Turn a Long Video Into a Reel
A Reels editor saves you from scrubbing through a long recording to find the clip worth posting. Upload a video or paste a link and ScreenApp’s AI highlights and automatic bookmarks, so you can jump straight to the moments worth watching instead of watching the whole thing back.
From there, you trim the section you want to the exact start and end point. Reels need a vertical frame, so if your source video is landscape, crop it separately with the vertical video converter before you download or share it.
What you get:
- AI highlights and automatic bookmarks, so you do not have to scrub the whole recording
- trim recordings to the exact start and end point you want
- A transcript in 100+ languages to search for the line you need
- AI chat with any recording so you can ask what happens in the video and get pointed to the timestamp
- A separate crop tool for vertical formats: 9:16, 1:1, or 4:5
- Paid plans only for downloading the finished clip, or share a link instead
- Free plan: 2 transcriptions of recordings up to 45 minutes each to try it on
How to Make a Reel From a Video
- Upload or import the video: Add a file in MP4, M4V, MOV, AVI, WEBM, MKV, FLV, TS, MTS, M2TS, 3GP, 3GPP, 3G2, WMV, ASF, VOB, OGV, RM, RMVB, MPG, MPEG, M2V, F4V, MXF, or paste a YouTube, Vimeo or YouTube, Vimeo and direct media links link. Processing starts once the video is in your library.
- Let AI find the highlights: AI highlights and automatic bookmarks across the recording, so you can open a bookmark instead of dragging the playhead back and forth.
- Trim, crop, and get the clip: Use the trim tool to set the exact start and end point. If the source is landscape, crop it to vertical with the vertical video converter, then download the clip on a paid plan or share the link straight from ScreenApp.
Accuracy of the transcript and the highlights depends on the audio: a clean single-speaker recording works better than a noisy room with several people talking over each other. See how we measure accuracy.
Reels Editor vs Other Apps
| Feature | ScreenApp | Opus Clip | Choppity | Spikes Studio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | 2 transcriptions, up to 45 min each | watermarked, up to 1080p, expires after 3 days | 1 hour/month, no watermark | 30 minutes/month, watermarked |
| Vertical (9:16) crop | Separate tool, 9:16, 1:1, or 4:5, no AI reframing | 9:16 only | AI reframes video to vertical formats (9:16), with speaker tracking, zooms and camera splits | reframe it to a vertical view |
| Watermark on free plan | no watermark on any recording or export | Yes | No | Yes |
| Downloads | Paid plans only | Free plan (watermarked, 3-day expiry) | Paid plan for full features | Free plan (watermarked) |
| Paid plan | $19/month annual | $15 to $29/month | $19/month | $14.09/month annual |
Sources, checked 2026-09-12: ScreenApp pricing, screenapp.io/help/free-account-download-limits, opus.pro/pricing, choppity.com/tools/free-ai-clip-maker/, spikes.studio/pricing
- vs Opus Clip: Opus Clip auto-generates vertical clips from spoken words and exports 9:16 only even on its free plan, with watermarked, up to 1080p, expires after 3 days. ScreenApp finds the highlight and lets you trim it, but vertical cropping is a separate manual step, not automatic reframing.
- vs Choppity: Choppity’s free plan gives you 1 hour/month, no watermark of upload and reframes clips to vertical automatically. ScreenApp’s free plan is 2 transcriptions of recordings up to 45 minutes each, with the highlights and trim tool but no automatic reframing.
- vs Spikes Studio: Spikes Studio’s free plan covers 30 minutes/month with a watermark, and its paid $14.09 plan removes it and adds vertical reframing. ScreenApp never puts a watermark on a recording (no watermark on any recording or export), but downloading the finished clip needs a paid plan.
Who Uses a Reels Editor
Content creators upload a long stream or interview and use the highlights to find the moments worth pulling for a Reel, instead of watching the whole recording back to spot them.
Marketing teams turn a webinar or product demo into a short clip for Instagram, trimmed to the one point that matters and cropped vertical before posting.
Podcasters with video episodes search the transcript for the exchange they remember, trim it into a clip, and post it as a Reel alongside the full episode.
Small businesses cut a customer story or a behind-the-scenes moment out of a longer recording to post as a Reel, without hiring a video editor.
Educators pull the explanation a student asked about out of a longer lecture recording and share it as a short clip.
