Feature
An AI reels editor that edits the clip you filmed and adds the captions, your screenshots and music
An AI reels editor takes a video you filmed and makes the edit for you: cuts, captions and what shows on screen. Cutroom's Magic Editor does it from one clip of you talking, then changes it when you ask in a chat.
In short
- An AI reels editor turns a video you filmed into a vertical Reel, so you don't cut and caption it by hand.
- Many AI reels editors do one part of the job, such as trimming your clips, adding captions or cutting a long video into short clips.
- Cutroom's Magic Editor edits one clip of you talking into a Reel, with captions, music and your screenshots on the right words.
- Jacob, Cutroom's AI editor, makes the first edit in one of four styles and changes it when you ask in a chat.
- The Magic Editor exports one vertical 1080 by 1920 MP4, which you post to Instagram yourself. Your first video is free.
What does an AI reels editor do?
An AI reels editor does part of the editing for you, and the tools split by which part. Some only trim pauses, some cut your clips to music, some add captions, some cut a long video into short clips, and a few make the whole edit.
What different AI reels editors do
Each tool as its own website or help page describes it, read on 12 November 2026.
| Kind of editor | What it does to your Reel | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Trims pauses | Trims the clips you pick and removes pauses | Instagram's First Draft |
| Cuts to music | Cuts your clips in time with a song, or at the pauses in your speech, and adds transitions | CapCut's Auto Cut |
| Adds captions | Writes captions from what you say; Submagic also cuts silences and can add b-roll | Submagic, Instagram's Edits app |
| Cuts a long video into clips | Finds the strongest moments of a long video and turns them into short clips | OpusClip |
| Makes the whole edit | Edits one clip of you talking into a finished Reel with your own screenshots, then takes changes in a chat | Cutroom's Magic Editor |
Kind of editor: Trims pauses
- What it does to your Reel
- Trims the clips you pick and removes pauses
- Example
- Instagram's First Draft
Kind of editor: Cuts to music
- What it does to your Reel
- Cuts your clips in time with a song, or at the pauses in your speech, and adds transitions
- Example
- CapCut's Auto Cut
Kind of editor: Adds captions
- What it does to your Reel
- Writes captions from what you say; Submagic also cuts silences and can add b-roll
- Example
- Submagic, Instagram's Edits app
Kind of editor: Cuts a long video into clips
- What it does to your Reel
- Finds the strongest moments of a long video and turns them into short clips
- Example
- OpusClip
Kind of editor: Makes the whole edit
- What it does to your Reel
- Edits one clip of you talking into a finished Reel with your own screenshots, then takes changes in a chat
- Example
- Cutroom's Magic Editor
What goes into the Magic Editor and what comes out
You give the Magic Editor one clip of you talking and, if you like, a few files. You get back one finished vertical video.
- Your clip can be up to 3 minutes long, as an MP4, MOV or WebM file, ideally filmed upright on your phone.
- You can add up to 20 files, such as screenshots, a screen recording, product photos and your logo.
- Jacob shows each screenshot while you talk about it, plays your screen recording as a demo of your app, and ends the video on your logo.
- Jacob can also find b-roll for you, from your own clip library first and then from the stock sites Pexels and Pixabay, and puts each clip on the words it belongs to.
- Mistakes in your clip are fine, because Jacob cuts the ums, false starts and repeats.
- What comes out is a vertical MP4, 1080 by 1920, 30 frames a second, with the sound levelled. There is no 16:9, square or 4K version, and Cutroom doesn't post it to Instagram for you.
How Cutroom's Magic Editor edits a video like this
Jacob is the AI editor inside Cutroom's Magic Editor: it edits your video for you, then changes it when you ask in a chat.
The 4 styles, as example edits
Steps
Three steps, four angles
Skit
Hook, hard stop, demo card
Verdict
The tester's verdict
Poster
Typography does the talking
Hover or tap an example to play it, without sound. These are example edits of each style; the presenters in them are generated with AI.
- Your take: one video of you talking, up to 3 minutes
- Your style: one of 4: Steps, Skit, Verdict or Poster
- Your files: screenshots, a screen recording or a logo, if you have them
- Your goal: what the video is for, in a few words, if you like
- Jacob makes it: normally 10 to 15 minutes, and you get an email
- Your edit: ask Jacob for changes in a chat, then export
Then you ask Jacob, for example
- “Make this about 10 seconds shorter”
- “Put a clip on the strongest sentence”
- “Change the music to something calmer”
Each change is a new version, and going back is free. First cut 250 credits, each change 40, questions free, export 30 credits per started minute.
An example Reel, before and after
Here is a drawn example. A fitness app founder films a Reel about the app's free trial, adds a screenshot of the workouts and a 10-second screen recording of the app, and picks the Skit style.
- Jacob makes the whole first edit after one press of "Make my video". It normally takes 10 to 15 minutes, and you get an email when your first cut is ready.
- You change the Reel by typing to Jacob in plain words, such as "Make this about 10 seconds shorter" or "Change the music to something calmer".
- A message that changes the Reel costs 40 credits. A question that changes nothing is free, up to 20 a day.
- Every change Jacob makes is a new version. The earlier versions stay, and going back to one is free.
A fitness app founder's free-trial Reel, before and after
One press makes the first edit. Each change you ask for in the chat makes a new version, and the earlier ones stay.
Drawing of an example clip, not a customer video
Before · the clip as filmed
A 50-second phone video of a fitness app founder talking to camera about the app's free trial
“Um, so, my app has a free trial now, and you get two weeks to try every workout , uh, without a card. … (pause) Just tap the link in my bio , like, the link.”
struck through = what Jacob cuts
After · Jacob's first edit, Skit style
“My app has a free trial now, and you get two weeks to try every workout without a card. Just tap the link in my bio.”
- On “free”: your opening line in big letters, with the word free in the colour you picked for the video
- On “workout”: a card with your screenshot workouts.png slides over your face
- On “bio”: a phone playing your 10-second screen recording app-demo.mp4 as the demo
- Under the whole video: music with energy under your voice, plus the style's sound effects
window: workouts.png
Then you ask Jacob
- “Turn the music down a bit”v2the same edit with the music quieter under your voice
- “Turn the sound effects off”v3the same edit with no sound effects
The four looks a Reel can have
You pick one style before Jacob starts, and it decides how the Reel looks and moves.
- You can switch a finished edit to another style for 120 credits, and the earlier version stays.
- Poster is the style to pick when you have nothing to show, because it needs no screenshots.
- Each style comes with its own fonts, so you can't pick your own font.
The Magic Editor's four styles
Written from the app's own description of each style.
| Style | Best for | What you see |
|---|---|---|
| Steps | Tips and how-to videos where you show the app you use | Your screens in floating windows, one big word at a time under them, and your logo at the end |
| Skit | Walking people through your product with your face on screen | A big opening line, a card with your screenshots sliding over your face, and a phone playing your recording at the end |
| Verdict | Reviews, "I tried it" videos and comparisons | You full screen for your opinion, you in a small card while your screenshots play on a laptop, and a follow card at the end |
| Poster | One strong point when you have no screenshots to show | Big stacked words in three fonts, a black-and-white moment, a number in neon and your logo at the end |
Style: Steps
- Best for
- Tips and how-to videos where you show the app you use
- What you see
- Your screens in floating windows, one big word at a time under them, and your logo at the end
Style: Skit
- Best for
- Walking people through your product with your face on screen
- What you see
- A big opening line, a card with your screenshots sliding over your face, and a phone playing your recording at the end
Style: Verdict
- Best for
- Reviews, "I tried it" videos and comparisons
- What you see
- You full screen for your opinion, you in a small card while your screenshots play on a laptop, and a follow card at the end
Style: Poster
- Best for
- One strong point when you have no screenshots to show
- What you see
- Big stacked words in three fonts, a black-and-white moment, a number in neon and your logo at the end
What it costs to edit a Reel
The Magic Editor is paid in credits, so a Reel's cost depends on its length and the changes you ask for.
- Your first video is free, no card, and you have 7 days to make it. It carries a Cutroom mark; Lite at $19.99/month removes it.
- Lite costs $19.99 a month for 1,250 credits, enough for 4 Reels of up to a minute with no paid changes.
- Instagram's own editor and First Draft cost nothing, because they are part of the free Instagram app.
- Instagram's Edits app writes captions for free and exports with no watermark (November 2026).
- CapCut has a free plan. Its auto caption generator is a Pro feature, listed at $19.99 a month or $179.99 a year, and CapCut says the price varies by region and device (November 2026).
- OpusClip has a free plan with a watermark, and its paid plans start at $15 a month (November 2026).
- Submagic starts at $12 per member a month, billed yearly (November 2026).
What a Reel costs in credits
Worked out from the first edit, the export and any chat changes. Questions to Jacob are free.
| The Reel | Credits |
|---|---|
| Up to a minute long, no paid changes | 280 |
| Up to a minute long, with two chat changes | 360 |
| 61 to 120 seconds long, no paid changes | 310 |
| The same version exported again | 0 |
The Reel: Up to a minute long, no paid changes
- Credits
- 280
The Reel: Up to a minute long, with two chat changes
- Credits
- 360
The Reel: 61 to 120 seconds long, no paid changes
- Credits
- 310
The Reel: The same version exported again
- Credits
- 0
Which AI reels editor to pick
It comes down to what you start with and how much of the editing you want to do yourself.
Which AI reels editor to pick
Choose Instagram's First Draft if you filmed a few clips on an iPhone and only want the pauses gone before you finish the Reel in Instagram.
Choose CapCut's Auto Cut if you want your clips cut in time with a song and you're happy to finish the edit in CapCut.
Choose Instagram's Edits app if you want free captions on your phone and you're happy to make the cuts yourself.
Choose Submagic if your video is already filmed and you mainly want captions, with the silences cut.
Choose OpusClip if you start from a long video and want short clips out of it.
Choose Cutroom's Magic Editor if you film yourself talking and want the finished Reel back, with your own screenshots on the right words. Your first video is free.
Questions people ask
- What is the best AI reels editor?
- It depends on what you start with. Instagram's First Draft trims clips you filmed on an iPhone, OpusClip turns a long video into short clips, and Cutroom's Magic Editor makes the whole edit from one clip of you talking.
- Can AI edit my Reels for me?
- Yes. An AI reels editor can cut, caption and finish a Reel from a video you filmed. In Cutroom's Magic Editor, Jacob makes the whole edit from one clip of you talking, and you change it by asking in a chat.
- How long does it take to edit a Reel with AI?
- It depends on the tool. Instagram says First Draft trims your clips in under 10 seconds. In Cutroom's Magic Editor, which makes the whole edit, it normally takes 10 to 15 minutes, and you get an email when your first cut is ready.
- Can I put my own screenshots in an AI-edited Reel?
- Yes, in Cutroom's Magic Editor. You add up to 20 files, such as screenshots, a screen recording and product photos, and Jacob puts each one on the words where you talk about it.
- Does the Magic Editor post the Reel to Instagram?
- No. It exports one vertical MP4 at 1080 by 1920, and you post it to Instagram yourself, like any other video from your phone.
- How much does an AI reels editor cost?
- Instagram's own tools, including the Edits app's captions, are free. CapCut has a free plan, and its Pro plan, which adds auto captions, is listed at $19.99 a month, varying by region. OpusClip has a free plan with a watermark and paid plans from $15 a month, and Submagic starts at $12 per member a month, billed yearly. In Cutroom, a Reel of up to a minute costs 280 credits, and your first video is free.
Film one clip of you talking and let Jacob make the Reel. Your first video is free.