OpenShorts 🧩 Workflow Open source

What it is

OpenShorts by mutonby (MIT) is an open-source video platform with three tools: a Clip Generator that turns podcasts, webinars and vlogs into 9:16 shorts with face tracking and captions; AI Shorts, which creates marketing videos with AI actors, voiceover, b-roll and subtitles; and a YouTube Studio for thumbnails, titles and descriptions. The same software runs self-hosted or on the hosted openshorts.app service.

Key features

• Clip Generator with face-tracked crops and stacked two-speaker layouts
• Captions placed to avoid covering faces
• AI Shorts UGC-style videos from a product description or URL
• YouTube thumbnails, titles and descriptions
• Direct publishing to TikTok, Instagram and YouTube
• MCP endpoint and API for agents

How to install

Clone with git clone https://github.com/mutonby/openshorts.git, add Gemini, ElevenLabs and fal.ai keys, and run docker compose up --build. It needs 8 GB+ RAM; an NVIDIA GPU speeds processing.

Pricing and rights

Self-hosting is free under MIT with no watermark or limits; you pay for your own API usage (the README estimates about $0.65-$2 per AI Shorts video). The hosted service has a free plan with a watermark and 20 minutes a month, and paid plans from $12/month.

Who it is for

Podcasters and small businesses who want OpusClip-style clipping and simple video ads without a subscription.

Verdict

A capable free alternative to paid clipping tools, actively maintained. The AI-actor feature produces synthetic testimonials that should be clearly disclosed as AI, and self-hosting on CPU is slow.