Turn a long video into Shorts

Vid2Shorts is a free web app that turns a long video into vertical Shorts for YouTube Shorts, TikTok, and Reels. Paste a link. The AI reads the whole video and queues its strongest moments, ranked and scored, or you pick the exact moment yourself. Either way you get smart 9:16 framing, word by word captions, and a clean export. Finished Shorts, not homework.

First Short free. No account, no software, nothing to upload.

First Short free No signup Nothing to install Works on any device
Look at what the crop does

Vertical throws away two thirds of your picture.

A widescreen frame is 1920 across. A Short is 1080 across. Something has to go, and where it goes from is the difference between a clip you post and a clip you delete. Same source frame below, cropped both ways.

A wide two person podcast interview, one man on the left and one on the right, with microphone stands and empty studio wall between themCentre cropAuto-frame
One real frame. A vertical window keeps 31 percent of it, and these are the two places it can land.
Centre cropThe same frame cropped down the middle: both faces are sliced off at the edges and the shot is mostly empty table and microphone stands

Nobody is in the shot

Take the middle and hope. On a two shot the middle is the gap between the people, so the crop lands on microphone stands and an empty wall. This is a real crop of the frame above, not an illustration.

Auto-frameThe same frame reframed around the speaker: their face is complete and centred, composed like a proper vertical portrait

The speaker, properly framed

Same frame, same window size, moved onto the person. It follows whoever is talking as the conversation switches, and when it cannot find a subject with confidence it stays centred rather than guessing wrong.

This is the whole reason the tool exists. Every other step, cutting, captioning, exporting, is solved. Reframing is the one that quietly ruins clips, and it is the one nobody shows you before you have already made ten of them.

Try it on your own footage

Quick facts

The whole tool in nine lines.

For people in a hurry, which is everyone making Shorts.

  • What it is: a video to Shorts converter that runs in your browser.
  • Input: a link to any public video. No file upload, ever.
  • The AI part: it reads the transcript, finds complete moments, and ranks them with a scored breakdown. You decide what gets made.
  • Output: vertical 1080 by 1920 MP4, the exact format Shorts, TikTok and Reels want.
  • The editor: a full Shorts Studio with an Easy wizard for speed and a Studio mode for control.
  • The framing part: Auto-frame follows the speaker, so faces stay in the shot. You can drag to reframe any time.
  • Captions: word by word, bold, synced, burned in. Arabic fully supported.
  • Price: first Short free with no account. Pro removes limits and watermarks.
  • Made by: the team behind YTCut, the clipper creators already use daily.
Three steps, done

How to make Shorts from a long video.

No software to install, no files to upload. The heavy work happens on our servers.

STEP 01

Paste the link

Drop in a link to any public video: a podcast, an interview, a stream VOD, a lecture, your last upload. The longer the video, the more moments there are to find.

STEP 02

Get the moments

Let the AI queue the strongest moments, ranked and scored, or open the Studio and drag the exact range yourself on a real timeline. Preview everything in a phone frame before you commit.

STEP 03

Download and post

The clip is cut, reframed to vertical with the speaker centered, and captioned. One MP4, correct size, correct ratio. Post it to Shorts, TikTok and Reels as is.

Under the hood

Three hard problems, handled for you.

Anyone can chop a video into pieces. The difference between clips and Shorts that perform is what happens in these three places.

Moments, not chops

The AI reads the timestamped transcript and looks for complete moments: a hook, a build, a payoff. Never a clip cut off before the punchline lands. Each pick explains itself with a score for hook, emotion, quotability, and completeness.

Reframing that follows the subject

Vertical keeps about a third of a widescreen picture. Center cropping blindly is why other tools ship Shorts with half a face at the edge. We look at where the subject is in the actual footage and place the crop there, clip by clip.

Captions people can read at a glance

Word by word timing, bold display type, high contrast. Sound off viewing is the default on every short form feed, and captioned clips simply hold attention longer. Arabic and right to left scripts render correctly, not as blank boxes.

Who this is for

The people already doing this every day.

If you publish long video anywhere, the Shorts are already in there.

Podcasters

A one hour episode holds five to ten strong moments. Clip them the day the episode drops and feed your Shorts shelf all week, each one pointing new listeners back to the full conversation.

Channel owners

Shorts are the discovery engine every feed pushes hardest right now. Repurposing your long uploads costs nothing and puts your best thirty seconds in front of people who have never seen your channel.

Streamers

The VOD is full of moments your chat already told you were good. Paste the VOD link, let the AI surface the reactions, and post them while the stream is still fresh.

Educators and coaches

One idea per Short beats an hour of lecture for reach. Pull the sharpest explanations out of webinars and courses and let each one travel on its own.

Honest comparison

Vid2Shorts next to the alternatives.

The big names are good products. Here is where we differ, stated plainly.

ToolStarts free, no signupAI finds the momentsSubject aware reframingBuilt for
Vid2ShortsYes, first Short freeYes, ranked and scoredYesCreators who want finished Shorts fast
OpusClipTrial, account requiredYesYesTeams and agencies on subscription
KlapLimited free, signupYesYesVolume clipping on subscription
CapCut / PremiereManual workYou do it by handYou do it by handEditors who want full control
Random free clip sitesUsuallyNoBlind center cropOne off cuts, no captions

Need a precise clip instead of a Short?

YTCut, our sister tool, cuts any exact start to end range out of a video and downloads it in six formats. Same engine, same speed, no watermark.

Open YTCut
FAQ

Questions people actually ask.

Straight answers, no fine print surprises.

Is Vid2Shorts free?
Your first Short is free and needs no account. You paste a link, the AI finds the best moments or you pick your own, and you download the result. The free plan includes one Short a day and one AI analysis a day on videos up to 20 minutes. Heavy users can upgrade for long videos, more clips per run, and clean watermark free output.
How does the AI find the best moments?
It reads the whole timestamped transcript of the video, then looks for complete moments: something that starts on a hook and includes the payoff, not a clip chopped off mid thought. Each moment gets a score for hook strength, emotion, quotability, and how well it stands alone, and you see that breakdown on every card. You stay in charge: the AI queues the moments, you decide what gets made.
Can I still pick the moment myself?
Yes, always. The Studio opens on a real timeline where you drag the exact range you want. The AI suggestions are one tap away and one tap to dismiss. From there the wizard walks you through framing, captions, music, and export, or you switch to full Studio mode for complete control.
Will the speaker stay in the frame after the vertical crop?
Yes, and this is the part most tools get wrong. Going from 16:9 to 9:16 keeps roughly a third of the picture, so a blind center crop regularly slices people out of frame. Vid2Shorts analyzes where the subject actually is and positions the crop around them. When it cannot find the subject with confidence, it stays centered instead of guessing wrong.
Do the clips work on TikTok and Instagram Reels too?
Yes. The output is a standard 1080 by 1920 MP4, which is exactly the file Shorts, TikTok, Instagram Reels, and Facebook Reels expect. One download posts everywhere.
What about captions?
Every Short gets bold, word by word captions burned into the video, timed to the audio. Most short form video plays with the sound off, so captions are the difference between a scroll past and a view. Several caption styles are available, including full Arabic support.
How long does it take?
The AI analysis takes about half a minute for a typical video. Rendering a Short takes a couple of minutes: the cutting, reframing, and caption work happen on our servers. Long podcasts take a little longer simply because there is more transcript to read.
Is it legal to make Shorts from someone else's video?
Use Vid2Shorts for content you own or have permission to repurpose. Creators clipping their own uploads is the core use case, and reposting your own long form as Shorts is exactly what the format was made for. If the video belongs to someone else, ask them first, and check the rules of the platform it came from. The full details live in our terms.
Do I need to install anything or make an account?
No install, no signup, no upload. Everything happens in the browser and on our servers. You paste a link and download a finished file.