Opus Clip vs Submagic: Entry Prices, Credits and Video Limits
Opus Clip meters minutes of long source video and surrounds them with publishing, while Submagic meters videos and caps how long each one can be.
Opus Clip suits long recordings. $29 a month buys 300 source minutes, uploads run to 10 hours, and it publishes to nine networks. Submagic suits captioned short videos. Every paid plan includes REST API minutes, but video length is capped at 2, 5 or 30 minutes. GPT-Video is a third option if you re-cut the same footage.
The short answer
The two tools sell different units. Opus Clip sells minutes of source video. Submagic sells credits that are also expressed as a number of videos, with a ceiling on how long each video can be. That one difference decides most of the price gap.
Take 300 minutes of material a month. On Opus Clip Pro that is one pack at $29, so the rate is about $0.097 per minute ($29 / 300). Submagic only reaches 300 credits on Business at $69, about $0.23 per credit ($69 / 300). The Submagic month costs $40 more ($69 minus $29). For a pile of short, already-captioned edits the picture changes, and the sections below say where. Every number comes from the vendors' own public pages, opened on 2026-10-04.
Opus Clip at a glance
You pay for the length of what you import, one credit per source minute. Short files cost at least 1 credit, and partial minutes round down. You can also restrict processing to a slice of the video.
The cheapest paid tier, Starter, costs $15 monthly and carries 150 credits, so each minute lands near $0.10 ($15 / 150). It is vertical-only, drops the watermark, auto-posts to YouTube Shorts, TikTok and Reels, and is offered on monthly billing alone. Pro costs $29 monthly and each pack carries 300 credits. It adds the other aspect ratios, a scheduler to nine networks, Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve export, team seats, two APIs and Zapier. Nothing on the page prices a second pack, so a month above 300 minutes cannot be costed here. Business is quoted by sales.
Paying yearly for Pro is $174, or $14.50 a month, and that works out to about $0.048 a minute ($14.50 divided by 300). All 3,600 credits for the year arrive at once and last 12 months. Monthly credits last 60 days.
Watch two details. Posting to X takes 3 credits per clip per account from the same balance. And MCP tool calls draw on a separate monthly cap of 15 hours, or 900 credits, per workspace.
Submagic at a glance
Submagic describes itself through captions first. Magic Clips, B-roll, auto-zoom and scheduling sit beside them. A credit covers up to a minute of video and any fraction rounds up, so a 30-second file and a 59-second file each take one.
Starter at $19 a month gives 45 credits, restated on the pricing page as 15 videos of at most 2 minutes. Pro costs $39 and holds 120 credits, or 40 videos, each up to 5 minutes, with premium B-roll, premium templates and a brand kit. Business is $69 for 300 credits, or 100 videos, with 30 minutes per video, 4K at 60 FPS, priority rendering and three social profiles. Starter and Pro export 1080p at 30 FPS and include one social profile. On yearly billing the monthly price drops to $12, $23 and $41.
Divide the monthly prices by the credits and you get about $0.42 on Starter ($19 / 45), $0.325 on Pro ($39 / 120) and $0.23 on Business. At the yearly Starter price a credit is about $0.27 ($12 / 45).
The API is the part that looks generous. Each paid tier carries a 100-minute monthly API allowance, and add-on tiers run from 250 to 10,000 minutes at $57 to $1,000 monthly. One key and one credit pool serve both the REST API and the MCP server. Nothing on the pages read says whether leftover credits carry forward.
Where the two differ in practice
Length is the first one. Opus Clip takes a recording up to 10 hours. The Submagic plans cap each video at 2, 5 or 30 minutes, and the pages read do not say whether Magic Clips follows the same cap, so check before you plan around a long episode.
Month shape is the second. A hundred minutes in 40 files or fewer costs $15 on Opus Clip Starter and $39 on Submagic Pro, a gap of $24 ($39 minus $15). A hundred and fifty minutes costs $15 on Opus Clip Starter against $69 on Submagic Business, which is $54 more ($69 minus $15), because Pro stops at 120 credits. Submagic's higher price buys a caption-first editor and a wider API allowance, so the comparison is only fair if you use those.
Side by side
| Feature | Opus Clip | Submagic |
|---|---|---|
| What a credit counts | 1 minute of imported video, partial minutes round down | Up to 1 minute of video, any fraction rounds up |
| Entry plan | Starter, $15 a month, 150 credits | Starter, $19 a month, 45 credits (15 videos) |
| Middle plan | Pro, $29 a month, 300 credits per pack | Pro, $39 a month, 120 credits (40 videos) |
| Top listed plan | Business, custom | Business, $69 a month, 300 credits (100 videos) |
| Yearly price | Pro $174 a year, 3,600 credits upfront | Starter $12, Pro $23, Business $41 a month |
| No-cost option | 60 credits a month, plus a 7-day trial of 90 minutes | None; trial of 3 short videos, watermarked |
| Longest video | 10 hours | 2, 5 or 30 minutes by plan |
| Publishing | Nine networks on Pro | From the editor, platforms not confirmed |
| API | Video Editing API and Scheduler API, Pro (Beta) | REST API, 100 minutes on every paid plan |
| MCP | Hosted, 29 tools, capped at 900 credits a month | Server on the same key and credit pool |
| Top export | 4K when the source is 4K, on Pro | 4K at 60 FPS on Business |
Where GPT-Video fits as a third option
We build GPT-Video, so read this part with that bias in mind. It addresses one habit, which is returning to the same long recording and looking at it twice.
At Standard quality, one credit pays for one source minute. Draft costs half a credit and Maximum two and a half. With 200 minutes of tape, a Draft pass is 100 credits, and moving the best 100 minutes to Standard is 100 more, so the month uses 200 of the 250 credits in Starter at $19. Opus Clip charges the same rate for every pass, and the Submagic pages read show no cheaper first-pass rate. Each pick also states its first line and the quote that justified selecting it, and to change a clip you tell the Editor Assistant what to adjust. The idea is explained under vibe editing.
With every minute run at Standard, the price sits between the yearly and monthly Opus Clip rates. Starter at $19 spreads over 250 credits, near $0.076 per minute ($19 / 250), well under Submagic Starter and under Opus Clip Starter at $0.10. The Creator plan costs $49 and includes 800 credits, near $0.061 per minute. Unused credits lapse when their billing month ends, and a yearly plan bills 10 months for 12.
What we leave out matters here, because both rivals cover it. GPT-Video never posts or schedules, it takes an uploaded file and not a link, and it offers no permanent free plan. A newly opened account gets one round of free access when its email is confirmed: 50 credits, a 14-day limit, no card, and places that can run out. Opus Clip and Submagic each ship an API and a publisher. We do have an MCP connector with eight tools. For more on each rival, see Opus Clip alternatives and Submagic alternatives, or browse all alternatives.
Which to pick
Begin with the length of your source. If it is an episode, a stream or a webinar, Opus Clip handles it and costs less per minute. If it is a stack of short vertical videos that need captions, templates and B-roll, Submagic is built for that and gives you API minutes on any paid plan.
Next, think about what follows the export. Opus Clip posts to nine networks and hands XML to other editors. Submagic posts from its editor, though its platform list was not stated. Last, check the unit on the invoice. A plan quoted in videos and a plan quoted in minutes only look alike until your files get long. When the real job is re-cutting recordings you already hold, the Draft rate on the pricing page is worth a look. Before any payment, the free access holds about 50 minutes of source at Standard.
The verdict
Which one to pay for
Choose Opus Clip if
- Your source is long. Uploads can run to 10 hours, where the three listed Submagic plans stop at 2, 5 or 30 minutes per video.
- You want the lowest monthly entry. Starter is $15 for 150 credits, and a new account gets a 7-day Pro trial of 90 minutes with no card.
- You publish widely. Pro posts and schedules to nine networks, and exports XML to Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve.
- Your footage has no talking head. Pro adds moving-object tracking and a layout for gameplay and screenshares.
- You want a permanent no-cost plan with 60 credits a month, watermark and all, to test the output.
Choose Submagic if
- Captions are the product you are buying. It is built as a caption-first editor, with hook titles, silence removal and caption translation on Starter.
- You need a REST API on a small plan. Every paid plan lists 100 API minutes a month, and the same key and credit pool also serve its MCP server.
- Your clips are already short. A 2-minute cap on Starter and 5 minutes on Pro cost you nothing if the files are small.
- You want 4K at 60 FPS. Business exports it, and also adds priority rendering and three social profiles.
- You like paying less on a yearly plan. Starter drops to $12 a month and Business to $41.
Choose GPT-Video if
- You re-cut the same recording and want the first pass at half price. Draft costs 0.5 credit per source minute.
- You want each clip to arrive with its reasoning, meaning where it starts and which spoken line made it worth keeping.
- You would rather type a change to the Editor Assistant than drag a timeline, with every edit undoable.
- You work from Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor and want an MCP connector with eight tools for finding and exporting clips.
- You post the exported file yourself and have no use for a built-in scheduler.
Prices and features on this page were read from each product's own public pages on 4 October 2026. Prices move; if something is out of date, it is a mistake and not a tactic.
Questions
Is Opus Clip or Submagic cheaper?
Opus Clip, per minute. Starter is $15 for 150 credits, about $0.10 a minute, against Submagic Starter at $19 for 45 credits, about $0.42 a credit. Billed yearly, Submagic Starter is $12 a month, below Opus Clip Pro at $14.50, but Opus Clip still costs less per minute, about $0.048 against $0.27.
What does a credit count on each tool?
Opus Clip counts one credit per minute of imported source video and rounds a partial minute down, so 4.5 minutes costs 4. Submagic covers up to one minute of video per credit and rounds any fraction up, so 61 seconds costs 2 credits.
Can I upload a one-hour podcast to Submagic?
Not on the three listed plans, which cap video length at 2, 5 and 30 minutes. A Custom plan sets its own minutes per video through sales. Opus Clip accepts uploads up to 10 hours, so a one-hour episode fits at 60 credits.
Which one has a public API?
Both do. Submagic includes 100 API minutes a month on every paid plan and sells add-on tiers from $57 to $1,000 a month. Opus Clip lists its Video Editing and Scheduler APIs on Pro in beta, with higher tiers above that.
Do both tools publish to social accounts?
Yes. Opus Clip lists nine networks on Pro, and a post to X costs 3 credits per clip per account. Submagic publishes from its editor, but the pages read do not name the supported platforms, so that list is not confirmed here.
Do either of them offer a no-cost option?
Opus Clip has a permanent plan with 60 credits a month, and a 7-day Pro trial with 90 minutes and no card. Submagic lists no no-cost plan. Its help centre describes a trial of 3 short videos with a watermark on exports.
Related
Try it on your own footage
Every plan comes with the whole editor. The only difference is how much video you run through it.
Plans from $19 a month. Cancel any day, keep the month.