ShortsAI is a free AI video platform that turns long-form videos into viral shorts and generates UGC marketing videos with AI actors. It supports YouTube Shorts, TikTok, and Instagram Reels.

Is ShortsAI free to use?

Yes. ShortsAI is completely free. You only pay for the AI APIs you use, most of which have generous free tiers.

Does ShortsAI add watermarks?

No. ShortsAI never adds watermarks to your videos.

Do I need an account to use ShortsAI?

No. ShortsAI has no accounts and no sign-up. Videos are processed and then deleted from the server.

What platforms does ShortsAI publish to?

ShortsAI supports direct one-click publishing to TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts via the Upload-Post API.

AI clip generator · 100% free · no watermark

Free AI Shorts & Video Generator

Turn long videos into viral 9:16 shorts, or generate UGC marketing videos with AI actors. Free to use, with no watermark and no usage cap. The browser version needs nothing installed. (The engine underneath is open source, so you can also host your own copy if you would rather.) Also a clipping tool for AI agents: Claude, ChatGPT and n8n drive it over MCP, or clip your own videos on a schedule and review each one before posting, with the n8n workflow.

ShortsAI charges nothing. AI generation is billed by the providers to your own keys (UGC videos about $0.65 to $2.00 each). No ShortsAI account for the web tool. API access uses a personal key. No ShortsAI usage cap. Your Gemini key's own quota applies.

about shortsai

ShortsAI is a free AI video platform available at shortsai.app. It includes three tools: a Clip Generator that turns long videos into vertical shorts, an AI Shorts creator that generates UGC marketing videos with AI actors, and a YouTube Studio with AI thumbnails and titles. It supports direct publishing to TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. It has no watermarks, no upload limits and no account.

what shortsai is

ShortsAI is a free AI clip generator that turns long videos (podcasts, webinars, livestreams, interviews) into vertical 9:16 clips for TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.

It picks the moments itself rather than asking you to scrub a timeline, and the six stages that get it there are set out on how ShortsAI works.

what it costs: nothing

ShortsAI · $0

Nothing to install and nothing to subscribe to. You paste one Google Gemini key into Settings, where it stays encrypted in your own browser, and ads pay for the hosting. What the key actually costs you is on how ShortsAI works.

features

AI clip maker with viral moment detection

Google Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite scores the transcript and scene data to find the 3 to 15 strongest moments, so there is no manual scrubbing.

Smart 9:16 vertical cropping

Dual-mode reframing with MediaPipe face tracking and a YOLOv8 fallback, stabilised so the camera holds still instead of swinging.

AI subtitle and caption generator

faster-whisper produces a timestamp for every word, and the subtitles are burned in with FFmpeg.

AI voice dubbing in 30+ languages

ElevenLabs translates the audio while preserving the speaker's voice, then the new track is re-transcribed so subtitles match.

Hook text overlays

AI-written hook titles covering the first seconds, which is where a short-form viewer decides whether to stay.

AI video effects

Gemini-generated FFmpeg filter chains for colour grading, transitions and visual clean-up.

Local video upload

Podcasts, webinars, livestreams, interviews and vlogs, at full resolution, from a file you own.

Private by default

No sign-up for the web tool, and your source video is deleted from the server once it has been processed. Ads on the site do set cookies — the privacy policy says which. The API is the one part that issues per-user keys.

Free AI YouTube studio

AI thumbnail generator, 10 viral title suggestions and auto-written descriptions with chapter timestamps.

Direct social publishing

Post to TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts from the dashboard.

MCP server, API and CLI for AI agents

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or n8n to an always-on endpoint (mcp.shortsai.app/mcp) and automate clipping end to end, with a REST API, per-user keys, completion webhooks and a zero-dependency CLI (pip install openshorts). Guide at /mcp.

AI UGC video generator for shorts

The AI writes a script and generates a lip-synced avatar video for any product or business, from $0.65 per video.

AI actors with lip-sync

Pick an AI actor or upload a photo to get a talking-head video with matched lip movement.

how it works

Upload a long-form video. Any video you own: podcasts, webinars, livestreams, interviews or vlogs.
AI finds the best moments. Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite returns 3 to 15 candidate clips of 15 to 60 seconds each.
Smart cropping to vertical 9:16. Face-tracked reframing keeps the subject centred without the camera swinging.
Subtitles, hooks and effects. Word-level subtitles, an AI hook overlay, optional effects and dubbing into 30+ languages.
Download or post directly. Export the clips or publish straight to TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.

how it compares

Entry pricing read between July and October 2026; the per-tool pages carry the date for each. ShortsAI is $0 with no paid tier and no watermark. Submagic starts at $14/month, Opus Clip at $15/month, Vizard at $19.99/month and Klap at $29/month. ShortsAI is the only one of the five with no paid tier and no account.

AI clip maker · AI shorts generator · YouTube clip maker · AI subtitle generator · Content repurposing · AI UGC video generator · YouTube Shorts length and size · Instagram Reels length and size · TikTok video dimensions · YouTube thumbnail size · How to write a hook · How to make AI videos · Opus Clip alternative · Klap alternative · Vizard alternative · Submagic alternative · Free AI clip generator · No-watermark clip generator · Podcast to shorts · YouTube to Shorts converter · How it works · About ShortsAI · All alternatives compared · MCP server & API · Automate shorts via API · n8n template: clip on a schedule, review before posting

frequently asked questions

Is ShortsAI free? What is the catch?: Yes, completely. ShortsAI has no paid plans, no watermark and no usage cap, at shortsai.app. You bring your own AI API keys; Google Gemini, the only required one, has a free tier of 1,500 requests a day. The site is supported by ads. Using it at shortsai.app costs nothing at all.
What is ShortsAI and how does it work?: ShortsAI is a free AI clip generator that turns long videos (podcasts, webinars, livestreams, interviews) into vertical 9:16 clips for TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. It transcribes the audio at word level, finds the scene cuts, scores the transcript for the strongest moments, then cuts and reframes those to 9:16. Each stage is described on /how-shortsai-works.
How does ShortsAI compare to Opus Clip?: Both do AI viral moment detection and smart vertical cropping. ShortsAI is free with no plans, deletes the source video after processing, and it adds voice dubbing into 30+ languages plus an AI UGC generator with lip-synced actors. Opus Clip is cloud only and starts at $15/month as of July 2026, and it ships a larger caption-style library. Full comparison at /alternatives/opus-clip.
How does the smart vertical cropping work?: Two modes, picked per clip: one follows a single speaker and damps the movement so the crop does not chase a head, the other keeps the full frame over a blurred backdrop for group shots and landscapes. A speaker tracker stops the crop flipping between people. The detection stack and the stabiliser are described on /how-shortsai-works.
Can ShortsAI translate and dub videos?: Yes, into more than 30 languages through ElevenLabs, preserving the original speaker's voice characteristics. After dubbing, the audio is re-transcribed so the burned-in subtitles are in the target language rather than the original.
What is the AI UGC video generator?: It generates marketing videos with AI actors for any product or business. You describe the business or paste a website URL, and the AI writes a script, generates a lip-synced actor with voiceover, adds b-roll, subtitles and a hook overlay. Low Cost mode is about $0.65 per video and Premium is about $2.00. It works for restaurants, e-commerce, coaching, local businesses and apps, not only software.
Can I automate ShortsAI from Claude, ChatGPT or n8n?: Yes. ShortsAI has a native MCP server at mcp.shortsai.app/mcp plus a REST API with per-user keys and completion webhooks, so an agent can submit a video file, wait for processing, list the clips and publish them. A zero-dependency CLI is on PyPI as openshorts — ShortsAI is built on the open-source OpenShorts project, and the command keeps that name. Full guide at /mcp.
What do I need to use it?: A browser, a video file you own, and a free Google Gemini API key. Nothing to install and no account.

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