A free AI clip generator, and where "no watermark" is actually true
OpenShorts self-hosted is a free AI clip generator under the MIT licence. No watermark, no usage cap, no subscription. You run it with Docker and supply your own Google Gemini API key, whose free tier covers 1,500 requests a day.
It turns a long video into 3 to 15 vertical clips: faster-whisper transcribes at word level, PySceneDetect finds the cuts, Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite scores the moments, and MediaPipe face tracking reframes each one to 9:16.
If you do not want to run anything, OpenShorts Cloud is a free AI clipping tool in the browser: your first video is clipped whole up to 60 minutes, then 20 free minutes a month, with a watermark. Paid plans from $12/month remove it, also from the clips you already made.
So the short answer to "free, with no watermark": yes when you self-host, yes on any paid Cloud plan, and no on the free Cloud plan. A hosted tool that claims free, unlimited and unwatermarked at once is making one of the three claims temporarily.
Paste a YouTube link, get 3 to 15 vertical clips with subtitles. Your first video is free up to 60 minutes, no credit card.
What does "free" actually mean here?
Most tools marketed as free clip generators are free trials with a watermark and a monthly cap. This one is different in a specific way that is worth stating precisely, because the two editions are not the same offer.
Free has two meanings here, one per edition. Self-hosted means free with no conditions: MIT licence, Docker on your machine, your own API keys, no watermark and no cap. OpenShorts Cloud means free with conditions: the first video clipped whole up to 60 minutes, then 20 minutes a month with a watermark and no credit card. Removing the watermark there costs $12/month for 100 minutes, up to $59/month for 750.
The self-hosted edition has no watermark and no cap because there is no metering code and no watermark code in it. It is not a trial build with limits switched off: it is the same pipeline the hosted service runs, released under MIT, and you can read all of it.
Is there a free AI clip generator with no watermark?
Yes, with one honest qualifier each way. On OpenShorts:
| Edition | Price | Watermark |
|---|---|---|
| Self-hosted (MIT, Docker) | $0, no cap | Never |
| Cloud, free plan | $0: first video up to 60 min, then 20 min/month | Yes |
| Cloud, paid plans | From $12/month | None, and upgrading removes it from clips already made |
Why hosted free tiers add a watermark
A hosted clipping service pays for GPU time, transcription and model calls on every video you process. The free tier exists to show you the output, and the watermark exists so the output is not the product yet. That is not a scam, it is the business model, and it is why searching for a hosted tool that is free, unlimited and unwatermarked at the same time keeps returning nothing: the combination cannot pay for itself. The one structural exception is software you run yourself, because nobody is paying for the compute but you.
How the main tools handle watermarks
Checked 2026-10-05 on each vendor's public pricing page. Vendors change terms without notice.
| Tool | Free tier | Cheapest way to remove the watermark |
|---|---|---|
| OpenShorts self-hosted | Never watermarked, no cap | Nothing to remove |
| OpenShorts Cloud | Watermarked: first video up to 60 min, then 20 min/month | $12/month, and paying also removes it from clips already made |
| Opus Clip | Watermarked, 60 credits/month, export within 3 days | Starter, $15/month |
| Vizard | Watermarked, 60 credits/month, 720p, exports up to 10 min | $14.50/month yearly or $29 monthly |
| Quso (Vidyo.ai) | 75 credits/month at 720p, watermark not stated | $19/month yearly or $29 monthly |
| 2short.ai | No watermark, 30 min/month, YouTube links only | Nothing to remove |
| Klap | One free video, no ongoing free plan | $14/month billed yearly |
| Submagic | No free plan, a trial instead | $12/month billed yearly |
2short.ai is the exception worth knowing about: its free plan does not watermark. The catch is the scope, 30 minutes a month from YouTube links only. The full plan-by-plan comparison is on the alternatives hub.
How do you generate clips from a long video for free?
- Clone the repository from GitHub and start it with
docker compose up --build. - Create a Google Gemini API key. The free tier covers 1,500 requests a day, which is far more than a single creator uses.
- Paste a YouTube link or upload a local file. Podcasts, webinars, livestreams, interviews and vlogs all work.
- The pipeline transcribes, detects scenes, scores moments and returns 3 to 15 clips of 15 to 60 seconds each, already cropped to 9:16 with subtitles burned in.
- Download them, or connect an account and post straight to TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.
What do you need to run it?
Any machine with Docker. 8GB of RAM and a modern multi-core CPU is the realistic floor. An NVIDIA GPU is optional and changes the numbers a lot: on CPU an 8-minute video takes roughly 5 to 8 minutes to process, and on a GPU the same video takes about 50 seconds. Linux, macOS and Windows via WSL2 all work, and Docker Compose pulls Python 3.11, FFmpeg, YOLOv8, MediaPipe and faster-whisper for you.
Free AI clipper, free clipping AI, free clipping website: which one is this?
All three searches mean the same job: something that watches a long video and cuts the good parts into vertical clips without you paying. OpenShorts is that in two forms. As a free clipping website, openshorts.app clips your first video whole up to 60 minutes, then 20 minutes of video a month, in the browser with no install and no credit card; the clips carry a small watermark. As a free AI clipper you run yourself, the same code from GitHub has no watermark and no monthly cap. Either way the clipping AI is the same: Gemini picks the moments, face tracking reframes them and the subtitles come from a word-level transcript. If you only need one piece of that, the free tools cover transcripts and a 9:16 converter with no account at all.
Is a free clip generator good enough for real posting?
It depends on what you are comparing against. The moment detection uses the same class of model the paid tools use, Google Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite, and the reframing uses MediaPipe with a YOLOv8 fallback and a stabiliser that holds the camera still inside a safe zone rather than chasing every head movement. Where the commercial tools are ahead is caption styling: they ship more presets and more polish. If your clips live or die on animated caption design, budget for that either in time or in a second tool.
Why does this matter for reach?
Short-form video delivers the highest ROI of any content format, according to HubSpot's State of Marketing 2025 report, and 91% of businesses use video as a marketing tool according to Wyzowl's 2025 Video Marketing Statistics. The constraint for most people is not whether short video works, it is that cutting a 60-minute recording into 12 posts by hand takes longer than recording it did.
Common questions
- Is OpenShorts free forever or a trial?
- The self-hosted edition is free forever under the MIT licence, with no watermark and no cap. It is not a trial and there is no metering in it. OpenShorts Cloud is a separate hosted service with a permanently free 20 minute per month tier and paid plans from $12/month.
- Does the free version add a watermark?
- The self-hosted edition never adds a watermark. The free tier of OpenShorts Cloud does; paid Cloud plans from $12/month do not.
- Do I need to pay for an API key?
- You need a Google Gemini API key for the self-hosted edition. Its free tier covers 1,500 requests a day, which is more than enough for individual use. ElevenLabs for dubbing and fal.ai for AI UGC video are optional and billed by those vendors. OpenShorts Cloud includes the keys.
- How many clips does it generate per video?
- Between 3 and 15, each 15 to 60 seconds long. The number depends on how much of the source actually holds up as a standalone clip rather than on a fixed quota.
- Is there a free clipping website that needs no install?
- Yes. openshorts.app clips 20 minutes of video a month in the browser with no credit card. Those clips carry a watermark; paid plans from $12/month remove it.
- Is there a free AI clipper with no watermark?
- Yes, self-hosted: OpenShorts is MIT licensed, runs with Docker, and has no watermark and no usage cap; you bring your own Gemini API key. On OpenShorts Cloud the free plan is watermarked and every paid plan from $12/month is not.
- How do I remove the watermark from a clip that already has one?
- You do not, practically. Watermarks are burned into the pixels, and cropping or blurring them degrades the clip. The reliable fix is generating the clip without one: a paid plan on your current tool, or a tool with no watermark to begin with. On OpenShorts Cloud, upgrading removes the mark from the clips you already made.