The Best AI Podcast Clip Generators in 2026 (Prices, Limits and How to Choose)

The best AI podcast clip generators in 2026 are Vidpal AI Clips, the pick if you want each clip scored with a hook and a reason, then captioned and published to Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and LinkedIn, with editing tools in the same credit pool (a 60-minute episode costs 6 credits to analyze plus 1 credit per exported clip; Pro is $39 a month), and Opus Clip for the widest import options (Pro is $29 a month for 300 source minutes). Riverside Magic Clips suits shows recorded in Riverside, Descript's Create clips suits shows edited in Descript, Vizard is the cheapest per source minute on an annual plan, and Headliner makes audiograms for audio-only shows. Every price was checked on the vendor's own site on November 11, 2026.

This guide is for podcasters, interview hosts and B2B teams who record a video or audio episode every week and want vertical clips for Shorts, Reels, TikTok and LinkedIn without editing each one by hand. It starts with a comparison table and the Vidpal workflow, then covers each competitor in a short section, then the questions that matter to podcasters: audio-only shows, multi-speaker framing, how clips are scored, and what a weekly 60-minute show costs on each tool.

Related guides: how to turn a podcast into short clips, the best AI tools for podcasters, podcast marketing with short clips and how AI finds the best moments in a long video.

How We Compared Podcast Clip Generators

We compared tools on the jobs a podcaster actually has: getting an episode in (file upload or YouTube link), maximum source length, how the AI picks and ranks moments, how it frames two or more speakers in 9:16, built-in captions and posting, and the cost of a weekly episode. Prices, plan names and limits come from each vendor's own pricing, product or help page on November 11, 2026; where a vendor doesn't publish a number, we say so.

• Source minutes: most clippers charge by the length of the episode you process, not by the number of clips. Opus Clip, Vizard and quso.ai count 1 credit per source minute.
• Virality score: a number that ranks each clip against the other clips from the same episode. It is not a view forecast.
• Active-speaker reframing: cropping a 16:9 recording to 9:16 so the person talking stays in frame.
• Split layout: two or more speakers stacked in one vertical frame.
• Audiogram: a video made from audio only, usually a waveform, cover art and captions.

The Best AI Podcast Clip Generators Compared (2026)

Prices are the lowest paid plan a podcaster would need, as of November 11, 2026.

Vidpal: Best Pick for Clipping, Editing and Publishing a Podcast in One Place

Vidpal AI Clips turns a recorded video episode into a ranked list of captioned vertical clips, and the same account publishes them, with editing tools in the same credit pool. You upload an MP4 or MOV of up to 2 GB from your computer, Google Drive or your phone by QR code, and sources can run up to 120 minutes on paid plans. Vidpal transcribes the episode, picks standalone moments that don't overlap, and gives each clip a 0-100 score, a 3-8 word hook and a one-sentence reason for the pick. The score ranks moments within that episode; it doesn't predict views.

Step 1: Upload the episode and choose a clip length range (Auto, 10-15, 15-30, 30-60, 60-90 or 90-180 seconds), a caption theme and the speech language, or let Vidpal detect it.

Step 2: Decide on Face Tracking. It is off by default; turn it on and the 9:16 crop centres on whoever is speaking, or leave it off and adjust the centre crop yourself. Read the scores, hooks and reasons, and export only the clips you want.

Step 3: Publish from each clip's Publish panel. On Pro and Business you can post now or schedule up to 90 days ahead to Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and LinkedIn, and publishing costs 0 credits. The Social Scheduler can also write per-platform copy and a thumbnail for 1 credit per video, and your Brand Kit keeps logo, colors and caption style consistent.

Credit math: AI Clips costs 1 credit per started 10 minutes of source plus 1 credit per exported clip, so a 60-minute episode is 6 credits to analyze, and 4 clips bring it to 10. Starter is $19 a month ($12 a month billed annually) for 15 credits, Pro is $39 a month ($23 billed annually) for 40 credits, and Business is $69 a month ($41 billed annually) for 100 credits. The same credits also pay for AI Editing, Studio faceless videos and Auto Reels. Vidpal doesn't import YouTube links, record or host episodes, or make audiograms from audio-only files.

Start free with Vidpal: the Free plan's 4 one-time credits let you analyze a source of up to 10 minutes and read every hook, reason and score before you pay. Exporting AI Clips needs a paid plan. Full plan details are on the Vidpal pricing page.

Opus Clip: Widest Import Options and Multi-Speaker Layouts

Opus Clip charges 1 credit per minute of source video, and its help center says it supports videos up to 10 hours long. Per Opus Clip's pricing page, Free gives 60 credits a month with watermarked clips and 3-day storage, Starter is $15 a month (billed monthly only) for 150 credits, and Pro is $29 a month, or $14.50 a month billed annually ($174 a year for 3,600 credits). Free and Starter import from an upload or a YouTube link; Starter adds Google Drive, Vimeo, Zoom and StreamYard, and Pro adds sources such as Riverside, Dropbox and Twitch. Layouts include Split for two speakers sharing one frame, plus Three and Four. Clips get a 0-99 virality score on Starter and Pro, and Starter auto-posts to YouTube Shorts, TikTok and Instagram. See our Opus Clip pricing breakdown and Vidpal vs Opus Clip comparison.

Riverside Magic Clips: Best if You Record in Riverside

Riverside generates Magic Clips automatically for recordings or uploads longer than 3 minutes that have a transcript. Its help center says it typically finds 2 clips for every 5 minutes of conversation, each generally 30 to 90 seconds, and scores them from 70 to 99 against the rest of the batch. Paid plans can generate more sets with a chosen duration, speaker focus and keywords. Per Riverside's pricing page, Free includes 2 hours of recording (one-off) with a watermark, Pro costs $29 a month or $24 billed annually ($288 a year) with 5 recording hours a month, and Grow costs $39, or $34 billed annually, and adds social scheduling. Our Riverside alternative page compares it with Vidpal.

Descript Create Clips and Underlord: Best if You Edit in Descript

Descript's Create clips scans a composition and pulls out short, self-contained cuts. Its help center says you choose 1 to 20 clips and a length from 10 seconds to 5 minutes, with portrait and square layout presets, and you can also ask Underlord, Descript's AI co-editor, to make clips in plain language. The help page doesn't describe a score or ranking. Per Descript's pricing page, Free gives 1 media hour a month with 720p, watermarked exports. Hobbyist costs $24 a month, or $16 billed annually, for 10 media hours, 400 AI credits and 1080p export, and Creator costs $35, or $24 billed annually, for 30 media hours and 4K. Descript is an editor first and a clipper second.

Vizard: Lowest Cost per Source Minute on an Annual Plan

Vizard counts 1 credit per minute of uploaded video. Per Vizard's pricing page, Free gives 60 credits a month with 720p export and 3-day storage, and uploads of up to 60 minutes. Creator costs $29 a month for 600 credits, or $14.50 a month billed yearly ($174 a year for 7,200 credits), with no watermark, 4K export, scheduling and uploads of up to 600 minutes. Business costs $39 a month, or $19.50 billed yearly, and adds a shared workspace. Vizard's developer docs list YouTube, Google Drive, Vimeo, Twitch, Dropbox and other links as sources (not YouTube live videos). On the annual plan, Creator works out to about 2.4 cents per source minute, the lowest here. See our Vizard alternative page.

Headliner: Audiograms for Audio-Only Shows

Headliner is the tool on this list built for audio-only podcasts. It turns audio into audiograms (waveform videos with captions) and can auto-create them for your podcast. Its Clip and Caption Video feature also makes 10 or more clips from a full-length video. Per Headliner's pricing page, Forever Free includes unlimited watermarked audiograms and 1 unwatermarked audiogram a month, with audio files up to 2 hours and video up to 10 minutes. Basic costs $9.99 a month, or $7.99 billed annually, for 10 unwatermarked audiograms and auto-posting to social media and YouTube. Pro costs $25.99 a month, or $19.99 billed annually, for unlimited unwatermarked videos, audio up to 4 hours and video up to 2 hours.

Klap: Split-Screen Layouts and Active-Speaker Reframing

Klap takes a YouTube link or a file upload, and its pricing page says sources can run up to 3 hours. Each clip gets a virality score, active-speaker reframing is included, and its AI Reframe 2 applies layouts such as split screen, screencast and gaming. Per Klap's pricing page, which says prices were last updated November 4, 2026, Basic costs $29 a month or $14.50 a month billed yearly ($174 a year) for 100 clips a month, and Pro costs $79, or $39.50 billed yearly, for 300 clips. Klap counts output clips, not source minutes. The free trial turns 1 video into clips you can preview, but downloading or posting needs a paid plan. Our Klap alternative page compares it with Vidpal.

Submagic Magic Clips: Clipping Inside a Caption Tool

Submagic is best known for animated captions, and Magic Clips is its long-video clipper: you paste a YouTube URL or upload a file, and it picks moments with a high virality score and can return 20 or more clips. Per Submagic's pricing page, Starter costs $19 per member a month, or $12 billed yearly, for 45 credits, which the page equates to 15 videos or 5 Magic Clips runs. Pro costs $39, or $23 billed yearly, for 120 credits (15 Magic Clips) and adds publishing. Business costs $69, or $41 billed yearly, for 300 credits (37 Magic Clips). The pricing page lists no free plan, only a no-card trial, and no maximum source length for Magic Clips.

quso.ai (Formerly vidyo.ai): Pay by the Minute

quso.ai is the renamed vidyo.ai; its own site describes it as formerly vidyo.ai. Per quso.ai's pricing page, every plan includes AI clips from YouTube links or uploads, captions, a brand kit and reframing for vertical, square and wide. Plans are sized by credits, with 1 credit equal to 1 minute of video processed: 150 credits a month for $14, 400 for $30, 1,000 for $50 and 2,500 for $98, the same monthly price on yearly billing. Credits don't expire while you stay subscribed, and a free plan is offered; its limits weren't shown on the pricing page. A weekly 60-minute show needs about 240 to 300 credits a month, which means the 400-credit tier at $30.

Does Castmagic Make Video Clips?

Yes, but video clips are not Castmagic's main job. Castmagic is mainly a written-content tool that transcribes episodes and drafts show notes, newsletters and social copy. Its Studio also cuts captioned vertical clips and makes audiograms, both listed as unlimited on its paid plans. Per Castmagic's pricing page, Hobby costs $19 a month billed annually ($239 a year) for 30 transcribed hours, and no free plan is listed. Our roundup of the best AI tools for podcasters covers written-content tools.

Which AI Tool Works for an Audio-Only Podcast?

For an audio-only podcast, Headliner and Castmagic make audiograms, and Riverside's help center says Magic Clips adds a background image when the content is audio-only. Opus Clip, Vizard, Klap and Vidpal AI Clips are built for video: they reframe a speaker in 9:16, so they need a video file. Vidpal does not make audiograms from audio files.

If you want video from an audio show without filming, Vidpal Studio turns a script you write, such as an excerpt from your show notes, into a narrated faceless Short with stock footage or AI images and a system voice, for 1 credit. The simpler long-term fix is to record video, even one webcam. Our guide to podcast marketing with short clips covers formats that work on each feed.

How Do AI Clip Generators Handle Two or More Speakers?

AI clip generators handle multiple speakers in one of two ways: they follow the active speaker with a moving 9:16 crop, or they stack speakers in a split layout. Opus Clip's help center lists Split for two speakers who appear together in the original frame, plus Three and Four layouts and an option to pin the first speaker on top. Klap advertises active-speaker reframing and split-screen layouts. Riverside lets paid users pick a speaker focus when generating more clips.

Vidpal uses Face Tracking: switch it on and the 9:16 crop centres on the detected speaker; leave it off, the default, and you get a centre crop you can adjust. For a wide shot of two people, Face Tracking keeps the crop on whoever is talking; Vidpal has no split-screen layout that shows both faces at once.

How Does Each Tool Score or Rank Podcast Clips?

Most podcast clippers rank clips with a score, but the scales and the inputs differ, and none of them is a view forecast. This table summarizes what each vendor publishes.

A score is a ranking inside one episode, so a 92 in a weak episode isn't better than an 80 in a strong one. Vidpal's one-sentence reason makes it faster to reject a clip that scores well but needs context. Our explainer on how AI finds the best moments in a long video shows how to read these numbers.

What Does It Cost to Clip a Weekly 60-Minute Podcast?

Clipping a weekly 60-minute podcast costs $39 a month on Vidpal Pro, $29 a month on Opus Clip Pro and $29 a month on Vizard Creator, based on a 4-episode month and prices checked November 11, 2026. Here is the arithmetic.

Vidpal: each episode costs 6 credits to analyze (1 per started 10 minutes) plus 1 credit per exported clip. With 4 clips per episode that is 10 credits, so a 4-episode month uses 40 credits, exactly Pro's 40 a month at $39, or $23 a month billed annually. Publishing all 16 clips to Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and LinkedIn adds 0 credits. A full year of 52 episodes at 10 credits each is 520 credits, 40 more than Pro's annual pool of 480, so plan on 3 clips in some weeks or a credit pack. Business, at $69 a month or $41 billed annually for 100 credits, covers up to 10 clips per episode even in a 5-episode month (5 x 16 = 80 credits).

Opus Clip: 4 episodes x 60 minutes = 240 credits a month. Starter's 150 credits are not enough, so you need Pro at $29 a month (300 credits) or $14.50 a month billed annually. Opus Clip doesn't charge per clip. Vizard: the same 240 to 300 minutes fit inside Creator's 600 monthly credits at $29 a month, or $14.50 billed yearly.

The difference is what the money covers. Vidpal's credits also pay for AI Editing of your own footage, Studio faceless videos and Auto Reels, and posting to LinkedIn is included. Our explainer on how AI video credits work compares the units. Try the Vidpal workflow on your next episode and read the scores on a 10-minute sample for free.

How to Choose a Podcast Clip Generator

• Pick Vidpal if you want scored clips with a hook and a reason, captions, editing tools and publishing to Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and LinkedIn in one account and one credit pool, and your episodes are video files of up to 120 minutes.
• Pick Opus Clip if you need to import from a YouTube link or many cloud sources, or you want split layouts for two to four speakers.
• Pick Riverside Magic Clips if you already record in Riverside and want clips generated automatically.
• Pick Descript if you edit the whole episode in Descript and want clips from the same project.
• Pick Vizard if you process many hours of long episodes and want the lowest price per source minute.
• Pick Headliner if your show is audio-only and you want audiograms.
• Note that Vidpal works from uploaded files only (no YouTube link import) and doesn't make audiograms.

For more options, see the best Opus Clip alternatives and the best AI tools to turn long videos into Shorts.

Common Mistakes When Turning a Podcast Into Clips

• Comparing plans by price instead of by unit. Opus Clip, Vizard and quso.ai count source minutes, Klap counts clips and Vidpal counts 10-minute blocks plus exported clips.
• Posting a clip because it scored high. Scores rank moments inside one episode; read the reason or watch the first 3 seconds first.
• Ignoring free-plan watermarks. Opus Clip, Riverside, Descript and Headliner watermark free exports, and Vidpal's Free plan doesn't export AI Clips.
• Uploading a 3-hour session to a tool with a shorter limit. Vidpal accepts up to 120 minutes and Klap up to 3 hours, so split long sessions first.
• Clipping before cleaning the audio. Fix noise in the master file, or every clip inherits it.

Start Clipping Your Next Episode

The fastest test is one real episode. In Vidpal, upload a 10-minute segment on the Free plan, read the hooks, reasons and scores, then decide whether clipping, editing and publishing in one credit pool are worth Pro at $39 a month. Our step-by-step guide to turning a podcast into short clips has a sample posting calendar, and the sibling guide on the best AI clipping tools for streamers covers live content. Start free with Vidpal with 4 one-time credits and no card.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best AI podcast clip generator in 2026? Vidpal AI Clips is the best pick if you want scored clips, editing and publishing to Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and LinkedIn from one credit pool; a 60-minute episode costs 6 credits to analyze plus 1 per clip. Opus Clip has the widest import options, Riverside suits Riverside recordings, and Headliner suits audio-only shows, based on prices checked November 11, 2026.

Is Vidpal good for podcast clips? Yes, for video podcasts. Vidpal AI Clips accepts MP4 or MOV files of up to 2 GB and 120 minutes, gives each clip a 0-100 score, a 3-8 word hook and a reason, and lets Pro and Business users publish to Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and LinkedIn at no extra credit cost. It doesn't import YouTube links or make audiograms from audio-only files.

How much does Vidpal cost to clip a weekly podcast? A 60-minute episode costs 6 credits to analyze plus 1 credit per exported clip, so 4 clips a week is 40 credits in a 4-episode month. That matches Vidpal Pro at $39 a month, or $23 a month billed annually, which includes publishing. Business at $69 a month gives 100 credits for more clips.

Can AI turn a podcast into Shorts automatically? Yes. Vidpal, Opus Clip, Riverside, Descript, Vizard, Klap, Submagic and quso.ai all transcribe an episode, pick standalone moments and export vertical clips with captions for YouTube Shorts, Reels and TikTok. You still choose which clips to post; review the hook and the first 3 seconds of each clip before publishing.

How much does Opus Clip cost for a podcast? Opus Clip charges 1 credit per minute of source video. A weekly 60-minute show uses about 240 credits a month, which needs Pro at $29 a month for 300 credits, or $14.50 a month billed annually. The Free plan's 60 credits a month cover one hour with watermarked clips, as of November 11, 2026.

What is the best tool for audio-only podcast clips? Headliner is built for audio-only shows: its Forever Free plan makes unlimited watermarked audiograms, and Basic costs $9.99 a month, or $7.99 billed annually. Castmagic's Studio also makes audiograms. Video clippers such as Opus Clip, Vizard and Vidpal need a video file, so record video if you want face-on-screen clips.

Does Castmagic make video clips? Castmagic is mainly a written-content tool for transcripts, show notes and social copy, but its pricing page lists media clipping for captioned vertical clips and audiogram generation as unlimited on its Hobby, Starter and Team plans. Hobby costs $19 a month billed annually for 30 transcribed hours, as of November 11, 2026.