The shortlist
4 things that do it.
Video and audio editor where you edit by changing the transcript, with an AI co-editor called Underlord.
- Free
- $0 plan: 60 minutes a month, 100 one-time AI credits, 720p with watermark.
- Paid
- from $16 per person per month (billed annually), Hobbyist
- Best at
- Cutting talking-head video by editing text, with filler word removal and Studio Sound.
- The catch
- The free plan exports at 720p with a Descript watermark and gives 1 hour of media a month.
- web
Video editor with AI auto captions, auto cut, background removal and speech tools.
- Free
- Free online use, no card needed; the page says exports have no watermark on the free plan.
- Paid
- price not checked
- Best at
- Quick social video edits with captions and automatic cuts on phone, desktop or in the browser.
- The catch
- The page we read gave no paid plan prices, and we could not read CapCut's terms page, so check both before relying on it commercially.
- web
- desktop
- ios
- android
Turns long videos into short clips with captions and reframing.
- Free
- $0 plan: AI clipping of spoken words, 1080p export, 3-day storage and watermarked caption templates.
- Paid
- from $14.50 per month (billed annually), Pro
- Best at
- Cutting long videos such as podcasts or talks into short social clips.
- The catch
- Free plan clips carry a watermark on caption templates, storage expires after 3 days, and the free plan has no editing: it is aimed at clipping.
- web
Professional video editor with AI features such as text-based editing, Generative Extend and Object Mask.
- Free
- A 7-day free trial is offered.
- Paid
- from £21.98 per month incl. VAT (Annual, billed monthly)
- Best at
- Rough cuts from transcripts, extending clips and auto reframing inside a full editor.
- The catch
- Generative features such as Generative Extend have only limited complimentary usage; it is a full pro editor with a learning curve.
- desktop
- ios
- android
The same shortlist, as a table
| Thing | Free tier | Paid from | Platforms | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Descriptrel="nofollow noopener" | $0 plan: 60 minutes a month, 100 one-time AI credits, 720p with watermark. | $16 per person per month (billed annually), Hobbyist | web | The free plan exports at 720p with a Descript watermark and gives 1 hour of media a month. |
| CapCutrel="nofollow noopener" | Free online use, no card needed; the page says exports have no watermark on the free plan. | not checked | web, desktop, ios, android | The page we read gave no paid plan prices, and we could not read CapCut's terms page, so check both before relying on it commercially. |
| OpusCliprel="nofollow noopener" | $0 plan: AI clipping of spoken words, 1080p export, 3-day storage and watermarked caption templates. | $14.50 per month (billed annually), Pro | web | Free plan clips carry a watermark on caption templates, storage expires after 3 days, and the free plan has no editing: it is aimed at clipping. |
| Adobe Premiererel="nofollow noopener" | A 7-day free trial is offered. | £21.98 per month incl. VAT (Annual, billed monthly) | desktop, ios, android | Generative features such as Generative Extend have only limited complimentary usage; it is a full pro editor with a learning curve. |
How we checked
What we read, and what we haven't tested yet.
We read Descript's and OpusClip's pricing pages, CapCut's home page and Adobe's UK Premiere pages on 2026-10-02. Nothing was tested hands-on, so everything here is what those pages say. CapCut's terms page returned an error, so we make no claims about its terms.
If none of these fit
The manual way.
If you only need captions or trimming, the free plans above cover it, and they're the cheapest place to start. Premiere's AI features come with a Creative Cloud membership, and there's a free trial. Launch Video Maker (ours) makes new promo videos rather than editing yours, so it isn't listed.