Guide
Cutroom FAQ: 30 questions, answered plainly
Cutroom turns one video of you talking into a finished 9:16 video with captions, b-roll and a hook. This page answers what people ask before they sign up: what it costs, what you control and what happens to your files.
In short
- Cutroom is an AI video editor that turns one video of you talking, up to 3 minutes, into a finished 9:16 video.
- Your first video is free, with 600 credits and 7 days to make it, and no card.
- Lite costs $19.99 a month and removes the Cutroom mark from the picture.
- You change the edit on the transcript by swapping a clip, deleting a line or picking another caption theme.
- Cutroom does not clip long podcasts or webinars, and every export is vertical.
- Longest video you can upload, as an MP4, MOV or WebM file.
- 3 min
- Credits that come with your free first video. 7 days, no card.
- 600
- Lite, per month. The first paid plan, and it removes the mark.
- $19.99
Getting started: what do you need to make the first video?
Cutroom is an AI video editor that turns one video of you talking into a finished vertical video. To start you need an email address or a Google account, and a browser. You also need a video of yourself speaking for up to 3 minutes. There is no card, no download and no editing experience. You upload the video as an MP4, MOV or WebM file and pick the language you spoke. The edit comes back in about a minute, as a 9:16 video. The pauses are tightened and a hook sits on the opening seconds. Captions are timed to every word, and b-roll lands on the words it illustrates. Your first video is free, with 600 credits, 7 days from signup to make it, and no card. The free video exports with a Cutroom mark across the middle, and it is yours to post.
This group covers what Cutroom is and whether you need to know how to edit. It also covers signing up, using Cutroom on a phone, and the languages it transcribes. Every answer names a number you can check for yourself.
From one video to a finished video
The same five steps every time. The edit itself comes back in about a minute.
Upload one video
up to 3 minutes, MP4, MOV or WebM
Cutroom edits it
pauses, hook, captions, b-roll, transitions
Watch the preview
in the browser, on a laptop or a phone
Change it on the transcript
clips, lines, pace, themes
Export
one 9:16 MP4, 1080 by 1920 pixels
Editing and control: how much of the edit can you change?
You can change all of it. Cutroom makes the first edit, and every decision in it stays open. The transcript is the editing surface. Highlight a phrase and a clip lands over exactly those words. Delete a line and the video rebuilds around it.
The looks come from closed sets, so the numbers are exact. There are 40 caption themes, 15 hook themes, 7 fonts, 16 named colours and 4 places a clip can sit. Cutroom has no timeline, no colour picker and no font upload.
- Swap any clip, or search millions of free stock clips from the editor.
- Move b-roll onto other words, or put a clip full screen, on a small card or in a bottom band.
- Delete a line and Cutroom rebuilds the video around it.
- Change the pace, trim the opening or the ending, and rewrite the hook.
- Turn b-roll off for the whole video with one switch, and back on again.
This is the whole editor
Highlight a phrase and a clip lands on those exact words. No timeline, no keyframes, no layers.
Uploads and exports: what goes in and what comes out?
One video goes in and one comes out. What you upload is you talking for up to 3 minutes, with sound. The file can be MP4, MOV or WebM, up to 1 GB. Vertical works best; Cutroom crops a wide clip to fit.
What comes out is one 9:16 MP4 at 1080 by 1920 pixels, with the captions, the hook and the b-roll burned in. The preview in the editor and the file you download are drawn the same way. The download matches what you watched, every time.
What goes in and what comes out
The same in and out for every video, on the free video and on every paid plan.
| What you upload | What you download | |
|---|---|---|
| File type | MP4, MOV or WebM | MP4 |
| Size | Up to 1 GB | One finished video |
| Length | Up to 3 minutes | As long as your edit |
| Shape | Vertical works best | 9:16, 1080 by 1920 pixels |
| Sound | Your voice, clearly recorded | Your voice, captions and any music |
: File type
- What you upload
- MP4, MOV or WebM
- What you download
- MP4
: Size
- What you upload
- Up to 1 GB
- What you download
- One finished video
: Length
- What you upload
- Up to 3 minutes
- What you download
- As long as your edit
: Shape
- What you upload
- Vertical works best
- What you download
- 9:16, 1080 by 1920 pixels
: Sound
- What you upload
- Your voice, clearly recorded
- What you download
- Your voice, captions and any music
Pricing and billing: what does a video cost?
Your first video is free, with 600 credits, 7 days from signup to make it, and no card. After that Cutroom is a monthly plan with credits: Lite at $19.99, Basic at $39.99 and Premium at $79.99. The chart below is the whole price list.
A 30-second video is about 110 credits and a 60-second video is 120: the edit plus the export. Cancelling is one click. A first charge you did not mean to make is refunded in full within 7 days. Both plan prices are at /pricing.
What each action costs in credits
A finished video is the edit plus the export: about 110 credits for 30 seconds, 120 for 60. The app shows the price of an action before you run it.
- One edit: transcription, the editing decisions and the b-roll search100 credits
- Export, for each minute of the video you download20 credits
- Generated music, one instrumental of up to 60 seconds50 credits
- Generated voice-over, for each minute70 credits
- Presenter (avatar) video, for each minute350 credits
Security and privacy: what happens to your files?
Your files are stored privately in your Cutroom workspace and used to make your video. Cutroom does not train models on them and does not sell them. Traffic is encrypted. Files are served through links that expire, and access is restricted per workspace.
Cutroom never sees your card: Stripe takes the payment and holds it. Delete a project and its files go straight away. Close your account and everything is deleted within 30 days. There is no form and no fee. The full policy is at /privacy.
- Your files stay in your workspace and are used to make your video, nothing else.
- Deepgram transcribes the audio and Anthropic reads the transcript to propose the edit.
- Cutroom does not train AI models on your files, and neither do the providers that process them.
- Delete a project and its files go straight away; close your account and everything goes within 30 days.
Compared with other tools: when is Cutroom the right pick?
Cutroom is the right pick when you film one short video of yourself talking and want it back finished. It is built for that one job: up to 3 minutes in, a captioned 9:16 video with b-roll and a hook out. Every decision stays open.
A timeline editor such as CapCut suits you if you enjoy building the video yourself. A clipping tool such as Opus Clip suits you if you start from a long recording. Descript suits long recordings edited as a document. The comparisons are at /compare.
- CapCut is a timeline editor you drive yourself, clip by clip.
- Opus Clip and other clipping tools cut short clips out of a long recording.
- Descript edits a long recording as a document, which suits podcasts and interviews.
- Cutroom edits one short video of you talking and hands it back finished.
Questions people ask
- What is Cutroom, in one sentence?
- Cutroom is an AI video editor for one video of you talking. You upload a video of up to 3 minutes and it comes back as a finished 9:16 MP4: pauses tightened, a hook on the opening seconds, captions on every word, b-roll on the words it illustrates. You change anything on the transcript.
- Do I need editing experience to use Cutroom?
- No. You upload one video and the edit comes back in about a minute. Every change after that happens on the transcript: highlight a phrase to put a clip over it, delete a line, swap a clip, pick a caption theme. Cutroom has no timeline, no keyframes and no layers.
- How do I sign up for Cutroom, and do I need a card?
- No card. You sign up with your email address or with Google, and there is no password to set. Your first video is free, with 600 credits and 7 days to make it. Cutroom asks you to confirm your email address once, before your first download. A card only comes into it on the day you choose a paid plan.
- Does Cutroom work on a phone?
- Yes. Cutroom runs in the browser, so there is no app to install, and every screen works on a phone, including the upload and the editor. You can film on your phone and upload from the camera roll. A laptop gives you a bigger transcript and preview, which helps on a long edit.
- Which languages does Cutroom transcribe?
- Eight today: English (US), English (UK), Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Dutch and Italian. You pick the spoken language from a list when you upload, and the captions come back in that language. If yours is not on the list, Cutroom is not the right tool for that video yet.
- What does a Cutroom edit include?
- Every Cutroom edit includes the same five parts. The pauses are tightened. A hook card sits on the opening seconds, in one of 15 hook themes. Captions are timed to every word, in one of 40 caption themes. B-roll lands on the words it illustrates. Every clip gets a transition. Music is off until you turn it on.
- Can I change what the AI did?
- Yes, all of it, on the transcript. Swap any clip or search millions of free ones, move b-roll to other words, put a clip full screen or on a small card, delete a line, change the pace, trim the opening, and rewrite the hook. The Cutroom preview shows each change before you export.
- Can I change how the captions look?
- Yes. Pick one of 40 caption themes, then its font and colour. Cutroom bundles 7 faces: Anton, Bebas Neue, Montserrat, Nunito, Instrument Serif, Oswald and Fredoka, and there is no font upload. You can move the captions up or down, set their size, and switch emoji off for the whole video.
- Can I use my own b-roll, or switch b-roll off?
- Yes to both. Upload your own clips or stills (MP4, MOV or WebM for clips; PNG, JPEG or WebP for stills) and they join your library, where they get first pick. When nothing in your library fits, Cutroom uses free stock footage. One switch in the editor turns b-roll off for the whole video.
- What if Cutroom mishears a word?
- You fix it in the transcript. Correct the word there and the caption follows, because Cutroom draws the captions from the transcript. Names, brands and numbers are what a transcript most often gets wrong, so read it once before you export. To drop a whole line, delete it and the edit rebuilds around it.
- Does Cutroom add music to the video?
- Not by default. A Cutroom edit comes back with no music. In the editor, background music is one switch: turn it on, pick the track, set it low, medium or high, and it quiets down when you talk. On Basic and Premium you can generate an instrumental of up to 60 seconds for 50 credits.
- What can I upload to Cutroom?
- One video of you talking, up to 3 minutes, with sound, as an MP4, MOV or WebM file of up to 1 GB. Vertical works best; Cutroom crops a wide clip to fit the frame. A phone recording is fine. What matters is that your voice is clear, because the transcript drives every decision.
- What do I get when I export?
- One 9:16 MP4 at 1080 by 1920 pixels, with the captions, the hook, the b-roll and any music burned in, ready for TikTok, Reels and Shorts. The Cutroom preview and the exported file are drawn the same way, so what you watched is what you download. An export costs 20 credits per finished minute.
- Is there a watermark on the exported video?
- On the free video, yes. It exports with a Cutroom mark across the middle of the picture, and it is still yours to download and post. Every paid plan removes the mark, starting with Lite at $19.99 a month. Cutroom says this before you sign up, so the mark is never a surprise.
- How long does one video take, start to finish?
- The Cutroom edit comes back in about a minute once the upload finishes. After that the time is yours: most changes show in the preview as you make them, and a deleted line or a new pace rebuilds the video while you watch. The export renders on Cutroom's servers and waits in your project.
- Can I export the same video again after a change?
- Yes. Change the edit and export again as often as your credits allow; each export costs 20 credits per finished minute. On the free video, exporting again uses credits but does not use up the free video itself, because the Cutroom allowance counts edits, not exports. Your projects stay in your workspace.
- Is Cutroom free?
- Your first video is free, with 600 credits, 7 days to make it and no card. It exports with a Cutroom mark across the middle. After that, Lite is $19.99 a month for 1,250 credits, Basic is $39.99 for 2,500 credits plus avatars and music, and Premium is $79.99 for 5,000 credits.
- What does one video cost in credits?
- A Cutroom edit is 100 credits and an export is 20 credits per finished minute, so a 60-second video is 120 credits. On Lite, 1,250 credits is about 10 one-minute videos a month; on Basic, 2,500 credits is about 20. A generated music track is 50 credits.
- What happens when I run out of credits?
- You buy a top-up or move up a plan. Top-ups are one-time payments, not subscriptions: $39.99 for 2,500 credits, $89.99 for 6,000 and $199.99 for 15,000. The credits land in your Cutroom balance once the payment clears. The app shows the price of each action first.
- How do I cancel, and can I get a refund?
- Yes to both. Cancelling Cutroom is one click under Settings, Billing, with no email and no phone call. It takes effect at the end of the period you paid for, and nothing is charged after that. If a first charge was a mistake, tell us within 7 days and it is refunded in full. The policy is at /refunds.
- Can I pay for Cutroom yearly?
- Yes. Every paid Cutroom plan can be billed monthly or yearly, and yearly costs less per month. Both prices are at /pricing. A plan is charged on the day you buy it and renews on that date until you cancel. Prices are in US dollars and exclude any tax your country adds.
- Can more than one person use one Cutroom account?
- No. Every Cutroom plan is one sign-in, and there is no way to invite a second person yet. The bigger plans add credits and tools, not people: Basic adds avatars and music, and Premium adds animation and product shots with twice the credits of Basic. Cutroom is not set up for a team workspace today.
- What happens to my footage after I upload it?
- Your files are stored privately in your Cutroom workspace and used to make your video, nothing else. Traffic is encrypted, links expire, and database access is restricted per workspace. The audio goes to Deepgram to be transcribed and the transcript goes to Anthropic to propose the edit. Every processor is named at /privacy.
- Is my video used to train AI models?
- No. Cutroom does not train models on your files, and the providers that process them are not permitted to train on them either. The audio is transcribed, the transcript is read to propose an edit, and a result comes back. Cutroom keeps a record of those calls to debug a bad edit, and deletes it with your account.
- Can I delete my videos and my account?
- Yes. Delete a project in Cutroom and its files go with it straight away: the upload, the transcript, the edit and the exports. To close your account, email support@cutroomai.com and everything is deleted within 30 days, except the billing records tax law requires us to keep. Those are amounts and dates, not video.
- Does Cutroom see or store my card?
- No. Stripe takes the payment and holds the card. Cutroom only receives the last four digits, the expiry date and a record of what was charged and when. The free video asks for no card at all. A paid plan is bought with a card on the day you start it, at the price on the button.
- How is Cutroom different from CapCut?
- CapCut is a timeline editor, and a good one: you build the video yourself, clip by clip. Cutroom does the edit for you. You upload one video of you talking and get back a finished 9:16 video with captions, b-roll and a hook, then change it on the transcript. The full comparison is at /capcut-alternative.
- How is Cutroom different from OpusClip and other clipping tools?
- Opus Clip and other clipping tools start from the opposite end: they cut short clips out of a long recording, such as a podcast or a webinar. Cutroom does not clip long videos. It edits one short video you filmed to be the video, up to 3 minutes. Use a clipping tool for hours of recordings.
- Can Cutroom replace Descript?
- It depends on what you record. Descript edits long recordings as a document and suits podcasts, interviews and team review. Cutroom edits one video of up to 3 minutes and hands back a finished vertical video, with the b-roll, captions and hook already placed. The longer comparison is at /descript-alternative.
- Who should not use Cutroom, and what should they use instead?
- Anyone who edits long YouTube videos, wants clips pulled out of a podcast or a stream, or needs a wide 16:9 export. Cutroom takes one video of you talking, up to 3 minutes, and makes one 9:16 video from it. If you sell, teach or explain by talking to a camera, your first video is free.
Is your question not here? Write to support@cutroomai.com and a person answers.