Opus Clip Review: We Tested It & Here’s How It Holds up in 2024

Opus Clip - Paid Only Features

Like we said above, Opus Clips’ offers a Starter plan (for $9/month) and a Pro plan (for $19/month). I will be tagging each feature as Starter, Pro or both according to if it makes part of each plan or not. So, here’s what you get with Opus’ paid plans:

Editor (Starter/Pro)

This caught me off guard when trying Opus as I couldn’t even change the duration of my clips with the free plan. Most of the features mentioned in this blog post are changed here and you won’t have access to them unless you are part of the Starter or Pro plans. Yes, this is where you can change the AI captions, the layout as well as cut your videos (although not perfect, as I will mention further ahead).

AI Virality Score (Starter/Pro)

Opus’ virality score model has been trained on thousands of viral videos. It then uses this score in how it presents the clips it has found to you - from worst to best. There is some degree of variability here and I’ve often found that clips in the 70-80 score range were at times better than clips higher up in the hierarchy. This can make users lose trust on what is being presented to them and, the way these clips are shown is not practical for professional users looking to do more bulk exporting. It also doesn’t really score it accurately on what I’d consider “virality” but rather on how well structured a conversation is. That being said, this is an interesting feature 

Brand Templates (Starter/Pro)

For branded content Opus has you covered with their brand templates. You are allowed to create presets with brand colors, caption customization as well as a custom overlay. One thing lacking here is the fact that Opus does not show the in-app overlays for platforms like TikTok and Reels so that there is no overlap. Starter plan users can have 1 brand template and Pro plan users have access to 5. Multiple other platforms like Kapwing offer this feature.

Social Media Posting (Starter/Pro)

This feature is quite convenient but it requires you to authorize Opus Clip’s access to every social media in which you plan to use this feature. Alternatively, with Framedrop, you simply have to scan a QR code and the clip will show on your social media’s dashboard.

Social Media Scheduler (Pro)

Just like social media posting, this requires having your social media accounts connected to Opus. Then, under each clip, you can click on the share button and post or schedule a post for the future which is quite convenient if you have a content plan and for some peace of mind. Sadly, individual creators do not have access to this feature.

Team Workspace (Pro)

First of the Pro-only features is the team workspace. Limited to 2 users, this is essentially to allow for collaboration and with it your team members can submit projects using the credits under your account, view and edit your projects, edit brand templates and auto post. 

Export To Premiere Pro (Pro)

Editors, rejoice… kind of. Exporting to Premiere can be great if you’re looking to create clip compilations but it seems like an unnecessary extra step. With Framedrop you can simply select multiple clips, edit each one separately and export them together as a compilation - for free. This is especially useful if you lack Premiere Pro experience.

Various Aspect Ratios (Pro)

Another feature Opus has in its Pro plan that Framedrop has available for free users is allowing you to export in different aspect ratios (9:16, 16:9 and 1:1). Opus’ Starter plan users can’t choose various aspect ratios which I find odd since it is aimed at individual creators. They are instead forced to export in 9:16. This feature is pretty self-explanatory and is useful so that you can repurpose your content for varied platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram which can be super important in multiplying your reach (that often uses 1:1 on their normal posts but 9:16 on Reels)

What I Like About Opus Clip

Here are the parts that I truly liked:

Jump Right In with Demo Videos

Having two demo videos available made it easy to test out the platform's features, which helped me get a feel for what Opus Clip could offer without spending time on uploads.

Time-Saving with Auto Clipping

As expected from an AI video clipping tool, Opus Clip’s ability to break down lengthy videos into short, ready-to-share segments was impressive. This tool is great for anyone who wants to save time editing while still getting a variety of clips to work with. 

Virality Score

The virality score adds a nice touch for content prioritization. While not perfect (and not free), it’s still a helpful guide for pinpointing clips that could resonate well with audiences. 

Upload from Multiple Sources

Just like Framedrop, being able to paste a YouTube link instead of uploading files saved me a lot of time. Plus, Opus Clip’s flexibility in sourcing content means I have options for pulling in videos from various platforms.

Simple Social Media Sharing

Again, just like Framedrop, Once my clips were ready, linking my social media accounts allowed for easy sharing directly from the platform, cutting out extra steps in my workflow. Although, like we mentioned earlier, it’s not a free feature.

Cons of Opus Clip

Here are some of the downsides that I've realized:

Can’t Download Demo Edits

Editing a demo video felt like a waste of energy when I discovered I couldn’t save or share the content afterward. It would be great if at least a low-res download was available. We should note that most features are not accessible for free users.

Lengthy Processing Times for Longer Videos

Uploading a full-length YouTube video took more time to process than I expected. For a quicker trial, I’d recommend using shorter videos to avoid long waits.

Auto Emojis Didn’t Work as Expected

The “auto emojis” feature didn’t activate on its own, and I couldn’t find a manual option to add them. Using emojis is one of my go-to strategies for making videos more engaging, so this was a bit of a letdown. 

Framedrop as an Alternative in 2024

Framedrop also leverages AI to find clips in all kinds of content. Other than what has already been mentioned in comparison to Opus’ features, it differentiates itself from Opus on quite a few important points which are:

More Robust Detection

Opus has in their dashboard that they support the following types of content:

Framedrop supports all content, from podcasts to gaming, vlogs, stand-up comedy and much, much more. There are no limits to what clips you can find with Framedrop.

The Fastest Detection

Framedrop currently offers the fastest detection of any tool out there. The objective of these tools is to save creators’ time and what better way to do this than being fast. The good news? It keeps getting even faster.

Clean, Easy to Use UI

A clean UI is key for a clean mind. Offering a super low barrier of entry anyone can get their clips looking how they want in very few clicks. No more button-mania and overwhelming dropdown menus. Keep it simple, keep it easy.

Better Trimming

Sometimes Opus’ clips are good, however start late and are missing context. Well, tough luck - once a video is chosen you can’t alter that. With Framedrop you can easily alter its start and end timestamp so that nothing is missing.

AI Browser Extension

When viewing a video on YouTube or Twitch, simply click on the extension and Framedrop will instantly start processing the video you are watching so that by the time you are done watching, Framedrop is done processing.

You Can Use All For Free

That’s right. Framedrop’s free plan lets you use all of these features while still generously giving you access to 8 hours of uploaded content. If you upgrade you get 40 hours of uploaded content per month (vs Opus’ 5 hours), priority queue as well as multi-processing so that you find the best moments in multiple episodes in one go.

To Opus or Not to Opus

Creators are in a constant struggle with the algorithm (and with how many shorts they should post a day).. It can be hard to spend much time on repurposing content when content creation already sucks a huge chunk of one’s time. That is why tools like Opus and Framedrop exist. And yes, if you are looking to save time by getting AI highlights skipping tedious processes like manually skimming through VODs or adding subtitles then both will work just fine. But, if you are looking to save the most time, Framedrop still comes out ahead with its browser extension, clean UI and by having the fastest detection letting you go from video to TikTok, Shorts and Reels in a couple of minutes. Get started with Framedrop today!