AI clip generator · cloud or self-hosted

the intelligent ai clip generator, built to clip what people actually watch.

Turn long videos into viral 9:16 shorts for TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. Online in the cloud with zero setup, or self-hosted with Docker for free. Also a clipping tool for AI agents: Claude, ChatGPT and n8n drive it over MCP, or run a channel on autopilot with the n8n workflow.

No credit card required. 20 free minutes every month. Paid plans from $12/month without a watermark. Prefer to run it yourself? Self-host free on GitHub.

what reelify is

Reelify is an AI clip generator that turns long videos (podcasts, webinars, livestreams, interviews) into vertical 9:16 clips for TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.

faster-whisper transcribes the video with word-level timestamps, PySceneDetect finds the scene boundaries, and Google Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite scores the transcript to pick the 3 to 15 strongest moments of 15 to 60 seconds each. Each moment is then cut with FFmpeg and reframed to 9:16 with MediaPipe face tracking.

what it costs

Reelify self-hosted · $0

Free and open source under MIT. You run it with Docker on your own machine and bring your own API keys. No watermark, no usage cap, no subscription. What it costs you is hardware and time: on a typical CPU an 8-minute video takes 5 to 8 minutes to process.

Reelify Cloud · free tier, then from $12/month

The same software with the compute and API keys covered. An NVIDIA GPU clips that same 8-minute video in about 50 seconds. Free plan is 20 minutes a month with a watermark and no credit card. Paid plans start at $12/month for 100 minutes with no watermark, up to $59/month.

features

AI viral moment detection

Google Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite scores the transcript and scene data to find the 3 to 15 strongest moments, so there is no manual scrubbing.

Smart 9:16 vertical cropping

Dual-mode reframing with MediaPipe face tracking and a YOLOv8 fallback, stabilised so the camera holds still instead of swinging.

Word-level automatic subtitles

faster-whisper produces a timestamp for every word, and the subtitles are burned in with FFmpeg.

Hook text overlays

AI-written hook titles covering the first seconds, which is where a short-form viewer decides whether to stay.

AI video effects

Gemini-generated FFmpeg filter chains for colour grading, transitions and visual clean-up.

Local video upload

Podcasts, webinars, livestreams, interviews and vlogs, at full resolution, from a file or a YouTube link.

Self-hosted and private

Run it with Docker on your own machine and the source video never leaves your infrastructure.

Instant HD MP4 export

Export ready-to-post 1080x1920 vertical MP4 clips with one click or as a ZIP archive.

MCP server, API and CLI for AI agents

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or n8n to an always-on endpoint (reelify.tech/mcp) and automate clipping end to end, with a REST API, per-user keys, completion webhooks and a zero-dependency CLI (pip install openshorts). Guide at /mcp.

how it works

  1. Upload a long-form video. Any video you own: podcasts, webinars, livestreams, interviews, or a YouTube link.
  2. AI finds the best moments. Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite returns 3 to 15 candidate clips of 15 to 60 seconds each.
  3. Smart cropping to vertical 9:16. Face-tracked reframing keeps the subject centred without the camera swinging.
  4. Subtitles, hooks and effects. Word-level subtitles, an AI hook overlay, and optional visual styling.
  5. Download or post directly. Export the clips or publish straight to TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.

how it compares

Entry pricing checked 27 July 2026. Reelify is $0 self-hosted or $12/month hosted without a watermark. Submagic starts at $14/month, Opus Clip at $15/month, Vizard at $19.99/month and Klap at $29/month.

Opus Clip alternative · Klap alternative · Vizard alternative · Submagic alternative · Free AI clip generator · No-watermark clip generator · Open source video clipper · Open source AI video generator · Podcast to shorts · YouTube to Shorts converter · How it works · All alternatives compared · MCP server & API · Automate shorts via API · n8n template: channel on autopilot

frequently asked questions

Is Reelify free? What is the catch?
Both, and the distinction matters. Reelify self-hosted is free and open source under MIT: run it with Docker, bring your own API keys, no watermark and no cap. Reelify Cloud is the hosted service: 20 free minutes a month with a watermark, then paid plans from $12/month with no watermark. Self-hosted costs you hardware and time: on a typical CPU an 8-minute video takes 5 to 8 minutes to process, and you supply your own Google Gemini key, whose free tier covers 1,500 requests a day. On Reelify Cloud an NVIDIA GPU clips that same video in about 50 seconds, the Gemini key is included, auto-posting to TikTok, Instagram and YouTube is already wired up, and your clips stay retrievable from any browser.
What is Reelify and how does it work?
Reelify is an AI clip generator that turns long videos (podcasts, webinars, livestreams, interviews) into vertical 9:16 clips for TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. faster-whisper transcribes the video with word-level timestamps, PySceneDetect finds the scene boundaries, and Google Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite scores the transcript to pick the 3 to 15 strongest moments of 15 to 60 seconds each. Each moment is then cut with FFmpeg and reframed to 9:16 with MediaPipe face tracking.
How does Reelify compare to Opus Clip?
Both do AI viral moment detection and smart vertical cropping. Reelify can be self-hosted, so the source video never leaves your machine. Opus Clip is closed source and cloud only, starting at $15/month as of July 2026, and it ships a larger caption-style library.
How does the smart vertical cropping work?
TRACK mode follows a single subject with MediaPipe face detection and a YOLOv8 fallback, damped so the crop holds still inside a safe zone rather than chasing every head movement. GENERAL mode handles group shots and landscapes by preserving the full width over a blurred backdrop. A speaker tracker prevents the crop from flipping between people and holds position through brief occlusions.
Can I automate Reelify from Claude, ChatGPT or n8n?
Yes. Reelify supports a native MCP server at reelify.tech/mcp plus a REST API with per-user keys and completion webhooks, so an agent can submit a video URL, wait for processing, list the clips and publish them. The hosted endpoint is always on, with the API key created in your account page; the self-hosted edition serves the same /mcp endpoint while your machine is running.
What are the system requirements to self-host?
Any machine with Docker, realistically 8GB of RAM and a modern multi-core CPU. An NVIDIA GPU is optional and cuts processing time by roughly an order of magnitude. Docker Compose pulls Python 3.11, FFmpeg, YOLOv8, MediaPipe, faster-whisper and the React dashboard. Linux, macOS and Windows via WSL2 are supported.