OpenShorts - Free Open-Source Clip Generator & AI UGC Video Creation Tool

A self-hosted open-source tool that automatically converts long videos into 9:16 vertical viral shorts. It supports creation for TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts.

It integrates three core features:

• Clip Generator: Automatically extracts moments with high viral potential from long-form videos, handling face-tracking-based cropping and subtitle addition
• AI Shorts: Generates UGC marketing videos using AI avatars. Creates lip-synced avatar videos from just a product description
• YouTube Studio: Automatically generates thumbnails, titles, and descriptions, and uploads directly to YouTube

Google Gemini 3.0 Flash analyzes transcripts and scene boundaries to extract 3-15 potential clips ranging from 15-60 seconds long, scoring them based on emotional impact, hook strength, and shareability.

Smart cropping tracks subjects (TRACK mode) using MediaPipe face detection with YOLOv8 as backup, or generates blurred backgrounds for group shots and landscapes (GENERAL mode). It supports faster-whisper-based automatic subtitles, AI dubbing in 30+ languages via ElevenLabs integration, hook text overlays for the first 3 seconds, and dynamic FFmpeg filter effects generated by Gemini.

With 100% self-hosted operation, Docker-based deployment is available, videos never leave the user's infrastructure, and API keys are encrypted client-side and never stored on the server. It supports direct publishing to TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube dashboards, asynchronous upload progress tracking, and S3 backup.

By heavily leveraging Google Gemini's free tier (1,500 requests/day) and the free tiers of ElevenLabs and Upload-Post, it can replace paid tools like Opus Clip and Kapwing—which cost $15-228/month—for free, with no limits, and no watermark.

Tech stack: Google Gemini 3.0, faster-whisper, YOLOv8, MediaPipe, FFmpeg, ElevenLabs, fal.ai, React + Vite, Docker. Released under the MIT license.