ShortsAIThe free Submagic alternative
ShortsAI is a free AI clip generator with no paid tier at shortsai.app. Submagic is a closed-source cloud product starting at $14–20/month depending on billing period and listing.
Both find viral moments in long video and reframe them to 9:16 with face tracking. ShortsAI adds dubbing into 30+ languages and AI UGC video with lip-synced actors. Submagic has the more polished caption library.
Pick Submagic if you want zero setup and nothing else matters. Pick ShortsAI if you want zero cost, no account and no watermark.
Is ShortsAI a real alternative to Submagic?
Yes, with one honest caveat. ShortsAI covers the same core job: it takes a long video, finds the segments worth clipping, cuts them, reframes them to 9:16 and burns in subtitles. It adds two things Submagic does not have, AI voice dubbing into more than 30 languages and an AI UGC generator with lip-synced actors. The only thing you bring is your own Google Gemini API key, which has a free tier, and you use it at shortsai.app with no setup. There is no paid tier.
What does Submagic cost?
Pricing checked 2026-07-27. Vendors change plans without notice; verify before you buy.
- Free: 3 videos per month, watermarked
- Starter: From $14/month annual, around $20/month monthly, for roughly 30 videos
- Growth / Pro: Around $40/month, for roughly 100 videos
- Business / Agency: $60-80/month, for roughly 300 videos
Submagic does not find moments for you. You upload a clip you have already cut, and it styles the captions. To go from a 60-minute podcast to finished shorts you need a clipper in front of it, which means paying for two tools.
What does ShortsAI cost?
ShortsAI comes in two editions and they are priced very differently, so it is worth being precise. ShortsAI has no paid tier at all. Free at shortsai.app, with nothing to install. You paste your own Google Gemini API key (free tier: 1,500 requests a day) in Settings and it stays encrypted in your browser. No plans, no watermark, no usage cap, no account. The site is supported by ads. You bring your own Google Gemini API key, whose free tier covers 1,500 requests a day; the site is supported by ads.
Submagic vs ShortsAI, feature by feature
| Feature | ShortsAI | Submagic |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $0 · no paid tier · no watermark | $14–20/month depending on billing period and listing |
| Account required | No | Yes |
| Source video retained | No, deleted after processing | Yes, in your library |
| AI viral moment detection | Yes, Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite | Yes |
| Face-tracked 9:16 reframing | Yes, MediaPipe + YOLOv8 | Yes |
| Word-level auto subtitles | Yes, faster-whisper | Yes |
| AI voice dubbing, 30+ languages | Yes, ElevenLabs | No |
| AI UGC video with lip-synced actors | Yes, from $0.65/video | No |
| Free AI YouTube thumbnail & title studio | Yes | No |
| Usage cap | None | Metered on every tier |
What Submagic does better
A comparison that finds nothing good to say about the other tool is not worth reading, so here is where Submagic genuinely wins:
- The best caption styling in this category, by a clear margin
- Very fast on short inputs because it is not doing moment detection
Where the two differ
- ShortsAI does the moment detection Submagic leaves out, so it replaces the pair rather than one half of it.
- Submagic's caption designs are more refined than ours. If captions are the entire reason you are shopping, it is the stronger tool.
- ShortsAI has no per-video cap; every Submagic tier is metered in videos per month.
Which one should you pick?
Submagic is the better pick if you already cut your own clips and only want captions. ShortsAI is the better pick if you are starting from long-form video and want the cutting done too.
Common questions
- Is there a free alternative to Submagic?
- Yes. ShortsAI is free, with no watermark, no usage cap and no account. Submagic starts at $14–20/month depending on billing period and listing.
- Is there a Submagic alternative that needs no account?
- ShortsAI needs no account and deletes the source video after processing. Submagic keeps a library tied to your account.
- Can I switch from Submagic without losing quality?
- The pipelines are comparable on the core job. ShortsAI transcribes with faster-whisper at word level, detects scenes with PySceneDetect, and scores moments with Google Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite, then reframes with MediaPipe face tracking stabilised against jitter. The honest difference is caption styling, where the commercial tools generally ship more presets.
- Does ShortsAI put a watermark on clips?
- Never. There is no watermark code in ShortsAI at all.
Sources
- Submagic pricing, checked 2026-07-27 on the vendor's public pricing page.
- ShortsAI pipeline details from the project source at shortsai.app.