PricingWhat moves, and what stays behind
Every editor keeps its projects in its own format, so no project file opens anywhere else. What moves is the footage and the look. Your footage uploads as it is, and the look travels inside any finished video you export: upload it to Shorty as the reference and it plans the new cut against that video’s pacing, transitions, captions and colour.
What stays behind is the project, its layers, templates, purchased assets and unused credits. Most people keep their old editor for the jobs it does better and send it Shorty’s MP4 when a video needs that step.
Five steps that work from any editor
The steps are the same whichever editor you leave. The product guides below add a table that translates its habits into a brief.
- Export one finished video you like from your current editor as an MP4. Upload it to Shorty as the reference video (MP4, MOV or WebM up to 256 MB) and name the traits to keep: pacing, shot length, transitions, captions or colour.
- Bring the raw clips and photos, not the project. Upload them from your device, drop a whole folder (subfolders included), or add videos from a shared Google Drive folder or Dropbox.
- Write the brief the way you would brief an editor: length, format (9:16, 4:5, 1:1, 16:9 and more), what happens first, the caption words and the ending.
- Review the rendered first cut. Ask for changes in the revision chat, or click an editable title or graphic and describe the change.
- Keep the look for next time. Uploaded references are saved to your account, and up to ten images or videos can become a reusable style for later edits.
Switching guides by product
Each guide compares the alternatives for people leaving one product and translates its habits into a brief you can open in Shorty.
| If you use… | Alternatives and switching guide | Side-by-side comparison |
|---|---|---|
| CapCut | CapCut alternatives | Shorty vs CapCut |
| OpusClip | OpusClip alternatives | Shorty vs OpusClip |
| Descript | Descript alternatives | Shorty vs Descript |
| Submagic or Captions | Submagic alternatives | Shorty vs Submagic |
| VEED or Kapwing | VEED alternatives | Shorty vs VEED |
| Canva | Canva video editor alternatives | Shorty vs Canva |
| InShot | InShot alternatives | Shorty vs InShot |
| Filmora | Filmora alternatives | Shorty vs Filmora |
| InVideo AI | InVideo AI alternatives | Shorty vs InVideo AI |
| Premiere Pro | Premiere Pro alternatives | Shorty vs Adobe Premiere |
When switching is the wrong move
Where Shorty is the wrong choice: if you need exact frame trims, masks, keyframes or layered audio work, Shorty will frustrate you — its browser timeline is for reviewing and inspecting the rendered cut, not for authoring it. It also edits footage you supply; it does not generate scenes you never shot. If you have no footage at all, you want a generator, not this.
Shorty is also not a clipper. If your work is turning one long podcast or webinar into many shorts, a clipping tool fits better, and Shorty helps with the videos you assemble from separate clips.
What it costs to try
Creator US$19, Pro US$49, Studio US$99 or Max US$199 per month; annual billing is discounted by 30% across all paid plans. Paid plans include monthly credits for analysis and rendering (4,400 on Creator), an edit uses about 594 credits on Auto, the default director (Shorty Nitro since 28 October 2026), or about 100 with GPT 6 Luna (about 7 or 44 edits a month on Creator), and the actual cost of an edit varies with the footage processed. Compare that with what an edit costs you now in subscription, credits and time, not with the subscription price alone.
Your first Shorty brief after switching
Open it in Shorty with the brief already written, add your clips and the reference video, then change the details to fit your project.
Make a 25-second vertical video from my clips in the style of the attached reference, an edit I made in my old editor. Copy its pacing, transitions and caption style, but build it only from my footage. Open on the strongest shot, keep captions short, and end on a clean shot held for two seconds. Use a different music track from the reference.