The open-source OpusClip alternative for podcasters
Podcli picks the viral moments in your episode, crops them 9:16 with face tracking, burns captions in, and exports upload-ready Shorts. The whole pipeline runs from one binary on your laptop, and you can drive it from Claude Code through an MCP server.
Why people leave hosted clippers
Watermarks or minute caps
Free tier watermarks exports. Paid tier caps monthly minutes. A weekly show runs out.
Files leave your machine
Upload is required. Fine for hobby episodes; not fine if anything you're shipping is under NDA or unreleased.
Not scriptable
No CLI. No API on the cheap tiers. Nothing an AI coding agent can call.
Caption styles are locked
Pick from the template library. There is no fifth style. There is no editing the template.
The pipeline, end to end
Five stages in one install. Three ways to call them.
Scripts and batch runs.
Live 9:16 phone preview with optional TikTok wireframe.
22 tools. Plug into Claude Code, Codex, Cursor.
Frequently asked
The questions people search before they pick a clipper.
What is the best open-source OpusClip alternative?+
It depends on the shape you need. Podcli is a full pipeline (CLI + web UI + MCP server) for single creators on a laptop. SupoClip is a Docker-deployable clipper for teams with a hosted upsell. ClipsAI is a Python library for developers composing their own product. ClippedAI and opensource-clipping are smaller scripts.
Is there a free OpusClip alternative without a watermark?+
Yes. Podcli is AGPL-3.0 licensed and exports clean MP4s with no watermark on every run. Files stay on your laptop. There is no minute cap and no paid tier.
Why use an open-source OpusClip alternative at all?+
Three reasons most people switch: free tier watermarks plus paid-tier minute caps, uploading podcast files to a third party (NDA / unreleased content problem), and the inability to script it from an AI coding agent.
Does Podcli need a GPU?+
No. Hardware encoders are used when available (VideoToolbox on Mac, NVENC on NVIDIA, VAAPI on Linux), but the CPU fallback works on any modern laptop.
Can an AI agent run Podcli for me?+
Yes. Podcli ships as an MCP server with 22 tools. Plug it into Claude Code, Claude Desktop, or Codex and say 'clip this episode.' The agent handles transcription, scoring, cropping, captions, and export end to end.
Install and run it
The setup script handles the toolchain. You'll have a clip out the other side in a few minutes.