Copy any YouTube URL, your own upload or a public video you have rights to clip, and paste it into Klap. The clipper pulls the video directly from YouTube, no download needed. Works with videos up to 3 hours long.
8.5M clips made by 3.5M creators
YouTube Clipper — Turn Any YouTube Video Into Short Clips With AI
Klap is an AI YouTube clipper and clip maker. Paste a link and it finds the best moments, frames the active speaker, adds animated captions and ranks every clip by Virality Score. Prefer to choose? Describe the moment in your own words, or set the start and end yourself.
Try Klap free on 1 video. No credit card required.
How do you clip a YouTube video?
Paste the YouTube link into Klap and choose how to pick the moments. The AI can find them for you, you can describe what you want, or you can set the start and end yourself. You get vertical clips with captions and a Virality Score, ready to download or post. Klap is an AI video clipping tool that turns long videos into ready-to-post vertical shorts. Plans count clips, not source minutes. Every clip gets a virality score, active-speaker reframing and animated captions, and Klap schedules to TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook. It works in 99+ languages and has a self-serve API and an MCP server.
| Works on | Any content where there's speech: podcasts, interviews, webinars, gaming and sports commentary, tutorials |
|---|---|
| Input | Any YouTube link you have the rights to clip: uploads, podcasts, livestream replays. No download needed, up to 3 hours per video |
| Choosing moments | Let the AI pick, describe a moment in your own words, or set the start and end yourself |
| Output | Vertical 9:16, square 1:1 or Instagram 4:5 clips with animated captions, exports up to 4K |
| Clips per video | Typically 8 from a 10 to 30 minute video, 17 from 30 to 60 minutes and 26 from 1 to 2 hours |
| Posting | Schedule to TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook, or download |
| Languages | 99+ |
| Price | Try Klap free on 1 video with no credit card. Paid plans from $14.50/mo billed yearly. |
Updated November 2026.
Before and after: real clips from YouTube videos
Each pair is a horizontal YouTube video next to a vertical clip Klap made from it. The same AI reframing handles a four-way panel podcast, a one-on-one interview, a split-screen news segment and a product demo.
Used by teams at
Klap vs OpusClip and Kapwing
A trimmer gives you the one cut you make by hand. An AI clipper reads the whole video and gives you several clips to choose from. Klap does both, and counts clips rather than minutes.
| Klap | OpusClip | Kapwing YouTube Trimmer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who picks the moments | The AI, your prompt, or you on the timeline | The AI, with a Virality Score on each clip | You, on an editing timeline |
| Longest video | 3 hours | Up to 30 GB a file on Pro | 2 hours on Pro, 4 minutes on Free |
| What the plan counts | Clips. Source length doesn't count | Minutes: 300 credits a month on Pro | AI credits: 1,000 a month on Pro |
| Captions | Animated, in 99+ languages | Animated, in 20+ languages | Auto-subtitling, up to 1,000 minutes a month on Pro |
| Entry price | From $14.50/mo (100 clips) | $14.50/mo billed yearly (Pro) | $16/mo billed yearly (Pro) |
Rival details from opus.pro/pricing, kapwing.com/tools/trim/youtube and kapwing.com/pricing, checked 4 November 2026.
How to clip a YouTube video with AI in 3 steps
The AI reads the full transcript for hooks, punchlines and complete moments, then builds short clips ranked by Virality Score. Each clip is reframed with AI Reframe 2, which detects content zones and focuses on the active speaker or the most important part of the frame, and captioned automatically. Want one exact moment? Describe it, or drag across the timeline to set the start and end.
Tweak any clip by editing its transcript: highlight a sentence to keep it, strike one to remove it. The video updates instantly. Then download, or post directly to TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn or Facebook from Klap.
Three ways to clip a YouTube video
Paste the link and let the AI find the moments. A 20-minute video typically gives about 8 clips, a 2-hour podcast 26 to 30. Or tell Klap what you're after, such as "the part where she shares her email script". Or drag across the timeline to cut one exact moment yourself. No download, no re-upload. The same workflow works for Twitch, Vimeo, Loom, Google Drive and Dropbox. See the cluster hub at AI clip maker.
Every clip gets a Virality Score from 0-100
Klap's AI doesn't just cut your YouTube video, it scores every clip on how compelling the subject is and how well the clip delivers it, and explains the score. The strongest clips surface first, so you know which to post next. For score-first generation, see the viral clip generator.
AI Reframe 2 — content-aware vertical reframing
Klap's AI Reframe 2 understands the full frame. It detects content zones (webcam overlay, gameplay backdrop, product shots, screen recordings) and then focuses on the active speaker's face when there is one, or the most important part of the frame when there isn't. The result: your YouTube clips are framed for 9:16 vertical, even when there's no face on screen.
Auto-generated Hook Titles and captions
Every clip comes with an auto-generated Hook Title, written by AI to stop the scroll on TikTok, Reels and Shorts. Word-by-word animated captions are baked in, available in 99+ languages, and you can style them with your own fonts and templates. The whole package is ready to post in one go.
Why Klap is the best AI YouTube clip maker
Direct YouTube URL input
Paste any link. No download, no re-upload, no waiting.
Clips in minutes
A 20-minute video typically gives about 8 clips in under 10 minutes, automatically.
Virality Score 0-100
Scored on the subject and how well the clip delivers it, with the reasoning shown.
AI Reframe 2
Content-aware vertical reframing, even on non-talking-head footage.
Transcript editor
Edit clips by editing the transcript. No timeline scrubbing.
Hook Title generator
Auto-generates a viral caption for every clip — written for the algorithm.
Captions in 99+ languages
Animated, keyword-highlighted and styled with your own templates.
Clean 4K export
Paid plans export clips in up to 4K with no Klap branding.
Frequently asked questions
How do I clip a YouTube video?
Paste the YouTube URL into Klap's YouTube clipper. Klap's AI reads the full video, finds the best moments and generates short clips, each captioned, reframed to 9:16 vertical and ranked by Virality Score. Or describe a moment, or set the start and end yourself. With a paid plan, download in up to 4K or post directly to TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn or Facebook.
How do I make a clip from a YouTube video?
Paste the YouTube URL into Klap. To let the AI find the best moments, hit Generate and you'll get ranked short clips, typically about 8 from a 20-minute video. To clip one specific moment, describe it in your own words, or drag across the timeline to set the start and end.
What is the best AI YouTube clipper?
Klap is an AI YouTube clipper used by 3.5M creators. It ranks every clip by Virality Score, applies content-aware reframing (AI Reframe 2) that works on talking heads, gameplay and product shots, includes a full transcript editor, exports up to 4K, works in 99+ languages and posts directly to TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook. Try Klap free on 1 video. No credit card required. Downloading and posting clips needs a paid plan. Paid exports carry no Klap branding. The dedicated Shorts flow is the YouTube to Shorts converter.
How does Klap's AI YouTube clipper work?
Klap's AI reads the transcript of your YouTube video to find the moments most likely to perform on TikTok, Reels and Shorts: hooks, stories, punchlines and quotable lines. It works on any content where there's speech. It then cuts those moments, applies AI Reframe 2 (content-aware vertical reframing), adds animated captions, generates a Hook Title and gives each clip a Virality Score from 0-100.
Can I clip a YouTube video for free?
You can try Klap's YouTube clipper free on 1 video with no credit card: create a free account and Klap turns that video into clips you can preview and edit. Downloading and posting clips needs a paid plan. Paid exports carry no Klap branding. Paid plans start at $14.50/month billed yearly ($29 month to month).
How long can the YouTube video be?
Klap accepts YouTube videos up to 3 hours long. That covers most long-form interview podcasts, full livestream VODs and multi-part webinars. Most videos are ready in 5 to 20 minutes, depending on length. For long-form conversion, see the long video to short video converter.
Can I clip someone else's YouTube video?
Klap's clip maker can process any public YouTube URL, but you need the rights to publish the resulting clips. For your own YouTube videos, you have full rights. For others' videos, you need permission from the copyright holder — typically via license, fair use exemption, or direct permission from the creator. Personal viewing is generally fine; redistribution is a copyright question.
What's the difference between a YouTube clipper and a trimmer?
A trimmer cuts the one section you pick by hand. An AI clipper such as Klap reads the whole video, finds the strongest moments and gives you several ready-to-post clips with captions and vertical framing. Klap also lets you set the start and end yourself, so you can use it either way.
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The general-purpose AI clip-maker hub.
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Clip your first YouTube video with AI today
Try it free on 1 video, no credit card. 3.5M creators use Klap to turn long videos into clips.
Try Klap free on 1 video. No credit card required.