CapCut, from ByteDance, is one of the most popular short-video editors in the world. It’s built for vertical video, which makes it ideal for YouTube Shorts as well as YouTube Shorts and TikToks.
Key features include:
- Trending video templates you can fill with your own clips
- Auto-captions and text-to-speech
- AI video and image generation
- Background removal and chroma key
- Effects, transitions, filters and a large music library
- Keyframe animation and multi-track editing
- Apps for web, Windows, Mac, iOS and Android
Because templates follow current trends, CapCut makes it easy to create Shorts that feel native to the feed, even without editing experience.
CapCut’s free version is very capable, covering basic editing and standard templates. Paid plans remove watermarks from premium content and unlock more AI tools and higher-quality exports: Standard has been about $9.99 per month and Pro about $19.99 per month (or around $179.99 per year), with 4K export and more cloud storage. Pricing varies by region and platform, so check current rates.
Features and pricing change often. For YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels and TikToks, though, CapCut is a top pick.
