AI tools for YouTube videos
AI tools for making YouTube videos, ranked by fit: editors that cut by transcript, generators that produce footage, and tools that turn long videos into shorts.
Making YouTube videos with AI is really three different jobs: generating footage you did not shoot, editing footage you did, and turning one long video into many short ones. Few tools are good at all three, so the first question is which of them eats most of your time.
A talking-head or tutorial channel gets the most from an editor that removes silences, adds captions and cuts by transcript. A faceless channel needs script-to-video or stock assembly. Generated footage is still best treated as B-roll rather than as the whole video.
Top 8 tools for this
Fliki
Turns scripts, blog posts, and ideas into videos using AI voices and stock clips.
Built for YouTube videos; also covers editing video and generating video from text or images, though it is not its main job.
From $28/month · Free plan · Checked October 4, 2026
InVideo AI
AI video creator that builds YouTube and social videos from a text prompt or script.
Built for YouTube videos; also covers editing video and generating video from text or images, though it is not its main job.
From $20/month · No free plan on record · Checked October 4, 2026
Descript
Video and podcast editor where you edit the recording by editing its transcript.
Built for YouTube videos and editing video. Not listed for generating video from text or images.
From $24/month · Free plan · Checked October 4, 2026
Runway
AI video generation studio for text-to-video, image-to-video, and visual effects work.
Built for editing video and generating video from text or images; also covers YouTube videos, though it is not its main job.
From $15/month · Free plan · Checked October 4, 2026
HeyGen
AI avatar video platform for creating presenter-style videos with custom digital avatars.
Built for YouTube videos; also covers editing video and generating video from text or images, though it is not its main job.
From $29/month · Free plan · Checked October 4, 2026
Pictory
Turns scripts, articles, and long videos into short captioned video content automatically.
Built for YouTube videos; also covers editing video and generating video from text or images, though it is not its main job.
From $29/month · Free trial · Checked October 4, 2026
CapCut
Video editor from ByteDance designed for short-form social content, with AI tools built in.
Built for editing video; also covers YouTube videos and generating video from text or images, though it is not its main job.
Pricing information is currently unavailable. · Free plan · Checked October 4, 2026
OpusClip
Repurposes long videos into short viral clips for social media using AI selection and captions.
Built for YouTube videos; also covers editing video, though it is not its main job. Not listed for generating video from text or images.
From $15/month · Free plan · Checked October 4, 2026
How these are ranked: Tools are ordered by the advisor's match score for this use case alone: no budget, skill level or other preference is assumed. Tell the advisor yours to get a personal top three.
What to check before you choose
- Export resolution and whether the free plan adds a watermark
- How minutes or credits are counted, and what a typical video costs you
- Caption accuracy in your language
- Whether you may use the output commercially on a monetised channel