Vimeo, Zoom and more on Pro) or upload a file. It adds a virality score, captions and reframing. Free is 60 credits a month with a watermark and no editing. Starter is $15 a month for 150 credits. Pro is $29 a month, or $174 billed annually, for 300 credits.

2. Vizard

Best for: uploading a recording and editing the clips by text.

Vizard is a web app. You upload a video, it transcribes it, and "Get AI clips" returns clips you can edit by text or on a timeline. One credit is one minute of uploaded video. Free is 60 credits a month, 720p export, and uploads up to 60 minutes and 1GB. Creator and Business exports have no watermark and go up to 4K. Paid prices are on its pricing page.

3. 2short.ai

Best for: turning a YouTube video into shorts with the speaker kept centered.

2short.ai takes a pasted YouTube link, and paid plans also import from Google Drive and public URLs. The video needs captions. Face tracking keeps the speaker centered, subtitles are animated, and you can export vertical, square or horizontal. Free is 30 minutes of AI analysis a month. Lite is $9.90 a month for 5 hours, Pro $19.90 for 15 hours, Premium $49.90 for 50 hours.

4. Gling

Best for: editing a raw recording before you publish.

Gling says it is designed exclusively for desktop and emails you a download link. It removes bad takes, silences and filler words, and adds AI captions and automatic zoom. You can refine the edit by text or on the timeline. It exports to Final Cut Pro, DaVinci Resolve and Premiere, or to MP4 or MP3 with SRT captions. Its homepage also lists viral clips.

5. ClipsPal

Best for: talking-head recordings you want to edit and clip without footage leaving your Mac. We make it.

• A Mac app for macOS 14+ on Apple Silicon.
• It transcribes on your Mac and sends only the transcript to the AI account you already have (Claude Code, Codex or OpenCode) or to a free local model.
• One click cuts failed takes, silences and filler, and adds zoom-ins, subtitles, visuals and sound effects.
• The result opens in a multi-track timeline you can edit by hand or by asking Director.
• Finished videos become vertical shorts and articles. Write the first line of each short with the free hook generator.
• A one-time lifetime purchase with a free download. See pricing.

It takes video files, not links. There is no browser editor, and it does not post for you. The YouTube Shorts maker page covers the Shorts workflow.