Blog · July 25, 2026
OpusClip vs Submagic vs Descript vs 1 Tap Cut: 2026 Pricing and Feature Comparison
Last updated 25 July 2026. All prices checked against each company's official pricing page on that date.
Short answer
OpusClip, Submagic, Descript and 1 Tap Cut are four AI video editors that all do captions, silence removal and clip detection, but they charge for usage in completely different ways.
- Pick OpusClip if you have long recordings to mine. $15 a month for 150 credits, where one credit is one minute of video you upload.
- Pick Submagic if you post lots of short clips. $19 a month for 15 finished videos, capped at 2 minutes each.
- Pick Descript if you're editing, not just clipping. $24 a month for 600 media minutes plus 400 AI credits, on desktop.
- Pick 1 Tap Cut if your footage lives on your phone. $15 a month, unlimited, on iOS and Android.
All four have a free plan. Try before you pay.
Full comparison table
| OpusClip | Submagic | Descript | 1 Tap Cut | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best at | Virality scoring on long videos | Fast, trendy short form | Long form and podcast editing | Phone footage, one tap |
| Free plan | 60 credits/mo, watermarked, clips expire in 3 days | 3 videos/mo, watermarked, 1 min 30 sec max | 60 media minutes/mo, 720p, watermarked | Free tier available |
| Entry paid plan | Starter, $15/mo | Starter, $19/mo ($12 yearly) | Hobbyist, $24/mo ($16 yearly) | $15/mo |
| What that includes | 150 credits, 1 credit = 1 min of source video | 15 videos/mo, max 2 min each, 3 AI credits | 600 media minutes, 400 AI credits, 1080p | Unlimited exports |
| How it meters usage | Minutes you upload | Finished videos you export | Media minutes plus AI credits, two separate budgets | No usage meter |
| Platform | Web browser | Web browser | Desktop app for Mac and Windows | iOS, Android, PC |
| Watermark on paid plan | No | No | No | No |
Sources: opus.pro/pricing, submagic.co/pricing, descript.com/pricing, checked 25 July 2026.
The thing most comparisons skip
Every tool here does captions, silence removal, hook detection and B roll. Those stopped being differentiators a couple of years ago. If you pick on features, you'll try four tools in four months and none will stick.
What actually decides it is how the tool counts your usage, because that quietly shapes how you work.
OpusClip counts the minutes you upload. Submagic counts the videos you finish. Descript runs two meters at once. Same creator, same month, very different bill.
OpusClip
OpusClip is a browser based clipping tool that charges by the length of the video you upload, starting at $15 a month for 150 minutes.
A 60 minute podcast costs 60 credits whether it gives you five clips or fifteen. That tells you who it's built for: people who already have long recordings sitting around.
The $15 Starter plan includes virality scoring, animated captions, filler and silence removal, and watermark free export.
Two things worth knowing before you subscribe. Starter has no annual option, so it's $15 month to month only. And the social scheduler doesn't appear until the $29 Pro plan, so the cheap tier still leaves you paying for a separate scheduling tool.
Where it hurts: if you shoot short and shoot often, you pay the same per minute rate as the podcaster and get far less out of it.
Submagic
Submagic is a browser based short form editor that charges per finished video, starting at $19 a month for 15 videos.
The cap is the thing to check. Two minutes per video on Starter, five on Pro at $39, thirty on Business at $69. Fine for Reels and TikToks. Not fine for cutting up a 40 minute interview, which pushes you to Business or the Magic Clips add on at another $19 a month on top.
Yes, Submagic has a free plan, even though plenty of comparison charts claim it doesn't. Three videos a month, watermarked, capped at 1 minute 30 seconds and 200MB.
Where it hurts: you burn your 15 videos on drafts and re exports by the middle of the month.
Descript
Descript is desktop software for Mac and Windows that lets you edit video by editing its transcript, starting at $24 a month for 600 media minutes.
It's not really the same kind of tool, and that's the point. Multitrack audio, screen recording, remote recording rooms, voice cloning.
It also has the most complicated pricing of the four. Media minutes cover how much footage you import, AI credits cover how much you use the AI features, and the two run down separately. Hobbyist is $24 a month, or $16 yearly, for 600 minutes and 400 credits at 1080p. Creator is $35, or $24 yearly, for 1,800 minutes, 800 credits and 4K.
There's a free plan too: 60 media minutes a month, 720p, watermarked.
Where it hurts: two budgets means two ways to get stuck. You can run out of credits with minutes to spare, or the reverse. It's the complaint that comes up most in reviews. It's also desktop only, which is fine until you're travelling with just a phone.
1 Tap Cut
1 Tap Cut is a mobile AI video editor for iOS and Android that removes usage limits entirely, at $15 a month.
Our bias, said out loud: we built this because none of the meters above match how most people actually shoot.
Most creators don't have a podcast archive. They have 47 clips from a weekend on their phone that will never get edited, because editing means moving files to a laptop and opening a timeline. The problem isn't the AI. It's the trip to the desktop.
So we made two calls. Mobile native, iOS and Android, not a web app you can technically open on a phone. Import from your camera roll, pick a style, tap once. Short clips process on device, so the footage stays on your phone.
And no meter. $15 a month, unlimited. Not 150 minutes, not 15 videos, not two credit balances. Counters make people ration their output instead of just posting.
Where it hurts: we're not a podcast suite. If you need multitrack audio, voice cloning, team review or a virality score on a 90 minute interview, Descript or OpusClip will serve you better. We do highlight detection, silence removal, captions and beat synced vlogs, in one tap, on the phone you shot it with.
See 1 Tap Cut pricing for the full breakdown.
Which one should you pick
You record podcasts or long interviews. OpusClip for clipping, Descript if you want to shape the full episode.
You post short clips daily. Submagic if you want trendy caption styles and don't mind the video cap. 1 Tap Cut if you don't want to count anything.
You shoot on your phone and never open a laptop. 1 Tap Cut. Descript and Submagic both need a desktop to work properly.
You need team collaboration. Descript Creator or Business, or Submagic Business.
You're on a tight budget. All four free tiers are real. Run one actual project through two of them and pay for whichever you finish.
FAQ
Does Submagic have a free plan?
Yes. Submagic offers 3 videos per month on its free tier, with a watermark, a 1 minute 30 second length cap and a 200MB file limit.
Does Descript have a free plan?
Yes. Descript's free plan includes 60 media minutes per month, 720p export with a watermark, and a one time allowance of 100 AI credits.
What is the cheapest AI video editor?
Among these four, OpusClip Starter and 1 Tap Cut both start at $15 a month. Submagic is cheaper at $12 a month, but only if you pay for a full year upfront.
Does OpusClip charge per clip or per minute?
Per minute of source video. Uploading a 60 minute video costs 60 credits regardless of how many clips it produces.
Is there an AI video editor for iPhone and Android?
1 Tap Cut runs natively on both. OpusClip and Submagic are browser tools, and Descript is desktop software for Mac and Windows, so none of the other three are built for editing on a phone.
Can I use these tools without a watermark?
Every paid plan here exports without a watermark. All four free tiers apply one.
Which AI video editor is best for podcasts?
Descript for editing the full episode, OpusClip for pulling short clips out of it. Submagic needs its Business plan or the Magic Clips add on to handle videos over 5 minutes.
Pricing checked against the official pricing pages for OpusClip, Submagic and Descript on 25 July 2026. Prices in this category change often, so verify before subscribing. We make 1 Tap Cut, so read that section with that in mind. Everything else comes straight from the competitors' own published plans.