OpusClip pricing: the credit math and what free really gets you
August 22, 2026 · 6 min read
OpusClip costs $15 a month for Starter (monthly only, 150 credits) and $29 a month for Pro, which drops to $14.50 a month if you prepay the $174 annual plan (opus.pro/pricing, checked August 2026). A credit is one minute of source video, rounded up. The free plan is genuinely free forever but heavily fenced: 60 credits a month, a watermark, no editing, and clips that stop being exportable after 3 days.
Disclosure
We build BetterSocials, which includes a free AI video editor. OpusClip and our editor do different jobs, and this page is clear about where OpusClip is simply the right tool.
The plans, priced
| Plan | Price | Credits | The defining limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 forever | 60/mo | Watermark, no editing, exports expire after 3 days, 1080p |
| Starter | $15/mo, monthly only | 150/mo | Unlocks editing, watermark-free export, speech cleanup, virality score |
| Pro | $29/mo, or $14.50/mo billed $174 annually | 300/mo per pack | Adds all aspect ratios, tracking, b-roll, music, bulk export, 100GB storage |
| Business | Custom | Custom | Contact sales |
Two billing quirks worth knowing before you subscribe. Starter has no annual option, so the "save up to 50%" banner only applies to Pro. And annual Pro grants the whole year of credits instantly (3,600), which sounds generous until you notice monthly credits expire in 60 days while annual ones expire in 12 months: either way, unused minutes eventually evaporate.
The credit math on real channels
One credit processes one minute of the source video, rounded up per video. A weekly 60-minute podcast burns 240 to 260 credits a month, which clears Starter's 150 and lands you on Pro. Daily 10-minute videos are about 300 a month: exactly one Pro pack. The free plan's 60 credits process one hour-long video a month, and the result carries a watermark you cannot remove and a 3-day export window.
Read the free plan as a demo
- Watermark on every clip.
- No editing: you take the clips the AI picked, as picked.
- "After 3 days, the clips will no longer be exportable" (their words).
That is a fine way to see whether the clip-hunting works on your content. It is not a way to run a channel free, and it is not meant to be.
When OpusClip is worth every dollar
If your workflow is volume repurposing, long recordings in, many clips out, every week, nothing here argues against it. The virality scoring, auto reframing and bulk export exist for exactly that pipeline, and $174 a year against the hours it saves is easy math. Agency work managing multiple shows scales the same way with Pro packs.
When you need an editor, not a clip machine
OpusClip decides which moments of your long video matter. If you already know, you recorded the video to say the thing, what you need is an editor that makes the cut clean, and that job does not need a subscription. The BetterSocials editor is free with no card: silences cut automatically on upload, the transcript is the editor, your own AI (Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, any MCP agent) removes retakes and filler and captions every word, and exports are watermark-free with no 3-day fuse. It edits vertical and long form. Start editing free and keep OpusClip for the weeks you need clip volume.
Frequently asked questions
How much does OpusClip cost?+
Starter is $15 a month, monthly only, with 150 credits. Pro is $29 a month, or $14.50 a month when billed $174 annually, with 300 credits a month per pack. Business is custom (opus.pro/pricing, checked August 2026).
Is OpusClip free?+
There is a free-forever plan with 60 credits a month, but clips carry a watermark, editing is disabled, and exports expire after 3 days. It works as a trial of the clip-picking, not as a way to run a channel.
How do OpusClip credits work?+
One credit processes one minute of the source video, rounded up per video. A weekly hour-long podcast needs roughly 240 to 260 credits a month, which requires the Pro plan. Monthly credits expire in 60 days; annual credits arrive all at once and expire in 12 months.
What is a free alternative to OpusClip?+
Depends on the job. For auto-hunting viral moments at volume, there is no strong free equivalent. For actually editing a talking video, cutting silence, retakes and filler and captioning it, the BetterSocials editor is free with no watermark and no expiry on exports.