Guide
For UGC ads, a video cut around your own words beats a CapCut template
Updated
A CapCut template gives you a ready look, and you drop your clips into it by hand. It's great for trends, but your ad ends up looking like everyone else's.
In short
- A CapCut template is fine for a quick trend video, but it doesn't know what you say, so you still trim and place every clip yourself.
- Cutroom's Magic Editor starts from what you say: it removes your ums and puts each screenshot on the word that names it.
- Use a template when the trend is the point. Use a video cut around your own words when the product and your voice are the point.
A creator's money tip for a budgeting app, before and after Cutroom's Magic Editor
No template: each screenshot lands on the word that names it.
Drawing of an example clip, not a customer video
Before · the clip as filmed
A 45-second phone video of a UGC creator sharing a money tip with a budgeting app for a brand
“Okay so, um, here's how I found three subscriptions I totally forgot about. This app, wait. I used this app. You link your bank, open Subscriptions, and cancel the ones you don't use.”
struck through = what Jacob cuts
After · Jacob's first edit, Steps style
“Here's how I found three subscriptions I totally forgot about. I used this app. You link your bank, open Subscriptions, and cancel the ones you don't use.”
- On “Subscriptions”: your screenshot subscriptions.png in a floating window
- On “bank”: your screenshot link-bank.png in a floating window
- On “cancel”: the word set big in your accent colour
- Under the whole video: the video ends on you, with the brand's logo as a sticker
window: subscriptions.png
Then you ask Jacob
- “Make the key words stand out more”v2the same edit with the key words bigger and brighter
- “Change the call to action to Try it free”v3the same edit ending on the line "Try it free"
Should you use a CapCut template for UGC?
Yes, if you want to jump on a trend fast. A template copies a look that's already working, and CapCut has a free plan, so it costs you nothing to try.
No, if it's an ad for a brand. A template was made for someone else's clips and someone else's timing. Your words don't line up with its cuts, so the video feels pasted together.
- A template gives you a finished look in a few taps, with music and effects already set.
- A template doesn't know what you say, so the jump to the next clip can land in the middle of your sentence.
- A template doesn't take out your ums or false starts. You trim each clip yourself so it fits.
- A template doesn't show the product when you name it. You place each product shot by hand.
- The premium templates need a paid CapCut plan, and popular ones are used by many other creators.
How to find and use a UGC template in CapCut
There's no CapCut template made for UGC ads. On CapCut's template website, as of November 2026, the groups include Business and Trending Templates, and none is called UGC. Look in Business for a product video and in Trending Templates for a trend.
- Open the CapCut app and tap "Template" at the bottom of the screen. If you don't see it, CapCut says templates may not be available in your country or app version yet.
- Pick a template that has room for the same number of clips you filmed.
- Tap "Use template", then pick each part and tap "Edit" to swap in your own clip.
- Export when every part is filled. The look, the music and the moments where the video jumps to the next clip stay the same as the template.
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.
A video cut around your words, with Cutroom's Magic Editor
In Cutroom's Magic Editor, Jacob, its AI editor, makes the whole edit for you. You upload one clip, pick a style, add your screenshots or product photos, and press "Make my video".
It normally takes 10 to 15 minutes, and you get an email when your first cut is ready.
- You pick one of four styles. For UGC, Steps fits tips and how-to's that use a product, like the example here, and Verdict fits reviews and "I tried it" videos.
- Because the edit starts from your words, each screenshot shows up while you say what's on it.
- Jacob cuts the ums, repeats and false starts, adds captions, and puts b-roll (the extra shots over your voice) on the words they fit.
- You ask for changes by typing them to Jacob in plain words, like "Make the key words stand out more".
- A chat message that changes the video costs 40 credits, and a question that changes nothing is free.
When a template is the right call
A template still wins in a few cases, and it's fine to use both.
- Use a template for a trend where the sound and the look are the joke, and your face is only a few seconds of it.
- Use a template for a photo slideshow or a video with no talking. Cutroom's Magic Editor needs a clip of you talking.
- Use a template if you need lots of free videos. Cutroom's Magic Editor gives you your first video free, with a Cutroom mark on it. After that it costs credits.
- Use Cutroom's Magic Editor when you talk to camera about a product and want it cut on your words. Your clip can be up to 3 minutes, and you get one vertical 1080 by 1920 MP4 back.
Questions people ask
- Is there a good UGC template in CapCut?
- Not one made for UGC ads. CapCut's template website has no UGC group as of November 2026. Business templates suit product videos and Trending Templates suit trends, but none of them follows what you say.
- How do I use a CapCut template?
- Tap "Template" at the bottom of the CapCut app and choose one. Tap "Use template", pick your videos or photos, then select each segment and tap "Edit" to replace it. Export when every part is filled.
- Are CapCut templates free?
- Not all of them. CapCut has a free plan, but its pricing page lists the premium templates as part of the paid plans.
- How can I edit UGC without a template?
- Start from what you say instead of from a look. In Cutroom's Magic Editor you upload one clip of you talking and Jacob makes the whole edit around your words. Your first video is free, and you have 7 days to make it.
Got a clip of you talking about a product? Let the edit start from your words, not from a template.