Priced by the minute of source
€0.025 per minute on Starter, before VAT, whatever the number of shorts, up to 20 per video on the Studio plan. 30 minutes are free at sign-up, no card.
COMPARISON
CapCut alternative: shortshort vs CapCut.
shortshort cuts one long video into vertical shorts chosen to end where the sentence ends, frames the face with automatic zooms, and costs €0.025 per minute of video before VAT. Below, side by side with CapCut: the numbers first, then 18 criteria with a check or a cross, then the plans of both.
30 free credits, no cardUp to 2 GB per videoMP4 · 9:16 or 4:5
shortshort vs CapCut: the short answer
shortshort turns one long video of up to 2 GB into 9:16 shorts chosen to end where the sentence ends, framed on the face on screen with automatic zooms, captioned word by word, for €0.025 per minute of source video before VAT. 30 minutes are free, no card.
CapCut is an AI photo and video editor with a tool that turns long videos into shorts. It may fit better for bigger files, square or landscape exports, translation or dubbing; the table below says where, with the source.
- Price per minute of video
- €0.025 here, EUR 23.99 a month, Pro, as shown in France at CapCut
Facts checked against the product on . Prices before VAT.
Why shortshort
Four things the product does by design; the table below checks the rest, both ways.
Cuts that finish the sentence
The AI reads the whole transcript and picks complete, quotable passages, chosen to open and close on a sentence rather than on a timer; the end of each short is checked against the transcript.
Framing that follows the face, with motion
The 9:16 crop follows the face on screen and adds automatic zooms between x1.0 and x1.6; slides and wide shots stay whole. Framing is automatic; cuts, title and captions stay editable.
One page, nothing to learn
Drop the file, choose how many shorts and how long, check the proposals, export the MP4s. No timeline, no template to configure.
18 criteria, side by side
One line per criterion, the same shape on both sides. The CapCut column is derived from CapCut's own site: the number after a cell points to the source, and the exact wording is under the table.
Reading note. CapCut is a general photo and video editor; this column covers its Long video to shorts tool. Prices were shown in euros to a visitor in France; CapCut says displayed prices are for reference only, the final price showing after sign-in.
| Criterion | shortshort | CapCut |
|---|---|---|
| Getting the video in | ||
| Longest video | Set by the 2 GB file sizeOne file of up to 2 GB, on every plan; how many hours fit depends on the bitrate. | Under 3 h per video [1] [2]The long video tool asks for a video under 3 hours and 10 GB. |
| Largest file | 2 GB per fileMP4, MOV or WebM. | Under 10 GB per video [1] [2] |
| How the video gets in | File upload or a YouTube linkMP4, MOV or WebM from your disk, or a public or unlisted YouTube link of your own, downloaded on our servers at up to 720p with its audio. | Upload, Google Drive, Dropbox or CapCut Space [1] [3] [4]Drag and drop or cloud imports on the web tool, which also runs in the desktop app; no link import is shown. |
| What comes out | ||
| Crop follows the face | Follows the face, zooms x1.0 to x1.6The 9:16 crop follows the face with automatic zooms; slides, screens and wide shots stay whole; framing is set automatically. | Yes, subject tracking from 16:9 to 9:16 [3]Smart cropping keeps the main subject in frame for vertical clips; the copy names no face or speaker, only an image's alt text shows a box tracking a podcast speaker. |
| Automatic captions | Word by word, 4 stylesSpotlight, Impact, Karaoke, Minimal; timed on the audio; SRT import and export. | Yes, caption templates, 24 languages listed [1] [5] [4]Captions can be added when clips are generated, with templates; per-word timing is not stated, and they advise checking text and timing. |
| Aspect ratios | 9:16, or 4:5 for the Instagram feedChosen at export for the whole series; a 4:5 export tracks the face again for that frame. No 1:1 or 16:9. | 9:16 from 16:9; the editor resizes further [3] [6]The long video tool converts 16:9 to 9:16; the general editor and its auto reframe cover square and other formats. |
| Export | MP4 1080 × 1920 or 1080 × 1350, 30 fpsH.264, rendered on our servers on every plan: 1080 × 1920 in 9:16, 1080 × 1350 in 4:5. | Up to 4K 60 fps on desktop, a Pro unlock [7] [8] [4]Their help says desktop exports reach 3840 x 2160 at 60 fps; another help page lists 4K/60fps export among what Pro unlocks. |
| Editing and export | ||
| Manual editor | Yes, on the AI proposals, with a free accountClips and their bounds, title, description, caption words and caption style of each AI proposal; the editor and the MP4 export need a free account. | Yes, the full CapCut editor [3] [5] [9]Generated clips can be trimmed, recaptioned and templated, then opened in the editor with keyframes, motion tracking and transcript editing. |
| Brand presets | One preset, Studio planCaption colour and font, preselected on every new video. | Brand kit on the Teams plan, caption templates [9] [3]Only the Teams card lists a brand kit; the long video tool offers caption templates and video templates. |
| Edit export | JSON edit plan on every planThe studio exports the plan of the open short on every plan; the Studio plan adds the plan of every saved short from My projects. | No project export to other editors [10]Their help says CapCut does not import or export project files of other editors such as Premiere Pro. |
| Extras | ||
| Translation or dubbing | Not offeredCaptions in the language spoken, transcribed by OpenAI's whisper-1 (98 languages according to OpenAI); nothing is translated or dubbed. | Yes, caption translation; AI dubbing tool [11] [9]The caption generator translates speech into a target language and AI dubbing is in the tool menu; neither is described inside the long video tool. |
| Virality score | None, by designThe AI keeps complete, quotable sentences; you choose what goes out. | Not stated on their site |
| B-roll, music, titles | None addedThe short is your video, reframed and captioned. | Stock footage and music in the editor, no auto B-roll [12] [5] [3]No automatic B-roll is described for the long video tool; the editor offers free stock footage, music, sound effects and video templates. |
| Publishes to social | YouTube on a calendar, TikTok in early accessConnect a YouTube channel, pick a day and time per short or auto-fill the calendar. TikTok is in early access. One MP4 per short, or a ZIP, for the rest. | Yes, direct sharing to TikTok, YouTube and more [5] [4]The tool FAQ names TikTok, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram; the desktop how-to names TikTok and YouTube; no scheduling is described. |
| Team and price | ||
| Team seats | One account, one login | Yes, Teams plan per seat, from 2 seats [9] [11]EUR 14.99 per seat a month or EUR 120 per seat a year, with Pro features and 1400 AI credits per seat; teammates can review captions. |
| API | None | Not stated on their site |
| Free plan | 30 credits once, no cardThe account never expires; the 30 credits are given once, not every month. Up to 3 shorts per video, watermarked, exports join the public community. | Free plan; long video minutes shown per account [9] [1] [5] [13] [3] [8]Free has basic tools and templates; the long video tool shows its free monthly minutes after sign-in, and their pages disagree on watermarks. |
| How you pay | 1 credit = 1 minute of videoWhatever the number of shorts. Plans from 12 EUR a month for 480 minutes, before VAT. Unused credits roll over and never expire, even after cancelling. | Plans with AI credits; long videos use minutes [1] [9]Free, Pro, Ultra and Teams, monthly or yearly; the long video tool deducts the converted video duration from a monthly minute allowance. |
- Offered
- On some plans, or with a limit
- Not offered
- A fact, not a yes or no
- Not stated on their site
The exact wording of each CapCut cell, as read on their site
- Longest video
- Under 3 hours for the long video tool: its page reads "Upload a video under 3 hours and 10 GB." CapCut's own resource articles say the same: "Upload long videos up to 3 hours or 10GB, ideal for webinars, podcasts, and livestreams." [1] [2]
- How the video gets in
- Upload from the device or from cloud storage. The long video tool page offers drag and drop plus "Google Drive", "Dropbox" and "Space" (CapCut cloud storage); the tool landing page says "Upload video from Cloud, Google Drive, or Dropbox. The page can't be closed while uploading." Their desktop how-to opens the same "Long video to shorts" tool from the home screen of the desktop app. No link import is shown on the tool page. [1] [3] [4]
- Crop follows the face
- Subject tracking for vertical clips: "With CapCut's auto subject tracking and seamless size adaptation from 16:9 to 9:16, creating ai short videos is a breeze." The FAQ: "It also uses subject tracking to keep the main subject in frame while creating vertical clips." The copy names no face or speaker; only the alt text of the illustration reads "A tracking box follows a speaker in a horizontal podcast frame beside the automatically cropped vertical result". [3]
- Automatic captions
- Yes. The long video tool page says "This feature supports more than 20 languages." and lists 24 on hover (English US and UK, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian, Indonesian, Turkish, German, French, Italian, Dutch, Vietnamese, Thai, Malay, Romanian, Polish, Arabic, Filipino, Burmese, Bengali, Kazakh). The landing FAQ: "Automatic captions can be included when short-form clips are generated. Check the caption text and timing in each clip before publishing." Their desktop how-to: "Choose the caption templates you’d like to add". Whether captions are timed per word is not stated. [1] [5] [4]
- Aspect ratios
- For the long video tool: "seamless size adaptation from 16:9 to 9:16", and "Smart cropping and size adaptation can convert a 16:9 source into a 9:16 clip." Other ratios are not listed for that tool; the general editor resizes, and its auto reframe page mentions "a square video for Instagram or a vertical format for TikTok". [3] [6]
- Export
- Their help: "CapCut Desktop allows export up to 4K (3840×2160) at 60fps, provided your source footage supports it." Another help page lists "4K/60fps export" among what CapCut Pro unlocks. For long video clips the settings are chosen at export: "adjust settings like frame rate, resolution, codec, and format before saving". [7] [8] [4]
- Manual editor
- Yes, the full CapCut editor. On the generated clips: "After the clips are generated, you can adjust the length, edit captions, and apply templates." An Edit more option opens them in the editor, whose menu lists "Transcript-based editing", "Keyframe animation" and "Motion tracking" among its tools. [3] [5] [9]
- Brand presets
- A "Brand kit" is listed on the Teams plan card only. The long video tool offers caption templates and "our diverse collection of video templates". [9] [3]
- Edit export
- No project export to other editors: "Currently, CapCut does not support direct importing or exporting of project files from third-party editing software, including Adobe Premiere Pro." [10]
- Translation or dubbing
- Translation through captions: "Speech can be identified, converted into captions, and translated into a target language." (auto caption page). "AI dubbing" is listed among CapCut's AI tools in the site menu. Neither is described inside the long video tool. [11] [9]
- Virality score
- Not stated on their site.
- B-roll, music, titles
- No automatic B-roll is described for the long video tool. The editor around it offers stock media and music: "Alternatively, you can try our free stock footage for a quick start." (online editor page); the tool pages link "Trendy Music", "Sound Effects" and "Effects & Filters", and invite you to "explore our diverse collection of video templates". [12] [5] [3]
- Publishes to social
- Sharing, not scheduling: "Long video to short tool supports direct sharing on major social media platforms like TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram". Their desktop how-to: "click on TikTok or YouTube for a direct upload". No scheduling is described. [5] [4]
- Team seats
- Yes: Teams at "EUR14.99" a month "per seat", with a seat picker starting at "2 seats", "Access to Pro features for all seats" and "1400 monthly AI credits per seat". Captions can be reviewed together: "Invite teammates through shared project access and permissions so they can review or improve captions." [9] [11]
- API
- Not stated on their site.
- Free plan
- Yes, a "Free" plan at "EUR0": "Start for free with the basics you need to create.", with "Free templates to start fast" and "Basic editing tools". The long video tool has a monthly free allowance in minutes, shown per account after sign-in (a signed-out visitor sees 0); its FAQ says "A free online editing entry point is available for the long-to-short video tool" and "Current account or feature availability should be checked in the editor." On watermarks their pages differ: a help article says "videos created in CapCut can usually be exported without a watermark", the clip maker page says clips come "without watermarks", while the Pro help page lists "no watermarks" among what Pro unlocks. [9] [1] [5] [13] [3] [8]
- How you pay
- A Free plan plus subscriptions (Pro, Ultra, and Teams priced per seat), billed monthly or yearly, each with "monthly AI credits"; the pricing page warns "Displayed pricing is for reference only. Sign in to see final pricing, taxes, and any applicable offers for your account." The long video tool is metered in minutes of source rather than credits: its page reads "Time consumed = video duration converted" and, to a signed-out visitor, "You can convert 0 minutes of long videos to shorts for free every month.", with "Time left" shown as "Unknown" until sign-in. How many minutes each paid plan adds is not stated on their pages. [1] [9]
Sources for the CapCut column, read on 16 October 2026
Their pages can change after that date; the table does not update itself.
- https://www.capcut.com/editor-tools/long-video-to-shorts
- https://www.capcut.com/resource/top-8-long-video-to-shorts-solutions
- https://www.capcut.com/tools/long-video-to-shorts
- https://www.capcut.com/resource/how-to-edit-shorts-video
- https://www.capcut.com/tools/ai-long-video-to-short-video
- https://www.capcut.com/tools/auto-reframe
- https://www.capcut.com/help/no-2k-or-4k-option-for-export
- https://www.capcut.com/help/join-capcut-pro
- https://www.capcut.com/pricing
- https://www.capcut.com/help/how-to-export-pro-project
- https://www.capcut.com/tools/auto-caption-generator
- https://www.capcut.com/tools/online-video-editor
- https://www.capcut.com/help/remove-watermark-when-exporting-video
CapCut pricing (checked 16 October 2026)
CapCut plans as listed on capcut.com/pricing, read on 16 October 2026 [9]. CapCut's cheapest plan is EUR 23.99 a month, Pro, as shown in France: Minutes per plan not published, so its price per minute cannot be compared with shortshort's €0.025 per minute, before VAT. Every plan, per minute, in the price index.
CapCut
- FreeEUR 0Basic editing tools and free templatesLong video minutes shown after sign-in
- ProEUR 23.99 a month, EUR 199.99 a year1400 AI credits a month, 1 TB storageAll premium Pro features and templatesLong video minutes not listed on the cardPrices shown in EUR for France
- UltraEUR 68 a month, EUR 779 a year7483 AI credits a month, 1 TB storageEverything in Pro plus exclusive AI featuresMarked Best value
- TeamsPer seat: EUR 14.99 a month, 120 a year1400 AI credits a month per seatFrom 2 seatsPro features for every seatBrand kit
As written on their pricing page on 16 October 2026
- Free: EUR0
- "Start for free with the basics you need to create.", "Free templates to start fast", "Basic editing tools". The long video tool shows its free monthly minutes per account after sign-in.
- Pro: EUR23.99 /month on monthly billing, or EUR 199.99 /year on yearly billing
- "1400 monthly AI credits", "Buy credits", "Access to AI features", "All premium templates", "All premium Pro features", "1 TB of space storage"; the card leads with AI video generation: "Generate up to 240s at 720p or 600s at 480p with Seedance 2.0 Mini". Minutes for the long video tool are not listed on the card. A help page says Pro covers mobile, desktop and web, unlike Standard, a plan "available only in certain regions" whose benefits work only in the mobile app, not shown on this page.
- Ultra: EUR68 /month on monthly billing, or EUR 779 /year on yearly billing
- "7483 monthly AI credits", "Everything in Pro, plus exclusive AI features", "1 TB of space storage"; "Generate up to 1,700s at 720p or 4,300s at 480p with Seedance 2.0 Mini". Marked "Best value".
- Teams: EUR14.99 /month per seat on monthly billing, or EUR 120 /year per seat on yearly billing, with a seat picker starting at 2 seats
- "1400 monthly AI credits per seat", "Access to Pro features for all seats", "Brand kit", "1 TB of space storage". "Renews automatically. Cancel anytime."
shortshort
- Free€0, no card30 welcome credits given once, 30 minutes of videoUp to 3 shorts per videoWatermarked exportExported shorts join the community
- Starter€12 a month480 min of video a month, 8 hoursUp to 5 shorts per videoNo watermarkOption to keep your exports out of the public community gallery
- Creator€29 a month1,600 min of video a month, 26 h 40Everything in StarterUp to 10 shorts per videoCredit top-ups of 400, 1,200 or 4,000 credits
- Studio€79 a month6,000 min of video a month, 100 hoursEverything in CreatorUp to 20 shorts per videoOne brand preset: your caption colors and font, preselected on every new video
Prices before VAT, from the product. Annual billing: Starter €115 a year, Creator €278 a year, Studio €758 a year. Full detail on the pricing page.
The verdict: CapCut or shortshort
shortshort for the cuts and the framing; CapCut when you need bigger files or square or landscape exports. Both lists come from the table.
Where shortshort comes out ahead
- Cuts on complete sentencesEach short is cut on word boundaries and aims for the end of a sentence, with a 25% margin around the target length; the ending is checked against the transcript.
- Framing that follows the face, with automatic zoomsFace and scene tracking move the 9:16 crop; automatic zooms between x1.0 and x1.6; slides and wide shots stay whole.
- One page, nothing to learnDrop, choose the count and the length, check, export. No timeline or template to set up.
- Edit exportJSON edit plan on every plan. The studio exports the plan of the open short on every plan; the Studio plan adds the plan of every saved short from My projects.; CapCut: no project export to other editors.
- A public before-and-after galleryEach short next to the video it came from, with the transcript of each short, so the result can be judged before trying.
Where CapCut may fit better
- Bigger files [1] [2]Under 10 GB per video against 2 GB here
- Square or landscape exports [3] [6]9:16 from 16:9; the editor resizes further. The long video tool converts 16:9 to 9:16; the general editor and its auto reframe cover square and other formats.
- Translation or dubbing [11] [9]Yes, caption translation; AI dubbing tool. The caption generator translates speech into a target language and AI dubbing is in the tool menu; neither is described inside the long video tool.
- B-roll, music, titles [12] [5] [3]Stock footage and music in the editor, no auto B-roll. No automatic B-roll is described for the long video tool; the editor offers free stock footage, music, sound effects and video templates.
- Team seats [9] [11]Yes, Teams plan per seat, from 2 seats. EUR 14.99 per seat a month or EUR 120 per seat a year, with Pro features and 1400 AI credits per seat; teammates can review captions.
What shortshort produces, on a real video
A published transformation from the community: the original on top, the shorts it became below. Click one to see it next to the original video.
3 of 6 shorts shown · The Override That Saved Humanity · watch it in the community, with the transcript of each short
Demo footage: Tears of Steel © Blender Foundation, licensed CC BY 3.0. Cut, cropped and captioned by shortshort.
How shortshort cuts, frames and captions
Three things the table can only name. The passage, the frame and the captions below are illustrations; the community shows the real thing.
1 · The cut ends on the sentence
Cut at the target
The reason most clips fail is that they stop before the idea lands, and a viewer who never hears the end of the sentence has no reason to share it. ✂ mid-sentence
Cut at the sentence
The reason most clips fail is that they stop before the idea lands, and a viewer who never hears the end of the sentence has no reason to share it. ✂ on the full stop
Same passage, same 30-second target. shortshort keeps going to the end of the sentence, 37 seconds here, which is inside the 25% margin it allows.
2 · The 9:16 crop follows the face on screen
3 · Captions timed word by word
Spotlight, one of the four caption styles. Impact, Karaoke and Minimal use the same word timing.
CapCut alternative: questions people ask
Is CapCut free?
Yes. CapCut's own site lists a lasting free plan. On CapCut: Free plan; long video minutes shown per account. Free has basic tools and templates; the long video tool shows its free monthly minutes after sign-in, and their pages disagree on watermarks (their own site, read on 16 October 2026).
How much does CapCut cost?
CapCut's pricing page lists 4 plans. On CapCut: Free, EUR 0 (Basic editing tools and free templates); Pro, EUR 23.99 a month, EUR 199.99 a year (1400 AI credits a month, 1 TB storage); Ultra, EUR 68 a month, EUR 779 a year (7483 AI credits a month, 1 TB storage); Teams, Per seat: EUR 14.99 a month, 120 a year (1400 AI credits a month per seat) (their own site, read on 16 October 2026). They are listed on this page under "CapCut pricing (checked 16 October 2026)". CapCut's cheapest plan is EUR 23.99 a month, Pro, as shown in France: Minutes per plan not published, so its price per minute cannot be compared. shortshort charges 1 credit per minute of source video, whatever the number of shorts: Starter is 12 EUR a month for 480 credits, Creator 29 EUR for 1,600 and the Studio plan 79 EUR for 6,000, before VAT, and every account starts with 30 free credits, given once.
What is a free alternative to CapCut?
shortshort can be tried for free: 30 credits given once at sign-up, no card, which cover 30 minutes of video, with up to 3 shorts per video and a small watermark on the export. Your upload stays private until you export; exported shorts join the public community gallery by default. It is a one-time allowance, not free minutes every month: the tools that give free minutes every month are listed, with the limits of their free plans, in the price per minute index.
Is shortshort a good CapCut alternative?
It depends on what you need. shortshort turns one long video of up to 2 GB into vertical shorts, 3 per video on the Free plan and up to 20 on the Studio plan, cut on complete sentences, framed on the face on screen and captioned word by word in one of four styles. CapCut may fit better if you need bigger files, square or landscape exports and translation or dubbing, according to its own site. If the job is cutting long talks into shorts, try it with the 30 free credits and compare the result with what you get from CapCut.
How long can a video be on CapCut and on shortshort?
On shortshort, one file of up to 2 GB on every plan; the file size is what usually limits, and how many hours fit depends on the bitrate. On CapCut: under 3 h per video. The long video tool asks for a video under 3 hours and 10 GB (their own site, read on 16 October 2026).
How do captions compare between CapCut and shortshort?
shortshort times every word on the audio, in one of four styles (Spotlight, Impact, Karaoke, Minimal), with SRT import and export. On CapCut: yes, caption templates, 24 languages listed (their own site, read on 16 October 2026).
Cuts that finish the sentence, at a price by the minute.
The fastest comparison is your own video: 30 minutes are free, no card. Your upload stays private until you export; exported shorts join the community with their source video by default, and any paid plan can keep them out.